Page:Dumas - Tales of Strange adventure (Methuen, 1907).djvu/109

Rh which is not unlikely, slip out on the balcony and jump down—it is only twelve feet above the ground.'

"'Good!'

"'Away with you! I will do my best to arrange matters so that his coming back need make no difference in our plans.'

"'So much the better!'

"'Be easy. Now go; I hear his step on the stairs.'

"I darted into the closet. She mean-time threw out of an open window the porcelain plate and silver service which might betray my presence. Then drawing from her bosom a little sachet embroidered with silver, she took from it a tiny phial containing a greenish liquid, and poured a few drops of it over the pastry which formed the summit of the pyramid; this done she rose and advanced half-way to the entrance. At that moment the door opened.

"The man she spoke of as a hideous half-caste was a magnificent Hindoo, the colour of fine Florentine bronze, with a short crisp beard. He wore a rich Mussulman costume, although he was a Christian or something like it.

"Ah, sir," Père Olifus said, interrupting himself, " I do not know if you have studied women, but whether women of the land or women of the sea, I do believe the prettier they are, the more crafty and hypocritical creatures you will find them. This one, who was as beautiful as a dream, looked at her husband with the very same smile she had bestowed on me the moment before. But in spite of this gracious welcome the newcomer appeared dissatisfied and uneasy. He looked all about him, peering and sniffing like the ogre in search of fresh flesh. His eyes seemed to travel towards the closet. He made a step in my direction, and I made two to the rear. He touched the handle of the door, and I dropped from the balcony among the thick branches of a tree. I saw a black shadow suspended above my head. I held my breath, and presently the shadow disappeared. I breathed once more, and climbing softly up again, soon brought my head level with the balcony, only to find it empty.

" I was filled with curiosity to see what was happening in the room I had just left. I scrambled back on to the balcony with all the nimbleness of a sailor, and advanced on tip-toe to see, if possible, what lay beyond the half-opened door.

"Husband and wife were seated at table side by side, the wife holding her husband lovingly in her arms, while the latter was greedily devouring the cakes on which his wife had poured the green liquor. The man's back was towards me, while the woman partly faced me; she saw me peeping round the door, and winked at me out of the corner of her eye as much as to say, you are going to see something happen soon.

"In fact, next minute, the husband lifted his glass and pledged his wife's health with a fervour that was almost delirious. Next he struck up a song, which ended with a boisterous grand finale of rattling plates and broken bottles as he hammered on the table with his knife. Finally he sprang up and fell to dancing a wild waltz, folding his tablenapkin round him. Then the woman left the table, walked to the door from behind which I was a hidden witness of this weird sight, opened it and said quietly in a matter of fact tone, * Come here! '

"'Come here!' I replied, 'very delightful no doubt, but'

"'Nonsense!' she said, drawing me forward. 'Come when I tell you to come.'

"I shrugged my shoulders and did as I was bid.

"Indeed her husband, utterly absorbed in the pantomimic dance he had chosen, went on with his pas seul, entirely regardless of his surroundings, winding and unwinding his napkin about his person in all sorts of elegant and affected poses. Then presently, the latter proving too scanty for his purpose, he unrolled his turban and began the shawl dance.

"Meantime, his wife had led me to the sofa where she was lying when I first entered, and in reply to every remark I made to her only shrugged her shoulders. Seeing this, I held my tongue. After three quarters of an hour's dancing, the husband, who seemed to have been enjoying himself very much too, was snoring like an organ pipe. I took advantage of the circumstance to demand an explanation as to the drops of green liquor poured over the pastry, inasmuch as I had a strong suspicion that the husband's sudden passion for song and dance was not unconnected with them. I was right; they were drops of troa."

"Well and good! my dear Monsieur