Sister Anne Part 13

"Very rarely."

"If you did, you would see that the forests of Senart, Bondy, Fontainebleau, and even Villers-Cotterets, all have their bands of robbers."

"Mon Dieu!"

"Unfortunately, the villains are becoming more savage day by day. They used to content themselves with robbing you, but now they beat you with clubs, and you're lucky if you leave their hands alive."

"The deuce! the deuce! if I had known this!" muttered Menard, looking about him uneasily. They were just entering the wood.

"Oh! don't be alarmed, Monsieur Menard," continued Dubourg; "ordinarily, the robbers confine their attentions to the one who has the money; he has to pay for the others: they tie him to a tree and strip him as bare as a worm, to make sure that he has nothing hidden in his clothing."

"That does not quiet my apprehensions at all, monsieur le baron; for, as it happens, I have charge of the money for our journey."

"Oh! if I had known that, I wouldn't have told you. I thought that Frederic---- But in that case you must sell your life dearly. You are armed, of course?"

"I never use weapons, monsieur le baron."

"Then you must learn to use them; at this moment, we are driving through a forest where three friends of mine were killed."

"What's that! in this wood? It does seem very dense."

And Menard glanced fearfully to right and left. It was beginning to grow dark, and that fact added to his terror.

"Drive at full speed, postilion!" he cried, in a trembling voice.

But the postilion, who had received his instructions from Dubourg, did not quicken his pace. Frederic said nothing, but seemed lost in thought, and Dubourg took his pistols from his pocket and examined them carefully, glancing into the woods from time to time.

"Parbleu! Monsieur Menard," he said, taking from his pocket a shabby green wallet, in which he had placed his last restaurant bill to make it appear well filled, "this contains my whole fortune for the moment. The fifteen thousand francs which I now have for my travelling expenses are in this wallet; as you have been obliging enough to take charge of Frederic's funds, I am sure that you will consent to be my cas.h.i.+er, too; there is no need of having two of us to pay our hotel bills; it's much better that you should do it all."

As he spoke, he handed Menard the wallet; that worthy looked at it, considering what it was best to do; although flattered by that mark of confidence, he was not tempted to accept it.

At that moment, they heard a shrill whistle in the woods.

"Ah! what does that mean?" exclaimed Dubourg, glancing about with a terrified expression.

"Perhaps we are going to be attacked, monsieur le baron."

"Faith! I am afraid of it."

"And Monsieur Frederic is asleep; pray wake him."

Frederic, pretending to be fast asleep, was an amused listener.

"There's no need of that.--Take these, Monsieur Menard," said Dubourg, handing the tutor his wallet and his pistols; "they are loaded."

"Keep them, keep them, in heaven's name, monsieur le baron. I can't take this wallet. On the contrary, if you were willing, you would be much better able than I to take care of these."

And poor Menard produced in one hand his wallet, and in the other a purse filled with gold, and fixed his eyes upon Dubourg with a suppliant expression.

"Really," said the latter, "I don't know if I ought to undertake---- Perhaps Frederic will be offended if----"

"Oh! no, no, monsieur le baron; I am sure that he will approve of my action."

"Here are four men with rifles coming toward us," said the postilion.

"Great G.o.d! we are lost!" cried Menard.

"Give them to me, quickly," said Dubourg, taking the wallet and the purse; "I see that this is a matter for me to attend to."

Menard hid under the seat; the postilion shouted and swore, and lashed his horses; Dubourg leaned out of the chaise and fired both his pistols in the air; Frederic pretended to wake up; the carriage flew like the wind, and in five minutes they were out of the wood.

"We are safe!" said Dubourg, a.s.sisting Menard to rise.

"Really, monsieur le baron?"

"We are out of the woods; there's no more danger. We had a narrow escape, eh, Frederic?"

"And the robbers, monsieur le baron?"

"I killed two of them."

"I saw the other two run away," said Frederic.

"Ah! monsieur le baron, how lucky we were to have you with us!"

They arrived in due time at their destination. Dubourg was delighted to be the treasurer of the party, and he inaugurated his functions by giving the postilion a gold piece for whistling in the forest.

VII

DUBOURG CONTINUES TO PLAY THE GREAT MAN.--HIS METHOD OF MANAGING THE TREASURY

Dubourg had never had in his possession so large a sum of money as that which Menard had intrusted to him. Young men, as a general rule, are not in the habit of h.o.a.rding money, and Dubourg, who was devoted to cards and pleasure and good cheer, thinking only of the present, oblivious of the past, and never worrying about the future, had not the faintest idea of economy.

When he was a clerk in a government office, his salary was always so largely hypothecated that he never received more than a third of it, and that third never lasted more than three days, during which period, to be sure, Dubourg lived like the chief of a bureau.

In the banking-house, being compelled to work hard, he took his revenge by ordering dainty breakfasts brought to the office; and his accounts at cafes and restaurants consumed a large part of the amount the cas.h.i.+er paid him at the month's end.

At the notary's, he had contracted, with the other young men in the office, the deplorable habit of playing ecarte. It was worse than ever there: the month's pay vanished in one evening, and he was in luck when he did not pledge the next month's as well.

In the employ of the solicitor, being constantly abroad with the lady whom his employer intrusted to him, he lost the habit of working; he pa.s.sed his time in dissipation, and strove to follow the fas.h.i.+ons and rival the young dandies of the capital. During that period, his tailor, his bootmaker, and his stableman had divided his income.

When his kind old aunt sent him money, it was never a large amount. The largest was the five hundred francs which he had extorted by the fable of his marriage and his triplets; we have seen what use he made of that.

Eight thousand francs--for the amount was almost untouched--was, in Dubourg's eyes, a fortune of which he would never see the end. To be sure, it did not belong to him, strictly speaking; but he could direct the spending of it; he could do exactly as he pleased, for he was certain of not being called upon for an accounting. He did not propose to appropriate a single sou, but he did propose to put it to such use as would do honor to him to whom it belonged, and he was not sorry to be able to enjoy it with him.