He was not long kept waiting. During the dialogue on the door-step, the carriage was rapidly drawing nigh; not only did he hear the wheels, but the neighing of the horses.
The courier, placing himself in the midst of the road, awaited its arrival.
CHAPTER XXV.
THE TRAGEDY OF ROYALTY BEGINS.
Scarcely five minutes had passed, when I began to distinguish a black phantom; and soon after I saw the sparks flying from under the horses’ hoofs.
As the mass approached, I saw that it was composed of two carriages.
The first was an ordinary cabriolet; the second, an immense travelling carriage.
On seeing the road blocked by one man, on foot, holding a horse by the bridle, the postilion cracked his whip, and shouted to the horses to go on.
But the unknown, in an imperative voice, cried out “Stop!” lifting his hand at the same time. “I wish to speak to the travellers in the second carriage!”