the frenchman meant what he said, too. there could be no doubt of that. sincerity, as well as rapture and admiration, were depicted on his face as he knelt there before the detective, kissing his hands.
for a moment nick regarded him intently, and then he said:
“rise, monsieur lafetre, for, be assured, you are the best fencer with whom i have ever contended.”
“ah! is it so? is it true, what you say to me, monsieur?”
“yes; it is quite true.”
“then i am content; yes, i am content. it is an honor but to have fenced with such as you are; but to be told that i am the greatest with whom you have ever contended—ah! that is the rapture, indeed. and you, monsieur? i have not yet the honor of hearing your name.”
“nor has any other person within the château,” replied nick.
“ha! say you so? then you came here by stealth? eh? is it true?”
“yes; it is quite true.”
“to meet me? to meet antoine lafetre? to fence?”
“it seems that i did come here to meet you, and to fence with you,” replied nick slowly. “but there was also another purpose in my coming.”
[202]
“ah, monsieur! i think—perhaps—that i comprehend.”
lafetre had regained his feet by this time, and both were rapidly resuming their outer clothing. to this last remark nick did not reply. he waited to see what the frenchman would have to say next.
“it is the madame; no? the lady who came over the sea with monsieur jean? yes?”
nick nodded an affirmative.
“monsieur is—perhaps—a relative? no? a brother, a—can it be that monsieur is the husband of madame?”
“no,” said nick. “i am none of those; but i am her defender. i have come here to rescue her. to take her away. to restore her to her friends.”
“and i am gladdened. i am content. it is as it should be. i, myself—i, antoine lafetre, should have constituted myself her defender as soon as possible. only to-day—this afternoon—the madame took me into her confidence. she told me of the friends who love her, who are on the other side of the water—in america, where i should so much like to go.”
“would you, indeed?” asked nick. “then give me a helping hand in this matter, and you shall return with me. and i think i can promise you that your art will bring you in a big revenue over there, from those whom you will teach to fence.”
“i thank you, monsieur. perhaps, after i have performed the service which monsieur asks of me, i shall have the honor to accept monsieur’s offer. but now—see!”
lafetre thrust one hand into the pocket of his coat and[203] drew forth two letters, which he gave into nick’s hands; and to the detective’s surprise he saw that one of them was addressed to himself, and the other to maxwell kane.
the latter he returned into the frenchman’s hands; then, holding the other before his eyes, he said:
“this one is for me, monsieur.”
“ah! then you are the nicholas carter—no?—who is mademoiselle harlan’s affianced. is it not so? no? she did not tell me so, but i gathered that much from what she has told me. mademoiselle is beautiful, monsieur.”
“is she well? is she safe? has she been injured in any way? is she suffering?” asked the detective rapidly.
“mademoiselle is well, though greatly troubled,” replied lafetre gravely. “she is also safe, since i, antoine, am here to lay down my life in her defense at any moment. she has not been injured, save in her pride, and she does not suffer only because of the separation from her friends.”
“thank you, lafetre. she indeed found a friend when she discovered you. now, where is she at the present moment?”
“she is in the great tower, monsieur.”
“and can you take me there?”
“not now, but later? yes. i was there but now. it was then that she gave me the letters to send. i told her that i did not know how soon they might be despatched. ah! monsieur, i little thought—i, antoine—that i should have the felicity of delivering one of the letters by hand,[204] and so soon, and to the greatest of all fencers in the world.”
“is she alone in the tower-room, antoine?”
“ah! monsieur does me even a greater honor. he admits me to his friendship by making use of one of my baptismal names in addressing himself to me. no; she is not alone. monsieur jean de cadillac is with her; but later? yes. she will be alone. he will not remain. he has gone to plead his hopeless cause again.”
“and who besides the count is there with her?”
“there is no one, monsieur.”
“then, come. we will go there at once. you will lead the way. i have something to say to him as well.”
“but monsieur is mad to think of such a thing. there are a hundred armed men in this castle, all ready to do the bidding of the count at a mere gesture of his hand. perhaps the monsieur cartier does not know, but they are smugglers. this is their headquarters. it is to this place where they bring the spoils of their trade. and it is i who am also a prisoner here as well as mademoiselle. i discovered the smugglers’ secrets, unwisely. i have been detained a prisoner two years. i have the freedom of the château—yes—but beyond it? la, la! if i should attempt that, a bullet would stop me. but there is one among the smugglers—yes—who is my friend. it was through him whereby i hoped to mail the letters, although i greatly fear they might not have gone. but monsieur is mad to think of going to the tower while the count is there. there are a hundred armed men in the château, and he has but to signal to them.”
[205]
“i don’t care if there are a thousand,” said nick. “take me there.”
“if monsieur insists——”
“i do insist.”
“eh, bien. it is done. but first, monsieur, my rapier; and a pistol or two. if it is to fight—and it will be so—it is well to be prepared.”
lafetre was as cool now and as determined as the detective himself. he had no fear; that was evident. he only needed a leader.
nick watched him while he coolly provided himself with such weapons as he needed—the rapier, with which he had contended against the detective, a pair of revolvers, and a short sword which he buckled on the side opposite the rapier.
“it is well to be provided,” he said nonchalantly. “the rapier is a long weapon with which to fight ruffians, such as these men are. sometimes a bludgeon will knock it from your hand when nothing else would do so; and then, you see, i have this to fall back upon. no? come, monsieur. i am ready.”
he led the way from the room then, closing the door after him. in the corridor it was dark, but the frenchman seemed to know the way perfectly well, and he started forward without hesitation, although greatly to nick’s surprise, in the direction opposite that in which the tower was located.
nick stopped him.
“the tower is not in that direction,” he said, whispering in his ear.
[206]
“no, monsieur; but our way to it lies in this direction. we turn down a corridor to the right, and then again toward the tower. then we shall arrive at the place we want.”
“good!” said nick. “go ahead.”
as they were passing the doors which nick had fastened on the outside he called lafetre’s attention to them, touching the button of his pocket electric light in order to do so.
lafetre nodded and smiled.
“they cannot get out,” he said, “unless they climb down by way of the vines; and so it was, i have no doubt, that you entered; no? in this room are the officers of the two vessels which do the smuggling. in that room yonder should be the captain of one of them. the other captain is ill. he is in england, where it is said he will die. he was wounded by a coast guard.”
“and the men—where are they?” asked nick.
“they are below, monsieur; two floors. on what you would call the ground floor. ah! that magic light of yours, monsieur. it is fine; but we do not require it now.”
they went on again, silently and swiftly. they turned through the corridor to the right as lafetre had indicated, and then again toward the tower. presently they arrived at the foot of a flight of winding, stone stairs, which led upward through the darkness, toward the summit of the tower. here nick touched the button of his light again and glanced at his watch.
“it is nine o’clock, antoine,” he said.
[207]
“yes, monsieur. at ten the count would retire, if we did not disturb him.”
“and the men? what do they do with themselves?”
“ah! they smoke, and gamble, and drink themselves into a stupor. by midnight they would be, for the most part, helpless.”
“then why have you not sought such an opportunity to escape from the château?”
“there are always guards, monsieur. they are always on the watch. once, when one of them slept at his post, monsieur jean discovered him, and shot him dead.”
“indeed!” muttered the detective. “there is something of the sow’s ear about him, after all.”
“what was monsieur pleased to remark?”
“lead on, antoine. let us lose no time.”
they went on in silence after that, winding up the stairs until it seemed to nick that they should long ago have arrived at the summit of the tower. but at last antoine paused before a door of solid oak, and, pointing at it, he said:
“mademoiselle is there, monsieur. monsieur jean is with her. i think if you knock, he will open: and there is no other way of gaining admittance, for the door is solid. but if he will open—ah! then we will enter before he has the opportunity to close it again. is it not so? no? yes!”
nick carter raised his hand and rapped loudly against the door.
