Daddy Jacques, who had now joined us, helped us to carry
the body into the vestibule, where we laid it down on the lower step
of the stairs. On the way, I had felt my hands wet from the warm
blood flowing from the wounds.
Daddy Jacques flew to the kitchen and returned with a lantern. He
held it close to the face of the dead shadow, and we recognised the
keeper, the man called by the landlord of the Donjon Inn the Green
Man, whom, an hour earlier, I had seen come out of Arthur Rance's
chamber carrying a parcel. But what I had seen I could only tell
Rouletabille later, when we were alone.
Rouletabille and Frederic Larsan experienced a cruel disappointment
at the result of the night's adventure. They could only look in
consternation and stupefaction at the body of the Green Man.
Daddy Jacques showed a stupidly sorrowful face and with silly
lamentations kept repeating that we were mistaken--the keeper could
not be the assailant. We were obliged to compel him to be quiet.
He could not have shown greater grief had the body been that of his
own son.
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