Roberts did not know the meaning of the words, but the Frenchman’s delight was sufficiently manifested by the tone of the voice. The American’s heart sank as he thought of what was before him.
“He won’t let me off so easily this time!” he thought. “I am not sorry I whacked him, all the same, and at least that other fellow will escape!”
He was borne swiftly forward by the men; from the sounds of the footsteps he knew that they were on the gravel walk once more. Then they mounted the steps of the piazza, and through an opening in the coat that was still flung over his head he made out the light of the doorway. At the same time he heard the voice of the Frenchman and was borne into the hallway again. The door shut behind him. It sounded like a death-knell in his ears.
“Probably they will take me back to that very same cell,” he thought.
And then suddenly two of the men seized him by his arms, and the rest released their hold, leaving him standing upon his feet. The coat was flung from off his face, and he stood before his captors.
Roberts found himself in the very same hallway as on the previous occasion, surrounded by the very same servants, and in the presence of the very same master. All this was exactly what he had expected, and nothing of it surprised him. But there was one new circumstance, one that left him almost dazed with consternation—the action of the crowd of men the instant they caught sight of him.
The master himself, having apparently recovered from the blow which Roberts had dealt him, was standing in front of his prisoner; as he got a glimpse of his face he staggered back with an exclamation, and burst into a roar of laughter! He began to shake all over with uncontrollable merriment, and finally he sank back against the wall, apparently scarcely able to stand.
Nor were his assistants less strangely affected—they, too, gazed at the prisoner, and then went likewise into spasms of laughter. Everyone in the hall was soon joining in the uproar, and two men who were holding Roberts were so overcome that they let go their hold of him! The puzzled man found himself alone and free once more, but he was so amazed that he could only stand and stare about him.
It would not be possible to describe his perplexity. The little Frenchman, now apparently not in the least alarmed by the fact that his prisoner was free, lay back in a chair near the fireplace, almost purple in the face with laughter. And this situation continued for fully two minutes more before the man, seeing Roberts’s amazement, rose to his feet and came toward him.
“Monsieur!” he began, making a desperate effort to control his laughter. “Monsieur! Une très grande bévue!”