what was talked about for more than three months in the little town of nantua

to master rené's first question, "for heaven's sake! what is going on in the prison, friend bodoux?" the person thus addressed replied:

"the most extraordinary things that were ever known, monsieur servet! when they came to relieve the sentinel this morning, they found him gagged and tied up like a sausage; and just now it seems that they have found père rossignol and his turnkey shut up in a cell. what times we live in, good lord! what times we live in!"

from the very grotesqueness of the reply, diane saw that he was telling the truth. it was clear to any intelligent person that if the jailer and the turnkey were inside, the prisoner must be outside.

diane dropped master rené's arm, darted through the crowd, made her way toward the prison, and finally reached the door.

here she heard some one say: "the prisoner has escaped!"

at the same time, père rossignol and the turnkey appeared within the jail, having been released from the cell in the first place by the locksmith, who had opened the door, and in the second place by the mayor and the police commissioner, who had unbound them.

"you cannot pass," said the sergeant to diane.

"that order may apply to every one else," said diane, "but not to me. i am the sister of the escaped prisoner."

this reasoning was not very conclusive in point of law,[pg 413] but it carried with it the logic of the heart, which few men can resist.

"oh! that is another thing," said the sergeant, lifting his sword. "pass on, mademoiselle!"

and diane passed in, to the great astonishment of the crowd, who saw the curtain rising upon a new phase of the drama, and muttered: "it is the prisoner's sister!"

now everybody in nantua knew who the prisoner was, and for what cause he was imprisoned.

père rossignol and the turnkey were at first in such a state of terror and prostration that neither the mayor nor the police commissioner could get anything out of them. fortunately the latter bethought him of the idea of giving them each a glass of wine, which enabled the former to relate how six masked men had forced an entrance into the prison, had compelled him and the turnkey rigobert to go down to the cell with them, and after making sure of the prisoner, who had arrived two days before, had locked them up in his place. since then they did not know what had happened.

this was all that diane cared to know for the moment. convinced that her brother had been taken away by the companions of jehu, since père rossignol described his assailants as masked men, she hastened from the jail. but she was at once surrounded by an eager crowd, who, having heard that she was the prisoner's sister, wanted to hear the details of his escape.

in a few words diane told them all she knew, and with great difficulty she rejoined master rené servet. she was about to give him the order for post-horses to start at once when she heard a man shout that the registry was on fire—a piece of news destined to share the attention of the crowd with that of the prisoner's escape.

indeed, they had learned almost all that was to be learned, when this unexpected news opened up a new field of conjecture. it was almost certain that there must be some connection between the prisoner's escape and the[pg 414] fire at the registry. the young girl believed this to be the case. the order to put horses to the chaise died upon her lips, for she felt that this fire would furnish her with further details concerning her brother's escape which might be useful to her.

time had been speeding on during this investigation. it was now eight o'clock in the morning. this was the time to present herself at the magistrate's house to whom she had the letter. moreover, the extraordinary events of which the little town of nantua had been the scene would explain this early visit, especially from the prisoner's sister. diane, therefore, begged her landlord to take her to monsieur pérignon; for such was the name of the president of the tribunal.

monsieur pérignon had been one of the first to be awakened by the news which had thrown all nantua into a turmoil. but he had hurried to the spot in which he, as a judge, was particularly interested; that is to say, to the registry. he had just returned when mademoiselle de fargas was announced.

when he reached the office the fire had been extinguished; but it had already consumed a portion of the papers which had been deposited there for safe-keeping. he had questioned the porter, who told him that the clerk had come to the office about half-past eleven with two gentlemen, and that he, the porter, had not thought it necessary to investigate, inasmuch as the clerk frequently came there in the evening to procure papers which he engrossed at home.

scarcely had the clerk taken his departure when he had noticed a bright light through the windows of the office. not understanding what it could mean, he had risen and gone in. there he had found a great fire, lighted in such a way that it would spread along the wooden cases which lined the wall, and which contained boxes of documents. he had not lost his head, but had separated the burning papers from the ones which the fire had as yet left un[pg 415]touched, and had succeeded in extinguishing it by bringing water in dippers from a tub in the cellar.

the worthy porter had gone no further in his calculations than to ascribe it to an accident; but as the flames had done some mischief, and he, by his presence of mind, had prevented still greater damage, he had told everybody about it in the morning when he awoke. as it was to his interest to enlarge upon the occurrence, by seven in the morning the rumor was current throughout the town that, had it not been for his great courage, the fire, which had burned his clothes off of his back, would have destroyed not only the registry but also the entire court house.

monsieur pérignon, on seeing the state of the registry office, had thought very sensibly that the best way to obtain information was to see the clerk himself. consequently, he went to his house and asked to see him. he was told that during the night the clerk had been attacked with brain fever, and raved continuously of masked men, stolen papers, and burning records.

when he saw monsieur pérignon, the clerk's terror reached its climax; but believing that it would be wiser to tell all than to invent a fable that would only serve to make him suspected of complicity with the incendiaries, he fell at monsieur pérignon's feet and confessed all. the coincidence between the events of the night left no doubt in the magistrate's mind that they were a part of the same plot, and were intended to achieve the double purpose of carrying off both the guilty man and the proof of his guilt.

the presence of the prisoner's sister in his house, and her story of what had passed, left no room for doubt, even had he been in doubt. these masked men had come to nantua with the intention of abducting lucien de fargas and the report of the prosecution, which had begun against him. now for what purpose had the prisoner been abducted?

in the sincerity of her heart diane did not doubt that her brother's companions, moved by generosity, had united, and had risked their own heads to save his.

[pg 416]

but monsieur pérignon, whose mind was cold and logical, was not of the same opinion. he knew the actual reason for the prisoner's removal to nantua; and that, having informed against some of his accomplices, he had since become an object of vengeance to the companions of jehu. thus his opinion inclined him to the belief that, far from aiding him to escape from prison in order to restore his liberty, they had taken him away only to punish him more cruelly than the law would have done. the important thing, therefore, was to ascertain whether they had taken the road to geneva or had returned to the interior of the department.

if they had taken the road to geneva, thereby placing themselves beyond the frontier, it would prove that they had intended to save lucien de fargas and their own lives as well. if they had, on the contrary, gone into the interior of the department, it would be because they felt themselves strong enough to defy justice twice over—not only as highwaymen but as murderers.

at this suggestion, which came to her for the first time, diane turned, and seizing monsieur pérignon's hand, cried: "monsieur, monsieur! do you think they would dare commit such a crime?"

"the companions of jehu would dare anything, mademoiselle," replied the judge; "particularly that which one would suppose a crime they would not dare attempt."

"but," said diane, trembling with terror, "how can we learn whether they have gone to the frontier or returned to the interior of france?"

"oh! as to that, nothing is easier," replied the judge. "this is market-day, and ever since midnight the roads have been crowded with peasants who have been bringing their produce to market with their carts and donkeys. ten men on horseback, accompanied by a prisoner, could never have passed unnoticed. we must find some people coming from saint-germain and chérizy, and ask them if they saw such a party going in the direction of the gex country; and[pg 417] then we must find others who come from vollognas and peyriat, and find out whether they have seen a party of horsemen going toward bourg."

diane was so urgent, she laid so much stress upon the letter which monsieur pérignon's brother-in-law had given her to him, and, moreover, her situation as the sister of the man whose life was at stake aroused so much sympathy, that the magistrate consented to accompany her to the market-place.

there they learned that some horsemen had been seen on their way to bourg.

diane thanked monsieur pérignon, went to the dauphin, ordered horses to be made ready, and started immediately for bourg. there she alighted on the place de la prefecture, at the h?tel des grottes de ceyzeriat, which had been recommended to her by master rené servet.