I could not call out, I was held too tight; and the villain lifted his poniard to strike, when a voice—the voice of de Gomeron—said:
'Hold! We will put him out another way.'
'This is the quickest and surest,' answered Ravaillac; but the reply was brief and stern.
'Carry out my orders. Gag him and bring him with us.'
'To Babette's?'
'To Babette's. There is the oubliette. Quick, there is no time to lose.'
'Oh, ho!' laughed Ravaillac, 'that is good! M. le Chevalier will be able to drown his sorrows under the Seine; but he will take a long time to die!'
'You villain!' I gasped, but like lightning the gag was on me, and then I was blindfolded. I could see nothing of Madame, though I tried my utmost to get a glimpse of her. Then I was bound hand and foot, and lifted by a couple of men. After being carried a short space I was thrust into a litter, and as this was done I heard a faint cry from Claude; and I groaned in my heart, for I was powerless to help.
The litter went forward at a jolting pace, and from the echo of hoofs around it I gathered that there were at least a dozen mounted men about me. Sometimes I heard a brief order given by de Gomeron, and the sound of his voice made me certain that Madame was with us. If so, there might still be hope, and I lay still and tried to follow our route by the movement of the party, but I could see nothing; and after a time my brain began to get confused, for we turned this way and that, up side streets, down winding roads, until the thing became impossible.
Once we were challenged by the watch, and my captor gave answer boldly: