Page:Eekhoud - The New Carthage.djvu/67

Rh this gift. Felicité soon discovered the two poor volumes so well hidden at the bottom of his trunk. He had not yet read them through. Outrageously spoiled, these two contraband old books exhaled that odor of the hold and of stale tobacco which obstinately impregnates the belongings of sea-folk, and as suspicious as an excise-man, Felicité doubted greatly that they could have come from the library, hermetically shut since last vacation. The untidy people and the air of adventure in "The Swiss Family Robinson" likewise contributed to excite the horror and indignation of Felicité. Souls of her species become harder and haughtier in proportion as they wish to impress humble folk with their importance. She began a genuine magisterial hearing. Laurent submitted to question after question, and, since he was firm in his refusal to name the donor of the books, she took them to Cousin Dobouziez. Called before his guardian, Laurent refused to answer his summons. He was deprived of dessert, put upon a diet of bread and water, locked in a dark room, but they forced not one more word from him. Denounce Tilbak! He would rather have been crushed to his last fiber by the man-killing machine! While waiting to share the lot of the blond "Curly," he commenced by braving old Cat o' Nine Tails, whom Dobouziez, who had exhausted all his methods of intimidation, had decided to call to the rescue.

The Pasha had stripped the boy with the truculence of a flagellant friar, and held the boy's head between his knees. Laurent did not deign to make the slightest plea for mercy. Already the executioner began to raise his cane to thrash the rebel, when Dobouziez, overcome by some scruple or shocked by a spectacle