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The Scarlet Pimpernel-Part40_Baroness Emmuska Orczy(1865-1947)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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heart was filled with joy and marvel, as he continued to recount to

her the daring manner in which he had snatched the fugitives away,



right from under Chauvelin's very nose.

"Dressed as the dirty old Jew," he said gaily, "I knew I



should not be recognized. I had met Reuben Goldstein in Calais

earlier in the evening. For a few gold pieces he supplied me with



this rig-out, and undertook to bury himself out of sight of everybody,

whilst he lent me his cart and nag."



"But if Chauvelin had discovered you," she gasped excitedly,

"your disguise was good. . .but he is so sharp."



"Odd's fish!" he rejoined quietly, "then certainly the game

would have been up. I could but take the risk. I know human nature



pretty well by now," he added, with a note of sadness in his cheery,

young voice, "and I know these Frenchmen out and out. They so loathe



a Jew, that they never come nearer than a couple of yards of him, and

begad! I fancy that I contrived to make myself look about as



loathesome an object as it is possible to conceive."

"Yes!--and then?" she asked eagerly.



"Zooks!--then I carried out my little plan: that is to say, at

first I only determined to leave everything to chance, but when I



heard Chauvelin giving his orders to the soldiers, I thought that Fate

and I were going to work together after all. I reckoned on the blind



obedience of the soldiers. Chauvelin had ordered them on pain of

death not to stir until the tall Englishman came. Desgas had thrown



me down in a heap quite close to the hut; the soldiers took no notice

of the Jew, who had driven Citoyen Chauvelin to this spot. I managed



to free my hands from the ropes, with which the brute had trussed me;

I always carry pencil and paper with me wherever I go, and I hastily



scrawled a few important instructions on a scrap of paper; then I

looked about me. I crawled up to the hut, under the very noses of the



soldiers, who lay under cover without stirring, just as Chauvelin had

ordered them to do, then I dropped my little note into the hut through



a chink in the wall, and waited. In this note I told the fugitives to

walk noiselessly out of the hut, creep down the cliffs, keep to the



left until they came to the first creek, to give a certain signal,

when the boat of the DAY DREAM, which lay in wait not far out to



sea, would pick them up. They obeyed implicitly, fortunately for them

and for me. The soldiers who saw them were equallyobedient to



Chauvelin's orders. They did not stir! I waited for nearly half an

hour; when I knew that the fugitives were safe I gave the signal,



which caused so much stir."

And that was the whole story. It seemed so simple! and Marguerite



could be marvel at the wonderful ingenuity, the boundless pluck and

audacity which had evolved and helped to carry out this daring plan.



"But those brutes struck you!" she gasped in horror, at the

bare recollection of the fearful indignity.



"Well! that could not be helped," he said gently, "whilst my

little wife's fate was so uncertain, I had to remain here by her side.



Odd's life!" he added merrily, "never fear! Chauvelin will lose

nothing by waiting, I warrant! Wait till I get him back to



England!--La! he shall pay for the thrashing he gave me with

compound interest, I promise you."



Marguerite laughed. It was so good to be beside him, to hear

his cheery voice, to watch that good-humoured twinkle in his blue



eyes, as he stretched out his strong arms, in longing for that foe,

and anticipation of his well-deserved punishment.



Suddenly, however, she started: the happy blush left her

cheek, the light of joy died out of her eyes: she had heard a stealthy



footfall overhead, and a stone had rolled down from the top of the

cliffs right down to the beach below.



"What's that?" she whispered in horror and alarm.

"Oh! nothing, m'dear," he muttered with a pleasant laugh,



"only a trifle you happened to have forgotten. . .my friend,

Ffoulkes. . ."



"Sir Andrew!" she gasped.

Indeed, she had wholly forgotten the devoted friend and



companion, who had trusted and stood by her during all these hours of




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