Latest / In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy / 13 - In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy by G A Henty

Transcript

13 - In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy by G A Henty · In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter twelve, nantse Harry was very pleased to see a
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: look of recognition on Victor's face as he came up
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to the side of his couch. Well, Victor, he said, cheerfully,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: I'm glad to see you. Look you more yourself again.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Victor nodded assent, and in his hand feebly returned the
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: pressure of Harry's I can't understand it, he said, after
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: a pause. I seem to be in a dream, but
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: it is true. Marie is here, isn't she. Ah, Yes,
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: she is chatting now with her sisters, Jennie and Virgennie.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: You know, and why am I here, Victor asked, looking
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: around the room. Marie tells me not to ask questions. No,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: there will be plenty of time for that afterwards, Victor.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: It is all simple enough. You were out with me
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: and there was an accident and you got hurt. So
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: I and a workman who was passing carried you into
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: this house, and he and his wife have been taking
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: care of you. You have been very ill, but you
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: are getting on better now. Marie has come to nurse
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: you and she won't leave you until you are quite well. Now.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: I think that's enough for you and The doctor would
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: be very angry if he knew I had told you
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: so much, because he said you were not to bother
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: yourself about things at all, But just to sleep as
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: much as you can, and eat as much as you can,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and listen to Marie talking and reading to you, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: not trouble your brain in any way, because it's your
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: brain that has gone wrong and any thinking will be
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: very bad for it. This explanation seems satisfactory to Victor,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: who soon after dozed off to sleep and Harry joined
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the party in Marie's sitting room. Oh, if I could
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: but keep him here with me, Harry, what comfort it
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: would be. I know that it would be Marie. But
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: it's too dangerous. You know they were denounced at Louis
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Mouline's Already there is risk enough in you and Victor
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: being here. The search for Royalists does not relax. Indeed,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: it seems to become more and more keen every day.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Victor's extreme illness is your best safeguard. The neighbors have
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: heard that Jacques has a fellow workman dangerously ill for
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: some long time, and Victor can no longer be locked
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: up as a stranger to be suspected while you are
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: coming here to help nurse him will seem so natural
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: a step that it will excite no comment. But any
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: fresh edition of numbers would be sure to give rise
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: to talk, and you would have a commissary of the
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Commune here in no time to make inquiries and to
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: ask for your papers of domicile. Yes, I know that
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: it would be too dangerous to risk, Marie agreed, but
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I tremble at the thought of their journey. I have
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: every hope that we shall get through safely, Harry said,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I have some good news I have not yet told you.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I have received a paper from Ross Pierre stating that
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I have been his secretary and recommending us all to
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the authority so that we can dispense with them ordinary
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: papers which they would not otherwise ask for. That is
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: good news, indeed, Harry Maurice said, that relieves me of
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: half my anxiety. Once on the sea coast, it will
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: be comparatively easy to get a passage to England. My
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: dear Harry, you surprised me more every day, and I
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: am ashamed to think that when our dear father and
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: mother first told me that they had accepted your noble offer,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: to look after us. I was inclined in my heart
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: to think that such protection would be of little use.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: You see, I confess, Harry, and you know that is
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: a half way to forgiveness. There is nothing either to
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: confess or forgive, Harry said, with a smile. It was
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: perfectly natural for you to think that a lad of
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: eighteen was a slender read to lean on in time
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: of trouble and danger, and that it was only by
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: a lucky accident for saving Ross Pierre's life. Was but
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: an accident that I had been enabled to be of
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: use to you, and that I have now a pass
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: which will enable me to take your sisters with comparative
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: safety as far as nantaste. Had it not been for that,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I could have done little, indeed to aid you. You
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: must not say so, Harry, You are too modest. Besides,
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: was it not your quickness that save Victor? No, we
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: owe you everything, and disclaimers are only thrown away. As
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: for me, I feel quite jealous of Jenny's superior perspicacity,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: for she trusted you absolutely from the first. It has
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with perspicacity, Jenny said, Harry saved my
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: life from that dreadful dog, and after that, I knew
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: if there was danger, he would be able to get
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: us out of it, that is, if it were possible
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: for anyone to do so. I hope I shall be
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: able to justify your trust, Jenny, and arrive safely with
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: you at my father's house. I can promise you the
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: warmest of welcomes. For my mother and sisters. I fear
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: they must long since have given me up for dead.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: I shall be like a shipwrecked mariner who has been
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: cast upon an island and given up as lost. But
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: my father always used to say that if I was
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: a first rate hand at getting into scraps, that was
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: equally good at getting out of them again. And I
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: don't think they will have quite despaired of seeing me again,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: especially as they know by the last letters I sent
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: them that you all said I could speak French well
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: enough to pass anywhere as a native. How surprised they
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: will be your arriving with two girls in Luis for,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Jenny said, it will be pleased more than surprise. Harry replied,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: I have written so much about you in my letters
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: that the girls and my mother will be delighted to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: see you. Besides, Jenny added, the boys will have told
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: them you are waiting behind with us, so they will
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: not be surprised as they would otherwise have been. But
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: it will be funny arriving among people who don't speak
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: a word of our language. You will soon be at
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: home with them, said Harry, reassuringly. Jenny and Kate are
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: just about your ages, and I expect they will have
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: grown so I shall hardly know them. It is nearly
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: three years now since I left them, and I have
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: to look at you to assure myself that Jenny will
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: have grown up almost into a young woman. Now I
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: shall go out for a bit and lead you to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: chat together. You need not fidget about Victor. Marie Elise
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: is with him and will come and let you know
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: if he wakes. But I hope that he has gone
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: off fairly to sleep for the night. He knew me,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: and I think I have put his mind at rest
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: a little as to how he came here. I have
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: told him it was an accident in the street, and
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: now we've brought him in here, and he has been
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: too ill since to be moved. I don't think he
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: will ask any more questions. If I were you, I
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: would while nursing resumed the dress you came in here,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: it would be less puzzling to him than the one
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: you are wearing now. The little party started the next
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: morning at daylight, and at the very first village they
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: came to found how strict was the watch upon persons
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: leading Paris, and had no reason to congratulate themselves upon
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: the possession of Rospierre's safe conduct. No sooner had they
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: sat down in the village cabaret to breakfast than an
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: official with a red scarf presented himself and asked them
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: who they were and where they were going. The production
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: of the document at once satisfied him, and indeed he
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: immediately addressed the young man in somewhat shabby garments, who
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: had the honor of being the secretary to the great man,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: in tones of the greatest respect. Virginie at present was
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: shy and awkward in her attire as a boy, and indeed,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: had there been time the night before to procure a
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: disguise for her as a girl, it would have been done,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: although Harry's opinion that it would attract less attention for
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: her to travel as a boy who was unchanged, but
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: he would have given way had it been possible to
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: make the change, as any delay, however, would certainly be dangerous.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: The original plan was adhered to. Marie had cut her
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: sister's hair short, and no one would have suspected her
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: from her appearance that Virginie was not what she seemed
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: a good looking boy of some thirteen years old. With
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: their bundles in their hands, they shrugged along the road
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: and stopped for the night at a village about twelve
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: miles out of Paris. After having again satisfied the authorities
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: by the production of the pass, Harry made inquiries and
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: the next morning went two miles away to a farmhouse
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: where there was he heard, a cart and a horse
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: to be disposed of. After much haggling over terms, since
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: to give the sum that was first asked would have
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: excited surprise and perhaps suspicion, Harry became the professor possessor
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: of the house and cart drove triumphantly back to the village, and,
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: having stowed Louise and two girls and some straw on
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: the bottom of the cart, proceeded on the journey. They
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: met with no adventure what I. On the journey to Nante's,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: which was performed in ten days, the weather was bitterly cold.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Although it was now well on in March. The snow
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: lay deep on the ground, but the girls were well
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: wrapped up and the cart was filled with straw, which
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: helped to keep them warm. Harry walked for the most
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: part by the side of the horse's head, for they
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: could only proceed at footpace, but he sometimes climbed up
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: and took the reins to better chat with the girls
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: and keep up their spirits. There was no occasion for
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: this in the case of Jennie, but Vugennie often gave
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: way and cried bitterly, and the old nurse suffered greatly
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: from the cold in spite of her warm wraps. On
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: arriving at Nante's, Harry proceeded first to the main and
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: on producing ross Pierre's document, received a permit to lodge
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: in the town. He then looked for apartments in the
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: neighborhood of the river, and when he obtained them, disposed
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: of the horse and cart. No statement that he was
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Rosspierre's secretary at once secured for him much attention from
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: the authorities, and he was invited to become a member
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: of the revolutionary committee during his stay in the town
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: in order that he might see for himself with what
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: zeal the instructions received from Paris for the extermination of
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: the Royalists for being carried out. This offer he accepted,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: as it woul enabled him to obtain information of all
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: that was going on. Had it not been for this,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: he would gladly have declined the honor, for his feelings
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: were daily harrowed by arrests and massacres, which he was
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: powerless to prevent. For he did not venture to raise
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: his voice on the side of mercy, for had he
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: done so, he would have been certain to excite suspicion.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: He found that horrible as were the atrocities committed in Paris,
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: they were even surpassed by those which enacted in the provinces,
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: and that in Nantas, in particular, a terrible persecution was
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: raging under the Director of Carrier, who had been set
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: down from Paris as a commissioner from the commune there.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Harry's next object was to make acquaintance of some of
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the fishermen and to find out what vessels were engaged
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: in smuggling goods across to England, and for it was
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: one of these alone that he could hope to cross
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: the channel. This, however, he found much more difficult than
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: he had expected. The terror was universal. The news of
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: the execution of the king had heightened the dismay. Massacres
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: were going on all over France. The lowest ruffians in
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: all the great towns were now their masters, and under
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: the pretended accusations, were wrecking their hate upon their respectable inhabitants.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Private en midive were wiped out in blood. None were
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: too high or too low to be denounced as royalists.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: The denunciation was followed, as a matter of course, by
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: a mock trial and execution. Every man distrusted his neighbor,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: and fear caused those who most loathed and hated the
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: existence the existing regime to be loudest in their advocacy
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: of it. There were spies everywhere, men who received blood
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: money for every victim they denounced. Thus, then Harry's efforts
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: to make acquaintances among the sailors met with various slight success.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: He was a stranger, and that was sufficient to cause
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: distrust and ere long it became whispered that he had
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: come from Paris with special authority to hasten on the
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: work of the extirpation of the enemies in the state.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Soon therefore, Harry perceived that as he moved along the
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: little quay, of groups of sailors and fishermen talking together
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: broke up at his approach, the men sauntering off to
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: the wine shops, and any he accosted replied civilly indeed,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: but with embarrassment and restraint, And although any questions of
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: a general character were answered, a profound ignorance was manifested
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: upon the subject upon which he wished to gain information.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: The sailors all seemed to know that occasionally cargoes of
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: spirits were run from the river to England, but none
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: could name any vessel engaged in the trade. Harry soon
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: perceived that as he was regarded with absolute hostility, and
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: one day one of the sailors said to him quietly, Citizen,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: I am a good sane culaert, and I warn you
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: you had best not to come down the river after dark,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: and there was a strong feeling against you. And unless
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: you like your body to be fished out of the
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: water with a half dozen knifeles in it, you will
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: take my advice. Harry began to feel almost crushed under
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: his responsibilities, his attendance at the Revolutionary Committee tried him greatly.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: He made no progress whatever in his efforts to obtain
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: a passage, and to add to his trouble, the old nurse,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: who had been much exhausted by the change from her
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: usual habits and the inclemency of the weather on her journey,
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: instead of gaining strength, appeared to be rapidly losing it
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: and was forced to take to her bed. The terrible
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: events in Paris and the long string of anxiety as
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: to the safety of the girls and the fate of
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Marie had completely exhausted her strength in the last six
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: months had aged her as many years. Harry tried hard
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: to keep up his appearance of hopefulness and to cheer
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: the girls, but Jenny's quick eye speedily perceived the change
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: in him. You are wearing yourself out, Harry, she said
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: one even as they were sitting by the fire while
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Virginie was tending Louise in the next room. I can
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: see it in your face. It is of no use.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: You're trying to deceive me. You tell us every day
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: that you hope soon to get hold of the captain
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: of a boat sailing for England. But I know that
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: in reality you are making no progress. All these months
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: we were hoping to get Marie out of prison, though
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: it seemed next to impossible. You told us not to despair,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: and I knew you did not despair yourself. But now
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: it is different. I am sure that you do in
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: your heart almost give up hope. Why don't you trust me, Harry.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: I may not be able to do much, but I
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: might try to cheer you. You have been comforting us
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: all this time. Surely it is time I took my turn.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: I am not a child now I feel like one
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: just at present, Harry said, unsteadily, with quivering lips. I
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: feel sometimes as if as we used to stay at school,
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: I could cry for two pence. I know, Jenny, I
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: can trust you. And it isn't because I doubted your
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: courage that I have not told you exactly how things
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: are going on, but because it is entirely upon you
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: now that Luis and Jenny have to depend. And I
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: do not wish to put any more weight on your shoulders,
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: but it will be a relief to me to tell
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: you exactly how we stand. Harry then told her how
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: completely he had failed with the Sailors, how an actual
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: feeling of hostility against him had a risen. I think
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: I could have stood that, Jenny. But it was just
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: the terrible committee that tries me. It is so awful
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: hearing these friends marking out the victims and exulting over
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: their murder, that at times I feel tempted to throw
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: myself upon some of them and strangle them. It must
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: be dreadful, Harry, Jenny said soothingly. Will it not be
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: possible for you to give out that you are ill,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: and so absent yourself for a time from their meetings.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: I am sure you could look ill ill enough for anything.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: As to the sailors, do not let that wear you.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: Even if you could hear of a ship at present,
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: it would be of no use. I couldn't leave Louise.
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: She seems to be getting worse and worse. And the
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: doctor you called in three days ago thinks so too.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: I can see it by his face. I think he
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: is a good man. The woman whose sick child I
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: sat up with last night tells me the poor I'll
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: love him. I am sure he guesses that we are
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: not what we seem. He said this morning to me,
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: I cannot do much for your grandmother. It is a
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: general break up. I have many cases like it, of
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: old people and women upon whom the anxiety of the
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: times is told. Do not worry yourself with watching child.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: She will sleep quietly and will not need attendants. If
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: you don't mind, I shall have you on my hands.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Anxiety affects the young as well as the old at
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: any rate. You see, we cannot think of leaving here
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: at prison. Louise has risked everything for us. It is
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: quite impossible for us to leave her now. So do
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: not let that wear you. We are all in God's hands, Harry.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: We must wait patiently what he may send us. We
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: will wait patiently, Harry said. I feel better now, Jennie,
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: and you shall not see me give way again. But
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: has been worrying me is the thought that it would
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: have been wiser to have carried out some other plan,
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: to have put you in, Jennie, for instance, in some
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: farhouse not far from Paris, and for you to have
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: waited there till the storm blew over. You must never
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: think like that, Harry, Jennie said earnestly. You know we
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: are all talked over dozens of times, Louise and all
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: of us, and we agreed that this was our best chance,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: and Marie, when she came out quite thought so too.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: So whatever comes, you must not blame yourself in the slightest.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Wherever we were, we were in danger and might have
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: been denounced. I arranged it all, Jennie. I have the
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: responsibility of you being here, and to an equal extent,
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: you would have had the responsibility of our being anywhere else.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: So it is of no use letting that trouble you. Now.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: As to the sailors, you know, I have made the
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: acquaintance of some of the women in our street. Some
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: of them are sailors wives, and possibly through them, I
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: may be able to hear about ships at any rate,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: and I could try, perhaps you could, Jenny, but be
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: very very careful what questions you put, or you might
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: be betrayed. I don't think there's much fear of that, Harry.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: The women are more outspoken than the men. Some of
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: them are with what they call the people, but it
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: is clear that others are quite the other way. You see.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Trade has been almost stopped, and there is a great
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: suffering among the sailors and their families. Of course, I've
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: been very careful and not to seem to have more
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: money than other people. But I've been able to make
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: soups and things. I have learned to be quite a
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: cook from seeing Louise at work. And I take them
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: those that are very poor, especially if they have children ill,
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: and I think I have won some of their hearts.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: You win everyone's hard who comes near you, Jenny, I think,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: Harry said earnestly. Jenny flushed. Rosie read, but said with
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: a laugh, Now, Harry, you are turning flatterer. We are
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: not at the chateau now, sir, So your pretty speeches
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: are quite thrown away. And now I shall go and
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: take Vigenni's place and send her in to you. And
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: so another month went by, and the old nurse quietly
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: passed away. She was buried, to the girl's great grief,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: without any religious ceremony, for the priests were all hiding
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: or had been murdered, and Franz had solemnly renounced God
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: and placed reason on his throne. In the meantime, Jenny
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: had been steadily carrying on her work among her poorer neighbors,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: sitting up at night with sick children and supplying food
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: to starving little ones, saying quietly in reply to the
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: words of gratitude to the women. My grandmother has laid
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: by savings during her long years of service. She will
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: not want it long, and we are old enough to
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: work for ourselves. Besides, our brother Henry will take care
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: of us. So we are glad to be able to
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: help those who needed. While she worked, she kept her
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: ears open, and from the talk of the woman learned
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: that the husbands of one or two of them were
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: employed in vessels, engaging and carrying on smuggling operations with England.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: A few days after the death of Louis, one of
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: these women, whose child Jenny had helped to nurse through
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: a fever had brought round by keeping it well supplied
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: with good food, exclaimed, Oh, how much we owe you, mademoiselle,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: for your goodness. You must not call me mademoiselle, Jenny said,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: she get her head. It would do you harm and
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: me too if that were heard. It comes so natural,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the woman said, with a sigh. I was in service
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: once in a good family before I married Adolf. But
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: I know that you are not one of those people
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: who say there is no God, because I saw you
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: kneel down and pray by Julie's bed when you thought
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: I was asleep. I expect Adolph home in a day
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: or two. The poor fellow will be wild with delight
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: when he sees the little one on his feet again.
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: And when he went away a fortnight ago, he did
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: not expect ever to see her alive again, and it
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: almost broke his heart. But what was he to do?
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: There are so many men out of work that if
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: he had not sailed on the lugger, there would have
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: been scores to take his place, and he might not
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: perhaps have been taken on again. He has been to England,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: is he not? Jennie asked, Yes, The lugger carries silks
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: and brandy. It is a dangerous trade, for the Channel
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: is swarming with English cruisers. But what is he to do?
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: One must live. Is your husband in favor of the
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: new state of things? Genny asked, Not in his heart, Mademoiselle,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: any more than I am. But he holds his tongue.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Most of the sailors in the port hate these murdering
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: tyrants of ours. But what can we do? Well, Marth,
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: I'm sure I can trust you, and your husband can
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: help me if you will. Surely you can trust me,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: The woman said, I would lay down my life for you,
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: and I know Adolph would do so too, when he
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: knows what you have done for us. Well, then, Marth,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: I and my sister and my brother Henri are so
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: anxious to be taken to England. We are ready to
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: pay well for a passage, but we have not known
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: how to set about it. I thought it might be
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: that Marc Si quietly, for anyone who knows the ways
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: of gentlefolk as I do, could see with half an
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: eye that you are not one of us. But they say, mademoiselle,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: that your brother is a friend of ross Pierre, and
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: that he is one of the committee. Here. He is
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: only pretending Mark in order that no suspicions should fall
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: upon us. But he finds that the sailors distressed him
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: and he cannot get to speak with them about taking
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: a passage. So I thought I would speak to you,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: and you can tell me when a boat is sailing
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: and who is her captain. Adolf will manage all that
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: for you. Never fear, the woman said, I know that
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: many a poor soul has been hidden away on board
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: this smuggler's craft and got safely out of the country.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: But of course it's a risk for it. It is
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: death to assist any of the suspects. Still, the sailors
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: are ready to run the risk, and indeed they haven't
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: much fear of the consequences if they are caught. For
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: the sailor population here are very strong, and they would
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: not stand quietly by and see some of their own
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: class treated as if they had done some great crime
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: merely because they were earning a few pounds by running
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: passengers across to England. Why they have done it from
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: far father to son, as far as they can recollect
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: for there has never been a time yet when there
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: were not people who wanted to pass from France to England,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: and from England to France without asking the leave of
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: the authorities. I think it could be managed, mademoiselle, especially
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: as you say, you can't afford to pay for if
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: one won't take you, another will. Trade is so bad
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: that there are scores of men would start in their
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: fishing boats for a voyage across the channel and hope
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: of getting food for their wives and families. I was
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: sure it was so marthe, but it was so difficult
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: to set about it. Everyone is afraid of spies and
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: it needs someone to warrant that we are not trying
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: to draw them into a snare before anyone will listen.
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: If your husband will but take the matter up, I
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: have no doubt it can be managed. Set your mind
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: at ease. The thing is as good as it's done.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: I tell you there are scores of men ready to
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: undertake the job when they know it is a straightforward one.
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: That is good news. Indeed, Jenny Harry said when the
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: girl told him of the conversation, it does not seem
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: a way out of our difficulties. I felt sure you
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: would be able to manage it sooner or later among
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the poor people you have been so good to hurried
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: on as much as you can. Jenny and I feel
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: our position is getting more and more dangerous. I am
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: afraid I do not play my part sufficiently well. I
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: am not forward enough in their violent counsels. I cannot
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: bring myself to vote for proposals from Massacre when there
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: is any division among them. I fear that some have suspicions.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: I have been asked questions lately as to why I
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: am staying here and why I have come. I have
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: been thinking for the last few days whether it would
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: not be better for us to make our way down
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the mouth of the river and try and bribe some
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: fishermen in the villagers there, who would not have that
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: feeling against me that the men here have to take
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: us to see, or, if that cannot be managed, to
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: get on board some little fishing boat at night and
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: sail off by ourselves and the hope of being picked
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: up by an English cruiser. Harry indeed had for some
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: days been feeling the danger was thickening round him. He
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: had noticed angry glances cast at him by the more
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: violent of the committee, and had got sentencing expressing doubt
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: whether or not he had really been Rospierre's secretary. That evening,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: as he came out from the meeting, he heard one
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: man say to another, I tell you he may have
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: stolen it and perhaps killed the citizen who bore it.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: I believe he is a cursed aristocrat. I tell you
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: I shall watch him. He has got some women with him.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: The marie who saw the paper told me, I shall
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: make it my business to get to the bottom of
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the affair, and we will make short work with him
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: if we find things are as I believe. Harry felt,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: therefore that the danger was even more urgent than he
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: had expressed it to Jennie, and he had returned intending
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: to prep posed immediate flight. Had not Jennie been beforehand
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: with their news. Even now he hesitated whether even a
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: day's delay might not ruin them. Have you told me all, Harry,
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Jenny asked, not quite all, Jenny, I was just thinking
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: it over. I fear the danger is even more pressing
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: than I had said, and had repeated a sentence he
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: had overheard. Even now he said that fellow may be
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: watching outside or making inquiries about you. He will hear
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: nothing but praise, but that very praise may cause him
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: to doubt still more that you are not what you've seen.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: But why can we not run away at once? Vigennie said,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: Why should we wait here till they come and take
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: us and carry us away and kill us. That is
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: what I was thinking when I came home, Jenny. But
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: the risk of trying to escape in a fishing boat
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: by ourselves would be tremendous. You see, although I have
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: gone out sailing sometimes on the river in England, I
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: know very little about it. And although we might be
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: picked up by an English ship, it would be much
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: more likely that we should fall into the hands of
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: one of the French gunboats. So I look upon that
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: is a desperate step to be taken only at the
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: last moment. And now that Jennie seems to have arranged
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: a safe plan, I do not like trying such a
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: wild scheme. A week now and perhaps all might be arranged.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: But the question is have we a week? Have we
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: more than twenty four hours? What do you think, Jenny?
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: I do not see what is best to do yet,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Jenny said, looking steadily in the fire. It is a
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: terrible thing to have to decide, but I see we
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: must decide. She sat for five minutes without speaking, and
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: then taking down her cloak from the peg on which
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: it hung, she said, I will go round to Marthe's
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: picton again and tell her we are all so anxious
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: for each other that I don't think we can judge
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: what is really the best. Marth will see things more
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: clearly and will be able to advise us. Yes, that
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: will be the best plan. It was three quarters of
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: an hour before she returned. I can see you have
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: a plan, Harry said, as he saw that there was
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: a look of brightness and hope on Jennie's face. Yes,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: I have a plan, and a good one, that is
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: to say, Marth has I told her about it, and
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: she said directly that we must be hidden somewhere till
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: her husband can arrange for us to sail. I said,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: of course that was what was wanted, but how could
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: it be managed? So she thought it over, and we
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: have quite arranged it. She has a sister who lives
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: in a fishing village four miles down the river. She
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: will go over there tomorrow and arrange them to take us,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: and we'll get some fishergirls dresses for us. She says.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: She is sure her sister will take us, for she
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: was over here yesterday and heard about the child getting better,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: and Marthe told her all sources of nonsense about what
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: I had done for it. She thinks we shall be
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: quite safe there, for there are only six or seven houses,
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: and no one but fishermen live there. She proposes that
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: you shall be dressed in some of her husband's clothes
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: and shall go out fishing with her sister's husband. What
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: do you think of that, Harry, splendid Jenny. Can the
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: husband be trusted too? Oh? Yes, she says, so. He
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: is an honest man, she says. And besides, they are
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: very poor, and a little money will be a great
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: help to them. She says, she would not propose it
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: unless she was quite quite sure of them, for if
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: anything happened to us, she would be a wretched woman
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: all her life. Thank God, Harry said fervently that one
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: sees daylight at last. I have felt so helpless lately.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Dangers seemed to be thickening round you, and I can
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: do nothing. And now, Jennie, you have found a way
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: out for us where I never should have found one
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: for myself. It is God who has done it, not me,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: Jennie said reverently. I did not begin to go about
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: among the poor people here with any thought of making friends,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: but because they were so poor and miserable. But He
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: must have put it into my heart to do it
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: in order that a way of escape might be made
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: for us. End of Chapter twelve. Recording by Ryan Cherick.