第502章

"I am coming to that, my lord.Still weeping, he said to a gravedigger, `Well! and the coffin?' `You were right,' answered the man; `I found it in the second row of the other grave.It had the figure of a cross on it, formed by seven black nails.But how could you know the place and the mark?' 'Alas! it is no matter,' replied the old Jew, with bitter melancholy.`You see that I was but too well informed on the subject.

But where is the coffin?' `Behind the great tomb of black marble; I have hidden it there.So make haste; for, in the confusion, nothing will be noticed.You have paid me well, and I wish you to succeed in what you require.'"

"And what did the old Jew do with the coffin marked with the seven black nails?"

"Two men accompanied him, my lord, bearing a covered litter, with curtains drawn round it.He lighted a lantern, and, followed by these two men, went towards the place pointed out by the gravedigger.A

stoppage, occasioned by the dead-carts, made me lose sight of the old Jew, whom I was following amongst the tombs.Afterwards I was unable to find him."

"It is indeed a strange affair.What could this old Jew want with the coffin?"

"It is said, my lord, that they use dead bodies in preparing their magic charms."

"Those unbelievers are capable of anything--even of holding communication with the Enemy of mankind.However, we will look after this: the discovery may be of importance."

At this instant a clock struck twelve in the distance.

"Midnight! already?"

"Yes, my lord."

"I must be gone.Good-bye--but for the last time swear to me that, should matters so turn out, as soon as you receive the other half of the ivory crucifix I have just given you, you will keep your promise."

"I have sworn it by Bowanee, my lord."

"Don't forget that, to make all sure, the person who will deliver to you the other half of the crucifix is to say--come, what is he to say?"

"He is to say, my lord: `There is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.'"

"Very well.Adieu! secrecy and fidelity!"

"Secrecy and fidelity, my lord," answered the man in the cloak.

Some seconds after the hackney-coach started, carrying with it Cardinal Malipieri, one of the speakers in the above dialogue.The other, whom the reader has no doubt recognized as Faringhea, returned to the little garden-door of the house occupied by Djalma.At the moment he was putting the key into the lock, the door opened, to his great astonishment, and a man came forth.Faringhea rushed upon the unknown, seized him violently by the collar, and exclaimed: "Who are you? whence came you?"

The stranger evidently found the tone of this question anything but satisfactory; for, instead of answering, he struggled to disengage himself from Faringhea's hold, and cried out, in a loud voice: "Help!

Peter!"

Instantly the carriage, which had been standing a few yards off, dashed up at full speed, and Peter, the tall footman, seizing the half-breed by the shoulders, flung him back several paces, and thus made a seasonable diversion in favor of the unknown.

"Now, sir," said the latter to Faringhea, shaking himself, and still protected by the gigantic footman, "I am in a state to answer your questions, though you certainly have a very rough way of receiving an old acquaintance.I am Dupont, ex-bailiff of the estate of Cardoville, and it was I who helped to fish you out of the water, when the ship was wrecked in which you had embarked."

By the light of the carriage-lamps, indeed, the half-caste recognized the good, honest face of Dupont, formerly bailiff, and now house-steward, to Mdlle.de Cardoville.It must not be forgotten that Dupont had been the first to write to Mdlle.de Cardoville, to ask her to interest herself for Djalma, who was then detained at Cardoville Castle by the injuries he had received during the shipwreck.

"But, sir, what is your business here? Why do you introduce yourself clandestinely into this house?" said Faringhea, in an abrupt and suspicious tone.

"I will--just observe to you that there is nothing clandestine in the matter.I came here in a carriage, with servants in the livery of my excellent mistress, Mdlle.de Cardoville, charged by her, without any disguise or mystery, to deliver a letter to Prince Djalma, her cousin,"

replied Dupont, with dignity.

On these words, Faringhea trembled with mute rage, as he answered: "And why, sir, come at this late hour, and introduce yourself by this little door?"

"I came at this hour, my dear sir, because such was Mdlle.de Cardoville's command, and I entered by this little gate because there is every reason to believe that if I had gone around to the other I should not have been permitted to see the prince."

"You are mistaken, sir," replied the half-caste.

"It is possible: but as we knew that the prince usually passed a good portion of the night in the little saloon, which communicates with the greenhouse, and as Mdlle.de Cardoville had kept a duplicate key of this door, I was pretty certain, by taking this course, to be able to deliver into the prince's own hands the letter from Mdlle.de Cardoville, his cousin, which I have now had the honor of doing, my dear sir; and I have been deeply touched by the kindness with which the prince deigned to receive me and to remember our last interview."

"And who kept you so well informed, sir, of the prince's habits?" said Faringhea, unable to control his vexation.

"If I have been well informed as to his habits, my dear sir, I have had no such correct knowledge of yours," answered Dupont, with a mocking air;

"for I assure you that I had no more notion of seeing you than you had of seeing me."

So saying, M.Dupont bowed with something like mock politeness to the half-caste, and got into the carriage, which drove off rapidly, leaving Faringhea in a state of the utmost surprise and anger.