Cocardasse, and Passepoil went in their turn
through the main door and drew it behind them.

Lagardere seated himself at the table with a sigh of relief as he heard
the heavy feet trampling down the passage, but his relief did not last
long. His quick ears caught a sound that was undoubtedly the click of a
key in a lock, followed by the shuffle of cautiously retiring feet. He
instantly sprang to his feet, and, rushing to the main door, caught at
the handle and found the door firmly locked.

"Damn them!" he cried; "they have locked the door." Then he began to
shout, furiously, calling first upon Cocardasse, and then upon Passepoil
by name to open the door immediately, knowing these two to be his friends
among the gang of rascals. But no answer came to his cries, and, vigorous
though he was, his efforts had no effect upon the solid strength of the
door. Turning, he hurried to the door which led to the kitchen and tried
that, only to find that it, too, was locked against him, and that it,
too, was impregnable. He looked about him hurriedly. He knew it was no
use calling for the people of the Inn, who would be sure to side with
their truculent customers, and he knew also that, if he did not succeed
in making his escape from the trap into which he had blundered, Nevers
would be murdered.

He rushed to the window and looked out. The sight was not pleasing. The
rugged rock on which the Inn was perched dropped beneath him thirty feet
to the moat below, and, though his eyes eagerly scanned the face of the
cliff, he could see no possibility, even for one so nimble as himself, of
climbing down it successfully. To jump such a height would be to end as a
jelly and be of no service to Nevers. For a few wild moments he cursed
his folly in having been deluded by the bravos, and then his native high
spirits and his native humor came to his assistance, reminding him that
he always made it his business to look upon the diverting side of life,
and that it was now clearly his duty to seek for the entertaining
elements of the present predicament. Undoubtedly, these were hard to
find. The jest was decidedly a bitter one, and could only be turned to
his taste if he succeeded in getting out. But how was he to succeed? He
tried the door again, despairingly and unsuccessfully as before. He
reflected that perhaps there might be a rope in the room, and anxiously
he looked in every corner. No rope was to be found.

Clapping his hands to his sides