Jules Verne

“ THE WIDOW OF STEPHEN BATHORY.
The arrival of Dr. Antekirtt had been noised about not only in Ragusa, but throughout the province of Dalmatia. The newspapers, after announcing the schooner's arrival, had hurried down to the prey which promised to yield such a series of sensational articles. The owner of the “Savarena” could not escape the honors and drawbacks of celebrity. His personality was the order of the day. Legend had seized upon him for its own. ”

“ Ah! life has been hard for his mother and him.”
“Hard!” answered the doctor. “Has Madame Bathory been in want—?”
He stopped himself. The old man bowed his head, and his chest heaved with sobs.
“Doctor,” said he, at last, “I can not tell you more. In the interview which she desires Madame Bathory will tell you all that you should know.”
It was evident that the doctor was thoroughly master of himself to conceal his emotion so successfully.
“Where does Madame Bathory live?” asked he.
“At Ragusa, in the Stradone quarter, at 17 in Rue Marinella.” ”

“ The doctor, thinking all the time of his interview with Mme. Bathory, followed one of the side streets and soon reached the Borgo Pille, a kind of stone arm which stretches along the triple line of the fortifications of Ragusa. The gate was open, and through the three walls gave access to the interior of the city.
A splendid paved road is the Stradone, extending from the Borgo Pille to the suburb of Plocce, after passing straight through the town. It runs along the foot of a hill on which rises quite an amphitheater of houses. ”

“ To say that the active clown was not tempted to remonstrate at the clumsy juggler, or that the powerful wrestler did not burn to take part in the struggle between the athletes, is to say what is contrary to the truth. ”

“ Bathory, in a voice trembling with emotion.
“No, madame,” answered the doctor. “But perhaps the three prisoners knew them and would have said who they were had they been able to see their families before they died.”
It will be remembered that neither Mme. Bathory, then away with her son, nor Borik, who was in prison in Trieste, had been able to visit the prisoners in their last hours.
“Shall we never know the names of these wretches?” asked Mme. Bathory.
“Madame,” answered the doctor, “traitors always end by betraying themselves. ”

“ I am listening.”
“Madame,” began the doctor, “fifteen years ago three Hungarian nobles became the chiefs of a conspiracy, the object of which was to give Hungary her ancient independence. These men were Count Mathias Sandorf, Professor Stephen Bathory and Count Ladislas Zathmar—three friends united for years in the same hope, three living beings with but one heart.
“On the 8th of June, 1867, the evening before the day on which the signal of the rising was to be given which was to extend through Hungary to Transylvania, Count Zathmar's house at Trieste was entered by the Austrian police. ”

“ Bathory, “it was only yesterday that I heard of your arrival at Gravosa, and I immediately sent Borik to request an interview with you.”
“Madame, I am ready to hear what you have to say.”
“I will retire,” said the old man.
“No, you can stay, Borik!” answered Mme. Bathory. “You are the only friend our family has, and you had better know all I am going to say to Dr. Antekirtt.”
Mme. Bathory sat down and the doctor sat in front of her, while Borik remained standing at the window.
Professor Stephen Bathory's widow was then in her sixtieth year. ”

“ They say that the young fellow has seen sorrow. And he looks like it.”
“But, Pescade, you have seen sorrow, and yet you do not look like it.”
“Physical suffering is not moral suffering, doctor. That is why I have always hidden mine—and even laughed over it.”
After this the doctor stopped his walks about Gravosa He seemed to be waiting for something that he had not desired to provoke by going to Ragusa, where the news of his arrival in the “Savarena” was of course known. ”

“ This fisherman—a brave fellow—had made all preparations to take them across the Adriatic, when, out of pure personal revenge, a Spaniard named Carpena, who had discovered the secret of their retreat, gave information to the police of Rovigno. They tried to escape a second time. ”