OCR Text |
Show 162 Tit£ LtLl" A:-ol> TltE TOTEM. m:mglcd, from the place where he had met his death ; still grasp~ ing between his fingers the fragment of match with which he bad lighted the train to his own destruction. The conspirators, iu an instant, felt all their feebleness. Already were the trusted sohlicrs of Laudonuicrc approaching them. Baffled in the scheme from which they had promised th cmscln~s so much, and nppt·chending worse dangers: they lost all confidence in themselves and one another; aud Lo Gcnr6, apprehending cvcrythiilg, Stlizing the moment of greatest confusion, leaped the walls of the fortress, and succeeded in csc;1ping to the woods. The other leading compimtors, Lc Gcncvois, L:~ l~oUI'ncau:~:, and La Roqucttc, a~ first determined not to fly, not yet dreaming that they were the objects of su....,picion; but when they beheld Bon Pre, late one of their llSJ'IOCiatcs, mar!'ilw.lliug one of the squads of Laudonnierc, they at once conjccturC"d tho mode and tho extent of the di.sco\•cry. They snw that they l1ad been betrayed, and soon followt:d the example of Lc Genr6. In regard to the inft.lrior persons con· cerned in the conspiracy, D'El'iach snid nothiug t.o L:t.udonnicre, and counselled Don P1·c to silence also. He was better pleased tlw.t they should wholly c.srapo than that tho colony sl1ould lose their sen·iees, and easily persuaded himself that in driving Lo CcnrC aud Lis three associates from the field, he had cfftJctually paralyzed the spirit of faction within tl1e fortress. lie had made one mistake, however, but for which he might not huvc boon so easily content. Not anticipating the chango in the plan of tho conspin1.tors, by which it had been confided to Villcmain to fire tho train instead of Lc GcnrC, be had naturally come to the conclusion tlJat tho only victim wns the chief conspirator. He was soon undeceived, and his chagrin and disappointment were great accordingly. Til£ CO:>iSPJnACY OF LE GE:>iRf:. 163 "\Vhosc c:~.rea5:s is this?" demanded Landonnicrc, as they tlJrcw out tho mnnglcd remains of the incendiary from the scone of ruin. " That of your lieutenant, Lc Genre," wns the answer of D'El'lach, given without looking nt the object. " .l\'ot so!" was the immediate reply of more th:~.n one of tho persons present. " 'l'his is quite too slight and short :1. person for Lo Gcnr6." " Who can it be, then i" snid D'Erlacb, looking closely at tho body, which was torn and blackened almost beyond idcntific!l.tion. 1'hc face of the corpse was washed, and with some difficulty it wns recognized as that of Philip Villcmain, a thoughtless youth, whom levity rather than evil nature h ad thrown into tho meshes of conspiracy. "llut what docs it all mean, AltJhonsc ?"demanded the bewildered Laudonnicrc, not yet recovered from his astonishment and nlarm. '''!'reason! as I told you!" was the reply. "There lies one of the tmitors-tho poor tool of a cunning which escapes. I had looked to make his pl'incipal perish by his own petard. But we mnst look to this hereafter. \Vc must stir the woods to-morrow. 1'hey will shelter tho arch traitor for a scMon only. Euough now, captain, thnt we arc safe. Let us in to our fl.sh. Those trout werE' of tho finest, and I somehow have a monstrous appetite for supper." |