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Your Professional Interests
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Robin Hood. Chapter 6
Robin Hood. Chapter 6
The cell was narrow and had three openings: the door, a small skylight above it, and in front of it another larger skylight; the latter, ten feet above the ground, had thick bars; The furniture consisted of a table, a bench and a straw mattress.
"Evidently," said Robin to himself, "the Baron is not so much cruel as he is unjust, for he leaves my hands and feet free; Let's take advantage of it and see what's up there."
And placing the bench on the table, Robin climbed up to the skylight with the help of the bench, which stood along the wall. Oh happiness! His hand has just touched one of the bars and he has realized that, instead of being made of iron, the bars are made of oak, of half-rotten oak. He moves them easily, he can also break them easily, and even if they resist, they are spaced far enough for his head to pass between them, and it is already known that where the head passes so does the body.
Robin began to sing one of his most cheerful ballads, and between two songs he heard the footsteps of a sentinel walk away, return again with caution, go away again, and come back again. These comings and goings lasted a good quarter of an hour.
"If the young man goes on his walk all night," thought Robin, "I run the risk of staying here at daybreak. I will not be able to escape without him hearing me."
For a moment a profound silence had reigned in the gallery, and the passer-by seemed to have relinquished his vigilance; but Robin, who as a shrewd hunter knew all feints, judged that in this circumstance it was wiser to have the testimony of the eyes than that of the ears, and he decided to use the peephole of his dungeon.
And it was not in vain, because instead of a spy the young man saw two, two and listening, nose to nose, glued to the door.
At that very moment, the pretty Maude, with a candlestick in one hand and some objects in the other, appeared at one end of the gallery and gave a cry of surprise when she saw Robin's head above the pair of jailers.
After a few words with them, she entered the dungeon radiantly, left food and drink on the table, and demanded that she be left alone with the prisoner so that she could exchange a few words with him.
"Well, young gamekeeper," said the beautiful girl as soon as the door closed, "you are in good condition!"
"Be my companion in captivity, lovely Maude, and I shall not miss my freedom," Robin said, embracing her.
"Don't be so bold, sir," cried the young woman, freeing herself from Robin's embrace; you do not act like a gallant knight.
"Excuse me, you are so beautiful that—" But let's talk seriously; sit down and give me your hands; Thank you. Tell me now if you know what has happened to Allan Clare, my travelling companion, who entered the castle with me and your Uncle Tuck.
"Oh! he is in a dungeon even darker and more terrible than this; he dared to say to his Lordship: "Infamous rascal, I will marry Lady Christabel in spite of you." Just as your imprudent friend was uttering these words, I entered the Baron's room with my young lady. On seeing my lady, Sir Allan Clare forgot everything so much that he rushed upon her, took her in his arms, and kissed her, exclaiming, "Christabel, my dear and well-loved Christabel!" Milady lost consciousness, and I removed her from my lord's presence. By order of my young lady, I found out what was the matter with Mr. Allan, as I have told you, he is a prisoner. Gilles, the merry monk, informed me of your fate, and I came to—"
"To help me escape, isn't it, dear Maude?" Thank you, thank you, yes, soon I will be free; if God protects me, within an hour.
"Free!" But how will you get out of here? There are two guards at this gate.
"I wish there were a thousand.
"Are you a sorcerer, beautiful stranger?"
"No, but I have learned to climb trees like a squirrel and jump over ditches like a hare.
The young man pointed to the skylight, and, leaning into the girl's ear, drawing so close that at the touch of her lips Maude reddened, he said:
"The bars are not made of iron.
Maude understood, and a smile of joy lit up her face.
"Now I must know where I can find Brother Tuck," Robin added.
"In... the "office," Maude replied somewhat embarrassed. If Milady needs your help to free Mr. Allan, it has been agreed that she will send for him from the office.
"What way should I go to get there?"
"Once out of here, go to the walls on the left and follow them until you find an open door. This door will lead you to a staircase, the staircase to a gallery and the gallery to a corridor at the end of which is the "office". The door will be closed; if you do not hear any noise inside, go in; if Tuck is not there, it is because Milady will have called him, hide in a closet and wait for my arrival; We will take care of getting you out of the castle.
"Thank you very much, my precious Maude, I shall never forget your kindness!" Robin exclaimed cheerfully.
An hour later, the moon at its zenith announced to Robin that it was time to flee, and Robin, mastering the hasty beating of his heart, improvised a ladder with his bench and effortlessly reached the bars of the skylight; one of them, very rotten, gave way to the few jolts, leaving him room to pass; he climbed on the edge of the skylight and looked uneasily at the distance from the ground; Thinking it was too big, he thought of using his belt by tying it at one end to the most solid bar.
When these preparations were finished, for which he needed only a minute, he was about to go down, when he saw a few paces away from him a soldier who had his back to him, and who, leaning on his pike, was looking down into the depths of the valley.
"Hello! he said to himself. He was going to fall into the lion's den. Watch out!
Happily, a cloud crossed between the moon and the castle, and the terrace was left in darkness while the valley shone with light. The soldier, perhaps a son of this valley, stared at him motionless.
"Come, by God's help!" murmured Robin, who, after making the sign of the cross fervently, let himself slide along the wall, clutching his belt.
Unfortunately the belt was too short, and, when it came to an end, he noticed that his feet were still far from the ground, and he feared to arouse the watchman's attention by falling with too much noise.
What to do? Going back up to prison? The bars that served as a point of support could not withstand the efforts of an ascent; it was better to take risks until the end. Thus, trusting in providence and trying to be as light as possible, the young man abandoned himself to his own weight.
A horrible noise, something like the rumble of a lid when it knocks on a cellar vent, was the noise that disturbed the sentry's reveries at the moment when our hero touched down.
The sentry shouted an alarm and advanced with his pike at the ready towards the place where the unusual noise had sounded; but he saw nothing, heard nothing, and without worrying any more about the causes of such a noise, he returned to his post and began again to contemplate his beloved valley.
Robin, not feeling wounded, took advantage of the guard's surprise to gain ground without worrying about the causes of the scandal either; However, he had just run into great danger. The castle's subterraneans peeked directly under the window of his dungeon, and the trap of that vent was not closed; Chance wanted him to hit her with his foot as he fell, thus preventing him from disappearing forever into the depths of the underground.
As the young woman had told him, he found an open door on his left, and after passing through it he climbed a staircase, followed a gallery, and then a huge corridor.
Arriving at the fork of the two galleries, our hero, surrounded by a deep darkness, was feeling the ground with his foot and feeling the wall so as not to deviate, when he heard someone ask in a low voice:
"Who's there?" What are you doing there?
Robin stuck to the wall and held his breath. Also arrested, the stranger was lightly feeling the tiles with the point of his sword and trying to orient himself with respect to the noise Robin made as he approached...
"No doubt it was a creaked door," said the night walker to himself; then, he continued on his way.
Rightly thinking that, preceded by a guide, it would be easier for him to get out of the labyrinth through which he had been wandering for a quarter of an hour, Robin followed the stranger at a prudent distance.
Soon, the latter opened a door and disappeared. The door led to the chapel.
Robin quickened his pace, slipped after the stranger, and quietly stood behind one of the pillars of the holy place.
The moonbeams flooded the chapel with their white brightness, and a veiled woman was kneeling before a tomb; The stranger, dressed in the habit of monks, wandered his restless eyes over the whole building; Suddenly, when he saw the woman, he shuddered, held back an exclamation, a cry of joy that escaped him, crossed the ship and approached her with his hands folded. At the sound of the stranger's footsteps the woman raised her head and looked at him, agitated with fear or trembling with hope.
"Christabel! The monk murmured sweetly.
The young woman rose, a deep blush came over her cheeks, and, throwing herself into the young man's outstretched arms, she exclaimed with inexpressible joy:
"Allan!" Allan! My dear Allan!