Instead of replying, Rodolph addressed the black doctor:
"Proceed, David! And if I do wrong, may the Almighty punish me alone!"
The negro rang; two men entered. David pointed to a side door, which opened into an adjoining closet.
The chair in which the Schoolmaster remained bound, so as to be incapable of the smallest movement, was then rolled into the anteroom.
"Are you going to murder me, then? Mercy! mercy!" shrieked the wretched man, as he was being removed.
"Gag him!" cried the negro, entering the closet.
Rodolph and the Chourineur were left alone.
"M. Rodolph," said the Chourineur, pale and trembling, "M. Rodolph, what is going to be done? I never felt so frightened. Pray speak; I must be dreaming, surely. What have they done to the Schoolmaster? He does not cry out,—all is so silent; it makes me more fearful still!"
At this moment David issued from the cabinet; his complexion had that livid hue peculiar to the negro countenance, while his lips were ashy pale.
The men who had conveyed the Schoolmaster into the closet now replaced him, still bound in his chair, on the spot he had previously occupied in Rodolph's presence.