The sergeant took the torch; the two soldiers stood motionless behind him, in its reddish glare, with the barrel of powder at their feet.
Canolles ascended the stairs with his mind at rest, in that direction at least; but as he stepped into his room he saw Nanon, who had seen him come down from the ramparts and return indoors, and had followed him in quest of news. She stared in open-mouthed dismay, at this yawning orifice of which she had no knowledge.
"Oh! mon Dieu!" said she, "what is that door?"
"The door of the passage through which you are to fly, dear Nanon."
"You promised me that you wouldn't require me to leave you except in case you were attacked."
"And I renew my promise."
"Everything about the island seems to be quiet, my dear."
"Everything seems quiet within, too, does it not? And yet there are a barrel of powder, a man, and a torch within twenty feet of us. If the man should put the torch to the powder, in one second not one stone would be left upon another in the whole fort. That is how quiet everything is, Nanon."
The color fled from the young woman's cheeks.
"Oh! you make me shudder!" she cried.