12
THE MAN WITH THE BLACK FEATHER
awful voice—and I was so overcome, I had to hang on to the bars of the door.
"'Is that you, Simon the Auvergnat?' he cried.
"I did n't answer anything; and as he went past me, I fancied he put a scrap of paper into his breast pocket. He sprang up the staircase three steps at a time; and we went up after him. He did not offer any explanation; and I simply ran to open the door of the prison for them. I wanted to see their backs. When the wicket was opened and the man with the green umbrella was crossing the threshold, he said, for no reason that I could see:
"'We must avoid the wheel.'
"There was no carriage passing."
