CHAPTER XXX
M. Mifroid’s Theory
WHEN M. Mifroid recovered sufficiently from the shock of his fall, the first thing that worried him was that he would be “out of the game.” Even at the moment of his fall his presence of mind did not fail him, and he knew that he was falling into one of the thousand-year-old quarries, which crossed under Paris in their intricate meanderings. He experienced that feeling accompanied by a light, painful torpor which follows a swoon caused by shock.
He was in the catacombs!
His first thought was to try and find the lights which he had just bought, and so find out how the passage lay. He felt sure that they must have fallen through the hole with him. The darkness seemed to weigh heavily on his eyelids, and a great feeling of depression came over him. Without getting up, for by an imprudent movement he would lose the knowledge of the exact place where he had fallen, he spread his hands about him and was relieved to find his package again. He feared at first that the lamps would be broken, but soon felt that it was not so; and breaking open the package, he pressed the button on one of the lamps. The cavern was lighted with a fairy brightness, and he could not keep from smiling as he thought of the unfortunates who, shut up in some cavern, generally drag themselves along, holding their breath, behind a paltry snuff of a candle, which at any moment might flicker out.
He got up then and examined the vault. He knew of the work of repairing the track, and knew that they neared the end, but when he saw that the hole through which he had fallen was closed, a feeling akin to fear came over him.
Now some meters of earth separated him from the outside world, unless it was possible for him to get up to this place which they had filled in. He, however, flashed his light around, and after surveying the walls and the vaults, he came across a prostrate body. The sight at first gave him a shock, but on examination he found it to be the body of M. Longuet-the body of the new Cartouche. He examined it and noticed that it did not bear a single trace of serious wounds. The man was stunned, as he had been himself, and without doubt he would not be slow in coming out of that swoon. He recalled that M. Lecamus had presented him to his friend in the Champs Elysées, and behold, he was now mixed up with him like the worst kind of assassins.
Just then M. Longuet breathed a sigh, stretched his arm, and complained of some pains. He arose, and, saluting M. Mifroid, asked him where they were. M. Mifroid told him. He did not seem at all distressed, but drawing forth his portfolio, he traced some lines which resembled a plan, and showed them to M. Mifroid, saying:
“M. le Commissioner, we are at the bottom of the catacombs. It is an extraordinary event. How we are going to get out I do not know, but that which is distressing me most at the present moment is what has happened to the express train.” M. Mifroid demanded some explanation, and M. Longuet related to him, with the closest detail, the disappearance and re-appearance of the carriage and the train. For the better understanding of the track he drew a plan out as follows: