Maurice Leblanc

“ Speak quietly! There are still... there are evil spirits...”
“Then they're ghosts?” asked Veronique, horror-stricken by these superstitions.
“Ghosts, yes, but ghosts of flesh and blood... with hands that lock doors and keep you imprisoned... creatures that sink boats, the same, I tell you, that killed M. Antoine, Marie le Gaff and the others... that killed twenty-six of us....”
Veronique did not reply. There was no reply to make. She knew, she knew only too well who had killed M. d'Hergemont, Marie Le Goff and the others and sunk the two boats. ”

“ Nevertheless the terrible syllables came from her mouth; and Veronique heard her stammering:
“Eh? Do you understand?... That leaves four... us four... the three sisters Archignat, who were kept behind and locked up... and yourself.... So — do you follow me? — the three crosses — you know, the 'four women crucified' — the number's there... it's our four selves... there's no one besides us on the island... four women....” ”

“ Veronique did not reply.
“Yes, my sister and I saw one. Twice, when the June moon was six days old. He was dressed in white... and he was climbing the Great Oak to gather the sacred mistletoe... with a golden sickle. The gold glittered in the moonlight. I saw it, I tell you, and others saw it too.... And he's not the only one. There are several of them left over from the old days to guard the treasure.... Yes, as I say, the treasure.... They say it's a stone which works miracles, which can make you die if you touch it and which makes you live if you lie down on it. ”

“ Veronique did not smile, but she pressed him against her and said:
“No, my poor dog, all's not well; on the contrary, all's as bad as it can be. No matter: we must live, mustn't we, and we mustn't go mad ourselves like the others?” ”

“ And the strangest thing was that these flowers, which do not usually bloom at the same time and which open in successive months, were all growing and blossoming together! On one and the same day, these flowers, all perennial flowers whose time does not last much more than two or three weeks, were blooming and multiplying, full and heavy, vivid, sumptuous, proudly borne on their sturdy stems. ”

“ A few words remained, however, the very words which Veronique had read on the drawing which she found beside Maguennoc's corpse:
“Four women crucified.... Thirty coffins.... The God-Stone which gives life or death.”
Veronique moved away, staggering. The mystery was once more before her, as everywhere in the island, and she was determined to escape from it until the moment when she could leave Sarek altogether. ”

“ They went down a dip in the ground and up again. The path joined that which Veronique had taken with Honorine on the first day; and they entered the wood which preceded the bridge.
Presently the growing excitement of the sisters Archignat made Veronique understand that they were approaching the Great Oak; and she saw it standing on a mound of earth and roots, bigger than the others and separated from them by wider intervals. She could not help thinking that it was possible for several men to hide behind that massive trunk and that perhaps several were hiding there now. ”

“ The cliffs are perpendicular. You're protected on every side.”
“What about the bridge?”
“Maguennoc and Honorine thought of everything. There's a little hut fifteen yards to the left of the bridge. That's the place they hit on to keep their stock of petrol in. Empty three or four cans over the bridge, strike a match... and the thing's done. You're just as in your own home. You can't be got at and you can't be attacked.”
“Then why didn't they come to the Priory instead of taking to flight in the boats?”
“It was safer to escape in the boats. But we no longer have the choice.” ”

“ They started, after the two sisters had swallowed a glass of brandy. The madwoman sat huddled in the wheel-barrow, laughing softly and uttering little sentences which she addressed to Veronique as though she wanted her to laugh too:
“We shan't meet them yet.... They're getting ready....”
“Shut up, you old fool!” said Gertrude. “You'll bring us bad luck.”
“Yes, yes, we shall see some sport.... It'll be great fun.... I have a cross of gold hung round my neck... and another cut into the skin of my head.... Look!... Crosses everywhere.... One ought to be comfortable on the cross.... ”

“ Gertrude was moving her fingers as though counting. And the terror on their two faces increased.
Speaking in a very low voice, as though choking with fear, Gertrude, with her eyes fixed on Veronique, said:
“That's it... that's it... I've got the total.... Do you know how many there were in the boats, without my sisters and me? Do you know? Twenty.... Well, reckon 4t up: twenty... and Maguennoc, who was the first to die... and M. Antoine, who died afterwards... and little Francois and M. Stephane, who vanished, but who are dead too... and Honorine and Marie Le Goff, both dead.... ”