"But by whose orders?" asked Olivier, stupefied.
"Robespierre's."
"The wretch!" he vociferated as he fell on a chair, frantic with rage.
But he was soon on his feet again, resolute and decided.
"I must go!" he said; "I must start at once for Paris. I must have them from that prison! For now prison means the guillotine!"
Leonard held him back, begging him to wait till the morrow, entreating him to be prudent, and to do nothing rashly. But Olivier was deaf to counsel or entreaty, and at last succeeded in obtaining from the locksmith the address of a furnished apartment in the Rue du Rocher, in a quiet, respectable house. Only giving himself time to go in the adjoining room and take a travelling-bag he had left in Leonard's care, packed with a few clothes and sundry other articles brought with him from Pontivy, Olivier started for Paris, accompanied at first by Leonard, who took leave of him at a junction of the roads.
"Pray for me, Leonard," he said, taking an affectionate farewell, "for I say it again, they shall come out of that prison, even if I have to pay for it with my life."
At midnight Olivier arrived at the Rue du Rocher, having walked the whole way without really knowing how, mind and body being given up to the one haunting thought. He rang at the house indicated to him, and secured a room, mentioning Leonard as a reference, and when the concierge asked his name he replied—
"Germain, Citoyen Germain. Could I go to my room now? I am so sleepy."
And yet he did not sleep. He did not even attempt to lie down, but paced the room impatiently, trying at times to sit down quietly, then rising to recommence his walk to and fro, waiting for the daylight with feverish impatience. He undid his bed, rumpled it to make it look as if it had been slept in, and going downstairs knocked gently at the concierge's room to have the front door opened. He then hastened through the deserted streets to the prison of La Bourbe, without once asking his way, for the directions Leonard had given him were firmly engraved on his memory, and arrived there sooner than he had expected.