Jacob's ladder

Fearing a new shot, Luis fled down the slope and tried to hide in the bushes. He had lost the hope of joining his companions in the mine. Fortunately, the clouds had covered the moon again and he was no longer visible, even though he doubted that Blatsov would be hindered by darkness. His supernatural powers were obvious: how else could he have guessed their use of the secret passage and the exact place where they would appear? He was obviously waiting for them and had put his cannon in place long before they were visible.

In spite of everything, he felt not hopeless. While his certainty that Blatsov was a fiend had grown, he was ever more convinced that Lydia was an angel. With an angel on his side, who can be overcome? His trust toward Lydia gave him the certainty that she would save him from any danger. For the same reason, he was not worried about Charles and Pierre, in spite of the fact that the earth-fall might have buried them. They were with Lydia: nothing wrong could have happened to them.

Of course, he had to try and join them. He knew that the mine had another entrance. If he could find it, he could meet the others there. The problem was that he hadn’t the faintest idea in which direction to go. At the same time, he also had to hide from Blatsov and his men, so as not to be captured or, even worse, drive them to his friends. As the cannon had not fired again, he had no inkling about their position.

A moving shadow startled him. He slid behind some bushes and looked around, but saw nothing. Finally he assumed that the cause of his fright was a bat and walked with double caution and very slowly. When the moon appeared, showing the way clearly, he dared not move, fearing to be seen; when all was dark, he couldn’t see where he was going. Fortunately, that part of the slope was highly overgrown with bushes, which made walking difficult, but helped him to hide. The shape of the land forced him to go down, although he would have preferred to remain at the same height, assuming that the other opening of the mine would be at the same level, but he decided to trust Lydia the job of finding him again.

He had lost the count of time. When the sun rose, it was a big surprise: he had been walking for seven hours. Suddenly his physical and nervous exhaustion, together with the need of sleep and food, took hold of him, and he felt incapable of walking another step. He tried to locate his enemies, but saw nothing suspicious. Feeling safer, he found a sheltered place in a hollow, lay on the ground and slept peacefully.

When he awoke he felt hungry, but could only eat a few berries, which made him even more conscious of the void in his stomach. The position of the sun told him that he had slept over ten hours. In two or three more, it would be night again and he would be able to proceed. During his sleep, he seemed to have been meditating on his problem, for he had found that he had made his mind: rather than trying to meet Lydia and his friends, he’d try to get to Spain and find them there. Once he got around Saint Bartholomew, which was in his way, he would go straight to the South.

Before leaving the protection of the hollow, he hid among the bushes and looked around, trying to see either friends or enemies. He had not really expected to see the former, for they would keep hidden at daytime, but he did see the latter, in the opposite slope of a narrow valley. Eight to ten men were moving like ants in search for food. A little farther he saw the cannon, aiming threateningly at the left of his hiding place. He did not to see Blatsov, and he would rather know where he was. He always feared to see the man in black, peering into his hollow and challenging him to surrender.

While he waited, he saw the cannon unwatched and the beginnings of an idea lighted in his brain. I he could destroy it, his friends would be safer. Apparently the enemy had no suspicion of his position, so near and so sheltered. Even with the moon, the many clouds would give him many intervals of darkness to help his attempt, therefore he spent a lot of time studying the disposition of the ground, until he considered himself capable, when the time came, to cross the valley and get to the cannon with his eyes closed.

Just when the sun was setting among the mountains, the clouds covered the sky, so the night would be dark, without moon or starlight. It was a splendid twilight: pushed by the wind, the clouds were tinted with a kaleidoscopic gamut of red, orange, pink and purple. In the slope of the mountain, however, the air was calm.

When the darkness covered the landscape, Luis left his hollow and moved, slow and prudent, toward his goal. He had all the landmarks clear in his mind, rocks, bushes, trees and ravines, so he scarcely hesitated. Trying to avoid the crack of a twig or the rub of his clothes with the brush, it took him half an hour to reach the bottom of the valley and cross the brook, and another half to ascend the opposite slope.

He reached the top of a rocky tableland exactly at the point he had foreseen. Hidden behind a bush, he waited until the eastern vapors separated a little and let a few rays of the moon show the position of his enemies. The cannon was protected by two men, sitting on the ground and eating, with their backs to the weapon. They did not seem very watchful, not dreaming that he was so near.

Suddenly, a man in black appeared among the trees and came near. Luis remained still, as though turned into stone, his mind filled with fear, but his archenemy only wanted to call the two men and disappeared with them among the brush. A moment later, the moon disappeared again and the scene fell in total darkness. The time had come. Conquering his fear, he stood up and walked the few steps separating him from the cannon.

His plans were well laid. As he was starving, he ran to the place where the two men had been eating and filled his pockets with food. Next he walked to some boxes and barrels, not far from the cannon, which obviously contained powder. He pushed the boxes under the gun carriage, opened one of the barrels and made a powder trickle up to the bush where he had been hidden. Then he used the tinder and flint in his pocket to light the trickle, and ran down the slope to find shelter at the bottom of the valley.

He had just reached the brook when the explosion took place. He heard it quite well, but the accompanying reddish radiance could be seen for less than one second. Without waiting to discover the result of his efforts, he ran by the easiest way, the bottom of the valley. He soon stopped hearing the shouts and curses of his enemies and found himself alone, protected by the darkness.

A few hours later, his hunger satiated by the few crumbs he had taken, the clouds opened and he could get his bearings for the first time since his adventure. Almost at his back, he saw the peak of Saint Bartholomew. Just before him, a little higher on the slope, opened the mouth of a gorge which seemed to cross the mountains in the direction he wanted to go, directly to the South. Hoping that the pass would take him to the Spanish border, he started climbing with his hands and feet. Some time later, his body tired but his spirit exultant, he raised himself on top of an edge, at the mouth of the gorge.

At a sudden movement he threw himself on the ground, but a raucous growl told him that it was not a man, but an animal. He would rather face that kind of danger, and his right hand closed around a stone which could serve as a weapon, although he did not really want to use it, for the noise of a fight could bring Blatsov and his men, who would certainly be searching for him after his attack on the cannon.

Smelling noisily, the animal came near to find the cause of the noise which had attracted its attention. At the light of the moon, Luis saw a bulk in the size of a big hound or a sheep, but much fatter. He stood up, brandishing his stone. Surprised, the animal rose upon its hind feet and he recognized it as a baby brown bear, and almost laughed in relief. For a short time, boy and beast remained still, watching one another.

“Come on, go away!” he whispered.

A fierce growl broke the silence and provoked a chaos. The bear mother had been near and had just detected Luis, whom she considered a threat for her progeny. Hearing her voice, the baby bear fell on its four legs and ran to her, while Luis fled in the opposite direction, to the gorge. Although the pause had let him recover his breath, he had to stop after running a few hundreds of steps, with a sharp sting in his left side. His heart beating violently, he looked back to see if the bear was following him, but heard nothing. Apparently, the two beasts had continued their interrupted rest, without paying more attention at the incident.

After a little rest, he went ahead cautiously. He was afraid that the growl of the bear and his mad race would have attracted the attention of his enemies. The moon was hidden again, but the mountain gorge was too narrow to find shelter if Blatsov tried to capture him here.

The gorge had no branches, but was not straight, and did not let him see very far ahead. With every step, his trust grew, that it would take him to the other side of the mountains, but after the next bend, he stopped suddenly, his hopes broken in pieces at the sight before his eyes.

Clearly lighted by the moon, which had just appeared among the clouds, the gorge widened, turning into a flat space totally surrounded by the mountains: Luis had got into a dead-end. The stone wall in front of him was broken by the opening of a huge cavern. Just before the opening, looking at him, was a man clad in black, whose pallid face seemed to shine under the silvery rays coming from above.

Luis felt rigid with fear, but a moment later the instinct of self-preservation took hold and he turned around, trying to run back, but half a dozen men, armed with knives, had taken strategic positions a few paces behind him. His eyes searched the mountain and saw that all the walls were vertical, that it was impossible to climb. In the meantime, Blatsov was walking very slowly, as though he knew that his prey would not be able to escape him this time.

“At last!” he said with a creaking voice, stopping before Luis, while the men at his back closed around him and seized his arms roughly.