Collected Works of Gaston Leroux

by Gaston Leroux

“Hang it all,” muttered Gabriel. “You’re not going to shout about it, are you.”

  He rose to close the door which had remained ajar. I recognised in his face the alarm that was depicted on every countenance when it was a question of the Cies Islands, or rather when a plain allusion was made to the extraordinary and incomprehensible Invisible Battle of which the islands appeared to be the centre.... Then he knew something... he, too, knew that silence was imperative. But did he know why silence was imperative?

  “I see that I have touched a sore point,” I said, lowering my voice.

  Gabriel regarded me in silence with a scrutiny that was embarrassing.

  “Listen,” I went on. “We may talk like this for a long time to no purpose. My opinion is that if we want to be useful to each other we must trust each other. I know that it is dangerous to say certain things. But in order to make you easy in your mind, I will tell you everything that I know.” (I had just made up my mind to tell him.) “But on one condition, which is that this very evening you will help me to the best of your power, in a certain plan of mine which might rid me for ever of my anxieties.”

  “If it has nothing to do with any act of desperation, I am your man,” returned Gabriel.

  “I will take your word and begin,” I said.

  Accordingly I described to him the events that accompanied and followed my escape; the story of the Cies Islands; how I saw the extraordinary slow artillery, the defile of the wounded, the barracks, the hospital in which Dolores appeared, the peculiar agitation which seized everyone at the mention of Mark six metres eighty-five. Strange to say, Gabriel did not move a muscle when he heard those words. Then I told him about the autohydro-aeroplane, the court-martial at which I had to explain things about the “Vengeance,” my enforced stay on board the submarine.... I told him everything... everything that concerned me with the exception of the veiled lady. That was a matter between Captain Hyx and myself, and alas, my mother, seeing that her life depended upon my silence about the veiled lady.

  Gabriel listened to me with keen interest: and it was his turn to take up the running.

  “Dolores knows more about these things than I do. I have a feeling that she did not tell me all about her own cruel accident. She is very religious; more than that, she is very superstitious. Captain Hyx must have made her swear, on I don’t know what saint of Compestello or what Virgin of Pillar, to keep back certain things from me.... The fact is that she lets herself be guided by Captain Hyx with a submission that she will have to explain....

  “She left the ‘Vengeance’ to go ashore on the Cies islands. She considered it quite natural that I should stay on board. When she went off I was surprised and indignant, but what was the use? She told me in the calmest of tones to let her go without making any fuss, promising to return soon. Did she know that she would not come back? I cannot tell.... I was not aware at that moment that she was going to tend the wounded. I only learnt that later, and I will tell you how since you appear to know as much as I do.... Finally the ‘Vengeance’ put out to sea again. I will not say how furious I was. I was boiling over with rage as you may easily understand.

  “Captain Hyx, however, managed to pacify me with promises. I was to see Dolores the next morning. It was then that your flight exasperated him beyond measure. In the meantime I met him and told him that I refused to stay another hour on his confounded submarine. I should not, for that matter, take the trouble to prepare my escape as you had done, but should blow out my brains before him; and I drew my revolver.

  “‘Put that back,’ he said, ‘ it’s not your revolver that will set you free, but my own will. Besides, I have no further need of you here, and I’m going to let you resume your place in the service. This very evening you shall be at Brest, but on one condition. You must give me your word of honour that immediately you land you will report yourself to your chiefs, which is, moreover, your duty.’

  “‘I agree,’ I returned. ‘But what shall I say to them when they ask me what I’ve been doing during my long absence?’

  “‘You can tell them that you were Captain Hyx’s prisoner. That will satisfy them. They know your courage and patriotism. They will not doubt your word.’

  “‘Do they know Captain Hyx?’

  “‘If they knew him,’ replied the Captain enigmatically, with a peculiar smile which his mask did not entirely conceal, ‘I should have already given you a communication for them; but no one in the world knows Captain Hyx. Nevertheless you are not forbidden to speak of him.’

  “I did not see him again. That same evening a motor launch from the ‘ Vengeance’ landed me on the coast a mile or so to the north of Brest. I proceeded to that town and as I promised him, I immediately reported myself to the port authorities.

  “The strange thing is that they did not seem to be surprised to see me. I received instructions to proceed to Saint Jean-de-Luz and to put to sea in the ‘Anne Marie’ as soon as sealed orders reached me. I was to open those orders only when I got out to sea. It was a formality to which I was accustomed and in no way surprised me.

  “In short, everything went on as well as could be, and I pictured myself, as I had intended, on board the ‘Anne Marie’ watching the sea, watching the coast, and particularly, and above all, steering for the Cies Islands where nothing would prevent me from rejoining Dolores, and carrying her off on my ship whether she liked it or not.

  “Now when I got out to sea and began to look into the sailing orders from my chiefs, what was my amazement and wrath to read that I was forbidden to go near the Cies Islands.... I understood at once the insistence with which Captain Hyx made me swear to place myself, as soon as my feet touched French soil, at the disposal of the naval authorities. He knew that I should not be allowed to go near the Cies Islands... What, therefore, was this secret so precious, so formidable, so well guarded and protected by everyone? I was quivering with rage, repeating to myself that it would remain an impenetrable mystery to me, and that as I was not permitted to go near it I could not approach Dolores.

  “Nevertheless on reading my sailing orders again I perceived that the prohibition to go near the Cies Islands was couched in such a way that a subtle mind might perhaps turn the wording to account. In reality I was ordered not to go near the Cies Islands with my ship.... Well, I should go without the ‘Anne Marie,’ that was all.

  “It was a culpable intention on my part for which I barely escaped a terrible retribution. But love, of course, is stronger than anything, and excites your ingenuity when it’s a matter of deceiving the world and his wife in order to achieve your object. But I did not achieve my object, and I nearly lost my life in this expedition, as you will see...

  “Here is what happened: One night I was landed, alone and secretly, in Aldan Bay which is north of the Cies Islands and the nearest point north of Vigo Bay. I knew that I should meet there, at Estripero Point, a friend of mine, a reliable friend of my smuggling days, who had a sturdy little horse such as one often requires in that business. At daybreak I had ridden as far as the creek at La Redondela which is over against the Isle de Mont Agudo, the largest of the Cies Islands. I had therefore traversed the greater part of the headland which divides Aldan Bay from Vigo Bay. At this spot there is neither village nor habitation. I knew that I should not encounter anything but desert and high rocks, and the mud cabin in which a customs-house officer dozed his time away. Gallardo, such was his name, was also a friend of mine.

  “I did not find Gallardo in his lair. He was probably on his rounds, keeping an eye on the coast for the illegal enterprises of the ‘ boys,’ as was his duty. But I knew where to find his little boat, which was used by us on more than one occasion, and which lay sheltered from the gales behind the steep rocks of Cape del Home. From this point to Mont Agudo in the largest of the Cies Islands, was a distance of scarcely two sea miles. I needn’t tell you with what spirit, after I’d made fast the horse to a post, I seized the oars and pushed off. The sea was the colour of ink and day had just dawned be
hind Mont de la Señora del Alba. I hoped to reach the Cies Islands without being noticed by anyone, for meanwhile a favourable breeze had sprung up. I hoisted my pole and sail and sped along nicely with the wind behind me...

  “Unluckily some one must have caught sight of me from the island, for a motor launch put off from the shore and made straight for me. A voice hailed me in Spanish and asked me what I wanted. I replied that it was my intention to do a little fishing in the Cies Islands. I was told that not only ought I to know that I had no right to fish in those waters but that access to them was prohibited by the Admiralty. And I was ordered to sheer off....

  “At the same time the crew of the motor launch revealed to view a nice little gun whose steel nozzle was beginning to flash in the early sunlight. There was nothing for it but to turn back, which I did, sailing close by the wind. But I was carried much lower down than I thought by a current the existence of which I did not suspect, and I landed not at La Redondela but at Subside Point. From this place one can see the entire Barra Bay which leads to the first inner pocket of the great estuary of Vigo; a pocket so well closed and surrounded with high cliffs that one might say that here, in the roadstead, is a harbour in itself thoroughly and naturally safeguarded against every possible investigation and curiosity from the outside. And I personally had used the place as a sort of warehouse for certain goods upon the nature of which I need not dwell, my dear fellow. Added to this, the country inland is wilder and more deserted, if that be possible, than the district round about which is by no means attractive, I assure you, unless it be, of course, to ‘the boys.’... There is not a habitation on this coast either, until you reach Cagnas, from which you are separated by Omens Bay.”

  To enable me the better to follow the successive phases of his adventure Gabriel not only gave me the exact names of the places in question but pointed them out to me on a map which he unfolded before me.

  “Now listen to this.... What was my amazement when I discovered that this spot which as I knew, a year before, was left to itself, was now almost entirely built upon. There were curious buildings which came down to the water’s edge, and even a species of warehouse erected on piles which covered a part of the creek, while on a level with the sea, equally on piles, was a great barrier forming a barbican which of course protected the approach to the new buildings and prevented anyone from observing, from the sea, the work that was being carried on. Moreover I could perceive that tarpaulins slid from the barbican to the level of the sea at low water.... Not a living soul appeared to be outside the buildings....

  “Exceedingly puzzled I leapt on to the beach and started to clamber up the cliff. Here my astonishment was increased by the sight of real barracks surrounded with high walls. Instinctively I hid myself, for I descried a sort of patrol coming out of the principal gate. The men seemed to be there to keep order, and to ask indiscreet questions to intruders like myself....

  “These men, apparently, were not armed but — I am giving you my opinion — they had a Hun military bearing, a way of keeping the ranks and of stepping out as if they were on parade, which did not deceive me. They wore civilian clothes but they were subject to strict discipline. What did it all mean? I was not silly enough to go and ask them; but as soon as they disappeared I could not refrain from creeping up to the walls behind which I could hear strange sounds.

  “Suddenly I saw a veritable army of workmen pour out of the place — there must have been four hundred of them — all bearing strange implements on their shoulders or before or behind them; and they made for the creek where they disappeared into the mysterious buildings on the water’s edge. What was the work in which those men were engaged? What was the purpose of it? And why did I not go up to them quite plainly and straightforwardly and make enquiries? Well... it was because of the Hun look about them. In my opinion all those men were Huns. I was fully convinced of it. After all, they were within their rights. Was there anything extraordinary in these people continuing to work a Hun business on neutral territory?... But that particular business had been started since the war.... They had the right to be there because they were there. And I, too, had the right to be there...

  “That remained to be seen. I had not landed in Spain in a very orthodox fashion, and it behoved me, as far as possible, to avoid trouble. Nevertheless I was inquisitive. I was behind a wall certain stones of which were higher in some places than in others, as is the case with constructions which are intended to support buildings over them, and where a ‘beginning’ of masonry is retained. It was at this spot that I climbed warily to the top of the wall taking particular care not to expose myself...

  “You mentioned just now the slow artillery which you saw on the Cies Islands, and the peculiar manœuvres at which, by accident, you were present. I listened to you with absorbing interest because I, too, saw artillery and artillery men carrying out fantastic manœuvres in those barracks — incredibly fantastic. I assure you that I saw enormous square guns which the gunners did not work with their hands but with metal arms at the end of which, in place of hands, were steel nippers.... As you may imagine, I would have liked to make a more extended examination of the curious evolutions of those peculiar guns and gunners, but there was no time, for a few shots fired at me from a small window in the roof whose existence I had not, up to then, suspected, compelled me to throw myself to the foot of the wall with a celerity which may be easily understood. The alarm was given, and you can picture to yourself the sort of hunt that followed, and the game that was being chased.

  “If I had not known the country better than my pursuers I should assuredly never have got out of the fix. But once more my friend, Gallardo, the customs house officer, came to the rescue at the crucial moment, and hid me out of sight; and he answered the questions that were put to him with such prevarications that I was able to look upon myself as safe and sound the very evening of that incomprehensible adventure...

  “The following night he himself conducted me to the place on the coast where I had arranged to meet my men, and I thanked him with effusion, notwithstanding his evasive replies to all my requests for an explanation....

  As to myself, when I returned to the ship I remembered my duty, which was to report to my superior officers all that I had seen in the vicinity of the Cies Islands and Barra Bay. In order to do so I had to admit that I had overstepped, if not the letter, at all events the spirit of the instructions that had been given to me. But I did not hesitate. The matter seemed to me important. I wrote a secret report, which I despatched as soon as I arrived at Saint Jean.

  “The next day a ‘big wig’ boarded the ‘ Anne Marie.’ He came into this cabin with me and said: ‘You deserve to be sent before a court-martial and perhaps to be shot. Everything, however, will be overlooked if you pledge your word not to go back to the Cies Islands. What is happening in the Cies Islands is no affair of yours. We know what is the attraction for you there. The lady to whom you are engaged is absolutely safe and is doing valuable service. Leave her to do her duty and you do yours.’ With that he went off leaving me fresh instructions as to submarines and their replenishing bases. And I fully made up my mind not to listen to anything more about what you call the Invisible Battle when you started your story. Yours and mine complete each other; and although no great light comes from them I am reassured about Dolores’ future, which is the main thing.”

  He ceased speaking and while we were drinking our third cocktail we took time to think.

  CHAPTER XIII

  OF A WISE RESOLUTION THAT I MADE AFTER MY LONG TALK WITH GABRIEL AND HOW I KEPT IT

  JUDGING FROM MY knowledge of Dolores’ story, I was convinced that Captain Hyx had set Gabriel free only because he was keeping Dolores in the Cies Islands. In this way there was no fear that the Señorita would excite her fiancé by fresh disclosures, against the man whom the Captain had marked down for his own. Well... I myself would divulge to Gabriel the information that had been kept from him. Had we not sworn to help and trust and serve each ot
her? Truth to tell, when I think it over, at leisure, I am not sure that I did him a service by confiding the truth to him, but to a certainty I did humanity a service by increasing its chances of being rid of Von Treischke. I did Amalia a service, for I would have been glad for many reasons to see him disappear from my horizon for ever.

  In my capacity as a neutral I was not allowed to enter the fray directly, but I could with a clear conscience let loose on the wretched individual a genuine enemy. Thus after doing my utmost to save Von Treischke from Captain Hyx’s clutches, I was led to throw him into the not less formidable clutches of Dolores’ financé. With a craft of which I have no reason to be ashamed, I began to speak of Fritz who was on board the submarine from which I had escaped. Up to that moment Fritz’s name had not been mentioned. The immediate effect was such as I had anticipated.

  “Curse him,” exclaimed Gabriel, “if I’d known that the scoundrel was on the submarine I’d have seen the ‘Anne Marie’ founder rather than let that U boat escape. Ah, why wasn’t I told before.”

  “Not only was Fritz on board,” I went on, “but Admiral von Treischke himself...”

  “What do you say?” he cried. “Von Treischke on board too!... He will get his deserts like the others; his turn will come you may be sure. And if he falls into my hands I’m not the man to spare him. Apart from the fact that he is the worst brute who ever became the head of a naval administration, even a Hun administration, and that as the terror of Flanders he is not entitled to any mercy, I cannot forget the part that he played in my own trouble. He looked on while violence was being done to Dolores with a complacency which, when the opportunity offers, will cost him dear.”

  “Will you listen to me, Gabriel,” I interrupted. “You’ve said enough to convince me that you are still under a delusion and, in my opinion, Von Treischke has sufficiently profited from it. I will tell you everything that I know, and, upon my word, it’s Captain Hyx’s own look out if, when you know the real truth, you are up against his plans and ruin at a blow his detestable programme. Yes, the truth is quite different. Von Treischke was not only present when the attack was made, it was he who paved the way for it, he who set his mind on it. It was he who took advantage of Fritz’s weak character to force it on him.”