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The Crystal Stopper-Part20_Maurice LeBlanc(1864-1941)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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set up a ladder in the river and then clambered up the face of

the cliff till he came to the window of the room. After filing



the bars, he succeeded in releasing the woman he loved and

bringing her down with him by means of a rope. They both reached



the top of the ladder, which was watched by his friends, when a

shot was fired from the patrol-path and hit the man in the



shoulder. The two lovers were hurled into space.... "

There was a pause, after he had read this, a long pause during which



each of them drew a mental picture of the tragic escape. So, three or

four centuries earlier, a man, risking his life, had attempted that



surprising feat and would have succeeded but for the vigilance of some

sentry who heard the noise. A man had ventured! A man had dared! A



man done it!

Lupin raised his eyes to Clarisse. She was looking at him... with such



a desperate, such a beseeching look! The look of a mother who demanded

the impossible and who would have sacrificed anything to save her son.



"Masher," he said, "get a strong rope, but very slender, so that I can

roll it round my waist, and very long: fifty or sixty yards. You,



Growler, go and look for three or four ladders and fasten them end to

end."



"Why, what are you thinking of, governor?" cried the two accomplices.

"What, you mean to... But it's madness!"



"Madness? Why? What another has done I can do."

"But it's a hundred chances to one that you break your neck."



"Well, you see, Masher, there's one chance that I don't."

"But, governor... "



"That's enough, my friends. Meet me in an hour on the river-bank."

The preparations took long in the making. It was difficult to find the



material for a fifty-foot ladder that would reach the first ledge of

the cliff; and it required an endless effort and care to join the



different sections.

At last, a little after nine o'clock, it was set up in the middle of



the river and held in position by a boat, the bows of which were wedged

between two of the rungs, while the stern was rammed into the bank.



The road through the river-valley was little used, and nobody came to

interrupt the work. The night was dark, the sky heavy with moveless



clouds.

Lupin gave the Masher and the Growler their final instructions and said,



with a laugh:

"I can't tell you how amused I am at the thought of seeing Daubrecq's



face when they proceed to take his scalp or slice his skin into ribbons.

Upon my word, it's worth the journey."



Clarisse also had taken a seat in the boat. He said to her:

"Until we meet again. And, above all, don't stir. Whatever happens,



not a movement, not a cry."

"Can anything happen?" she asked.



"Why, remember the Sire de Tancarville! It was at the very moment when

he was achieving his object, with his true love in his arms, that an



accident betrayed him. But be easy: I shall be all right."

She made no reply. She seized his hand and grasped it warmly between



her own.

He put his foot on the ladder and made sure that it did not sway too



much. Then he went up.

He soon reached the top rung.



This was where the dangerous ascent began, a difficult ascent at the

start, because of the excessive steepness, and developing, mid-way, into



an absolute escalade.

Fortunately, here and there were little hollows, in which his feet found



a resting-place, and projecting stones, to which his hands clung. But

twice those stones gave way and he slipped; and twice he firmly believed



that all was lost. Finding a deeper hollow, he took a rest. He was

worn out, felt quite ready to throw up the enterprise, asked himself if



it was really worth while for him to expose himself to such danger:

"I say!" he thought. "Seems to me you're showing the white feather,



Lupin, old boy. Throw up the enterprise? Then Daubrecq will babble his

secret, the marquis will possess himself of the list, Lupin will return



empty-handed, and Gilbert... "

The long rope which he had fastened round his waist caused him needless



inconvenience and fatigue. He fixed one of the ends to the strap of his

trousers and let the rope uncoil all the way down the ascent, so that he



could use it, on returning, as a hand-rail.

Then he once more clutched at the rough surface of the cliff and continued



the climb, with bruised nails and bleeding fingers. At every moment he

expected the inevitable fall. And what discouraged him most was to hear



the murmur of voices rising from the boat, murmur so distinct that it

seemed as though he were not increasing the distance between his



companions and himself.




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