A Madeira Party

by S. Weir Mitchell

upon us.

  "It is a sad story, dear Duke. I wonder how you can wish to hear itagain. And will my young friend draw the corks of these bottles, and becareful not to shake the wine?"

  St. Maur, saying, "With pleasure, yes," went on to draw the corks.

  "What a bouquet has that Chambertin!" said the Duke. "But go on, myfriend."

  "In a moment or so my mother exclaimed: 'There is something wrong. Imust go and see. My husband was to come with us. It has long been soarranged.'

  "With great difficulty the Duke persuaded her to run no farther risk.'If,' he said, 'your husband has been arrested, you can do no good. Ifhe has not, we shall soon hear, and I, myself, will seek to learn wherehe is.'

  "This quieted her for a little while, and we sat still in the darkness,which seemed to grow deeper. I think it must have been an hour beforeany one spoke, but at times I could hear my mother sob. At last thebaby woke up again and made doleful cries, so that the Duke said--andhis was the first voice to break the long silence: 'Is there a way tomake a light? It may quiet him.'

  "My mother said, 'Yes'; and after groping about we found flint andsteel, and presently, with a little care, there was a bit of flame and acandle lit. I declare to you, it made things look the more dismal.Later it caused us all to feel a strange and causeless elation. Mymother, who was a resolute woman, began to walk about, and the baby,having been given milk, grew quiet. We boys were set to work arrangingthe mattresses and blankets and all the material my father had bydegrees made ready for this hour of need. There was food enough for astay of many days, and as to wine, there was of that an abundance, andalso a barrel of good water.

  "After our brief task was over we two little fellows sat most of thatlong first day beside each other, rarely opening our lips. My mother layon a mattress, trying to keep the babe quiet, for he used his lungsdangerously well. The Duke walked to and fro restlessly, and by and bycarefully put his pistols in order and laid them on a cask. After somehours he became more tranquil and even gay, and kept us all sustained byhis gentle goodness and sweet temper, laughing at our fears, recallingto my mother what hopeful words my father had used, and at last almostmaking her sure that no one would hurt so good a man.

  "When the Duke looked at his jeweled watch, which had been used tonumber more pleasant hours, he told us it was night, and nine o'clock.My mother said prayers, and the candle having been put out, we all laydown and slept as we could. I must have slept well, for it was nine inthe morning when I awakened, and I, for one, had to think a little torecover my orientation.

  "In this dismal fashion we passed two days. Then, on the third, aboutnoon, as we had heard no noise above us, the Duke and my mother thoughtwe might look out to see if any one were about. This, as I shall tellyou, proved a sad business, and had like to have caused our ruin. Butof this later.

  "The Duke went up the stair, and with difficulty lifted the trapdoor soas to see a little. As no one was in sight, he heaved off the staves myfather had cast down, and at last got himself out into the upper cellar.Then he went thence into the plant-house and garden, and at last boldlyentered the house, in which was no one, as it had been closed, and, aswe learned long after, the seal of the Republic put on the door. In ahalf hour the Duke returned and took me back into the house, whence wecarried a number of things much needed in our cave, such as morecandles, and a blanket or two, although this was chiefly for precaution,since the cellar was never cold, nor, as I think of it, damp. Wehurried back, and as we did so I asked the Duke about my father. Butneither he nor my mother could tell why he had been arrested, as he hadmanaged to keep in good relations with some of the Jacobins. It wasquite common to hear of the head of a house being arrested, and then,within a day or two, of the women being likewise hurried to the commonfate which awaited all suspects. The Duke seemed to think my fathermight have had some such fear for us, and desired to put us all insafety, although how in the end this could be of use did not seem veryclear.

  "When we all got back to the cave and had shut the trap, I sat a longwhile much oppressed in my small mind; but so, too, were our elders, Ifear. As to this my Duke here, he cried a little, but not so that anyone knew but myself.

  "In this way four miserable days and nights went by, and, thusimprisoned, we knew not what to do. We had waited long, hopeful of myfather's return, and, _mon Dieu!_ he came not at all. The Duke was forgoing forth again at night and some way escaping alone, fearing that tobe caught in our company might more surely bring us into trouble when atlast we should be forced, soon or late, to come out to the light.Meanwhile, this blackness, for it was not mere darkness, became moreterrible than I can make any one comprehend. As I remember, there werelong talks of what to do, with vain endings, and, in between, great,awful silences."

  "I used to get frightened then," said the Duke, looking up from thefire. "One seemed so absolutely alone. I used to resist for a time,and at last put out a hand to take hold of your mother's skirt forcompany. Once or twice the poor baby screamed so loud that he had to bekept quiet by a little _eau de vie_, lest some one coming overheadshould hear; for, indeed, in this vault his cries seemed like shouts,and one heard better because one could not see. Do you remember that,Des Illes? But I used to wish that baby would cry all day."

  "Do I remember? Yes, indeed. Those were not days or things to beeasily forgotten. But to go on. The fifth day, when we were all of usbecoming distracted, a thing took place which settled some of ourdoubts. It may have been about six o'clock in the evening when we heardfaint noises in the upper cellar. The Duke was first, I think, tonotice them; then a footfall passed over the trap, and this was only tooplain. The Duke caught my arm and said quietly, 'Come here,' and sosaying, drew me to the foot of the stone stairs. This was about, as youknow, ten feet high. I could see nothing, but I heard his step as hewent up. Then he said, 'Here is a pistol. Be ready to hand it tome--so--so; do not let the powder fall from the pan. I have one pistol.If there are two men and you are quick, these will suffice. If thereare three men, we are lost.' It was dark as I stood, for we never usedcandles save when we ate, and to quiet the baby. I reflected quicklythat, as the Duke could not have put back the staves, they who weresearching must easily find the trap; and so it was, for just as he saidsoftly, 'Keep still every one,' the trap was lifted a little and a rayof blinding candle-light shot through the narrow space. For a moment Icould see nothing because of the glare. Then the trap was carefullyraised still higher, and we saw the figure of a kneeling man sustainingthe door with his left hand. In the other he held a lantern and acanvas bag. Luckily for us all, the Duke was a person of calm courage.He had seen that the stranger was not an agent of police. 'If you move,you are dead,' he cried, and the muzzle of a pistol on the man's breastmade him for the time motionless, and perhaps quickened his wits, for heexclaimed: 'Great heavens! I am not a municipal. God forbid. I amonly a thief. Be merciful, sir. I entered the house by a window, andnow the officers have come in by a door and I shall be guillotined as anaristocrat.'

  "'A pretty tale; I have half a mind to kill you,' said the Duke.

  "'Pray the Lord keep the other half!' cried the thief.

  "Upon this I heard my mother exclaim: 'No, no; let him come down.'

  "'If you fire, I shall be dead, but your pistol will call thesescoundrels. I have stolen only this bag of gold. Take it, sir. Sosaying, he let it fall on the head of this our Duke Henri, who, havingcrept near to listen, set up a dismal howl, because of the weight of ahundred gold louis.

  "I heard the Duke, his father, call out, 'Idiot, hold your tongue! Theanimal is right. Come down, you rascal. I would not deny the foul fienda refuge from these villains.'

  "'Sir, you will never regret this good deed,' said the thief, andinstantly two long legs were through the opening, as I stepped down tomake way for our new lodger. The Duke was about to close the trap whenthe thief said, 'Permit me, sir,' and set about cleverly arranging thestaves on the half-closed trap-door, in order that, as he le
t it fall,they might cover it at least in part.

  "After this he descended, and, bowing in an awkward way, said, 'I amyour humble servant, Madam'; and to the Duke, 'You have saved my life.It is a cheap article nowadays, but still--'

  "'Enough, master thief; here am I, the Duke de St. Maur, and Madame, myfriend's wife, and the baby, and these boys. Put out your lantern. Godknows when we shall get out, or how this adventure will end; but, untilit is over, you are a stranger within our gates, and we will feed youwhile our food lasts.' It seemed to me queer to be so near to a thief,but I heard my mother say something, and some one muttered an 'Ave'; itmight have been the thief.

  "After a little, the Duke asked him a question as to how he entered ourhouse, and then my mother inquired if he had seen my father. He seemeda merry fellow, our thief, and so well pleased to be cared for and letlive that by and by he laughed outright until the Duke bade him have acare. Nor was this at all a needless caution, because the next day,quite early on the sixth morning, we could too easily hear feet above uson the floor of the wine-vault. I heard the Duke's 'Hist!' and we wereall as still as mice, except that the Duke, as before, gave me a pistoland went up the ladder to be ready. I, following him, waited a littlefurther down. It must have been that they were making free with thewine, because some of it was spilled and ran through the trap and downmy neck. It quite scared me, but in peril and in darkness a littlething will do that. One man fell over the staves, but, as the Duke toldus later, he swore as if hurt, and so, I fancy, did not chance to seeour trap-door. All day long we prayed and listened and watched. When,at nightfall, all sounds were over, we resolved that the Duke shouldtake a look outside, not knowing what to do or how otherwheres to findan exit we might think to use."

  "And then," said the Duke to Des Illes, as he paused in his story.

  "Ah me! and then,--you remember."

  "Remember? I shall never forget it,--the trap could not be moved! Whenthis dreadful thing was discovered, both our thief and the Duke got uphigh on the ladder, and, with heads on one side and heaving with theirshoulders, failed to open it. It was quite in vain. The thief, asusual, took a gay view of the situation. They have, said he, rolled acask of wine on to the trap. They will drink it up, or steal it by thegallon, and when the cask is lighter we can heave it off, or--'

  "'Thou art a merry sinner,' said the Duke, and even my mother laughed,and we boys. The gay noise came back dismally, thus bottled up in thenarrow vault. But when we began to reflect, we knew that we were buriedalive. Our thief had no end of schemes. We would bore through the doorwith an auger, and then bore into the barrel and let the wine run out.'But we have no auger,' said the Duke, 'and the door is covered withsheet-iron.' 'No matter, he would think; if he walked, he could thinkbetter,' and so he moved to and fro awhile in search of wisdom.

  "By this time, because our young stomachs began to cry out, we lit acandle, and my mother gave us all our portions, while I sat on theladder top so as to hear if any one came. For a little while we werestrangely cheerful, and this I saw happen whenever we lit up our vault.The baby smiled, and we moved about and made believe it was a smallmatter, after all. As for our thief, he was a treasure of queerstories, and you could not help but laugh, even if you were desolate theminute after.

  "Our thief had made ready his lantern, and, as I said, began to prowlabout into corners, and at last stumbled over our Duke's legs.

  "'_Diable!_' cried the Duke. 'Put out your light; we have few enoughcandles; and keep quiet, too. You are as uneasy as a cat of thestreets.'

  "'And I am but a street cat, Monsieur, and have wisdom enough to knowthat the lazy eat no mice.'

  "'I don't see how your stumbling about this cellar will help us or you.'

  "'Who knows, Monsieur? When you are in a scrape it is never well to keepquiet. I have been in many, and worse than this--perils by sea andland, and rope--I always get out, but--Ah me, to forget them is noteasy.'

  "'Rope!' said the Duke. 'Indeed--'

  "'Yes; they hang a fellow for so little, nowadays. You will permit,Duke, that I change the conversation; I avoid it usually. Indeed, I amcareful not to tie my cravat too tight; it gives one a turn sometimes--asort of prophetic hint.'

  "'You are a droll devil,' laughed the Duke, 'and not bad company--whereyou can't run away with a purse. Do as you like.'

  "'Thanks, Monsieur,' said the thief, and with no more words resumed acareful search, as it seemed to me, after nothing. Indeed, we youngfellows laughed as he looked under and back of the casks. 'It is goodto laugh,' he said, as we followed him about; 'but in my business, whenthere is no profit to be had, it is well to cultivate one's powers ofobservation.' After a while we tired of following him, and sat down;but he continued his search among the cobwebs--of which, trust me, therewere enough even in those days.

  "At last I saw him mount on top of some empty barrels at the far end ofthe cave. Unable to see behind them, he lowered his lantern between thecasks and the wall of the cellar, and looked. Of a sudden he scrambleddown and cried, waving his lantern: 'A thief for luck! A thief forluck!'

  "'What! what!' exclaimed the Duke, rising. As to the thief, he kneltdown at my mother's feet and said, looking in her face: 'Madame, God hassent you this thief to show you a way out of this grave.' My mothercaught his arm and cried, 'Let this jesting cease.' He answered, 'I donot jest,' and we all leaped up and came to where he knelt.

  "'What is this?' said the Duke; on which our thief turned to the end ofthe vault and quite easily spun aside two of the casks.

  "'Look!' he said. To our surprise, there were several boards setagainst the wall, and between their joinings came a current of air whichflared a candle-flame. 'There is a space beyond,' said the Duke. 'Is itthe catacombs? And was this vault a part? See the masonry here, andover it these boards nailed fast into the cracks.' 'Horrible!' cried mypoor mother. I had heard that all of the contents of the Cemetery ofthe Innocents had been tumbled into some of the openings of thesecatacombs. '_Mon Dieu_,' I cried; 'they are full of the dead!'

  "'It is the live rascals I care not to meet,' laughed the thief; 'as forthe dead, they are dead. All their wants are supplied. They neithersteal nor kill--and there are ways out--ways out--I am sure.'

  "'Pray God, my good thief, that it may be as you say,' said my mother;'but _mon Dieu!_ one may wander far, they say, in these old quarries.''Let us see,' said the thief, and with a strong hand he tore away boardafter board, the rusted nails breaking and the rotten wood falling athis feet. There, before him and us, was a great, dark gap in the wall.Our thief held his lantern within it.

  "'I see little; there is a descent. I must go and find out.'

  "'Oh, be careful! You may fall--may die,' said my mother.

  "'You have said that, Madame, which would send me smiling on a worseerrand. Since I was of this lad's bigness, no one has so much as caredif I lived or died. I was a mere dog of the streets whom all menkicked.'

  "'Poor fellow,' said my mother. 'We are alike of the company ofmisfortune, and perhaps from this day you may forever turn from evil.'

  "'Let us waste no more time,' said the Duke; 'but have a care, or weshall lose you.'

  "'If he had a long string which he might unroll,' said I. 'I saw that ina book.'

  "'Good,' said the Duke, 'if we had it; but we have not.'

  "'But we have,' said the thief. 'Here is Madame's knitting-ball. Thelad shall hold the end, and I shall be the fish at the other end, andunroll it as I go.'

  "Upon this, I, very proud, was given the end to hold, and our thief tookhis lantern and went on, we watching him until the light was lostbecause of his turning a corner. He might have been gone half an hourwhen he came back. My mother said to him: 'We feared for you. And now,what is your name? For if out of jest we have called you Mr. Thief, thatis not to be done any more.'

  "Upon this he said his name was Francois, and that in the catacombs hehad gotten into a labyrinth of wet passages and seen no light anywhere.'Indeed,'
he said, 'if we venture in and lose power to come back whitherwe started, we may never get out alive. What with the bewilderment ofmany crossings, underground ways, and the armies of rats, it is a madresort.' This notion of the rats, I confess, made me quail. So the endof it was that our new hope became but a new despair. _Mon Dieu_! 'T isa long tale."

  Both Pierce and I declared our interest, which was in truth real, and hewent on.

  "The coming of the seventh day still found us reasonably wellprovisioned, and our elders discussing ways of escape, but finding noneavailable. About noon of this day occurred an event which put an end tothese discussions. All the morning there had been noises overhead, andwe were kept in continual alarm. At last they were heard just over thetrap, and we began to hope they were moving the cask. This, indeed, wasthe case. They made a great racket. To us underneath, the sounds abovewere such as to make us wonder what they could be doing. I suppose itwas all caused by rolling the full barrels about to get at the bungs.After a while it ceased; but in an hour or so the Duke cried: 'On guard!Be