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The She-Wolves of Machecoul (2); And the Corsican Brothers
The She-Wolves of Machecoul And the Corsican Brothers - 2 Author:Alexandre Dumas Volume: 2 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1894 Original Publisher: Little, Brown Subjects: Fiction / Classics Fiction / Historical Fiction / Literary History / Europe / France Literary Criticism / European / French Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustratio... more »ns and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER IV. WHEREIN TRIGAUD DEMONSTRATES THAT IF HE HAD HAD HERCULES CHANCE, HE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE ACCOMPLISHED TWENTY-FOUR LABORS, INSTEAD OF TWELVE. It was almost four in the afternoon when Michel, introduced to the guard-house of the Saint Colombin post, was able to realize all the attractions of his temporary abode. As he entered that species of dungeon, the young man's eyes, accustomed to the bright light of the outside world, could not at first make out anything; they had to become accustomed to the darkness gradually, before the prisoner succeeded in reconnoitring the apartment which had been allotted him. It was an old cellar or store-room about twelve feet square, which, whatever its original use, afforded the conditions of security and isolation which were required of it on this occasion. It was half above and half below the ground; its walls were considerably thicker and better built than is usually the case in such structures, because they served as the foundation of the house above them. The bare earth formed the floor, and the locality was so damp that said earth was almost muddy; the ceiling was made of timbers placed very close together. Ordinarily, light was supplied by a large air-hole just at the level of the ground outside; but to meet the exigencies of the occasion the hole had been closed withinby heavy planks, and without by an enormous millstone placed against the wall directly in front of th...« less