22 
LAND & WATER 
December 14, 1916 
{Continued from pa^e 20) 
obstinately and defiantly. At that moment, Essares appeared 
to get his call, for he asked : 
' Is that 40.39 ? Ah, yes ... ' 
- He hesitated. Coralie's presence obviously displeased him 
greatly; and he was about to say things which he did mt 
wish her to kno.v. But time, no doubt, was pressing. He 
suddenly made up his mind and with both receivers glued 
to his ears, said, in English : 
" Is that you, Gr^goire ? . . . Essares speaking. . . 
Hullo 1 . . . Yes, I'm speaking from the Rue Raynouard 
. . . . There's not time to lose . . . Listen . . . 
He sat down an i went on ! 
" Look here. Mustapha's dead. So is the colonel. . , 
Damn it, don't interrupt, or we're done for! . . . yes,, 
done for ; and you too. . . . Listen, they all came, the 
colonel. Bournet, the whole gang, and robbed me by means 
of violwce and threats. ... I finished the colonel, only 
he had written to the police, giving us all away. The letter 
will be delivered soon. So you understand, Bournef and his 
three ruffians are going to disappear. They'll just run home 
and pack up their papers ; and I reckon they'll be with you 
in an hour, or two hours at most. It's the refuge they're 
sure to make for. They prepared it themselves, without 
suspecting that you and I know each other. So there's no 
doubt about it. They're sure to come. . . ." 
Essares stopped. He thought for a moment and resumed : 
^ " You still have a second key to each of the rooms which 
they use as bedrooms ? Is that so ? . . . Good. And 
you have duplicates of the keys that open the cupboards in 
the walls of those rooms, haven't you ? . . Capital. 
Well, as soon as they get to sleep, or rathei 'as soon as you 
are certain that they are sound asleep, go in and search the 
cupboards. Each of them is bound to hide his share of the 
booty there. You'll find it quite easily. It's the four pocket- 
books which you know of. Put them in your bag, clear out 
as fast as you can and join me." 
There was another pause. This time, it was Essares 
listening. He replied : 
" WTiat's that you say? Rue Raynouard? Here? Join 
me here ? Why, you must be mad 1 Do you imagine that 
I can stay now, after the colonel's given me away ? No, go 
and wait for me at the hotel, near the station. I shall be 
there by twelve o'clock or one in the afternoon, perhaps a 
little later. Don't be uneasy. Have your lunch quietly and 
we'll talk things over. . . . Hullo 1 Did you hear ? . . 
Very well, I'll see that everything's all right. Good-bye for 
. the present." . 
The conversation was finished ; and it looked as if Essares, 
liaving taken all his measures to recover possession of the four 
million francs, had no further cause for anxiety. He hung up 
the receiver, went back to the lounge-chair in which he had 
been tortured, wheeled it round with its back to the fire, sat 
down, turned down the bottoms of his trousers and pulled on 
his socks and shoes, all a little painfully and accompanied by a 
few grimaces, but calmly, in the manner of a man who has no 
need to hurry. 
Giralie kept her eyes fixed on his face. 
" 1 really ought to go," thought Captain Belval, who felt 
a trifle embarrassed at the thought of overhearing what the 
husband and wife were about to say. 
Nevertheless, he stayed. He was not comfortable in his 
mind on Coralie's account, 
Essares fired the first shot : 
" Well," he asked " what are vou looking at me hke that 
(or ? " 
" So it's true ? " she murmured, maintaining her attitude 
of defiance. " You leave me no possibiUty of doubt ? " 
" Why should I lie ? " he snarled. " I should not nave 
telephoned in youi hearing if I hadn't been sure that you were 
here all the time." 
" I was up there." , 
" Then you heard everything ? " 
" Yes." 
" And saw everything '? " 
" Yes." 
" And, seeing the torture which they inflicted on me and 
hearing my cries, you did nothing to defend me, to defend 
me against torture, against death 1 !" 
" No, for I knew the truth." 
" What truth ? " 
" The truth which I suspected without daring to admit it." 
" What truth ? " he repeated, in a louder voice. 
" The truth about your treason." 
" You're mad. I've committed no treason." 
' Oh, don't juggle with words ! I confess that I don't know 
the whole truth : I did not understand all that those men said 
or what they were demanding of you. But the secret which 
■hey tried to force from you was a treasonable secret." 
" A man can only commit treason against his country," 
he said, shrugging his shoulders. " I'm not a Frenchman." 
" You were a Frenchman 1 " she said. " You asked to be 
one, and you became one. Y u married me, a French- 
woman, and you live in France and you've made your fortune 
in France. It's France that you're betraying." 
" Don't talk nonsense ! And for whose benefit ? " 
" I don't know that either. For months, for years indeed, 
the colonel Bournef, all your former accomplices and yourself 
have .been engaged on ar 'enormous work — yes, enormous, 
it's their own word — and now it appears that you are fighting 
over the profits of the common enterprise and the others accuse 
you of pocketing those profits foi yourself alone and of keeping 
a secret that doesn't belong to you. So that I seem to see 
something dirtier and more hateful even than treachery, 
something worthy of a common pick-pocket. . . ." 
The man struck the arm of his chair with his fist : 
" Enough 1 " he cried. 
Coralie seemed in no way alarmed : 
" Enough," she echoed, " you are right. Enough words 
between us. Besides, there is one fact that stands out above 
everything : your fliglit. That amounts to a confession. 
You're afraid of the police." 
He shrugged his shoulders a second time : ^ 
" I'm afraid of nobody." 
" Very well, but you're going.'' 
" Yes." 
" Then let's have it out. When are you going ? ' 
" Presently, at twelve o'clock." 
" And, if you're arrested ? " 
" I shan't be arrested." 
"If you are arrested, however ?" 
" I shall be let go." 
" At least there will be an enquiry, a trial ? " 
" No, the matter will be hushed up." 
" You hope so." 
" I'm sure of it." 
" God grant it ! And you will leave France, of course ? " 
" As soon as I can." 
" When will that be ? " 
" In a fortnight or three weeks." 
" Send me word of the day, so that I may know when I 
can breathe again." 
" I shall send you word, Coralie, but for anothCT reason." 
" What reason ? " 
" So that you may join me." 
" Join you ! " 
He gave a cruel smile : 
" You are my wife," he said. " Where the husband goes 
the wife goes ; and you know that, in my rehgion, the husband 
has every right over his wife, including that of life and death. 
Well, you're my wife." 
Coralie shook her head and, in a tone of indescribable 
contempt, answered : 
" I am not your wife. I feel nothing for you but loathing 
and horror. I don't wish to see you again, and, whatever 
happens, whatever you may threaten, I shall not see you 
again." 
He rose and, walking to her, bent in two, all trembling on 
his legs, he shouted, while again he shook his clenched fists 
at her : 
" What's that you say ? What's that you dare to say ? 
I, I, your lord and master, order you to join me the momeni 
that I send for you." 
" I shall not join you. I swear it before God. I swear it 
as I hope to be saved." 
He stamped his feet with rage. His face underwent a 
hideous contortion, and he roared : 
" That means that you want to stay ! Yes, you have 
reasons which I don't know, but which are easy to guess ! 
An affair of the heart, I suppose. There's some one in your 
life, no doubt. . . . Hold your tongue, will you ? . . . 
Haven't you always detested me ? . . . Your hatred 
does not date from to-day. It dates back to the first time 
you saw me, to a time even before our marriage. . . . We 
have always hved like mortal enemies. I loved you. 1 
worshipped you. A word from you would have brought mc 
to your feet. The mere sound of your steps tlu-illed me to 
the marrow. . . . But your feeling for me is one of 
horror. And you imagine that you are going to start a new 
life, without me ? Why, I'd sooner kill you, my beauty ! " 
He had unclenched his fists ; and his open hands were 
clutching on either side of Coralie, close to her head, as 
.though around a prey which they seemed on the point of 
throttling. A nervous shiver made his jaws clash together. 
Beads of perspiration gleamed on his bald head. 
In front of hitu, Coralie stood impassive, looking very small 
and frail. Patrice Belval, in an agony of suspen e and ready 
at any moment to act, could read nothing on her calm features 
but aversion and contempt. 
{Continued on page 2^) 
