60
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME.
its way for some Unie through the interior of the
somber keep, perforated with staircases and corri-
dors even into the substance of the walls. The
captain of the Bastille went first, to get the wickets
opened for the old King, who, bent with age and
infirmity, coughed as he walked along.
At each wicket every head was obliged to stoop
excepting that of the old monarch. "Hum!"
muttered he between his gums—for he had lost
all his teeth—"we are already not far from the
door of the tomb. At a low door the passenger
must stoop."
At length, having passed the last wicket, so in-
cumbered with locks and fastenings that it took
nearly a quarter of an hour to open it, they entered
a lofty and spacious hall, in the middle of whicli
was discovered, by the light of the torches, a mas-
sive cube of masonry, iron, and timber. The in-
terior was hollow. It was one of those famous
cages for prisoners of state which were called
" the King's daughters." In the sides of it were
two or three small windows, so closely latticed
with thick iron bars that the glass could not be
seen. The door was a large stone slab, like those
which are laid upon graves; one of those doors
-which are never used but to enter : only in this
case the buried person was yet
living.
The King began to walk slowly
round the little edifice, examining
it with care, while Master Olivier,
who followed him, read aloud to
this effect : " For having new-made
a great wooden cage of thick joists,
girders, and planks, being nine feet
long by eight wide, and seven feet
from floor to ceiling, planed and
clamped with strong iron clamps,
the which hath been set in a cham-
ber situate in one of the towers
of the Bastide St. Antoine, in wliich
cage is put and kept, by command
of our lord the King, a prisoner who
aforetime dwelt in a cage that was
old, crazy, and decayed. There were
used for the said new cage ninety-
six joists, fifty-two uprights, ten
girders, three fathoms in length;
and there were employed nineteen
carpenters, in squaring, cutting,
and working all said timber in the
court of  the  Bastide for twenty
" No, sire. To a glazier, for the windows of the
said chamber, forty-six sous eight deniers Parisis."
" Pardon, sire ! pardon ! Is it not enough that
all my goods have been given to my judges, my
plate to Monsieur de Torcy, my library to Master
Pierre Doriolle, my tapestry to the governor of
Boussillon ? I am innocent. For fourteen-years I
have pined in an iron cage. Mercy, sire ! mercy !
You will berewarded for it in heaven."
" Master Olivier," said the King, " the total ?"
"Three hundred sixty-seven livres eight sous
three deniers Parisis."
"By Our Lady!" exclaimed the King, "an ex-
travagant cage ! "
Snatching the paper from the hand of Master
Olivier, he looked by turns at the account and at
the cage, and began to reckon up himself upon
his fingers. MeanwhUe the prisoner continued
wailing and sobbing. It was truly doleful in the
dark. The bystanders looked at each other and
turned pale.
" Fourteen years, sire ! fourteen long years !
ever since the month of April, 1469. In the name
of the Blessed Mother, sire, hearken to me. Your
Majesty has all this time been enjoying the
warmth of the sun.   Am I never more to see the
' Capital heart of oak ! " said the
King, rapping the wood with his
knuckle.
"There were used for this cage,"
continued the reader, "two hun-
dred and twenty thick iron clamps,
¦of nine and eight feet, the rest of
middling length, with the screws,
nuts, and bands to the said clamps;
the whole of the said iron weighing
three thousand seven hundred and
thirty-five pounds; besides eight
stout holdfasts to fasten the said
cage, with the nails, weighing to-
gether two hundred and eighteen
pounds; without reckoning the iron
grating to the windows of the
chamber in which the cage is placed,
the iron door of that chamber, ana
other things. ..."
" A great deal, of iron," said the
King, " to repress the levity of one
mind ! "
"The whole amounts to three
hundred seventeen livres five sous
seven deniers."
" Pasque4)ieu !'"   exclaimed the
King.   At this imprecation, whicli
was the favorite oath of Louis XI,
some person appeared to rouse up
within   the   cage.    Chains were
heard trailing upon the floor, and a faint voice,
which   seemed to   issue  from a tomb,  cried,
"Mercy, sire!  mercy!"   The person who thus
spoke could not be seen.
"Three hundred seventeen livres five sous seven
deniers ! " repeated Louis XI.
The lamentable voice which issued from the cage
had thrilled all present, including Master Olivier
himself. The King alone appeared not to have
heard it. At his command, Master Olivier began
reading again, and his Majesty coolly continued
his examination of the cage.
" Besides the above, there has been paid to a
mason who made the holes to receive the bars of
the windows, and the floor of the chamber where
the cage is. because the floor could not have borne
this cage by reason of its weight—twenty-seven
livres fourteen sous Parisis "
The voice again began moaning. " Mercy, for
heaven's sake, sire I—I assure your Majesty that it
was the Cardinal of Angers who did the treason,
and not I."
" The mason is high," said the King. " Proceed."
Olivier continued :
" To a joiner for windows, bedstead, and other
things—twenty livres two sous Parisis."
The voice likewise continued: " Alas ! sire !
will you not hear me ? I protest that it was not I
who wrote that thing toMonseignenrde Guyenne,
hut Cardinal Balue V'
Al^.J?™1 k dBar>" observed the King.   "Is
that all?"
A GEEAT DEAL OF IBON,'' SAID THE KING.
day-light ? Be merciful, sire ! Clemency is a
right royal virtue, which turneth aside the current
of wrath. Doth your Majesty believe that at the
hour of death it is a great consolation to a King
not to have left any offense unpunished ? Be-
sides, sire, it was not I, but Monsieur d'Angers,
who was guilty of the treachery against your
Majesty. Would that you saw the thick chain
fastened to my leg, and the great iron ball at the
end of it, much heavier than it need be !—Ah !
sire ! take pity on me ! "
"Olivier," said the King, shaking his head, "1
perceive that I am charged twenty sous by the
load for lime, though it may be bought for twelve.
Send back this accompt."
Turning from the cage, he began to move
toward the door of the chamber. The wretched
prisoner judged from the receding torches and
noise that the King was going. " Sire ! sire ! "
cried he in tones of despair. The door shut. He
saw nothing, he heard nothing save the husky
voice of the jailer chanting a stanza of a song of
that day on the subject of his own misfortunes :
Maitre Jean Balue
A perdu la vue
De ses evecltes.
Monsieur de Verdun
N'en a plus pas un,
Tous sont dépêches.
The King returned in silence to his retreat, fol-
lowed by his train, who were thrilled by the last
heart-rending wailings of the prisoner.   His
Majesty turned abruptly toward the governor nf
the Bastille. "By the by," said he,"was the™
not some one in that cage ? "                             B
" In good sooth, sire, there was," replied the
governor, astonished at the question.
"Who, then?"
" The Bishop of Verdun."
The King knew that better than anybody eke
But this was his way.                                        "'
"Ah ! " said he, as naturally as if he had but iust
thought of it; "Guillaume de Harancourt a
friend of Monsieur de Balue's. A good fellow of
a Bishop ! "                                                      ul
The door of the retreat presently opened and
again closed upon the five personages to whom
the reader was introduced at the beginning of this
chapter, and who resumed their places, their
whispering conversation, and their attitudes.
During the King's absence, several dispatchei
had been laid upon his table. He broke the seals
of them himself and hastily ran over one after an.
other. He then made a sign to Master Olivier
who appeared to perform the office of minister to
take a pen, and, without communicating to h'im
the contents of the dispatches, began in a low
tone to dictate his answers, which Olivier wrote
kneeling very incommodiously at
the table.
Guillaume Bym watched him
closely. The King spoke so low
that the Flemings could catch no
more than a few detached and
scarcely intelligible fragments of
his dictation, such as: "To main-
tain the fertile places by commerce
the barren by manufactures."—"To
show the English lords our four
pieces of ordnance, the London, the
Brabant, the Bourg-en-Bresse, and
the St. Omer." — "The artillery
causes war to be now carried on
more judiciously."—"To our friend,
Monsieur Bressuire."—"Armies can
not be kept without taxes—"
By and by he raised his voice,
" Pasque-Dieu ! Monsieur the King
of Sicily seals his letters with yel-
low wax, like a King of France.
Perhaps we are wrong to permit
this. The greatness of houses is
assured by the integrity of their pre-
rogatives. — Note this, Compere
Olivier."
Presently, "Oho!" said he,"the
big message! What would our
brother the Emperor ?" Bunning
his eye over the missive, he ever
and anon interrupted his reading
by interjections—" Certes, the All-
mains are so great and so mighty
that 'tis scarcely credible."—"But
we forget the old saying: the finest
county is Flanders ; the finest
duchy, Milan; the finest kingdom,
France."—" Is it not so, my Flemish
friends?"
This time Coppenole bowed as
well as Bym. The patriotism of the
hosier was tickled.
The last dispatch made Monsieur
Louis knit his brow. "What is
this?" he exclaimed. "Grievances
and complaints against our garri-
son in Picardy ! Olivier, write forth-
with to Monsieur the Marshal de
Boualt—that discipline is relaxed—
that the gensdarmes of the guard,
the nobles of the ban, the yeoman-
archers, the Switzers, do infinite
mischief to our lieges—that the sol-
dier, not content with the provisions
which he finds in the houses of the
farmers, drives them out with griev-
ous blows of sticks and staves tothe
city in quest of wine, fish, groceries and other
luxurious things —that Monsieur the King is
acquainted with these proceedings—that it is
our intention to protect our people from mo-
lestation, robbery, and plunder—that it is our
will, by Our Lady !—that, moreover, it pleaseth us
not that any musician, chirurgeon, or man-at-
arms shall be attired like a prince in velvet, silks,
and rings of gold—that these vanities are hateful
to God—that we ourselves, who are a gentleman,
are content with a doublet of cloth at sixteen
sous the Paris ell—that Messieurs the soldiers
boys may even come down to that price too-
Order and command —To Monsieur de Boualt,
our friend—Bight !"                                         ,
This letter he dictated aloud, in a firm tone, and
by fits and starts. At the moment when he nad
finished, the door opened, and a personage whose
look bespoke vehement terror rushed into tne
chamber, crying, "Sire! sire! there is a sedition
of the populace in Paris ! "
The stern features of Monsieur Louis were con-
tracted; but all the visible signs of his emotion
passed away like lightning. He restrained Him-
self, and observed with calm austerity.^'Compere
Jacques, you come in rather abruptly ! "             ,
" Sire ! sire ! the mob is in rebellion ! repli»
Compere  Jacques,  breathless with   haste  anu
The king, who had risen, seized him roughly hy
the arm, and whispered so as to be heard »! »
alone, with concentrated anger and a sideions