Max Pemberton

“ I am a lover of solitude, and my secrets are not well worn in company. But you will find my supper none the less excellent, believe me. As for our friend here, let there be no hot blood between us. I have not forgotten the service he did to Coq le Roi. Saint John! it is I who should fear with such a wizard for my guest.”
The bloodless eyes of the old physician twinkled when the compliment was paid. He, for the first time, appeared to forget the pass to which things had come, and to observe the supper now being served by the comrade of their host. ”

“ They are the blows of the axes which hew a scaffold for you. If you doubt me, look from yon window and you shall see—”
“La Force” ran to the window, and standing upon the tips of his toes looked into the court. Where darkness had prevailed ten minutes before, light—the light of fifty torches—now mastered the night. The highwayman saw that these torches were held by men gowned as his mysterious visitor, all in deep black, with hoods covering their faces, and holes for their eyes, which gave them an ogreish aspect terrible to behold. ”

“ The robber bent over the bowl, and examined its contents very narrowly. “Bah!” he answered, “you mock me; there is nothing there.”
Antonio looked again.
“My son,” said he, speaking now with the air of a doctor, “fate is not the child of man, that he shall say to her, do this, and she will do it. Seek rather to approach these mysteries with awe, for they are mysteries to which God alone holds the key. Let there be obedience in your heart and humility in your mind, since the hour of your death is about to be made known to you.” ”

“ I would have given a hundred crowns had I been there to hear the jest.”
Antonio looked up from his plate.
“My friend,” said he, “it was a jest, I grant; yet had it been my intention, I could have told the future of Coq le Roi not for one day, but for a year.”
“La Force” roared with laughter; the wine had warmed him, and his wager was nearly won.
“Name of the devil,” cried he, “you are a true magician, old man; have a care lest you provoke me to ask a like experiment.”
“Indeed,” intervened Corinne, who had exchanged a quick glance with the doctor, “you do Antonio an injustice. ”

“ The cold light of dawn, the silent, hooded figures, the gaunt black scaffold, struck his heart with a deadly and overwhelming fear. He gave one long-drawn cry of agony, and then fell fainting upon the stone floor.
But at the moment when he fell, a great shout of laughter went up in the court, and one of the monks, pulling aside his hood, exclaimed: “Haste to drive him to Gros Bois. The drug that was in the wine acts for three hours. Let him be quite alone when he awakes.” ”

“ The lacqueys, on the other hand, were in the last stages of fear; and while the coachman cried out that his coach would surely be found in the ditch, the others behind clung to their straps desperately and rolled against each other as men drunk with wine. It was five minutes before this strange cavalcade reached the house of the Silver Birch.
The robber's house lay snug in the thicket as a nest in the hedge. ”

“ He had left the other heavily armed to watch the terrified lacqueys. Old Antonio in his turn had become green with anger and cold and impatience. He mumbled no longer, even to himself. The highwayman alone remained self-possessed and talkative; indeed, he assumed a more plausible politeness with every step he took.
“Mademoiselle,” he said, producing a great key from his pocket, and bidding his fellow hold the flambeau nearer to the door, “why do you tremble? Am I not here to protect you? In half an hour you shall have eaten a good supper, and be on your way to Paris again. ”

“ When they had done their work, the tallest of the three, who was dressed in black and silver and wore a mask upon his face, came up to the door of the coach and opened it. At the same time he doffed his cap and bowed with the dignity of a courtier.
“Mademoiselle,” said he, addressing Corinne, “a thousand pardons for the liberty we have taken. Be assured that I know your name well and that it is held in great reverence here. But I have laid a wager of a thousand crowns that you shall sup with me to-night at the house of the Silver Birch, and that I shall kiss you on both cheeks afterwards. ”

“ If he can do that, I will conduct you to your coach before the clock strikes again.”
Corinne looked at Antonio inquiringly, but the doctor shook his head.
“It is true,” said he, “that I told Coq le Roi's fate, and traced the orbit of his day; but that, I would ask you to remember, was a jest. To-night we leave the jester's mask behind us, and neither pen nor paper will serve our purpose. Command, I pray you, monsieur, that your servant bring me yon silver bowl full to the brim with boiling water.”
“Pah!” exclaimed the robber, “you think that I am a child!” ”

“ He bowed again, and seeing that Antonio still hesitated, he put his hand roughly upon the physician's collar and dragged him from the coach. Corinne, on her part, convinced that further resistance was useless, stepped lightly from the carriage and took the robber's arm.
“Monsieur,” she said, “I am trusting to you as to one of my own kinsmen. But I warn you that you will find me a dangerous guest.”
The robber laughed.
“Mademoiselle,” said he, “my own daughter shall not win greater respect. You have but to command and I obey.” ”

“ To-night you ask for your kinsman and his strong arm, yet, believe me, my daughter, should misfortune overtake us, I, who have no weapon but my book, no ally but my visions, will prove the better friend. ”

“ The old physician stopped in the middle of shaping an 8 and put his head out of the window.
“Mademoiselle,” he said, “we are half of a league from the town of Fontenay at the spot known as the Gorge of the Three Gibbets, reminding us that very lately his Majesty has caused three rogues to be hanged in this place.”
Corinne laughed again.
“My dear Antonio,” she said, “what a guide you would make!”
Antonio picked up his pen.
“My child,” said he, “unless we observe the signposts as we go, life is likely to show us a heavy road. ”

“ Nor did they speak when they led him from the cell presently, and, coming out into the court, he beheld a towering scaffold with a masked executioner upon the steps of it, and other hooded men ready to assist in the last great act.
“La Force” had never thought that death could wear a shape so awful. ”

“ The Man answered him by levelling a Pistol.
When the lacqueys and the third of the robbers arrived at the chalet presently, they found “La Force” already bound hand and foot with the white cloth from his own table.
Indeed, a physician alone could have told that he lived; and when the remaining highwayman saw the body he reeled back as though a pistol had been fired in his face.
“Rascal!” cried Antonio, taking advantage of the situation to grip him by the throat and to clap a pistol to his head—one of the pistols he had snatched from the belt of “La Force”—“rascal! ”