The Chevalier De Maison Rouge (2 page)

the poor wonum the fatal movement she had made.

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 7

"No, no," cried she, stopping running, and retracing her steps ; "no, citizen ; you are mistaken. I am not a man."

"Then advance at command," said the chief, "and reply to my questions. Where are you hastening to,

charming belle of the night ? "

" But, citizen, I am not going anywhere. I am re-

turning."

"Oh ! returning, are you ?"

" Yes."

"It is rather a late return for a respectable woman,

citoyenne."

" I am returning from visiting a sick relative."

" Poor little kitten ! " said the chief, making a motion with his hand, before which the horrified woman quickly

recoiled. "Where is your passport ?"

" My passport ? What is that, citizen ? What do you

mean ? "

" Have you not read the decree of the Commune ? "

"No."

"You have heard it proclaimed, then ?"

" Alas ! no. What, then, said this decree, mon Dieu 9 "

" In the first place, we no longer say God ; we only

speak of the Supreme Being now."

" Pardon me, I am in error. It is an old custom."

" Bad habit the habit of the aristocracy."

" I will endeavor to correct myself, citizen ; but you said "

" I said that the decree of the Commune prohibited,

after six in the evening, any one to go out without a

civic pass. Xow, have you this civic pass ? "

"Alas ! no."

" You have forgotten it at your relation's ? "

" I was ignorant of the necessity of going out with one."

" Then come with us to the first post, there you can

explain all prettily to the captain ; and if he feels perfectly satisfied with your explanation, he will depute two men

to conduct you in safety to your abode, else you will be

detained for further information."

8 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

From the cry of terror which escaped the poor prisoner,

the chief of the enrolled volunteers understood how much

the unfortunate woman dreaded this interview.

" Oh, oh ! " said he, " I am quite certain we hold distinguished game. Forward, forward to the route, my

little ci-devant."

And the chief, seizing the arm of the former, placed it

within his own, and dragged her, notwithstanding her

cries and tears, toward the post Du Palais Egalite.

They were already at the top of the barrier of Sergens,

when suddenly a tall young man, closely wrapped in a

mantle, turned the corner of La Rue dcs Petits Champs at

the very moment when the prisoner endeavored, by re-

newing her supplications, to regain her liberty. But,

without listening, the chief dragged her brutally for-

ward. The woman uttered a cry of terror, mingled with

despair. The young man saw the struggle ; he also heard

the cry, then bounded from the opposite side of the

street, and found himself facing the little troop.

" What is all this ? What are you doing to this woman ? "

demanded he of the person who appeared to be the chief.

" Before you question me you had better attend to

your own business."

" Who is this woman, and what do you want with her ?"

repeated the young man, in a still more imperative tone

than at first.

" But who are you, that you interrogate us ? ''

The young man opened his cloak, when an epaulet was

visible, glistening on his military costume.

" I am an officer,'' said he, " as you can see."

"Officer! in what ?"

"In the Civic Cuard.''

"Well, what of that?" replied one of the troop.

" What do we know here of the officers of the Civic

Guard ?"

"What is that he says?' asked another man, in the

drawling and ironical tone peculiar to a man of the

people, or, rather, of the Parisian populace, beginning to

be angry,

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 9

"He says," replied the young man, "that if the epaulet cannot command respect for the officer, the

sword shall command respect for the epaulet. "

At the same time, making a retrograde movement, the

unknown defender of the young woman had disengaged

his arms from the folds of his mantle, and drawn from

beneath it, sparkling by the glimmer of a lamp, a large

infantry saber. Then, with a rapid movement which dis-

played his familiarity with similar scenes of violence,

seized the chief of volunteers by the collar of his blouse, and placing the saber to his throat :

"Now," said he, "let us speak like friends."

" But, citizen," said the chief, endeavoring to free himself.

" I warn you that at the slightest movement made,

either by you or any of your men, I pass my saber

through your body."

During this time two men belonging to the troop re-

tained their hold of the woman.

" You have asked who I am," continued the young

man, " which you had no right to do, since you do not

command a regular patrol. However, I will inform you.

My name is Maurice Lindey ; I commanded a body of

artillerymen on the 10th of August, am now lieutenant in

the National Guards, and secretary to the section of

Brothers and Friends. Is that sufficient ? "

"Well, Citizen Lieutenant," replied the chief, still menaced with the blade, the point of which he felt pressing more and more, " this is quite another thing. If you are really what you say, that is a good patriot "

" There, I knew we should soon understand each other,"

said the ofticer. "Now, in your turn, answer me ; why

did this woman ca41 out, and what are you doing with

her ? "

"We are taking her to the guard-house."

" And why are you taking her there ? "

" Because she has no civic pass, and the last decree of the Commune ordered the arrest of any and every individual appearing on the streets of Paris without one after

10 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

ten o'clock at night. Do you forget the country is in

danger, and that the black flag floats over PHdtel de

Ville ? "

" The black flag floats over 1'Hotel de Ville, and the country is in danger, because two hundred thousand

slaves march against France," replied the officer, " and not because a woman runs through the streets of Paris

after ten o'clock at night. But never mind, citizens.

There is a decree of the Commune, it is true, and you

only did your duty ; and if you had answered me at once,

our explanation might have been a much shorter and

probably a less stormy one. It is well to be a patriot, but equally so to be polite ; and the first officer whom the

citizens ought to respect is he, it seems to me, whom

they themselves appointed. In the meantime, release

that woman, if you please. You are at liberty to depart."

" Oh, citizen," cried she, seizing the arm of Maurice (having listened to the whole of this debate with the most

intense anxiety), " oh, citizen, do not abandon me to the mercy of these rude and half-drunken men 1 "

" Well, then," said Maurice, " take my arm, and I will conduct you with them as far as the Poste."

" To the Poste !" exclaimed the terrified woman, "and why to the Poste, when I have injured no one ?"

" You are taken to the Poste," replied Maurice, "not because you have clone any one wrong, or because you are

considered capable of so doing, but on account of the

decree issued by the Commune, forbidding any one to go

out without a pass ; and you have none."

" But, monsieur, I was ignorant of it."

" Citoyenne, you will find at the Poste brave and hon-

orable men, who will fully appreciate your reasons, and

from whom you have nothing to fear."

" Monsieur," said the young woman, pressing Maurice's arm, "it is no longer insult that I fear, it is death; if they conduct me to the Poste, I am lost 1 "

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. H

CHAPTER II.

THE UNKNOWN".

THERE was in this voice an accent of so much terror,

mingled with superiority, that Maurice was startled. Like

a stroke of electricity, this vibrating voice had touched

his heart. He turned toward the enrolled volunteers,

who were talking among themselves. Humiliated at hav-

ing been held in check by a single individual, they were

now consulting together with the visible intention of re-

gaining their lost ground. They were eight against one ;

three were armed with guns, the remainder with pistols

and pikes. Maurice wore only his saber. The contest

could not be an equal one. Even the woman compre-

hended this, as she held down her head, and uttered a

deep sigh.

As to Maurice, with his brows knitted, his lip disdain-

fully curled, and his saber drawn from its scabbard, he

stood irresolute, fluctuating between the sentiments of a

man and a citizen, the one urging him to protect this

woman, the other counseling him to give her up. All at

once, at the corner of La Rue des Bons Enfans, he saw the

reflection of several muskets, and heard also the measured

tread of a patrol, who, perceiving a crowd, halted within

a few paces of the group, and, through the corporal, de-

manded :

" Who goes there ? "

"A friend," said Maurice. "A friend! Advance, Louis ! "

He to whom this order Avas addressed placed himself at

the head of his eight men, and quickly approached.

"Is it you, Maurice ?" said the corporal, " Ah, liber, tine ! what are you doing in the streets at this hour ! "

" You see, I am going to the section of Brothers and

Friends."

12 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

" Yes ; to visit that of sisters and friends. "We know all about that."

" Ah, listen, ma belle,

When the dusk midnight hour

The church-bell shall toll,

I will haste to thy bower ;

To thy side I will steal,

Spite of bolts and of bars,

And my love will reveal,

'Neath the light of the stars.

Is it not so ? "

" Xo, mon ami ; you are mistaken. I was on my way

home when I discovered this citoyenne struggling in the

hands of these citizen volunteers, and ran to inquire why

they wished to detain her."

" It is just like you," said Louis. Then, turning toward the volunteers, " Why did you stop this woman ! "

inquired the poetical corporal.

" I have already told the lieutenant," replied the chief of the little troop ; " because she had no pass."

" Bah ! bah !" said Louis, " a great crime, certainly."

" Are you, then, ignorant of the decree of the Com-

mune ? " demanded the chief of the volunteers.

" Yes ; but there is another clause which has annulled that which listen :

" On Pindus and Parnassus, it is decreed by Love,

That beauty's witching face,

That youth and fairy grace,

Without a pass, by day or night, may through the city rove.

What do you say to this decree, citizen ? It is clever, it

seems to me."

" Yes ; but it does not appear to me peremptory. In

the first place, it lias not appeared in the ' Moniteur ' ; then we are neither upon Pindus nor Parnassus ; it is not

yet day ; and, lastly, the citoyenne is perhaps neither

graceful, young, nor fair."

" I wager the contrary," said Louis. " Prove that I am in the right, citoyeuue ; remove your hood, that all

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 13

may judge if you come under the conditions of the de-

cree."

" Monsieur," said the young woman, pressing closer to Maurice, " having saved me from your enemies, protect

me now against your friends, I beseech you ! "

" You see," said the chief, " how she hides herself.

In my opinion, she is a spy of the aristocrats some street-

walker."

" Oh, monsieur ! " said the young woman, stepping before Maurice, and discovering a face radiant with youth

and beauty, visible by the light of the lamp, " do I look like what they have termed me ? "

Maurice was amazed. He had never even dreamed of

beauty equal to that he had caught sight of for a moment,

and only for a moment, since the unknown had again

enshrouded herself in the hood as quickly as she had pre-

viously removed it.

"Louis," said Maurice, in a whisper, " claim the prisoner, that you may conduct her to your post ; you

have a right to do so, as chief of patrol."

" Very good/' said the young corporal ; " I understand with half a word."

Then, addressing himself to the unknown :

"Let us go, ma belle, '' continued he ; "since you will not afford me the proof that you are within the conditions

of the decree, you must follow us."

" Why follow you ? '* said the chief of the enrolled

volunteers, " we shall conduct the citoyenne to the post of I'Hotel de Ville, where we are on guard, and there she

will be examined."

" Xot so, not so," said the chief of the first troop ; " she belongs to us, and we will keep her."

"Citizens, citizens," said Louis, "you will make me angry "

" Angry or not angry, morbleu ! it is equally the same to us. We are true soldiers of the Republic, and while

you patrol the streets, we go to shed our blood on the

frontier."

"Take care you do not shed it by the way, citizens,

14 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

which is very likely to occur if you are not rather more

polite than you are at present."