“They are perfectly sure of it,” said Martina, “and if they have not arrived, it is because they have had the same luck that we had; they have got lost in the fog, which is constantly increasing.”
“You have been lost in the fog?” said Christian, deeply moved by Margaret’s generous solicitude.
“Oh, only for a little while,” she answered. “Peterson belongs to the country, and he soon found the road; but the gentlemen must have mistaken one shore of the lake for the other.”
“Place a light in the window of the bear-room,” said M. Goefle; “it will serve to guide them.”
“No, no,” said Peterson, “they will not see it any more than they see the stars.”
“No matter, try it, at any rate,” said Martina.
“No, my dear friend,” replied Margaret; “the assassins are probably lost also, since they have not come. We will not help them to find their way before the officers—”
“We shall be very glad to welcome the officers, most surely,” rejoined M. Goefle; “but at present there are three of us, and all well armed; I know Peterson, he is a strong ally—and then, my dear young ladies, is it not possible that there is some error here? Have you not mistaken mere inquisitive rogues for assassins? Where did you see them?”
“Tell them, Martina, tell them what we heard!” said Margaret.
“Yes, yes, Monsieur Goefle, listen,” resumed Martina, assuming, artlessly, a pretty little air of importance. “Two hours ago—or two hours and a half, perhaps—we young folks, as they call us over at the chateau, were playing hide-and-seek in the outer buildings of the new chateau. I was with Margaret and the lieutenant. We had drawn lots for the different parties, and then we should have been afraid, we two young girls, to go all alone into gloomy galleries and dark rooms where we had never been; we were obliged to have a cavalier to accompany us! The lieutenant did not know much more about this part of the chateau than we did ourselves; it is so large! Well, we crossed a long, deserted gallery, and went down a little staircase, that was nearly dark. The lieutenant was leading the way, and as there were no corners or passages anywhere around that would be good for hiding, we went straight on, until we could scarcely see at all, and began to be afraid we should fall down some precipice, and then, at last, he stopped.