When the Admiral returned, he took up the lantern.
“Are you going to take the axes?” he asked.
“No,” said Victor, “we will leave those for the rent of the building.”
That night, in the solitude of his own room, he took from its hiding-place the white rose with the blood-stained petals. Her rose and his blood!
“Sweet emblem of peace and love, thou art my talisman against evil, and, for her dear sake, these hands shall never be stained by the blood of one whom she loves. I swear it!”
CHAPTER XVI.
ANCESTRAL PRIDE.
Ajaccio, Alfieri, and Cromillian’s camp formed the angles of an equilateral triangle; in other words, it was about five miles from Ajaccio to Alfieri; it was another five miles from Alfieri to Cromillian’s camp. The two members of his band, however, who formed Andrea Fortier’s escort, for Jack had given his assumed name to his companions, were too well acquainted with the country and too anxious to reach camp to travel ten miles when they knew that, by a short cut over the mountains and up the ravine, the distance was not more than five.
If some of the residents of Ajaccio, who had experienced a taste of Cromillian’s justice, had known that his camp was in such close proximity to the town, they would certainly have tried to induce the officers of the law to attempt his capture. Yet, this would have been hard to effect. They would have had to rely upon the gens d’armes who, although they could not shirk duty when called upon to arrest a person within the limits of the town, were decidedly averse to invading the maquis. The bandits were such good shots, had such far-reaching rifles, and, besides, had such a way of firing from behind trees and stone walls, that the gens d’armes always scouted the idea of their being able to capture a bandit, and their officers were not loath to embrace the same opinion.
It was after midnight when Jack and his escort reached Cromillian’s camp. He was at once taken into the presence of the Chief who, seated in a little grove, was writing by the light of a fire. Jack presented the letter given to him by Victor, which Cromillian opened and read.
Thomas Glynne, who had followed close upon the heels of Jack and his companions, was very anxious to learn the reason for the young man’s visit, under such circumstances, to this particular locality. He approached the camp, skulking behind one tree and then another, when a firm hand from behind grasped his coat collar, and he was hurled violently to the ground. He attempted to rise, but found himself surrounded by four heavily bearded, fierce-looking men, who grasped him and, without saying a word, took him at once to the little grove where Cromillian sat.