The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic

by Eugène Sue

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  SERVING AND MIS-SERVING.

  Jesuit Morlet and his god-son, little Rodin, had been taken in duecourse before the Provost, and the reverend fellow was now awaiting thehour of his execution, which was set for sun-up. The cord which boundhis arms was fastened to a post of the cart-shed that served as shelterfor the Grand Provost's mounted police; at the foot of the post theJesuit lay huddled. Too case-hardened not to face death with a certaindegree of calm, he said to his god-son:

  "I have no chance of escaping death. I shall be shot at break of day.Here ends my career."

  "You will soon be with the angels," dryly responded little Rodin, whonow seemed strangely to have recovered both speech and hearing.

  "Poor little one! My beloved son, you are, are you not, very sad at myapproaching death?"

  "You are an elect of the Lord, predestined to glory, and you will sit atHis right side through eternity. _Hosannah in excelsis!_ On thecontrary, I rejoice in your martyrdom."

  "So young, and already devoid of affection!" muttered the Jesuit tohimself. "Are you not grieved at the idea of being left behind andforsaken by my death?"

  "The Lord God will watch over His servant, as He watches over the birdsof the air. He provides for all."

  "Listen, dear child; when God has called me to Him, go you to Rome, tothe General of the Order. God will perform the rest."

  "I shall go to Rome; your recommendations will be precisely followed,dear god-father; I shall serve the holy cause of God."

  As little Rodin concluded these words, a courier came up and said to thecavalryman on picket duty before the Jesuit and his god-son: "Comrade,can you show me to the quarters of Citizen General Donadieu? I have amessage for him."

  "You haven't far to go. Pass through the shed, turn to the right, andyou will see another cavalry picket before the door of a house. There iswhere General Donadieu is quartered," replied the sentry, while thecourier vanished in the direction indicated.

  "Good god-father, General Donadieu is attached to this army! Good newsfor us!"

  "But, dear god-son, how will the presence of this general serve us any?"

  "Good god-father," replied young Rodin in a whisper, "if you wish it,you need not go to-day to visit the angels of the Lord. Think and decidewhether you would rather go. I am here to obey you."

  With a nod the Jesuit approved the advice of his god-son, and beckoningto the cavalryman, who approached them, he said: "Hey, sentry! Is itindeed decided that I be shot at daybreak?"

  "In the shake of a lamb's tail. You won't have long to wait."

  "Well, well! Since it must be so, I have decided to makerevelations--very important ones."

  "I shall call the brigadier and he will take you before the Provost."

  "No, no. It is to a general that I wish to make my revelations. Let yourchiefs know without delay."

  "You hear that, brigadier!" commented the sentry to an under-officer whohad come up. "The old rascal calls for a general to make revelationsto!"

  "I'll go see the Provost about it," said the brigadier. The few momentshe was gone the Jesuit utilized to confer in whispers with his god-son.The brigadier quickly returned, went up to the post to which thereverend was tethered, and said to him:

  "Off to General Donadieu. But look out for yourself if your confidencesare a sham!" And seeing that little Rodin made ready to follow theprisoner, the soldier added: "Has this brat also revelations to make?Has he got anything to do with you?"

  "The child will attest, by his tender candor, the sincerity of mycommunications, and will complete them in case of gaps in my memory."

  General Donadieu, commandant of a brigade of light cavalry in the Armyof the Rhine and Moselle, had just finished reading the order he hadreceived, when one of his aides-de-camp informed him that a spy,condemned to be shot at sunrise, asked for an audience to give himinformation of the utmost importance, but requested that the interviewhave no other witness than the child who would accompany him.

  "I do not accept the scoundrel's proposal," replied the General to hisaide-de-camp. "His condition is compromising. Send him in, and stay hereyourself."

  Accompanied by his god-son, the Jesuit appeared. Both were calm. TheGeneral looked the spy over from head to foot, and said to him sharply:

  "You pretend to have important matters to disclose to me, which, yousay, concern the army? I shall listen to you. But be brief. Do not abusemy patience."

  "When we are alone," replied the Jesuit, glancing at the aide-de-camp."Our interview must be in secret."

  "My aide is my second self. He may hear all. Speak, then. Speak at once,or go to the devil!"

  "I shall speak, then, General, since you command it. The day after thebattle of Watignies a cavalry colonel in the republican army was takenprisoner. He was marched to headquarters--"

  "Wait a moment!" cried General Donadieu, visibly troubled at theseopening words of the Jesuit's. "You hope to obtain a suspension ofsentence as the price of your revelations?"

  "More than that. I must be set at liberty."

  "I can grant you neither delay nor liberation without the authority ofthe Representatives of the people. Captain, find Citizen St. Just atonce, and ask him whether I may suspend the execution of this man if hisrevelations seem worthy of it."

  "At your orders, General," replied the aide, as he left the room.

  The General, at last overcoming the uneasiness which the Jesuit's firstwords caused him, now resumed, haughtily:

  "As you were saying, the day after the battle of Watignies a cavalrycolonel--"

  "General Donadieu," came imperiously from the Jesuit, "your moments arenumbered. If, before your aide returns, you have not contrived a way toset me at liberty, you are lost. Think it over. A prisoner at the battleof Watignies, you were conducted by the Count of Plouernel beforeMonseigneur the Prince of Conde, who received you most flatteringly. Youadmitted to him that it was with regret that you served in an army solacking in military pride as to submit to the yoke of theRepresentatives of the people. You added--still speaking, be itremembered, to the Prince of Conde--these words, literally:'Monseigneur, my dignity as an officer is so outraged by subjection tothe tyranny of these bourgeois pro-consuls, that, without the slightestscruple of conscience, I would offer you my sword and serve on yourside.'"

  "Ah, indeed? So I said that to the Prince of Conde, did I? And perhapsyou have proofs of what you say?"

  "The proofs are inscribed in a certain register kept in the Prince'sstaff headquarters. In that register are kept the names of all theofficers in the republican army on whom, in case of need, the royalistparty thinks it can call. The fact which concerns you was related to meby the Count of Plouernel, former colonel in the French Guards, who waspresent at your interview with Monseigneur the Prince of Conde; whichinterview was continued by his Most Serene Highness in these words: 'Mydear colonel, remain in the republican army. You will there be able toserve the cause of our rightful King most efficaciously by spurring yourregiment to rebel at the proper moment in the name of military honor,against these miserable bourgeois pro-consuls. Be sure, my dear colonel,that the day the good cause triumphs you will be rewarded as youdeserve. Until then, keep snug behind your republican mask.' So,"continued the Jesuit, "you have so well worn your mask that after beingreturned to the army in the exchange of prisoners, you were firstpromoted to the rank of Brigadier General, then to Division General--"

  "Enough, stop," cut in Donadieu in a sardonic tone of completereassurance. "What now is your project? You intend to make yourdisclosures to others besides me, if I do not at once enable you toescape?"

  "Aye, General, that is my intention."

  "There is only one obstacle--"

  "And that is, General? Have the goodness to make it known to me. We willfind a way around it."

  "Eh!" replied Donadieu, moving towards the door, "It is that I shallcall the mounted patrolman who brought you hither, order him to shootyou on the spot, and your secret dies with you. The so
lution is swiftand simple."

  "And St. Just, to whom you have just applied for permission to remit mysentence? You have forgotten that detail."

  "I shall tell St. Just that your revelations were rubbish, and I let theexecution take its course. St. Just is not the man to reproach me forhastening the death of a counter-revolutionist. So, then," continuedGeneral Donadieu, taking another step toward the door, "you will beshot at once. Our conversation in over."

  "And me?" piped up little Rodin, who had so far kept himself motionlessand silent in a dark corner of the room. "And me? They won't shoot me,I'm very sure. I am hardly eleven. So then, if you send my goodgod-father to the angels, I shall tell everyone what I have just seenand heard."

  "Whence it follows, General," chimed in the reverend, "that you have noother safe course than to shut your eyes to our flight, and if you arewise, accompany us, and carry the plan of to-morrow's battle to theAustrian headquarters with you."

  "This low window opens on the ground," volunteered Rodin, examining thecasing. "We will be able to clear out through it, General, before youraide-de-camp comes back. The rest--God will care for."

  "The light will help us to avoid your picket lines, among whom we felllast night," added the prelate, in turn approaching the window, whencehe beheld the first grey streaks of dawn. Then to Donadieu, who stoodparalyzed with fear, he added: "Come, General, loose me of my bonds. Imust have this place far behind me when your aide returns."

  "What shall I do?" stammered the bewildered General. "My aide willreturn with St. Just's orders. The prisoners' escape will be the end ofme--I shall be suspected of having assisted in it--and suspicion isdeath!"

  "Good god-father," cried Rodin, who had been ferreting around the roomand had just opened a door leading into a neighboring apartment,"listen, the General does not wish to fly with us--he will let usescape. He will say to his aide-de-camp that while he was in the nextroom a minute or two, we profited by his momentary absence to cut thecords on your wrists and to vanish by yonder window."

  "What presence of mind!" exclaimed the Jesuit; and, turning to theGeneral, "My god-son is right. There is nothing else left for you to do.You will be accused of negligence; that is grave. But you will at leasthave a chance of averting suspicion."

  "All the more, seeing that if the General had had the intention ofletting us escape he would not have sent his aide to St. Just fororders," judicially added Rodin. "You have every chance not to bemolested because of our escape, General. But if you have my god-fathershot, I shall denounce you to St. Just."

  This reasoning commanded prompt action. General Donadieu chose of thetwo evils the lesser. Hurriedly whipping off the prelate's bonds hesaid: "Fly, quick. You will find a clump of trees a hundred paces off,within our picket line. Hide there; and lie close till you hear thecannon, which will announce to you the battle is on. Then you will havenothing more to fear. Now go!" cried the General, flinging open thewindow, "Go, quickly!"

  "I shall not prove an ingrate," promised the Jesuit as he passed towardsthe opening the other had made for him. "When I see the Prince of Conde,I shall report to him that he may always count on you."

  The prelate's god-son slipped like a serpent through the window, and wasgone. The Jesuit followed suit.

  "Ah, well," said General Donadieu to himself. "If St. Just suspects me,over I go to the enemy. We soldiers know how to serve or mis-serveaccording as our interests or safety demand. If I carry the plans of thebattle to the Austrians, I shall at least have saved my life andgeneral's commission. Devil take the Republic!"