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"None but our dead are there now." "Is the grotto of Ceyzeriat perfectly safe?" "As safe as any refuge can be that has two exit." "The Chartreuse of Seillon had two exits; yet, as you say, you left your dead there." "The dead are safer than the living; they are sure not to die on the scaffold." Amelie felt a shudder go through her. "Charles!" she murmured. "Listen," said the young man.
To do it he had only to write a line to the captain of gendarmes, or to the colonel of dragoons, who had assisted him during that ineffectual search at Seillon. Their honor was concerned in the affair. They could instantly surprise M. de Valensolle in bed, and at the cost of two pistol shots two men killed or wounded he would be taken.
It was half-past ten o'clock. At the pace the young man was walking he needed only twenty minutes to reach the Chartreuse; especially if, instead of skirting the woods, he took the path that led direct to the monastery. Roland was too familiar from youth with every nook of the forest of Seillon to needlessly lengthen his walk ten minutes.
If Roland's nocturnal search at the Chartreuse of Seillon was not convincing, the conversation between the young officer and his colleague was proof positive.
A peasant, his wife and two children are now living there, and the ancient monastery has become a farm. The monks were expelled from their convent in 1791; in 1792 the Chartreuse and its dependencies were offered for sale as ecclesiastical property. The dependencies consisted first of the park, adjoining the buildings, and the noble forest which still bears the name of Seillon.
Since the day that Charlotte had brought back the news of Roland's presence at Bourg, she had had a presentiment, like that of Morgan himself, that they were approaching some terrible crisis. She knew all that had happened at the Chartreuse of Seillon.
"My sons," said Roland, "I want you to fetch the boar we killed in the forest of Seillon." "That can be done," said one of the peasants, consulting his companion with a look. "Yes, it can be done," answered the other. "Don't be alarmed," said Roland. "You shall lose nothing by your trouble." "Oh! we're not," interrupted one of the peasants. "We know you, Monsieur de Montrevel."
The huntsmen launched the whole pack at the animal, which, seeing this troop of pygmies swoop down upon him, started off at a slow trot. He crossed the road, Roland giving the view-halloo, and headed in the direction of the Chartreuse of Seillon, the three riders following the path which led through the woods.
He himself, setting the example, slept like a man whose brain has solved a problem of the utmost importance which has long harassed it. The thought had just flashed through his mind that the Companions of Jehu had abandoned the Chartreuse of Seillon for the grottoes of Ceyzeriat; and at the same time he recalled the subterranean passage leading from these grottoes to the church of Brou.
"That's always the way with ghosts," said Roland gayly; "they come and go. How lucky it is that I should return just as the ghosts have begun to haunt the Chartreuse of Seillon." "Yes," replied Sir John, "very lucky. Only are you sure that there are any there?" "No. But I'll know by the day after to-morrow." "How so?" "I intend to spend to-morrow night there."
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