But this command was accompanied by a sign which
the jailer understood, and some minutes after, he again introduced
Martel, who was interrogated under a false name. Fresh questions
elicited fresh replies; but the blind man, shaking his head with an
air of incredulity, immediately cried out: 'No, no; it is all a
feint; that is the voice which conversed with me on the heights of
Argenteuil.'
At last the horrible mystery was cleared up. The wretched, criminal,
trembling, despairing, stammered out a confession, which was now
almost needless, since the magistrates were fully convinced of the
truth which had been wonderfully elicited by the sole witness who
could declare the crime.
But a few hours passed, and Martel lay in a gloomy dungeon of the
Conciergerie, whilst in a public place, not far from the prison, were
made the preparations for execution; for at this period the scaffold
followed the sentence so rapidly, that a condemned man never beheld
the morrow's sun. Ere nightfall all was over.
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