Prosper accidentally noticed
the manner in which the landlord managed these obstacles and opened
the window.
As I am now speaking of localities, this is the place to describe to
you the interior arrangements of the inn; for, on an accurate
knowledge of the premises depends an understanding of my tale. The
public room in which the three persons I have named to you were
sitting, had two outer doors. One opened on the main road to
Andernach, which skirts the Rhine. In front of the inn was a little
wharf, to which the boat hired by the merchant for his journey was
moored. The other door opened upon the courtyard of the inn. This
courtyard was surrounded by very high walls and was full, for the time
being, of cattle and horses, the stables being occupied by human
beings. The great gate leading into this courtyard had been so
carefully barricaded that to save time the landlord had brought the
merchant and sailors into the public room through the door opening on
the roadway. After having opened the window, as requested by Prosper
Magnan, he closed this door, slipped the iron bars into their places
and ran the bolts. The landlord's room, where the two young surgeons
were to sleep, adjoined the public room, and was separated by a
somewhat thin partition from the kitchen, where the landlord and his
wife intended, probably, to pass the night.
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