they have, those brigands. In the same way, Koupriane
advised me to take away all the draught-boards from the fireplaces. By
that precaution they were enabled to avoid a terrible disaster at the
Ministry near the Pont-des-chantres, you know, petit demovoi? They saw a
bomb just as it was being lowered into the fire-place of the minister's
cabinet.* The Nihilists held it by a cord and were up on the roof
letting it down the chimney. One of them was caught, taken to
Schlusselbourg and hanged. Here you can see that all the
draught-boards of the fireplaces are cleared away."

*Actual attack on Witte.

"Madame," interrupted Rouletabille (Matrena Petrovna did not know that
no one ever succeeded in distracting Rouletabille's attention), "madame,
someone moans still, upstairs."

"Oh, that is nothing, my little friend. It is the general, who has bad
nights. He cannot sleep without a narcotic, and that gives him a fever.
I am going to tell you now how the third attack came about. And then you
will understand, by the Virgin Mary, how it is I have yet, always have,
the tick-tack in my ears.

"One evening when the general had got to sleep and I was in my own room,
I heard distinctly the tick-tack of clockwork operating. All the clocks
had been stopped, as Koupriane advised, and I had made an excuse to send
Feodor's great watch to the repairer. You can understand how I felt
when I heard that tick-tack. I was frenzied. I turned my head in all
directions, and decided that the sound came from my husband's chamber. I
ran there. He still slept, man that he is! The tick-tack was there. But
where? I turned here and there like a fool. The chamber was in darkness
and it seemed absolutely impossible for me to light a lamp because I
thought I could not take the time for fear the infernal machine would go
off in those few seconds. I threw myself on the floor and listened
under the bed. The noise came from above. But where? I sprang to the
fireplace, hoping that, against my orders, someone had started the
mantel-clock. No, it was not that! It seemed to me now that the
tick-tack came from the bed itself, that the machine was in the bed. The
general awaked just then and cried to me, 'What is it, Matrena? What are
you doing?' And he raised himself in bed, while I cried, 'Listen! Hear
the tick-tack. Don't you hear the tick-tack?' I threw myself upon him
and gathered him up in my arms to carry him, but I trembled too much,
was too weak from f