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The latter had slept with his pistol in his hand, guarding the strong-box upon which his life as well as the lives of Dolores and Philip depended. "Have you the order?" inquired Coursegol. "I am going for it," responded Vauquelas, meekly. "Do not return without it if you wish to leave this place alive." Vauquelas hastily retired. Robespierre lived on the Rue Saint Honoré.
The bright metal gleamed through the meshes of the coarse bags, dazzling the eye of the beholder with its golden glory. Vauquelas seemed to enjoy Coursegol's surprise; but it was in vain that he tried to discover the slightest vestige of envy or avarice in the face of his visitor. Coursegol was astonished, and perhaps dazzled by the sight of so much wealth, but no evil thought entered his mind.
The prisons of the Republic release their victims only to send them to the guillotine." "I will bribe the jailers to let them escape." "The jailers are not the only masters: and who among them would expose himself to almost certain death for the sake of your money?" "Then I will do still better," replied Vauquelas.
His was no new theme; buy the orator displayed so much energy that his audience was polite enough to seem pleased with his efforts. Vauquelas, who appeared to be perfectly at home, crossed the room to whisper a word in the ear of the man who was standing at the cashier's desk. This man, who proved to be the proprietor of the establishment, at once conducted Vauquelas to a private room.
If I stopped work I should soon die; and I wish to live life is good!" There was a moment's silence, and Vauquelas looked tenderly at his treasure. "Moreover, as I have told you, we shall not only make money, but perform a most commendable action," he remarked after a little.
The eyes of Coursegol were accustomed to this spectacle, so he walked coolly through the galleries heedless of the tumult around him and paused only when he met a group of acquaintances who were discussing the news of the day. Suddenly some one tapped him on the shoulder. He turned. "Is that you, Citizen Vauquelas?" "I wish to speak to you, Coursegol."
Coursegol returned home about midnight. In accordance with his usual custom he was passing through the lower hall without stopping on his way to his room on the floor above, when he heard some one call him. He recognized the voice of Vauquelas, but it seemed to proceed from the chamber occupied by Dolores.
Coursegol followed, and, the proprietor having taken his departure, the two men found themselves alone. "I have been contemplating the proposition I am about to make you for several months," Vauquelas then began.
Vauquelas and Coursegol had gone out; the servants had retired, and Dolores was quite alone. Seated in a low chair before the fire, she was busying herself with her embroidery; but it was easy to see that her thoughts were not upon her work. She was brooding over the past and wondering in what quarter of the globe she might hope to find her lost friends. "What are they doing?" she wondered.
He brought back the letter she had given him. Coursegol could not be found; he was no longer with Vauquelas, and the latter knew nothing of his whereabouts. This news brought Dolores back to the stern reality of her situation. She feared that Coursegol had excited the anger of Vauquelas by his threats, and that he had drawn down some misfortune upon himself.
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