CHAPTER XXXVII
LOOT
I now enter on the final struggle, but before doing so I mustrecapitulate if only to remind myself of where stands the tale and howmuch yet remains to be told.
It was on the 21st of May and a Sunday. In Paris the lucky Ducatel ofthe Roads and Bridges was guiding into the city the first division ofVinoy's army under the astonished eyes of Thiers and Mac-Mahon who werelooking down from Mont Valerien.
There were in Paris in the Tuileries garden thousands who had come tolisten to a concert for the wounded of the Commune. Disarray, and amuddling purblindness, kept the Commune talking and talking in the Hotelde Ville. But the men there at least were honest as other men, and whenthey became exiles and prisoners they had brought no spoil away withthem. Men there were among them who, in the midst of the wholesaleslaughter of the Versailles troops, were ready to shoot hostages as didRigaut and Ferre, or to burn public buildings when driven out, as theRussians did at Moscow--but no thieves.
But nowhere, save in one or two towns in the Midi, had the inhabitantsto taste the rule of cosmopolitan rascaldom. The Chanot gang made hardlyany pretext now, even before the people. The band which ruled Aramonstill called itself the Committee of Public Safety, and still met dailyat the town house. But all the men knew that they might just as wellhave been named "The Black Band" or the "Gang of Cartouche."
A few belonged to the town and its bordering hamlets--Chanot, Auroy,Grau. But the great majority were adventurers of all grades and nations,come from far, and eager to secure and carry away as much booty aspossible from the turmoil. From amongst these, Chanot, quietly ripeninghis plans, picked out his attacking force. Each had his price, andChanot chose those younger men, almost lads, who being still apprenticeswould be content with less, and at the critical moment would not be solikely to get out of hand.
The Chateau and the Factories were held as before, but now morestrongly, being strengthened by the steady flood-tide of a publicopinion which of all things desired peace. Dennis held to hisdetermination to allow none but his English, Scots, Irish, and Americanswithin the walls. But even this self-denying prohibition strengthenedhim and brought other men to his side. The Committee of Public Safetyarrested one or two who were over free with their tongues in the publicdebates of the _cafes_. But the prisoners were soon released, themeasure being as useless as unpopular. Besides, they had something elseto think about, these patriots of the loot-bag and the_pince-monseigneur_.
For all that Chanot made speeches and signed manifestos which were dulyposted. A collection of these is under my eyes as I write, and forms oneof the most amazing monuments of human impudence it is possible toconceive.
"The work of Social equalisation continues." (Such was the edict promulgated on this fateful Sunday.) "The ill-gotten gains of the robbers of the proletariat are slowly being added to the sums held in trust for the people. The Quartier St. Jacques began to be visited last week and the results were so excellent that further perquisitions will be made by our admirable expropriation brigade.
"The citizens of Aramon are therefore freed from all taxes of every sort, and the public service of every kind will be carried on with the suborned wealth restored to its proper owners.
"During the strike at Creusot, that great oppressor of the people, Schneider, declared that the stoppage of work was costing him eight hundred thousand francs a day!--We may make ourselves happy that the present strike for which we are responsible is costing at least as much to Deventer and the bloodthirsty Company which he represents. Let him not flatter himself because he has escaped so long. His time is near at hand and his doom terrible and sure.
"A. CHANOT, "P. CHARDON, &c. "For the Committee of Public Safety.
"The Mairie, Aramon-les-Ateliers. "May 21st, 1871."
But on the Monday the proclamation of Thiers to the Mayors of Communesthroughout France, sent on the Sunday night of the entry, reachedAramon. The text may be given, since the effect was so tremendous and,indeed, cataclysmic.
"_Versailles, 21st May, 7.30, evening._
"_The gate of St. Cloud has been forced by the fire of our batteries. General Douai precipitated his command into the breach. At this moment he is occupying Paris with his troops. Ladmirault and Clinchant are moving in support._
"A. THIERS."
The message was false in detail, though true in the main fact. A fullweek's hard fighting in the streets of Paris lay between the army ofVersailles and the end of the revolt.
But none of those who in the Mairie of Aramon-les-Ateliers bent theirheads over the flimsy message doubted for a moment that the day of theirown doom was at hand. They began to think of the best means of reachingthe most convenient frontier--Italy, Switzerland, or Spain. Some werelimited in their choice, owing to previous troubles with the justice ofotherwise eligible countries. But all, without exception, knew that thegame was up and resolved on flight. Unfortunately the receipts of theQuartier St. Jacques had not come up to expectation, and a generalblankness overspread the company till Anton Chanot hinted at a finalscheme which would make them rich enough to live years in the safeseclusion of Barcelona or Genoa. He did not tell all he had planned atonce. He wished to take only a chosen few into his inner secrets, but hecould not make a raid which would involve an armed attack upon the soilof a hostile department without the whole force at this disposal.
Chanot therefore flashed before the eyes of the committee promises ofboundless loot to be attained by attacking the rich foundation of St.Andre on the hill over Aramon le Vieux. The church was an ancient oneand the treasury had long been one of the sights of theneighbourhood--gold cups, patens, _ciboires_, boxes of inlaidthirteenth-century work, and the jewelled pastoral staff of the sainthimself, ablaze with precious stones--all were there, and of a valuewhich would make them rich men, and render their exile, so long as theychose to remain, agreeable and easy.
They must refrain, Chanot added, from any disturbance or looting in thetown itself. If the monks fought, care must be taken of the school, andthe safes in the _econome's_ office, and the treasure of the goldenvessels in the church must alone be touched.
Marseilles was under military law and had been declared in a state ofsiege. The troops of General Espivent de la Villeboisnet occupied thecity and constituted a barrier not to be passed. No rogue's paradisecould be found in Marseilles under martial law.
The expedition into the department of Deux Rives, and the attack uponSt. Andre, was therefore their last chance, and it was a great one, of acomfortable exile.
Chanot and Chardon counted their adherents who could be trusted, whonumbered about thirty, all proven men--not an old "Red," a theoreticCommunard or a National Guard among them. They were chary even of anywhose families were connected with the Small Arms Factory, for thebusiness must be gone about with the most perfect secrecy.
Meantime Chanot took Chardon more fully into his confidence.
"We will let these fools thresh away at the walls of the _lycee_. I knowa professor there who has a good knowledge of defence. That businesswill keep them busy all night. Renard is the man's name. He was in theAlgerian wars--grand high priest he was, or something like that. Butthey say that he kilted his petticoats and charged with the regiment. Hewill be a hard nut to crack if they get out of bed quick enough to manthe walls."
"But," suggested Chardon, "our business is to take the place before theman is awake. They will keep no watch."
"Monks and priests are always about at night in a place like St. Andre.They have midnight Masses, and they take turns to play the spy on theboys and ushers. Besides" (he beckoned Chardon closer to him and spokein his ear) "we do not want them to finish the business too soon!"
"How so?" cried Chardon, much astonished; "the sooner we get ourtreasure back the sooner we can divide it and scatter out of Aramon. Thegame is up."
"Up, indeed--
I believe you," said Chanot; "but what are some fragmentsof gold plate? How will they divide those? There will be a battle royalif it comes to that. Do you want to be there and go runninghelter-skelter over the fields with that rabble? No, you and I havesomething better on hand. I know where Keller Bey is, his treasure andhis daughter!"
Chardon looked his amazement, but he did not interrupt. Chanot was akind of god to him, and it had always been his chief pride to be chosenas his confidant.
"No," said the Expropriator-in-Chief, "we will choose two other fellowsas determined as ourselves, only more stupid. We will attack the housewhere Keller Bey lies. I do not know exactly where it is, but I have aguide ready--Matteo le Gaucher, you know him? Well, that does notmatter. He has been in hospital but is able for his task now. I havebeen cooking him with talk and tobacco all through his illness, and Iwormed the secret out of him. He was not unwilling. I think he was gladof somebody to confide in, or else he had some vengeance on hand. He isa little twisted atomy and thinks himself at war with all the world."
"Can you trust him?" demanded Chardon.
"Yes, with a pistol at his ear and a hand on his arm. Otherwise I shouldas soon think of trusting him as a Protestant pastor!"
Chardon grinned delightedly and they began to lay out their plans. Theychose the pair who were to share the secret with them.
"We want men of action, not gabblers like Barres. I have a boat ready atLes Saintes to take us off, we must get fellows who can ride, for if weare pursued we must borrow horses and make straight across theCamargue."
"Leduc is of that country," said Chardon, "he could guide us, and Violetwas a rough-rider in the eleventh hussars."
"But are they men to trust?" demanded Chanot, with a sharp suspicion. Aman of the country and an ex-cavalryman might account for Chardon andhimself in that wild country and no one be any the wiser. Besides, whowould trouble themselves about the fate of a couple of fleeing outlaws?
"They are as good as you will get," said Chardon, "and we shall be morethan their match in any case. They cannot get the boat without you, andwithout a boat on the coast of Les Saintes a man is like an eel in atrap. He can get in but he cannot get out."
A Tatter of Scarlet: Adventurous Episodes of the Commune in the Midi 1871 Page 38