第87章BOOKTHETHIRD：THETRACKOFASTORM(2)

第87章bookthethird：thetrackofastorm(2)

checkingthepostmaster，whowasforturninghishorse'sheadtotheyard（thedrunkenpatriotsatcomposedlyinhissaddlelookingon，withthelineroundhiswrist），darnaysaid，assoonashecouldmakehisvoiceheard：‘friends，youdeceiveyourselves，oryouaredeceived.iamnotatraitor.’

‘helies！’criedthesmith.‘heisatraitorsincethedecree.hislifeisforfeittothepeople.hiscursedlifeisnothisown！’

atthatinstantwhendarnaysawarushintheeyesofthecrowd，whichanotherinstantwouldhavebroughtuponhim，thepostmasterturnedhishorseintotheyard，theescortrodeincloseuponhishorse'sflanks，andthepostmastershutandbarredthecrazydoublegates.thefarrierstruckablowuponthemwithhishammer，andthecrowdgroaned；butnomorewasdone.

‘whatisthisdecreethatthesmithspokeof？’darnayaskedthepostmaster，whenhehadthankedhim，andstoodbesidehimintheyard.

‘truly，adecreeforsellingthepropertyofemigrants.’

‘whenpassed？’

‘onthefourteenth.’

‘thedayileftengland！’

‘everybodysaysitisbutoneofseveral，andthattherewillbeothers—iftherearenotalready—banishingallemigrants，andcondemningalltodeathwhoreturn.thatiswhathemeantwhenhesaidyourlifewasnotyourown.’

‘buttherearenosuchdecreesyet？’

‘whatdoiknow！’saidthepostmaster，inghisshoulders；‘theremaybe，ortherewillbe.itisallthesame.whatwouldyouhave？’

theyrestedonsomestrawinaloftuntilthemiddleofthenight，andthenrodeforwardagainwhenallthetownwasasleep.amongthemanywildchangesobservableonfamiliarthingswhichmadethiswildrideunreal，nottheleastwastheseemingrarityofsleep.afterlongandlonelyspurringoverdrearyroads，theywouldcometoaclusterofpoorcottages，notsteepedindarkness，butallglitteringwithlights，andwouldfindthepeople，inaghostlymannerinthedeadofthenight，circlinghandinhandroundashrivelledtreeofliberty，oralldrawnuptogethersingingalibertysong.happily，however，therewassleepinbeauvaisthatnighttohelpthemoutofit，andtheypassedononcemoreintosolitudeandloneliness：jinglingthroughtheuntimelycoldandwet，amongimpoverishedfieldsthathadyieldednofruitsoftheearththatyear，diversifiedbytheblackenedremainsofburnthouses，andbythesuddenemergencefromambuscade，andsharpreiningupacrosstheirway，ofpatriotpatrolsonthewatchonalltheroads.

daylightatlastfoundthembeforethewallofparis.thebarrierwasclosedandstronglyguardedwhentheyrodeuptoit.

‘wherearethepapersofthisprisoner？’demandedaresolute-lookingmaninauthority，whowassummonedoutbytheguard.

naturallystruckbythedisagreeableword，charlesdarnayrequestedthespeakertotakenoticethathewasafreetravellerandfrenchcitizen，inchargeofanescortwhichthedisturbedstateofthecountryhadimposeduponhim，andwhichhehadpaidfor.

‘where，’repeatedthesamepersonage，withouttakinganyheedofhimwhatever，‘arethepapersofthisprisoner？’

thedrunkenpatriothadtheminhiscap，andproducedthem.castinghiseyesovergabelle'sletter，thesamepersonageinauthorityshowedsomedisorderandsurpriseandlookedatdarnaywithacloseattention.

heleftescortandescortedwithoutsayingaword，however，andwentintotheguard-room；meanwhiletheysatupontheirhorsesoutsidethegate.lookingabouthimwhileinthisstateofsuspense，charlesdarnayobservedthatthegatewasheldbyamixedguardofsoldiersandpatriots，thelatterfaroutnumberingtheformer；andthatwhileingressintothecityforpeasants'cartsbringinginsupplies，andforsimilartrafficandtraffickers，waseasyenough，egress，evenforthehomeliestpeople，wasverydifficult.anumerousmedleyofmenandwomen，nottomentionbeastsandvehiclesofvarioussorts，waswaitingtoissueforth；butthepreviousidentificationwassostrict，thattheyfilteredthroughthebarrierveryslowly.someofthesepeopleknewtheirturnforexaminationtobesofaroff，thattheylaydownonthegroundtosleeporsmoke，whileotherstalkedtogether，orloiteredabout.theredcapandtricolourcockadewereuniversal，bothamongmenandwomen.

whenhehadsatinhissaddlesomehalf-hour，takingnoteofthesethings，darnayfoundhimselfconfrontedbythesamemaninauthority，whodirectedtheguardtoopenthebarrier.thenhedeliveredtotheescort，drunkandsober，areceiptfortheescortedandrequestedhimtodismount.hedidso，andthetwopatriots，leadinghistiredhorse，turnedandrodeawaywithoutenteringthecity.

heaccompaniedhisconductorintoaguard-room，smellingofcommonwineando，wherecertainsoldiersandpatriots，asleepandawake，drunkandsober，andinvariousneutralstatesbetweensleepingandwaking，drunkennessandsobriety，werestandingandlyingabout.thelightintheguardhouse，halfderivedfromthewaningoillampsofthenight，andhalffromtheovercastday，wasinacorrespondinglyuncertaincondition.someregisterswerelyingopenonadesk，andanofficerofacoarse，darkaspect，presidedoverthese.

‘citizendefarge，’saidhetodarnay'sconductor，ashetookaslipofpapertowriteon.‘isthistheemigrantevremonde？’

‘thisistheman.’

‘yourage，evremonde？’

‘thirty-seven.’

‘married，evremonde？’

‘yes.’

‘wheremarried？’

‘inengland.’

‘withoutdoubt.whereisyourwife，evremonde？’

‘inengland.’

‘withoutdoubt.youareconsigned，evremonde，totheprisonoflaforce.’

‘justheaven！’exclaimeddarnay.‘underwhatlaw，andforwhatoffence？’

theofficerlookedupfromhisslipofpaperforamoment.

‘wehavenewlaws，evremonde，andnewoffences，sinceyouwerehere.’hesaiditwithahardsmile，andwentonwriting.