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SADLIER. unm Of nw nM, cuninATi, aoowe: BBNZIOBR BROTHBRS, Pinuan* or aBannl MAOum ConuoHT, 1904, lY BiNiiau Bxotrbu CONTENTS. CHAFTtn I. Citmjr puKum a IimoDnoD CHAFTBR II. MAum OoimM WITH RicBAio DopLunn U CHAFTBR III. A 8pT AmAMB IB TBS NKMRBOBHOOD or THK RXD IrV . CHAFTBR IV. Thi AnMT or RttMAMo DvrxMaaa . CHAFTBR V. Is TBI PAun 0* tbi Rd Ihh . CHAFTBR VI, A NnHT or BosmB at the Craixau T5 CHAFTBR VII. Iff nn Wtnmat or thb Clock Town CHAFTBR VIII. TnAt or Counr OAnoir ob la Rochi ANosi IM CHAFTBR IX. OiTizBr P^Dfnm mbtu ah Old Aoqvaihtaitob \75«kt\ u* cnyrenTs. OHAPTBS X. In THS RlTOLVnoNABT TUMBKIL 1» CHAPTER XI. TB« CATUr IT TBI 8U j^ CHAPTBR XII. The Rm Iini Oiioi Moat jU THE RED INN OF SAINT LYPHAR. CHAPTEB I. i OmZEK PBBMION IS INTHODtJOED. The Bevolution, which in the closing years of the eighteenth century shook France from end to end, left La Vendfe and the whole of Brittany for a considerable time undisturbed. So long, in fact, as the great revolt was a purely political one, it had but little effect upon that primitive population. Their nobles were, for the most part, free from the crimes and follies which had made their order odious in other parts of the kingdom. The clergy, pious and devoted, were the fathers of the people, while the people, sincerely religious, practised loyalty to the State as they practised other Christian duties. The terrible law of 1790, declaring that each priest must take an oath acknowledging that he held his jurisdiction entirely from the State, was the torch which set La Vendte on fire. The Breton clergy to a man refused the oath, the nobles unanimously op- posed it, and the peasantry, stirred to its depths, began to think seriously of stemming the torrent of the Bevolution and taking the field against those who oppressed the Church. Constitutional priests were put in place of the old pastors, who wandered in the marshes or sought shelter in the thick brush of the Socage, where their people still came to them for ministration. Many ot 7 « OmzEtl PREMION la l«TRODUOED. them perished on the guillotine, in the »atere of the Loire or m the quarries, and the people row in their might to avenge them. ^ In the dismal year of 1793, when the nights were already growing longer and darker, a number of men were aswimbled according to custom, in the parlor of the Red Inn. Their talk at fl-st was merely of the past. Dumartin, the innkeeper de- scribed at length the merry days of old, the fotos in the park of the chateau, where their feudal lord, the Marquis de la Roche Andr«, entertained the whole population of Saint Lvphar and of some of the adjoining parishes as well. The Marquis himself stood apart in conversation with some of the notables of the village but Momiieur le Cur« was everywhere, encouraging the sports,' cheenng on the players, and knocking at the great door of the chai»au kitchen to bid those within bring out a greater abundance of good cheer. " Monsieur le Cur«." There was a stem and awful silence at the name, and the furrowed cheeks of some of the older men were moistened with the tears they could not reprew while the faces of their juniors grew stem and dark. For the good pastor of Saint Lyphar had been as a father to his people and now, after lying for many months in the prison at Nantes' because he would not take the oath of infamy required by the Government, a tragic tale had reached the village. The be- loved old man had perished in one of those terrible noyade, or drownings, by which the inhuman monster. Carrier, disposed of whole cargoes of priests and aristocrats. The Cur« had died while trying to save a brother priest, «no had been fastened to him with bonds, after the fashion of the revolutionary tri- bunals. His successor, a constitutional priest who had been sent from Paris to Saint Lyphar, had only been installed by the aid of .u hundred men and four pieces of artillery, and was left wittont OITntK PRIMION IS ISTRODVOED. « fire to light his tapers and without a solitary worshiper at the desecrated altars. For the people of Saint Lyphcr preferred to steal away to hear Mass by an exiled priest who was hiding in the marshes near Saint Hilaire de Rioz. " My friends," said a thin, dark man, speaking suddenly with curiously repressed fire and passion in his voice, " we, the people of Saint Lyphar, shall remember our beloved pastor. The ex- ample of Nicholas Tieo shall be our guide." "Nicholas Tiec?" inquired a stranger, who had hitherto sat silent by the fire. "Tee; Nicholas Tiec." cried a chorus of stern voices, "we shall remember." "But what did he do, this Nicholas?" again inquired the stranger. " He did this," said the dark man quietly. " When the Marat corps came to expel our Our«, and put his infamous successor in his place, Nicholas seized a pitchfork and opposed them single handed. The officer in command cried out to him to yield. 'First, yield me my God!' answered Nicholas." "And then?" questioned the stranger. "Then Nicholas fell with tweuty-two wounds in him. But his spirit lives. It is ours, my friends. It is a heritage." The stranger turned back to the fire, the sneering smile about his lips contradicted by the lowering scowl upon his brow. " Nor was Nicholas the only one," remarked the innkeeper, " for there was Stanislas Foret." "Aye, there was Stanislas Foret," cried the peasants, as though they were bein. aroused hy a battle cry. " And may I he informed who is Stanislas Foret? " asked the straiiger again. CITIZEN PRBUWJI 18 IXTRODVCBD. " You may, sir ! " cried the dark man, turning no favorable eye upon the questioner. " He was the peasant of this parish who to our honor, sir — mark you, to our honor — permitted those cursed republicans to consume his hand with fire rather than use it to bum his Catechism, and it is his good wife, Katherine, who stood up and cried out to him : ' Well done, Stanislas, it is for the good God, and He will reward you ' " " My friends, my very dear friends," began the stranger, beaming upon the assembly, with well feigned cordiality, " will yor permit me one observation ? " " A dozen, sir, provided they be of the right sort," answered the dark man, curtly. Whereupon the stranger gave the speaker a moment's particular attention before he resumed. " It is simply that you are far behind the times here in this lonely district of yours beside the Loire. You have not yet awakened to the evils of priestly tyranny, of superstition." "Silence, sir," cried Dumartin, the innkeeper. "I allow none within my house to insult our clergy and our faith. They are sacred." "Bravo, Dumartin!" cried the dark man, his exclamation being insta tly echoed by the whole assembly. " And you, sir, stranger as you are in our midst, be more guarded, I warn you, in your talk, or the sacred rights of hospitality may not always protect you." "Are you so certain, Richard Duplessis, that I am a stranger?" cried the man addressed, arising from his seat near the fire to confront the other, who had likewise arisen. "What, you know me?" cried Duplessis in surprise; "and yet as to your being a stranger, there is no doubt about that. I was one of those who, on Mo iday, a fortnight since, was summoned to yonder hill first by the barking of P4re Michel's dog, and next I OtTllBD PREMIOH 18 DITRODVCtD. n bj criee for help. Dumartin here, and I, with Claude Pilon from the blacksmith's, reached the brow of the hill to see a vehicle overturned, with you underneath, and you told us, when you were able to explain, that you were from Nantes, where you had lately arrived from Paris." The stranger nodded as if in consent, and Duplesais con- tiiiUed. "Yes, you have been at the Capital, and can tell of the sittings of the States-General, the speeches of Mirabcau, the storming of the Bastile, the eicitement of the populace, and a thousand things which have little to do with our once tranquil La Vendfe." " But perchance I can tell you likewise," said the other, " of summer mornings upon the Marais, where Richard Duplessis and a barefooted lad, who was called Morin-Premion, leaped the dikes for very love of mischief or drove the flat-bottomed pnnts with long poles through the marshy waters." " Morin-Premion ! " cried Duplessis in amazement. " And perhaps I can tell how they forced their way to the dense brushwood of the Socage, or rambled over waste lands covered with broom and furie and of quick-set hedges, and of OMarts stuck fast in yellow clay, and of the mud-huts of the fishers, and of stolen visits to the salt smugglers in the forest of Concise, and of a thousand things which have to do with this once tranquil La Vendue." He concluded his discourse by repeating the words of Du- plessis in a tone of slight mockery. " So now, Duplessis, your hand, for old comradeship ! " Duplessis folded his arms upon his breast "Yon would not have refused it once," said Prsmion, in a tone which was almost suppliant, while his sinister face took on It OITtttrS PRBMIOV IB IHTKODVCED ■ winning expreuion, which had already gained him more than one rait in the law courta of PariB. " No; that I would not I " said Dnplessis, asaenting to the last remark ; " but times change, and men with them, and I must know to what work has been put the hand which I grasp in friend- ship." "Mostly to law papers, my friend," said Premion, with a shrug of the shoulders, " though of late, in troth, it has been, perchance, more sternly employed. But what matters that, or why should you presume to think ill of the work I have been doing?" "If it matches the words I heard from your lips," said Duplessis sturdily, " it is not work which entitles you to grasp my hand in friendship. No, nor the hand of any honest Breton, Christian, and Catholic ! " Premion's brow grew dark with a scowl so lowering that it caused some timid ones, of which there were not many in the ranks of the Breton peasantry, to fall back. "Have a care, Duplessis," the man cried in a low tone of concentrated rage. " Your late doings are known at Nantes, and the mornings on the marshes will aTail you little, nor even the day you drew me from the marsh yonder, if you meet with scorn the friendly advances of a patriot and of a true man." " Troe to what ? " inquired Duplessis, his honest eyes search- ing the countenance of the lawyer and his lips obstinately compressed. " To your God, to the traditions of your race, to your pastors, to your faith ? " "True to the nation, to humanity, and its sacred rights," cried Premion, raising his voice, " to liberty, equality, fraternity," " Keep those ill-omened words for the wine-shops of Paris I " commanded Hichard so sternly that the other quailed somewhat OITUMH PRMMION IB IXTRODVCBD. 1» before him. " We have learned what true humanity and fraternity arc from the lip« of our priests, God bless them." " Aye, God bleee them ! " echoed the assembly. " And as to liberty," went on Ouplcssis, " the peasants of La Vendfe have their share. We are free men all, and free we shall remain, mark you, Fremion, free to serve our God, un- hindered, free to choose our pastors, and free to give our Urea for our religion and our King ! " " Bravo ! Hurrah I " criei' the Vendeans assembled, as with one voice, " Long live the Church, the Pope, the priests, long live the King and our gracious lady, the Queen I " The stranger stood scowling upon them all, his saturnine face growing momentarily more evil in expression. Suddenly there was a change, as though he had drawn a mask over its darkness. " This is but a sorry welcome for an old friend, Dupleasia," he cried, genially ; " but let that pass. The day may come when you would right willingly clasp my hand. Meantime, good Citizen Dumartin, bring out your best wine. The company shall drink at my expense. I, Morin-Premion, the Vendean, have gone to Paris, and there lined my pockets by my own wit and industry. Eetuming, shall I not make merry with my friends? " There was still some hesitation on the part of the company, but the man's manner was so genial, his countenance so beaming, and his invitation to drink 80 cordial, that all were presently disarmed, save Duplessis, who, declining with a gesture the wine which Dumartin had brought forth, smoked on in silence. None observed the menacing glance which Morin-Premion from time to time threw at him. That worthy, being now left in possession of the field, set himself to win more and more the good graces of the company. He no longer openly attacked the clergy, the nobles, or the King. But he continued by gesture and innuendo 14 OmiEK PHEMIOH IS lUTHODVOaD. to awiken in the minda of the younger men, at letit, in entirely new tnin of thought. They heard good faith and honeity t«- ferred to with a ineer; religion a< an excellent ufegiurd for feminine levity or a corrective for unruly children; new and dazzling opinions, aocial and political, were clothed in language calculated to hide their dangerous significance. " Speaking of taies, my friend*," said Premion, in the smooth, fluent tones of the lawyer, "is not the corvU, for example, an anachronism in this year of 1793? 'Tis a droll custom, is it not, my friends, when one thinks of it, that we, the commonalty, should mend their roads and keep their bridges safe and see to the foundations of their castles, so that our noble lords may drive upon easy roads in gay coaches, ind dwell securely in castles, the threshold of which we may not cross? Eh, Citizen Duplessis, what think you of the corvfet" "What think I of the sky overhead?" answered Duplessis, suddenly raising his penetrating dark eyes to the speaker's face. " There it is, and there it remains." "You beUeve, then, that the eorv(» shall remain, that in- tolerable burden," cried the lawyer, "and that our children's children shall bow their backs to the breaking of stone and the making of roads?" " Our children's children shall, we hope, bend their necks to the yoke of the Gospel," said Duplesais, "which commands obedience to temporal authority." Premion laughed. "You made a mistake, Duplessis," he said, "in not having taken orders. What a preacher you would have been ! " Dupleeais flushed, but made no reply. "In truth," went on the lawyer, "I am merely touching these matters in a light and playful way. I shall never break OlTlZtX PRUMtOH /« IttTROOC ID. ' itoiiM nor mend roadi; but the wrongi of the coiimonilty stir me, friends, and I find it hard to lit tamely there, as my good Comrade Dupieasis would advise, and endure all tyranny." " Tyranny as it is used to-day is an empty word," cried Duplessis. " Or, rather, it is wrongly applied. It is the tyranny of the people that is to be feared, the tyranny of the mob, of the demagogue." Premion's face darkened to an expression of positive rage, while Duplessis went on scornfully. "Who has taken away our priests, I ask you, and driven na to worship in fields and caves? Bah! It is revolting. lean not endure the cant of the hour." " Yes ; they have taken away our priests, these republicans," said Dumartin, "and their talk of liberty does not give them back." " You take things too seriously," said the lawyer; " the priests who have submitted to the Government are the true friends of France, of the people." " We will have none of them," cried Duplessis, and his woroi, were echoed by the entire assembly. " Oh, well, oh, well, I spoke hastily," said Premion. " Let us have another glass and talk of pleasant things." Duplessis, with a hearty good night to the landlord and the other guests, strode from the room, while the wine was brought forth and the talk once more became animated. But Premion no i longer touched upon political questions, and there was a per- ceptible coldness in the manner of Dumartin and many others I present. When all had gone, save one, a man sitting in a distant [comer, who seemed to be asleep, and whom Premion supposed I to be drunk, the lawyer said suddenly : OITinil HtMMIOK /« INTHOOUOaB. " And BOW, Citiien DonurtiD, my worthj Undlord and bat of ionketpen, thit the Kratchn I rcc«ired in that nnluckjr tc- cident in hriled, I must Inve you to-morrow. I go to Nutea on public biMineH, Tlicrefore, bvfore retiring, I pray you to let me lee once more your pearl of a dtnghter, the lorely Jeanat. I ht'e a token here I would offer her in appraciation of bar kindnett." He uid the laat word* in a tone of mockery to itudied that it eacaped Dumartin'i can. " Kindneta ia perchance a strong word," he added preaently, with a laugh, "ainee the fair damsel has not rouchaafed me a word or amile. But I love coynesa in the sex, my good Du- martin, and atill more do I love beauty, ao I would fain offer her my am«ll tribute." The innkeeper, though his head was somewhat beclouded by a too generous sampling of bis own good wine, was manifestly uneasy at the propoaal. " Uy daughters are abroad, sir. They hare been all day with Mademoiselle de Breteuil at the castle." " The more re&son they should be at home now," Premion said in a loud, imperious voice. " It wears late. Send for them, that I may bid them farewell." The innkeeper, who resented this sudden assumption of authority, and was alarmed at the republican's interest i^ his daughter, stood uncertain. But at that very moment the door opened and Jeanne, followed by her sister Erminie, entered the room. The two girls stood still at sight of the lawyer in con- versation with their father, and J ,anne, with a slight inclination of the head, would have passed apetaire. but Premion atoppei' her. " Does a day spent with the aristocrats cause you to forget CITIZM}/ rRtmotl 18 ISIHODVOBO. n jour mumm, my pretty JeuuwP " he liktd inulentl;. " Would it not be bettfr for you lo remiin here in your proper pUce, ,t. tending to the comfort of your father", gnnte, thin licliing the ground under th. foet of the« noble., «ho de.pi« yon .nd ui?" The mm wu pUinly he.ted by wino, u>d though Jcmne WM niturally courageou., .he recoiled ■ rtep, while, at the Mm« time, the m.n »ho had been .itting ia the comer of .he room drew near, unperceived by Preniion. "I have told your father that t love beauty," he uid, "and have al.ay. remembered that f«!e of y„ar» which took my wandering fancy long ago. Some of thc«. day, I may rai« you up and make you th.. wife of the celebrated Citiaen Premion. How would the title suit you, Citizenew Morin-Prcmion ? " The man lo the cloak, who had drawn near unperceived, turned hia back at thi. moment, a. if controlling himKlf by a! effort, while Jeanne's eye. fla.hcd and an angry answer aro« to her lip,. But she restrained it. Premion wa. dangerou.. If she precipitated a quarrel, the conaequence. might be terrible When she spoke, it was coldly, but without apparent irritation. "You are merry, sir, at my eipenw. But the jest i. a poor one, since I am the betrothed of an honest man! " "Betrothed!" laughed the lawyer. "In these davs, when marriage itself is put aside with other .nperrtitions, a betrothal counts for little." Then seeing the expression of horror which crossed the fanes of the two giris, as they devoutly crossed themselres, Premion changed his tone somewhat. "Pon't look so serious, preity one, though man- a true word is spoken in jest. But tell me, what happy rustic has won your young affections?" 18 CITIZEN PRElttON IS INTRODUCED. " Hichard Duplessis ! " answered Jeanne, looking steadily at the lawyer. His face was instantly covered with so dark s scowl that Jeanne repented of having mentioned his name. Indeed, a sudden premonition of evil emote upon her. "Ah, indeed," said Premion, striving to conceal his anger. " The Citizen Duplessis is scoring well this evening, and I shall not forget him. But bear in mind, my pretty Jeanne, that should a member of the Committee of Public Safety and an officer of the National Vengeance Bureau, one Citizen Premion, seek to elevate you to his own dignity, coyness will have to be put aside, and you will have to meet him with a smile and a ' Thank you. Citizen.' " " Ecther death," muttered Jeanne beneath her breath. The sharp ears of the lawyer caught the exclamation. " Death in these days comes clad in a crimson garment, my girl, and your neck is too white and slender for Doctor Guillotine's knife. Therefore, be warned in time, and accept this trifling souvenir which I offer you as .in earnest of what you may expect." He held out a small box wherein lay a jeweled ring, flashing froi.i its velvet setting in the firelight which leaped up from the hearth. Jeanne made no movement to take it, and Premion observed, " You, who are so fond of aristocrats, may prize the bauble the more, that it belonged to a Countess, who, proving herself an enemy of the people, was beheaded last week." With a sharp cry of horror, Jeanne, followed by her sister, flew pn.«ly, and that your heart « with the choice. I know of no heaV" HM°' "" '"■"* " *^ °"P'-"- He has . noble heart „y eh.ld, and great rtrength of character. So fear not " « M r r. ' ''"'" "'" '^""'^' '" " •'"'' t'^W-g ""«• when T f- . '™ "*" *' '"<"' "'»'' ""«' ""^ -"'B face when I mentioned Richard's name." Madame looked grave. andVJ 't '™''" ''" ™"' """" ' "P*' ""y »«»« the noblest nd he strongest But you tell me this man is gone now, and he must not come back. Mark you, Dumartin," she added, raising hervo.ce to .nclude the innkeeper, " this Premion must not com! IS of the Committee of Public Safety and of the National ^engeancctoo. Alas , he can come and go when he wilU Aye, and have us all carried off, too, if it so please him " It st.ll seemed as a dream to the handsome and high-spirited than that of Mons.eur le Marquis, and either individuals or or- gamzations which could dare defv that power " ' '" ""* ?■'" "^ "'■" ™""'" -"7 '" " 'he s.id, with thst same easy carelessness as to the future and want of prevision . ich marked the governing classes at the time of the Revolutir s«T: see, was not the father of this Premion Monsieur. himl^"; T/T" """^'^^ """"''^'"' "'""' 'his very lad hmself tended the swine. But. .la.,, times have changed He .s a lawyer now, come to this district on public businel, and a MADAME CONFBRB WITH RICHARD DVPLtBBia. S8 member of the Committee of Public safety. Ah, Madame, no one is safe with whom that Committee has to do." "I believe yon are right there," said Madame; "the Com- mittee of Public Safety very much endangers the safety of every one." Neither the innkeeper nor his daughter echoed the laugh. It seemed to them as if this fair and smiling lady, fair despite her two grown up sons, one of whom was with the army and the other at the College of Vannes, and smiling despite the impending ruin, stood upon a mine which might at any moment explode. Du- ma, tin, who, over night confused by wine, had realized little of what was happening, was now full of misgivings. " Send for Duplessis," said the Marquise, suddenly, impressed, perhaps, by the gravity of the two. " I would like to hear his opinion. Hichard came presently, bowing low to the Marquise, who held out her hand to him with a charming smile. " I want to talk to you of many things," she said, " but chiefly of what concerns one whom you hold dear." " It is of Jeanne Madame would speak," Duplessis answered frankly, flushing slightly as he spoke. " Precisely ; the poor little heart is much cast down this morn- ing, and all because of you." Madame held Jeanne's hand while she spoke. "Because of me?" Duplessis inquired in surprise. Then he remembered, and added hastily: " She fears the demagogue who was here last night, the fighter of shadows, the republican." "Yes," said Madame; "she fears Morion-Premion." "And justly! ' murmured Duplessis, adding aloud: "Would Madame favor me with a moment's private speech? I have some- thing to communicate." M MADAME CONFERH WITH RWHiJtD DVPLKHBIg. Madame rtlcaiied Jeanne's hand. " Go, my pretty one," she naid. " But /or a inonunt,"' whispered Richard in Jeanne'a ear. " You should have no secrets from me," protested Jeanne ; " we need each other in these evil times." " Trust me, Jeanne, ma chine, my beloved one ! " cried Duplessis. " It is best that I speak with Madame alone." Jeanne smiled at him. She admired the touch of authority in his look and tone. He would be wise for both of them in the coming times, as he was already brave and strong. "You are always right, Richard!" she cried, impulsively, hurryi:.g away to where her father was already busy with a cus- tomer in the room adjoining. The Marquise, left alone with Duplessis, began at once; " She fears Premion, and justly, you say?" " It is never wise to underestimate a dangei, Duplessis aaid gravely; "and the man is certainly all powerful for evil." " It is for you she fears," Madame observed quietly. " For me ? " Duplessis laughed. "And yet she is right. As a man he might be powerless against you." And Madame, while she spoke, looked admiringly at the young man's strong and sinewy proportions. " But as a member of the Safety, of the Vengeance — " " I must take all chances, as better men have done, Madame," Duplessis answered; "but for Jeanne, the danger is imminent. If there is any place you can advise, I would have her sent away, and this brings me to a delicate matter." The young man was visibly embarrassed. " Speak, Duplessis," said the Marquise kindly. " What I have to say refers to a member of your own house- hold." UAOAUt OOSrSKB WITB BIOBARD DVfLBgaiB. A shidow fell upon the bright face of the lietencr, aa a cloud upon the aurface of a shining lake. '* Speak, nevertheless ! " she cried, with a certain tone of com- mand, of pride, as though declaring herself equal to all misfor- tunes. "This Premion, this miscreant," said Duplessis, hesitating no longer, " has been heard to say that he would marry Jeanne to-morrow, in spite of the whole parish, were it not that his ad- .'uiration is divided. In short, he has dared to bring in the name of Mademoiselle de Breteuil." " Enough." said Madame; " I understand I " She was very pale and silent for a moment, during which Richard kept his eyes steadily fixed upon the somber Breton land- scape, visible from the latticed window of the inn. Then Madame spoke: "His very utterance of their names insults the inno- cence of our beloved ones, but you are right, i, hen he has ventured so far, they must be placed at once outside the circle of his infamous influence. There is a convent in Has Poitou where, for the time being, they shall be safe. I shall inform Monsieur without delay. They must go as soon as possible. It is fortunate that Count Qaston is absent. For, in spite of all consequences, this wretch's bones would be broken." "I have Cf.-.tributed to that end myself," said Duplessis. " This morning, as he was leaving for Nantes, I chanced to meet Iiim at a point just beyond the village, and I broke a stick upon him. V ^as a stout stick, too. He returned to the Public Safety in a damaged state.^' There was a grim smile of satisfaction upon his face as he spoke, but Madame cned out in terror : MADAMt COKFgRB WITH RICHARD DVPLB8UB. :i li " Oh, you hare be«n imprudent. You have put your life in danger." " I am a man," aaid Duplenis, quietly, " and having heard what paned la intention to be present at the nioeting of leaders in the parlor of the Hed Inn, and there to encourage, by every means in his power, this move- ment among his people. Since his age prevented him from going with thi-m to the ranks of the Catliolic and royal army, he would, at least, share the risks of their secret deliberations, and offer his son to be the leader of the enterprise. He fully agreed, however, with Madame, that their ward, the beautiful Yseult dc Breteuil, the daughter of an old friend, and, as they hoped, the future wife of their eldest son, Count Oaston, should no lunger remain in a neighborhood which might be constantly pollutiil by the presence of the unprincipled demagogue. Premion. And as he walked thus and pondered on all the»j things, he heard one of the young men on the terrace sa^ ; "That rancally Premion, one of the most base of Carrier'a infernal crew, has been laid up by the heels. An honest royalist, it appears, gave him the beating he has long deeerved. I say, Long live that royalist, whoever he be." " But," objected the brother, " that good action may cost the Vendean dear. For Premion has sworn to send him to the guillo- tine in less than a month with his sweetheart, who, it seems, has abetted the royalist, and that he himself will smoke out a certain nest of aristocrats, and, having married a certain lady of rank, will settle down quietly in the untenantwl chateau." The young man rattled all this news out carelessly. He had no idea that it waa in Saint Lyphar Premion had been beaten. 83 MADAME CONFERS WITB RICHARD DVPLEaSIS. nor that any of the actors in the drama he had just outlined could be known to the household of Roche Andr6. What was hie consternation, then, when he saw Madame fall back in her chair, pale and halt fainting, while the Marquis, startled by the exclamations of M. de Kergarion and the two young men, hurried to the spot. He, too, had hoard the fatal words, and guessed the reason of his wife's seizure. By a great effort Madame presently rallied. "It is nothing, gentlemen," she said; "a slight weakness. I have been overfatiguing myself to-day, walking to and from the village." For she did not wish that these young men, gentlemen though they were and royalists, should connect the family of Roche Andre and the name of Yseult de Breteuil with the odious official of the revolutionary tribunals. She led the conversation easily and lightly into safer channels, and it was only after the young men had taken their leave and M. de Kergarion had retired to his apartments that she discussed the matter with her husband. "You heard what was said of Premion?" she inquired of her husband, with trembling eagerness. " Yes; and though I can not bring myself to regret what our brave Dnplessis has done— it was the natural impulse of an honest man— I feel sure that i'remion will, if possible, carry out his threat. He can ea«ily find matter of accusation for Duplessis's gallant behavior with Cathelineau, and his grand army have already made him a marked man." "But it was not only Duplessis whom he threatened," faltered Madame. " I know, he has ventured much further," said the Mar^nis, trying to control the anger which boiled up within him! " irademoiselle de Breteuil. with the little Dumartin, ehaU pro- MADAME COHFERB WITH BICHARD DVPLE88IS. 98 ceed with M. de Kergarion to morrow or next day to the convent. After that we shall see '■ -.kv uicn of Koche Andr« can not deal with this scoundrel as h de^ervt■s.' He paced up and dc it. the room, adding presently : " Yon will forgive the warmth of my cip.-'jsions, and as for Yseult, she must hear nothing, save that the country is disturbed." "God forbid that she should hear anything more," said Madame; " it is bad enough that poor, pretty Jeanne should learn from the man himself of his insulting admiration ; but our Yscult, never." " We allude to the matter for the last time, my love," said the Marquis. " M. de Kergarion travels with two or three mounted servants, well armed. We need have no further fear. But I need not remind you that meantime Yseult must not stir outside the grounds." And so it was settled that the two girls should go away. Richard, as he had promised, brolte the news to Jeanne, who had answered bravely: " It breaks my heart to leave you, Richard, for the few days that you will be in Saint Lyphar. But if it is for your safety, I would go to the end of the world. And, 0, Richard, tell me tmly, shall you be safe ? " " I shall be looked after, do you see, by the Committee of Public Safety," laughed Richard. "You are jesting when my heart is sore within me," said Jeanne, reproachfully. "But there is no reason for heartache, little sweetheart," said Richard, "eicept that we shall be separated, and that we should have been in any case, as I must follow Monsieur Gaston to the camp of Jambe d' Argent. Once there, I shall not give much heed to the Blues." M MADAME COKFERS WITH RICBARD DVPLBSSIS. I " Promise me, my dearest, that you will not in the mean time quarrel with this terrible Prcraion." " There is no immediate danger of a quarrel," said Duplessis with a smile, thinking with satisfaction that Premion would not be in good fighting condition fpr some time to come. *' Promise me ! " persisted Jeanne. "Well, I am not likely to attack Premion," suid Hichard, " and I don't think he will attack me." " That is no promise." " If he attacks mc, I suppose I must defend myself," Richard answered, still laughing, but there was an infinite tenderness in his tone, as he added : " Dry those tears, my true-hearted Jeanne, my own dearest love. Be comforted, the man for the moment is powerless." Jeanne was called away just then by a message from Made- moiselle de Breteuil, begging that she would go up to the castle. Yseult ran to meet her. " Did you know that we are going away together to the Con- vent at Thouars? " "Yes, Mademoiselle," Jeanne answered sadly. " You must not call me Mademoiselle, and you must not puU such a long face. As for me, I am always delighted to see my dear nuns. But I wonder why we are being sent." " I know why I am being sent," cried Jeanne, with flashing eyes. " It is because of a wretch who has come to our village, and who insults me with his admiration." "How romantic," exclaimed Yseult, "and how vexed your handsome Richard must have been. But what was this man like?" " Tall, with a brown beard and black eyea that snapped when he talked." MADAME C0XFER8 WITH BlCHAJtD DVPLEBaiS. SS " 0," said Yseult, with sudden remembrance, " I think I have seen him, too." And then she grew very thoughtful, remembering, with a shudder, the face of a man who had insolently stared at her over the wall of the flower-garden some days before, and who had darctl to call out: " Beautiful as Diana. The queen of the flowers herself! " Her face crimsoned at the recollection, but she would not speak of such a thing. " Were Count Gaston to hear of it," she thought ; " but, thank God, he never shall." The thought was followed by another. She was a girl of wonderfully clear insight. The man was causing Jeanne's banishment by his insulting notice. Could he have dared to bring her own name into his revolting speech? " You will help me, Jeanne, to prepare," she said quietly. " M. de Kergarion has decided to leave to-morrow, and, for my part, I am an.tions to be gone." " You do not know, then," said Jeanne, somewhat nettled by Yseult's eagerness to leave Saint Lyphar, " that Count Gaston will arrive to-night ? " A lovely color glowed in Yseult's cheeks. She was so beautiful, with her oval face, refined and spiritual, her ..^ngitive nature, full of unexpected depths, of outreaching sympathy. For a moment her imagination pictured the handsome, glowing face of the young Count, all eagerness, riding up the avenue in his dark blue riding-coat and three-cornered hat, as she had last seen him. She could almost hear his voice, so clear and ringing, so vibrant and passionate at times, when st'rrci by any emotion. " I did not know, I had not heard.! '.' she said, with some hesitation. , . MADAME CONFERa WITH RICHARD DVPLESBIS. '^ His CDDiing is a secret, #hich I, perhaps, had do right to reveal," said Jeanne. " It is on public business." " On public business ? " repeated Yseult, bewildered. '* He will not come to the castle." " ^^^here, then ? " " To the parlor of the Ked Inn, and at midnight. The men of Saint Lypbar have been summoned. He is to lead them, with Richard as his lieutenant." Yseult'a eyes opened wide with a look of fear and horror, her face grew pale, her lips trembled. "He has been in danger already," she said, "in battle; but this is different. my God ! *' And she covered her face with her hands. " I have told you this," said Jeanne, in a firm voice, though her face, to(», reflected something of the others anguish, "be- cause I thought you might like to see and bid him farewell." Yseult drew back with a hasty movement. "You mistake." she said, proudly. "We are not betrothed. He has not yet asked formally for my hand. I can not go to meet him." " Mademoiselle," said Jeanne, " we peasants treat our hearts better than you nobles. Monsieur Gaston loves you, worships the very ground you tread upon. The betrothal is delayed only because of this war. He will not come to the castle for fear of endangering your safety. He will not ask you to meet him for the same reason. But you are going away and he, in a week's time, will be in the van of the Catholic army. I, a peasant, would not hesitate to bid him Godspeed, at least. You, as a lady, must do as you will ! " There was a severe istruggle goin? on in Yseult's riind. J^a^nnr's wird« 4T«ck her to th** heart, as. a dagger mighv ha?* MADAMB OOVFERB WITB RICHARD UUPLESSIS. W done, and yet there were pride, reserve, the traditions of her caste, the very opinion which Gaston might tonn of her con- duct, all warring against that one desire to bid her young soldier farewell and encourage him by her own words to fight the good fight for King and country. " I will go," she said at last, " to the Red Inn, for a quarter of an hour, before the midnight meeting. You and Erminie will attend me, and you will accompany me back to the chateau. Ix-t it be understood that my desire is to encourage, by personal sympathy, the chief of this movement and his lieutenant." Jeanne looked at her with surprise. She could not under- stand. " So long as you come, it is well," she said. " But forgive my plain speaking. Mademoiselle, the love of an honest heart need not be hidden under fine phrases." " Let it suffice that [ have promised to come to the Red Inn to-night," said Yseult, with some haughtiness, and so they parted. ii'y Hi HUlliUBORUOOD OF RED INS. CHAPTER III. A BPT APPEARS IN- TIIK NEKlUBOnllOOD OF THE RED INN. When Yseult dc Bretpuil had promised Joanne that she would visit the Bed Inn at the hour appo!nte7 IN SEIOHBORBOOD OF RED IKS. 41 the ciuse. 0, Gaston, it in a glorious thing to fight for Ood and the King." How beautiful she wn^ thus, with her glowing cheeks and eyes lighted by a sacred enthusiasm I Oaston felt that at that moment he fairly worshiped her with all the ardor of his glowing Celtic nature. But he only said sadly : " You forget we have no King any more." " But we shall faave. It is his cause none the less, the cause of royalty." " And now," said Gaston, " the brother is about to assert hie authority and bid you return to the chateau without delay. It grieves me, for your own sake, that I dare not accompany you, lest any spy should follow and denounce us." " Jeanne will accompany me," said Yseult gaily. " She is guard sufficient." " She shall come to no harm, I promise you. Monsieur Gaston, that I can prevent," spoke up Jeanne, sturdily, from the position near the door where she uid Erminie, at Yseult's request, had stationed themselves. " To you, then, I confide her," he said, turning to Jeanne, with that gracious affability which so endeared him to the com- monalty. " Adieu, Mademoiselle," he said, taking Yseult's hand. " liet me offer you the certainty of a devotion which shall never fail. I shall never forget to-night, and, perhaps, you will never know what inspiration I have found in your words and presence here." " Godspeed you and your gallant cause, Oaston I " cried Yseult. " May He have you in His keeping till we meet again ! " Then, without another word, she signed to Jeanne to follow, and left the Bed Inn. SPY IN HEIOHBORBOOD OF RED lyy. On the daya following the meeting between Count Oaaton and Duplesais, the details of which were kept secret save to those con- cerned, there was a strange flutter in the village. Secret prepa- rations were being carried on at all the farms and in the mud cabins of the peasantry. News from the Capital, froiu Nantes, from Angers, wu coming in by every post; strange, wild news which seemed to these peasants incredible. The nation was in a ferment, and La Vendte was already taking part in the universal upheaval. Movements were everywhere on foot, victories had been won over the Blues, and peasants and gentlemen were fighting, or preparing to fight, side by side for King, for country, but more than all, for the grand old faith dear to their Gaelic hearts. Men might die for what they would, the soldiers of La Vendue would die first of all for Ood. And this gave them a heroic valor, an endurance, a determination, incomprehen- sible to the republicans. The names of Larwhejaquelein, Lescuri, Cathelineau, Stofflet, d'Elbfe and Bonchamp were even then on every tongue, while Charrette, Jean Chouan de Puissage, and a dozen other intrepid leaders were later to give their lives for the cause of God. The parishes were gradually organizing, or had already or- ganized, and, having driven off the Blues, the peasants returned to their farms, calmly pursued their work, and waited for a fresh summons to arms. At Saint Lyphar a light snow had fallen, yet the streets were thronged with women assembling in an.'iious groups. It was known that Monsieur Gaston had come home, riding gaily up to the castle, no longer in the homespun of the Catholic army, hut in the richest apparel possible, and riding with him had come his brother, the serious and silent student from the Col- lege at Vannes. Count Gaston's object in appearing thus openly afY IS XmOHBUHBOOD or KBD IKS. 4» at hit (ither's ancntral dwelling waa to divert luapicion from his secret movements, until the plans which he and Duplessis had formed could be perfecte^ Its aspect seemed to him to speak already of change and desolation. How gay it used to look, with the red firelight stream- ing out through door and window, and old Dumartin wel- coming his guests with beaming face to his hospitable place of entertainment. The Marquis, never a man of many words, saluted Duplessis with unusual gravity. Erminie, engrossed in the topic uppermost in her mind, of her beloved sister, never even observed the approach of the old gentleman until he had gone by. The whole atmosphere chilled and depressed the Marquis, and he passed on with head bent and menaured step. He was quite unaware that a man in the background observed his every movement, and seemed particularly anxious to know if he entered the Red Inn or held any communication with its inmates. The fellow, who was dressed in striped trousers, with waistcoat of calico, coat of brown wool, with a woolen cap upon his head, and who was evidi ntly a stranger in the parish, did not at once per- ceive Duplessis or his companion, who were hidden by a projection of the inn wall. Nor might he have perceived them at all. so intent I »Fr IN NMIOHBOHHOUU Of RED IJ/K. WW he npoo hii obiervatioDs, had not DuplcMis addreut'd him in (tern, decided accent*^ " Friend, have you any bunincw with the Marquit de la Roche Andr«." The »py atartwl and iippeand fur the moment crcatfallen and Kubdued. Pren-ntly iii' rwoveri'd hiinivlf, nnd with the iiwagger- ing gait and tone which were thr hall niarlcs of the revolutioniata answered : " I deny your right to quoiitinn mc; but if your cars itch for information, I have a curiosity to see the Citizen Roche Andri, who is in bad repute where I como from ac a harborer of priests and the father of at least one r«l-lint traitor to the nation." Duplessis repressed his angrr as best hf could. "Keep your vile tavern talk for where it will be rcliahed, or your ears may suffer, my fine cockatoo, and you may chance tc get a bath in the Loire.'* " Mere is a fine nest of traitors," said the spy, recoiling a pace or two. " We, the friends of the nation, will have to smoke it out. And you. Citizen, have a care, or you may dance to Madame Guillotine's singing." " Traitor to your teeth, vile dog of a spy ! " cried Richard, losing all control of himself, as he realized that the man before him was, no doubt, one of those infamous " spies of the mountain " who were just then tracking suspected persons and committin;,' all manner of crimes in the neighborhood of Nantes. He would very possibly have fallen upon the follow and given him a thrasli- ing had not the calm, grave voice of the Marquis interposed. He had turned back at the sound of angry voices. " My brave Duplessis, control yourself I " he said ; " your hands were made for better work, .-ind you, fellow, give an ac- count of yourself, and your business here." trr IN SEIOUBORHOOD OF RED INN. Fire flatbed from the Marquii' eyea, and hia waa a terrible voict' of autbority when pitcbeil to angrr. " I bavv overheard your dixcoune," he aaid, " which aaturedly can not be allowed in thia diatrict. If you have not left Saint Lyiihar in an hour, I ahall cauao my aervanta to u«e tbeir atavea upon you, and, believe me, the beating you ahall then receive will be in proportion to your offenae. Therefore, be warned in time, and depart while your akin ia whole." The fellow alunk away, awed aa much by the majeaty of the old man aa by hia threata. He knew enough of the place to be certain that the conimande of the Marquia would be faithfully carried out, and he had little reliah for a drubbing from the aer- vanta of Roche .\ndri. When, however, the Marquis bad pasaed on and the apy waa at a aafe diatance from Dupleaaia and the inn, he atopped and ahook hia fiat thrxateningly, oiiding a whole ahower of imprecations after the venerable figure.^ " He ahall aoon lie low, shorter by a head, though I did not catch the cunning old fox in communication with the traitors of the inn. He little knows that I, hidden in the top room, heard every word that was said by hia traitor of a son to the villain Dupleaaia. Aye, and more than that." And the fellow laughed at the recollection. " I saw the girl from the castle up yonder come a sweet- hearting with the young Roche Andr*, and she put her neck into my bands, too, with her talk about the Catholic army. Premion wants her for himself, some say, though others will tell yon that he prefers the peasant, Dumartin. If that be so, maybe this aristocrat might be knocked to me. No, no; what a fine thing is revolution." He danced for very glee, adding presently, however, with a darkening countenance: apr ly ksiohborhood of bed lyy. " And as for this fine Dupleosis, Premion will pay well for the news I have to tell of him. If I can but reach Nantes in time, the journey he takes will not be to Jambe d' Argent's camp, but to the dungeon of the Clock Tower. After that the national razor will soon lop oS his accursed head." He laughed aloud again in his gratification at the prospect. " Oh. but there will be a dance when all these fat peasants, who have put down their names as recruits for the brigands, shall be sent to build the underground fort of the Loire or shot in the quarries of Oigant. But who comes? I must keep out of sight." He stepped into a doorway which stood invitingly open, and whence he looked cautiously forth. It was Madame la Mar- quise de la Boche AnAti, who came down the village street, ac- companied by her two sons. She was, indeed, a proud and joyful mother as she walked between the two stalwart young men. Robert, the younger, had but just left the College at Vannes with a view to joining the army, and Gaston, her preux chevalier, had already won honors in the field. He had served with the Royal Regiment, and had been present at Versailles at that fatal but heroic banquet, when the last, wild enthusiasm of loyal hearts expended itself in vivats and cheering. Gaston had vividly de- scribed to bis mother the inspiring moment when the band had struck up " Richard, man Roi," and, amid a storm of applause, the gentlemen present had sprung to their feet, drinking a toast to Louis, the King, and to the Queen, who just then appeared holding her son in her arms. Gaston still proudly wore the white cockade which the Queen had pinned upon the breast of every officer and noble present, but he had long since exchanged the brilliant uniform of the Hoyal Regiment, now no longer in ex- istence, for the gray frieze of the Vendean army, and had fol- lowed the fortunes of d'Elb^ and Bonchamp. BFT IN VElOaaOBBOOD OF RED WW. So the heart of Madame beat with pride in her sons, and par- ticularly this handsome Gaston. In their honor she had cast aside the mourning garb and appeared, as of old, in a costly robe made by a modiste of the Capital, and a mantle of rich velvet. The spy, from his hiding-place, could hear the village children whispering that this was the beautiful Marquise, and the two great gentlemen her sons. Gaston, in particular, was the idol of every village youth. They told of the honors he had won, of his bravery, of his splendid uniform and sword which he had been accustomed to -vear, and of the feats of arms he had per- formed. He was to them as a legendary hero of old tales, and the wretch, who listened, ground his teeth with malignant envy at the good looks, the good fortune, the high station, and the popu- larity of the young soldier. He was, in truth, dear to the hearts of the people as their native laud itself, the beloved young Count, their champion, who had fought many a battle for the weaker ones of the village, who had relieved so much misery and shown himself always gallant and chivalrous, generous and full of kind- ness toward the poor. In religion he had been their exemplar. In the courtesy of a gentleman of ancient lineage he had been without a peer, and the simplicity and elegance of his manners had won for him distinction at a court which had been the most brilliant in Europe. Robert, the younger of the two, was less known to the people, having been long absent at college, and was less likely to attain popularity than his brother, being of a silent, reserved nature, tingeti with hauteur. Madame herself held her head with more of stateliness than was her wont, for the republican element, which was beginning to show its head at Saint Lyphar, must be taught to recofniize its superiors. Moreover, her heart was sore, for she knew that Gaston, in a day or two, would have to take the field again. I gPT W NSIOHBORHOOD OF RKD WW. fighting under a leader who was famooB for recklew biavery and for the desperate chances he took. The name of Jambe d'Argent was, indeed, a menace and a terror to the Blues, and inspired something of awe even in his peasant soldiers. Robert had like- wise decided to join the forces of Larochejaquelein and become, like his brother, a soldier of La Vendfe. As the noble trio walked along, they were wholly unaware of the villaiii who lurked in ambush, consumed with envious rage and the fearful passion of greed which caused him to set particular store on the dennnciation of Count Gaston, who would bring a high price from the tribunal at ITantes. " Oh, I shall have the pleasure de vout pincer," he growled, under his teeth, " and you shall squeal, too, for all your titles and honors and your braggadocio airs. And when I have got you, I shall come back again for the other, and for his old hellhound of a father, who threatened to have me beaten from the place. Madame, too, shall have her turn, for all her fine lady airs. The women of the guillotine will soon strip her of all her fine feathers and set her dancing to their tune." For thus as a storm is often in the air long before it is per- ceived, neither of the three, as they waved cheerful salutes to the good people of Saint Lyphar, could have guessed that the dark- ness was already closing around them, and that the doors of a dungeon were yawning for the brave young leader of the Catholic and royal army. Indeed, as Count Gaston walked, he cast sig- nificant glances at some of the young men, or made them a gesture which they fully understood, and which referred to those projects which he and Duplessis had debated at the Bed Inn, and which had been overheard by Premion's spy. His mind was full of the glorious enterprise, and he counted over and over the number of men which he should ba able to BPT IW HmOHBORHOOD OF RED IXV. 4« bring to the aid of the intrepid Jambe d'Argent But he strove to Iteep up a cheerful and desultory conversation with Ms mother or with the passers-by, that no suspicion of the truth should dawn upon those who were outside of the secret. "By this day week," he though exultingly, "we shaU be fighting, and I shall be able to justify Yseult's opinion and to deserve her approving words." Then a smile passed across his face as he recalled the vision of Yseult at the Bed Inn, and his whole heart went out in an im- pulse of chivalrous devotion to the beautiful girl whoi he had loved from boyhood. "When we have defeated the Blues, as with God's help we shall," he thought, "then, perhaps, there will be our betrothal. Unworthy as I am, she wiU, perhaps, deign to give me her love and to become my wife." So idly do men dream, knowing not what the morrow may bring forth, and so darkly may misfortune lower when the sun seems to shine brightest TBB AHRBST OF RlCHAJtD DVPLEBBIB. CHAPTEB IV. THE ABBE8T OF BICHABO DDPLE8SIS. Mobin-Pbemion, who had but just recovered from the chastisement which he had received at the hands of Kichard Duplcssis, was burning with impatience for the return of his spy. He hoped that the man would have but httle difficulty in ob- taining incriminating evidence against the Vendean. For though it was a maxim of the infamous Carrier, then in the zenith of his power at Nantes, that any individual denounced to the tribunal by a friend of the Republic would be certain of condemnation, still Premion wanted to make assurance doubly sure. Before pro- curing the warrant, he was, moreover, anxious to have the cer- tainty of Duplessis's presence in the village of Saint Lyphar, for once he had taken to the Bocage or the marshes his -pture would be a forlorn hope. His rage as he waited grew to fever heat. He hated Duplessis. He had always hated him for his personal superiority, his in- tegrity, his fine moral sense, his contempt for meanness. Ho hated him for the injuries lately received at his hand, and, above all, he hated him as the successful suitor of Jeanne Dumartin. Years before, when Premion had been the son of a swineherd, and himself pursued that calling, he had been smitten with ad- miration for the girl's fine proportions, her pretty face, her courage, and her industry, and he had dreamed of winning her some day for his wife, as he might have dreamed of winning some great lady, for the daujibttr of the prosperous innkeeper was THB ABBSBT OF BICHABD DVPLBCBIS. at that time far above him, and this had given a spur to his feeling in her regard. He repeated over and over to him- self that one day she should be his, and when Jeanne treated him with contempt, for even as a lad he had lieen crafty and full of meanness, and Jeanne had despised him, he only resolved the more obstinately to overcome her aversion and become her hus- band. No* Ihat he could laugh at the idea of her former social superiority, ard had himself risen to '\ higher plane, he was still deeply infatuated with her face and figure. Her personality in- terested him, her strength and vigor of character, and even her rustic simplicity, had a charm for him such as no fine lady could have exercised, and the fact that she loved another and was, to a certain degree, unattainable, only gave her an added value in his eyes. Despite hie love for Jeanne, he was, however, a man of un- usual ambition, and, like many of those who talked the loudest about equality, he had in his heart an unbounded respect for rank and a desire to raise himself to the highest possible level. It had, therefore, occurred to him, as a glorious dream, that he might take to wife Yseult de Breteuil, who was a countess in her own right, and the destined wife of Gaston de la Hoche Andr«. She, too, was beautiful. In some moods he told himself that it would be easy to forget Jeanne, and that he would be happier with that lovely lady at his side, the envy and admira- tion of his associates at the Capital. In these struggles with himself, a powerful argument in favor of Jeanne was his hatred for Richard Duplessis. He could not endure the thought that his mortal enemy should love and be beloved by Jeanne, and he told himself that rather than sec her marry Duplessis he would kill her with his own hands, or behold her die upon the guillotine. TBE ABHSBT OF BWUAMB DVPLBBSIB. In any caw, he would put Richard out of his way farCTer. The course of revolutionary jurtico was short. It was but a step from the court room to the guillotine. " He is dangerous to the State, dangerous to my own interests, and my personal enemy," said Morin-Premion to himself, as he paced his room, waiting for the return of his spy. " Those are three very excellent reasons why he should be put out of the way as soon as possible." As he thus communed with himself he heard the sound of drums, and looking out of the window beheld a detachment of republican troops marching out against the insurgents, and as they went, Premion thought with pride that he had been instrumental in causing their dispatch. He saw the townspeople standing about in groups to look at them. Young men and women, children, and the very beggar who crouched outside the door soliciting alms at the edge of the pavement, all were intent on that brilliant spectacle, and Premion wondered if they coupled his name with the event. Suddenly he felt his sleeve twitched, and turning, beheld the spy, who had just returned from Saint Lyphar. Premion, for- getting all about the soldiers, sprang eagerly forward with a question on his lips. " Good news. Citizen ! " cried the fellow. " Duplessis is at Saint Lyphar. I saw him talking to a girl at the door of the Red Inn." A deep flush covered Premion's face, and he scowled omi- nously. The girl, he thought, must lie Jeanne, though it was, in truth, Ermiuie, for he did not know that Jeanne was then on her way to the Convent of Angers. " Well?" he eaid shortly. TBU ARIttST or RtOBARD DVPLEBBIS. U " The girl," gaid the fellow, with a jocularity which Premion felt to be insolent, " was not the one yon think." And he gave a knowing wink. " It was the sister. That one is far away." "Far away?" echoed Premion, blankly. "Yes; gone with the woman de Breteuil from the castle to a conTent, where there shall be no love-making." " To a convent I " cried Premion, a sudden rage seizing him, for he knew that the two girls of whom he had been dreaming were thus, for the time being, out of his reach entirely. " This is some more of that infernal Duplessis's meddling. Oh, he shall pay for it I But you, fellow, have you no better news to tell ? " "I have that in my budget which shall send the Citizen Duplessis to the guillotine when you will, and with him the young Roche Andr*." The man paused, while Premion's eyes sparkled. " Go on," he cried, hoarsely, " tell me all." "And which may, even," continued the wretch, "get the two dainty birds out of their cage, convent though it be." " Speak ! " cried Premion, " and name your own price after." His face was pale with excitement and full of exultant malice. " I overheard the conference between the two leaders of the brigards in the parish of Saint Lyphar," began the man. "And they were?" "Gaston Hoche Andr« and Richard Duplessis." Premion's breath came in short gasps, as one who had been running. "Wliat moreP" he demanded. "I saw the Citizeness de Breteuil enter the parlor of the Red Inn, and heard her declare that her heart was with the in- surgents. It was with their leader, anyway," the fellow con- THt AKIIMT or mOBARD DVPLEBBIB. eluded with a grin. " It was plain to see that here were two turtle doves. Only with the aristocrats love is all in fine phrases and bowing and smiling." "Let that pass," said Premion, bruskly, "and finish youv story." "Jeanne Dumartin was present and tallced treason tiy the yard, and she promised the traitor Dupleseis to \>e his wife at any time he asked for her, and said that she loved him better than anything on earth, and next only to God. She is super- stitious, that one; but when she loves a man, she loves him, and isn't afraid to say so, like the pale one from the castle above." While the spy chattered on, all the light of exultation had gone out of Premion's face, and his pallor was that of the dead. Every word of the wretch's story was as a dagger turning in a fester- ing wound. He knew, then, that he preferred Jeanne to every- thing, that for her he would renounce ambition, wealth, and all that it could give. Duplessis must first of all be got out of the way. He hated him at that moment with a concentrated fury of hate, such as Satan might have felt toward the first man in his para- dise. The scene which the spy had conjured up maddened him. Joanne, strong, and true, and tender, pledging herself with loving looks and words and smiles to that other, whom he could imagine radiant with happiness, braving death cheerfully for a cause which Jeanne loved. " We are wasting time," he cried, springing up. " Here is the death warrant, and there is Duplessis waiting to be caged and dragged to the scaffold ! " The spy was half alarmed at the tone and words, spoken in a quick, panting fashion, with a tiger-like eagerness, a fearful ferocity. He stood silently regarding Premion, who turned on him with the question: THE ARRB8T OF RICHARD DUPLHagiS. "ThU tniitoi knows nothing, suspects nothing?" " No ; he was laughing at the wild goose chase upon which you were sending your soldiers." Ridicule was what Premion could bear least of all, and from him. "He shall laugh in another fashion before long," he cried out. " He shall die, not all at once, but slowly, lingeringly, and he shall see Jeanne married to me before his eyes by a consti- tutional priest whom they both despise. Yes; he shall lie chained there, with manacles on hie legs and wrists and a weight upon hi» chest, while the ceremony is in progress." The spy began to fear that Premion's mind was affected, for even he had never seen conflicting passions so terribly portrayed upon a human countenance. And while he spoke, he fumbled, aimlessly, as one who scarce knew what he was doing, in a comer of his desk. Thence he drew forth a warrant for the arrest of Richard Marie Duplessis on a charge of conspiracy against the State. " To which shall now be added," he cried, with a grim laugh, " a number of other charges." The curious spy, looking over Premion's shoulder, as the latter bent down to the desk, saw another warrant, marked to be used in an emergency, and bearing the name of Gaston Raonl Marie Albert de la Roche Andr«. The spy stared with all his eyes, for the Roche Andrfe were still a power in the district. Premion, angered by his inquisitiveness, end glad to vent the rage which consumed him upon some one, dealt the wretch a cuff upon the ear which caused him to stagger back. For that blow, Premion was one day to pay dearly. At the moment, how- 'ever, the fellow's look of dark resentment troubled him not at all. "It was all very well in the old days," grumbled the spy. M n» AKRMBT or RIOHABD DVPLBMIt. " when u arittocrat might detl hii inferior ■ blow, bnt now w* in til eqnal — " " And I ahall mike both yonr can equal b; dealing jon a blow upon the other one, if you don't cease your parrot talk. Men ire not equal, booby, and never will be. For instance, how could yon, with your shock head and fillainous face, your ragged clothet and your asinine stupidity, equal mc ? " " The aristocrats were right, then ? " muttered the man; " ind when ill is done we shall only have exchanged good nuaten for bid ones I" "What are you muttering there?" cried Premion. The fellow made no answer, and Premion, tying up the docu- ments of which he had need, bade him follow to the office of the National Vengeance, During all this time, Richard had remained at Saint Lypbir without misgivings of any sort. Premion had never set foot in the village since his departure, and even the stranger who had been seen lurking about for a day or two, and whose preaenos mij^t have given rise to disquietude, had vanished. Bichard was kept busy with his plans for the transporting of the villagers to the farm of Grand Bordage, known as the Camp of the Hi^ Meadows. And when he found himself at leisure, he gave him- self up not to imaginary terrors concerning Premion, but to tender thoughts of Jeanne, her last farewell, so brave, so womanly, so unselfish. On the second night after his meeting with Gaston, and his farewell to his betrothed, he was rudely awakened from sleep by the sudden openic >f his bedroom door. The dawn was just rising, faint and beautiful, over Saint Lyphar, with luminous masses of vivid yellow shading into gold. By the dim light Duplewis perceived the figures of three persons, rjrc ARHMBT or HKHAKD DVrLKItlt. one of whom idruced to hU bediide. With « lickening heut, Duplenu recogniwd hii uniform. It wai thit of the H*nt Corpt tt Nintet, a body of ruffiiiM organized by Carrier for domiciliaiy riaita and the arreat of auapectt. The man, without delay, proceeded to read a warrant for the aireet of Richard Marie Dupleaaia aa a traitor to the Bepublic. " You mnat ariae and accompany na at once," aaid the man, when he had Sniabed reading. A wild thought of reaiatance, of poeaible eacape, flaahed through Bichard'a mind. He was atrong, courageoua, active of body, and reeolnte of mind, and it aeemed to him that he could not tamely aubmit to auch an outrage. " And what if I do not go with you ? " he aalied. The man pointed aignificantly at hia two armed companiona atanding in the background. Richard'a cooler judgment told him that reaiatance waa impoeeible. " Who is my accuser ? " he asked, as he arose and began to prepare for departure. " That you will know soon enough." "I think I might guess even now," Richard aaid, with a laugh, " There is a hound whom I have lately thrashed. Some doga, the human sort, are vindictive." " Yon had better havp a care of your 8}«ech, Citizen Duplessis, and so I warn you," said the official. " Speech or silence vrill avail little," said Richard, dryly. " But I may strive to con over some pretty phrases which may tickle your ears on the road to Nantes." The man flushed, seei"; that he was being mocked. "Yon will be silent enough in the dungeon of the Clock Tower," he said sullenly. «e THt ARRKBT Of RIOHAKD DUPLXKHlt. " Oh, indeeil," cried Richtrd, " will there be no raoh ohMrfn] •piriti u jrourwlf there to keep me company ? " " Shut your cursed mouth," roared the man, " We are not yet at the Cloclt Tower," Richard reminded him. " But I am now ready to proceed to that delectable abode." "You'll be there soon enough, brigand, and crying to get out of it," retorted the man aaragely. " Have you inhabited the place yourwlf— I mean in the good old dayi before honest men got posaesaion?" Richard blandly inquired, with the same grim humor. The official furiously ordered his comrades to aeise upon Richard, who was in a white heat of rage at having been lo easily trapped, and suffered his saturnine humor to play about the head of the Marat man all the way to Nantes. It was a pity that Richard should thus have turned the official's pig-headed indifference into positive hostility, for he was by no means the worst of his tribe, but merely a dull fellow, who had p rat parlor of tbs red ikji. «u in the church, and 1 told the good Qod He muat give iu back our beloved Count Gaston." The Marquis dropped a liberal alms into the tin cup. " If you would but let us place you above want 1 " he said — " you who bring us so many blessings and help us in our sorrows by your prayers." " But how, then, should I get to heaven ? " cried the old man in alarm. " I am too old to work. My health is good. I do not suffer. 1 must do penance." "Would that we all did mote," cried the Marquis; "this unhappy country might not now be feeling the chastisement of Qod." "Yes; that is it. Monsieur Ic Marquis; the chastisement of God," assented Michel. " For the Blessed Grignon foretold it, and his cross is now covered with moss." " It is God's hour, and we must submit to Hie will," said the Marquis. " But, oh, our hearts are breaking ! " said Madame. " Think of my noble young Gaston, my son, my first bom." " Madame," said the old beggar, raising his head suddenly, and pointing with a gesture full of strange solemnity, "that cloud, which has rested darkly upon the chateau, since the early morning, is passing away. Behold ! " The Marquis and his wife turned involuntarily and beheld a dark mass of cloud rolling away southward, and leaving in its stead a flood of golden sunshine which bathed the towers and walls of La Roche Andr6. " Your son will be restored to you," the old man cried. " I see, 1 feel it. You have been the protectors and lovers of your people. None were too humble to escape your solicitude. In their miseries they turned to you, in prosperity you rejoiced IN THB PARLOH OF TBM KtD IK2>. with them. Therefore, God will watch over your beloved ton, •n drum the loudeat and tell hia tale. Oh, I have made out this Hoche Andr« to be a monrter. How the women will grimace when they hear that ho «4 babie. up for targeta and shot them for pr«cti.e, while he tied up the mothera near by to watch the .port. They will be ready to tear him into pieces by the time he i» brought to trial." He laughed aloud again, a laugh which sounded hollow and unnatural, echoed through the high ceilinged room. " Oh, lying, how great is thy power, and how much it has helped the friends of freedom. This Oaston, how it sickened me to hear the women of Saint Lyphar praise him. He wanted the empty bauble of popularity, that was all." He paced the room, still at the fever heat of his conflicting pas- sions, till the day wore on and the pale sunshine of the November day began to darken. A step was heard upon the stairs outside, and there was a knocking at the door. Premion hastened to open it, saying: " It is my messenger back. Now I shall hear how the women of Nantes have received my budget of lies 1 " The wretch who now appeared had visible signs of agitation about him. His dross was disordered, his red cap awry, his face livid with terror. "Ho!" cried Premion, "what has happened?" And as he spoke, he regarded the messenger with some anxiety. " The women ! " gasped the youth. "Well, what nf them?" "At first they heard what I had to tell, and I think at first l» TBM fAKlOR or TEB HMD tSU. i*v^'f.uili^ they might h»ve believed it, but thit one in the crowd itood forth ind told them I wu lying, and that thv wbh from Saint Lrphar, •nd could prove it." Premion iprang to bin feet with a fearful oath. "Who wa«»he?" he cried. " Some laid her name waa Jeanne," " Jeanne Dumartin 1 " cried Premion, awfully. "Wai the yonng? Speak, before 1 throi; . -on.' "She wa« young and old, lioth," tli- rill.iw 'iilie.'.. " llir face aeemed young, but «he was dressed Iiki' un ;.l wo>niia." " She must be taken at once, at once ! " cried PrcniiDH, fi nling up and down the room. "She is in disguise, an! lias followed Duplessis here. But what did the women do, then ? " he asked, pausing abruptly in front of his messenger. "There was one who supported this Jeanne, and said that she, too, had once known Saint Lyphar, and that the young Count was the friend of the people. Then all the others fell upon me and beat me, and I had hard work to escape with a whole skin. They said lying scoundrels could no longer impose upon the people." Premion walked up and down in deep and somber mediation. " I must and will And this Jeanne," he said to himself, " and then a civil marriage at the Mairie will put her forever out of Duplessis's reach." He seized his hat and coat and rushed out, bidding the mes- senger await him there. Like a madman he rushed from street to street. For the passion of his life seemed suddenly to con- centrate in a glowing heat. His love for Jeanne, if it could be called love, so fierce and terrible was it, and the sweet morsel of revenge which would be his when he could tell Richard Duplessis '♦ W TSW PARLOn or THE RED INN. that Jeanne Dumartin waa his wife. These things urged him, as the lash of scorpions. His hate for Count Gaston partook more of the nature of ordinary class hatred; but his hatred for Duplessis burned and boiled up within him like the hidden forces of a volcano. Those who saw him pass fancied that he was crazed, and so he was for the moment by the thought of possible victory near at hand, auci of the chance which might not only hinder that triumph, but in some unforeseen manner save Duplessis. A XIOHT or aUBPBNaB A.T THE CHATEAU. 75 CHAPTEB VI. A NIOHT or 8D8PENSK AT THE CHATEAD. Henbiot had been despatched on a secret mission, which was to find, if possible, at one of his numerous haunts, the mysterious being known as Jambe d'Argent, and to acquaint him with the arrest of Bichard Duplessis and Count Gaston de la Roche Andii. This faithful valet, who was of that old race which would go through fire and water for the masters whom they served, had had a long and weary journey throuj^ the marshes which extend from Saint Hilaire de Kioz to the Isle of Bouin. The dawn was whitening all the landscape when, worn and weary, Henriot came within sight of the chateau. Despite his exhaustion, he still maintained as swift a pace as possible, knowing well the anxious hearts that awaited his coming. He wore, instead of the castle livery, the ordinary peasant costume of brown wool, with a cap upon his head. The castle lay still and cold in the desolation of the morning, which weighs so heavily upon the spirits of the living, when they watch beside the sick or kneel at the bier of the lately departed. The walls gleamed with an unearthly whiteness, and the win- dows, like staring eyes, overlooked the dreary landscape. The road leading up to the chateau was both hilly and stony, passing by the great rock whence the castle and the family alike took their name. The family, indeed, had dwelt there since imme- morial time, and had taken its share in all the vicissitudes of the nation's history, yet, for the moat part, living a calm and patri- 7« A maST OF BVSPBXaB A.T TBE CHATBAV. arehal life. The eons of the Tarious generations had gone suc- cessively to flght for king and country on foreign baHleflelds, or had sat in legislative halls, while the daughters of Boche Andr«, being noted for grace and beauty, had frequently made dis- tinguished marriages. The family had consequently allied itself with some of the proudest houses of France, and its claim was undisputed to a foremost rank among those of the old order, that splendid and brilliant nobility, soon to be no more. Within the castle it had been a night of agonizing suspense. Consternation sat upon the faces of the servants and retainers. The power of that house, which they had regarded with almost superstitious veneration, and whidi they had supposed to be as impregnable as royalty itself, had been dealt a fearful blow. Moreover, the young Count himself was sincerely and universally beloved. The old servants who had known him as a handsome and generous boy, the young ones who had grown up with him and been in a sense his companions and playmates, were alike inconsolable. They could not reconcile themselves to the sudden sense of loss, the fear that was in all hearts of being deprived of that beloved presence forever. The Marquise knelt in her oratory, praying and weeping, or sat beside the Marquis in a silent agony of grief. Her high spirits, the light-hearted gaiety which, preserving the childhood of the heart, had made her so charming a companion for her young sons and their associates and so enlivening a one for her somewhat serious and taciturn husband, had now completely deserted her. It is true that she met misfortune with a calmness and dignity inherent to her nobility of character. She made no noisy demonstration of grief, but strove to control her voice, hor features, and her manner in presence of the servants, and to sustain the Marquis, who seemed prematurely old and broken. A KIOHT OF 8UBPSNBE AT THE CHATEAV. 7J As the ni^ht wore on, shu begged of her husband to take a few hours' rest, but he always replied that rest was impossible until Henriot had returned with news of some kind. " Your dear companionship, my Adricnne," he said to her, " is more in this fearful erisis than any rest." " Yes ; we have always been a great deal to each other," his wife answered, " and our mutual sympathy tends to support us in this hour of terrible grief." The look which Madame turned upon her husband while she thus spoke was so full of poignant anguish, so helpless and so appealing, that he turned away his head, unable to bear the sight. " With the help of Jambe d'Argent," he said, " we may have our loved one back again." " With the help of Heaven, Albert," said his wife, fervently, and at the same time with something of reproach in her tone, " and through the prayers of our blessed protectors." "You are right, my dearest, ever right," the Marquis said gently ; " but under God this man may come to our aid." " It is said he has wonderful power and unknown resources," Madame observed, thoughtfully. " We must not count too much on these peasant tales," said the Marquis. " But Oaston and Duplessis had confidence in him," cried the Marquise, hastily. " Duplessis bade Gaston have recourse to him in any emergency." Her voice faltered and broke as she pronounced the beloved name. " Yes," assented the Marquis, " and it was our boy's intention to have sought his aid for Duplessis. He was actually on his way there, so Henriot reported, when arrested. Duplessis was not one to lie deceived, and be and Gaston had aottiallv agreed ™ A siaar of auBPtsas at the ohatmav. to rerve under him, and were to hare brought thither a contingent from Saint Ljrphar when the blow fell on them both." " Some believe this Jambe d'Argent to be a person of noble birth," Madame continued. It solaced her now to dweU upon these tales which hitherto she had dismissed with somewhat lofty disbelief. If the power "nd the prestige of this man were what the peasantry believed, then then must be hope for Gaston. It was, in any case, the one ray of light in darkness. " It might be more probable that he is of obscure birth, but endowed with military genius," dissented the Marquis. Madame's face UM She was convinced that a person of obscure birth could do little for her boy. The Marquis, seeing the effect of his words, hastened to add : " But military genius or genius of any sort is of far more value than name or rank in these evil times. Of the worthless- ness of the latter, we are ourselves a sad ex^ple." There was silence between them after that, Madame rising from time to time and pwing the room as one who found in- activity impossible. " I wonder how soon Henriot can be here? " she said at last " The faithful fellow win lose no time by the way." The Marquis looked at bis chronometer. " It is three o'clock now," he remarked. "Then it will soon be day," Madame said joyfully, "and the day is so hopeful and purposeful. The ni^t shutting one in with the darkness gives a feeling of helplessness." " I think, my love," said the Marquis, " that if Henriof s news be bad, I shall go to Nantes during the day." Madame gave a cry. " You, too, my Albert ! God, no! You must not go. It A NIOHT OF BVSPKNat AT THB CBATBAU. o«n not do any good, and will be but thrusting your bead into tbe lion's mouth." The Marquis had a thought in his mind which he did not care to put into words. He had but lately read of a noble of his own remote kindred who had ridden twenty miles from his an- cestral chateau to Paris, and had there managed to substitute liimself for his son, condemned to death. When the name was called for eiecution, the youth lay sleeping, and the father an- swered to his name and number. The creatures of Fouquier Tinville asked but few questions so long as they were not deprived of a victim. The old man was executed and the son was saved. Could not he do the like, in the last extremity? Aloud he merely said, however : " If our old name has not lost all its power and influence, I may be able to baffle the schemes of this Premion, and, in any case, my dearest, would it not be better for the head of our house to go and face danger when duty called than to remain here ignobly, and permit the son of that house to perish without pro- test?" There was a nobility about the old man, as he spoke calmly and resolutely, which made Madame realize that unless Henriot were the bearer of good tidings, she might have to grieve for this other precious life hanging in the balance. She clasped both hands to her heart, convulsively. " Am I, then, to be left alone ? she cried. " Robert will, in any event, be spared to you, I trust," said the Marquis, tenderly. " Robert ! Why, he may be at this moment in presence of the enemy," cried the poor lady. "Besides, think, my Albert, of what the loss of Gaston would be, especially were your precioua life likewise imperiled. Think what we two have been to each 80 ± mOHT OF aVBPEUBE AT TBS CBATEAV. Other. Think of the years, as they have gone over our heads, the joy of spring, the glory of summer, the sad loveliness of autumn, and the long, dark mystery of winter. We have shared the joys and the discomforts of all. We have loved each other, and our love has been as a cro»n. My mind was yours, our hearts were closely bound, we felt acutely each joy or sorrow in common; we looked on beauty with the same eyes, we admired what was noble and good and true together, and strove to weave it into our lives. We saw each other's faults— yours, my beloved, were scarce per- ceptible-but to forgive them. Yours was the larger, higher nature, mine strove upward to it. We rejoiced in our children, and in them lived our youth over again, but, nevertheless, we were (IS one. And now, my Albert, will you shatter the fair mirror oC our lives?" She spoke earnestly, impressively, as if from the borderland of a near parting. She surveyed the whole peaceful panorama of their joint existence at the chateau, and her appeal was so tender, so powerful, that it drew tears from the eyes of her listener. He took her hand and held it. "Adrienne," he said, "a generation and more has passed since I pledged my love and fidelity to you. You gave yourself to me in your fresh beauty, with all that charm, that wit, and that captivating grace which might have won you a hundred hearts. You were pleased to accept mine, a poor enough gift." Madame looked at him with that smile which still illumined her face as with a sunbeam. It was more eloquent than words. " I was not worthy of you, Adrienne," the Marquis went on, "and I had little to oiler." " One of the noblest names in France," said Madame, with s flash of her eyea. i. mOHT OF aVBPEllSII AT THE CBATtAV. ' bat I took " 0, Albert, "Be it io," Mid the old man, with a sad smile ; yon from brilliant Pari» to live in seclusion here." "An enchanted solitude!" ixclaimcd Madame, how happy we have been." And at the recollection she broke down utterly and wept The Uarquis soothed her, as though she had been a child. "Ye.; we have been happy, my love," said the Marquis, " but m all that time you have never sought to dissuade me from what seemed my duty. Bather, you have supported and uphdd me. Will you fail now?" Madame raised her tear-stained face and threw back her head proudly. "No, Albert," she said firmly; "if the necessity arises yon shaU go. And I shall be, as always, at your side." The Marquis started. "My love," he said, "it can not be. You must remain here, wliere there will be comparative saf,*y for a time at least." "My security is by your side," she said quietly; "and if we can not save our son, wc can, at least, die with him." "And Robert.'" An expression of anguish crossed the mother's face. " Robert," she said, " is daily exposing his life for our ruined alUrs and for the royal cause. If he escape, he will proceed, no doubt, to Coblentz or to England with the other exiles." " It is true that we have been only discussing a contingency," oUerved the Marquis, trying to speak cheerily. " Hcnriot may bring good news, and I may not be needed at Nantes." "God grant it!" said Madame; "but, remember, whither thou goest, I wiU go, and if danger threatens one, it shall threaten both." At that moment the dawn broke, anil the light, faint in the ftrat m\ A NIOHT OF BV8PENBE AT TBS OUATEAO. place but gradually growing brighter, streamed into the room, showing each familiar object with distinctness. " The day is bioaking," cried Madame. " 1 must look if there Im} any trace of Hci loc. It is time he was here, unless he was detained at the civr ■ of Jambe d'Argent, or were stopped on his way." She pushed over toward the window a powerful glass which stood on a pedestal hard by, and, putting her eyes to it, peered out over the river, as she believed that Henriot might come by boat, and thence to the rocky shore Where he was Hure to land, and from which the path, steep and stony, led up to the chateau. The Marquis, still seated, turned his gaze in the same direction. Thus they remained, silently regarding the still morning scene before them, the broad sheet of the Loire, still covered hy tlie haze of the dawn, and the land, faint aud misty *t first, gradually becoming bolder in outline and more distinctly marked. The water was as yet undiMturbal by a single vessel, for even the fishing boais had not yet set forth to break its 'almness by the casting of the nets. And as the coldness of the dawn began to give place to the roseate glow of the awakened day, and still Madame saw nothing, she turned from the glass with a faint, weary sigh. " I see nothing of him," she cried ; " can he, too, have been taken? If that were so, all hope is at ..m end.'' "We must go on hoping neverthe. ess," said the Marquis, " until hope beeomes impossible. Think cf the difficulties he may have had to overcome, of the caution with which it was necessary to proceed, and of the distance. Then, too. he may have had to follow that mysterious leader from place to place. It is said that he transports himself from one to the other with extraordinary rapidity." A Niaar of aaspfxsE at ths cbatsav. m " Hii help maj- come too late if he can not be found tt once," iighed Madame. 'These dn'adful tribunals do their work all too (juicklj-, aiid l'i» has ever escaiied farrier. In this case oonvietion would 'x' eertain, where, as Uenriot supposes, that miacreant I'lvmion desires it from motives of private revenge." The} were still ' '"dng thus when there was a knock at the door, and on Madunie's giving the order to enter, it was thrown open and a vrvant appeared. " Madame la Marquise," he announced, bowing, " Henriot is betow." " Send him to us at once 1 " Madame cried ; " but stay, let him have some refreshment first. Ue must be exhausted." Then she sank into a chair, nervously folding and unfolding her hands, her solf-possessiou, usually so perfect, utterly deserting her, until at last she sobbeii aloud. " Forgive me," she said to the Marquis, " but this suspense has been cruel." " Compose yourself, my dmrest," said the Marquis. " I hear a step in the corridor." The Marquis had already resumed his habitual cabs and some- what cold demeanor, and stood waiting for the arrvant with ao impassive countenance. A moment later Henriot entered, saluting first one and then the other with profound respect. " Speak : " said the Marquis, " my faithful fellow ; let us hoar without delay the tidings you have brought. But, first, have you taken the refreshment which Mad..me ordered for you? You stand in great need of it." "If ycu, Monsieur le Marquis and Madame, will permit, I should prefer to tell you first all that I have learned." " Proceed, then," said the Marquis. " Yonder is a chair, for you are exhausted." S4 A NIOBT or HUBrKUBt AT TUB OBATMAV. " I hive Ken Ja ibe d'Argent," mid Henriot, ttill brMthlew from the iteep aKcnt. " And he mya ? " interpoaed Madami'. " He had already heard of the arrett of Count Oaaton and Bichard Dupleaaia, and further diacovered that the charge* againat them were baaed upon an interview in the parlor of the Bed Inn, which was overheard by a apy." " My God I " murmured Madame. " In that interview it waa made clear that they bad not only Mrved in the Catholic army, but were preparing again to take the field." The Marquia waa very pale. He knew the tremendona im- port of this news. " Information waa lodged at the same time against our young lady, Mile, de Breteuil." "How waa her name brought into the affair?" cried the startled Marquia. Madame seemed to be utterly incapable of speech. " She was charged with being in the conspiracy," said Henriot, in a low voice, " because of her presence at the Bed Inn on that night." " Her presence at the lied Inn ? " cried the Marquis, in a tone of diapleasure, his brow clouding over. " Thia is an invention of thoee infamoua men, who epare nothing to attain their enda." " Pardon, Monsieur 'e Marquis," said Henriot, confused and trembling, " but, })erl»ap8, it is better for you to know that it was true." The Marquis drew himself up. " Tell what you know." be said briefly. " Mademoiselle went there, accompanied by Jeanne and Erminie Dumartin, to bid Jlonsieur Oaaton farewell and tell him pf her sympathy with the Catholic army." A NMHT or BVBPMNIM AT TBt OBATMAV. " Hov imprudent 1 " murmured Midtme under her breith, " ind jet how n itural, how b«utif ut withtl. She Mught to en- courage mj boy hy hsr words and prewnce." And the mothiT's heart felt very aoft and forgiving toward tliia daughter who was to be, who had stepped aside somewhat from the beaten path of ancient tradition in this crisis nf her lover'a destiny. Not so the Marquis. His brow grew very dark, in- deed. Had Yseult been present at that time in the chateau, she would have been made to feel the weight of his displeasure. For ordinarily gentle to a fault and considerate of all about him, be waa inexorable in matters of discipline, and exacted a reasonable ' lit unquestioning obedience from every member of his honse- hold. He would not, however, discuss the matter with a servant, reeerving for Uadame's ears his condemnation of the levity and heedlessness, the want of propriety and the needless rushing into danger, which, in his opinion, had characterised Yseult's conduct. " Monsieur le Marquis," began Henriot, in a faltering voice, " it was all the doing of Jeanne. She reproached Mademoiselle with having no heart, and said she preferred to let Count Oaston go to death without a word of farewell, nther than break a law of etiquette." " Silence ! " said the Marquis. " I can not permit you to transfer this responsibility to any other shoulders. Jeanne was the subordinate." Madame called the Marquis apart. " Think of the pleasure she has given to our Gaston by this, which, to my mind, shows a noble heart. To bid him farewell and inspire him by her words to heroic deeds. Is it such a crime ? If so, then, I, too, I am afraid, would have been guilty, Albert, in those days long ago. I could not have let you go away, perhaps to death, without seeing you again." MICROCOPY RBOLUTION TIST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 — 11= la la 12.2 S lis 1 2£ li£ IIIIIM III ^li& A /APPLIED IMHGE Inc ■S^. 1GS3 Eail Mom SIrMt ^^Ra ftoehMUr, Na* York U609 USA .^=^S (716) *a; - 0300 - Phon. .^^^^S (7 16] 286 - 5989 - Fa. « A. mOBT OF aVBPBtlBE AT THE CHATEAV. " But it was for him to seelc her," said the Marquis, softening, ncverthelcBS, and touched hy that allusion to the past days of their courtship. "He could not and would not for obvious reasons," urged Madame. " It was impossible for him to implicate her, all of us, by a visit to the eastlc wlien employed on such a mission." " She should have hnd equal prudence." " She sacrificed only herself." " Had they been betrothed — " " After all, what is that but a formality 1 They love each other, they are destined for each othei', and I am certain that Tseult's dignity, with Gaston's chivalrous courtesy, prevented any possible impropriety in the situation." " You are, after all, my love, but a woman," said the Marquis, " a very charming one and a special pleader. I have already forgiven the fair culprit, and I would it were in my power to ward off from her the consequences of this act, which may be grave enough." He sighed as he turned again to Henriot. "Has the little Dumartin been likewise implicated?" "Yes, Monsieur. Her words were described as treasonable, and her love for Richard Duplessis displeases that scorpion of a Tremion, who wants her for himself." The Marquis shuddered as he recalled a conversation with Duplessis concerning Promion, into which had been introduced the names of both the girls. " And what further said Jambe d' Argent ? " " That yon. Monsieur le Marquis, were to leave the matter in his hands, and that he would do all that human ingenuity could suggest to save the lives of the accused, and to prevent, if pos- sible, the arrest of Mademoiselle and her companion." A masT OF avsPENas at tbb chateau. 07 " They are rtill at the convent ? " inquired the Marquis. " MademoiBellp is th»rc, but Jeanne is at Nantes i:. disguise, hoping for some way of getting Duplessis out of the prison/' answered Henriot. " Imprudence again ! " cried the Marquis. " Madness ! But 1 myself will go to Nantes to-morrow." " Jamlje d'Argent psjire^.^ly forbids it ! " cried Henriot. " His words were, ' Let not the old eagle seek to follow the fliglit of the young. He must remain in the eyrie, or the worst may befall.' " " Oh, he is right," cried Madame ; " it might still further en- danger our Gaston and add more victims to the list." " He bade me assure you," continued Henriot, " that he would move heaven and earth to save these innocent men." "May God reward him!" exclaimed the Marquise; "he has taken a weight from my heart, for 1 know, I feel, he will succeed. And now I shall go to the oratory to give God thanks and to pray for His help." " I will join you there in an instant," said her husband ; and when she had withdrawn, he turned again to Henriot. " You have not told all? " he declared with emphasis. " The remainder of the message I feared to give in Madame's presence. He bids you be not too sanguine, for that the difficulties are enormous, for that Premion, the villain, will hurry on the execution, if once the prisoners are condemned. 'That beaten hound of a Premion,' were Jambe d'Argent's words, ' will bite hard and will not easily loosen his grip. Still it may be done, and the Marquis need not fear that anything will be neglected. But warn him, again, that he must not come to Nantes. The victims are securely lodged in a fearful dungeon, where he would be thrown, too, altogether powerless.' " " If I must stay here like a chained animal and permit this 88 i. mOST OF BV8PSV8K JLT THE CHATBJkV. horror to happen, God's will be done," said the Marquis. " But when a certain time has elapsed and hope seems to be abandoned and effort at an end, then I will go thither and snatch my boy from the guillotine at the price of my own life." Ha spoke rather to himself than to Henriot, of whom he presently inquired : " What manner of man is this Jambe d'Argent ? " Henriot threw up both his hands, crying enthusiastically: "A most wonderful man, Monsieur la Marquis. He knows everything, even what goes on at the greatest distance. To me, he is not mortal. He has eyes that bum like fire. I found him at the Camp of the High Meadows, hut he has many other resorts. I would have feared him had I not known that he was sent down to earth to help the Vendeans." "God grant him supernatural aid in this case," said the Marquis. " I will see and judge of him myself, please God, at no distant day." " Not till he gives the signal ; he will call you when you are needed," said Henriot. " That was what he said." The Marquis, pressing into Henriot's hand some gold pieces as a reward of his faithful service, dismissed him to the rest and refreshment he required. IK TUB DUXOEOK OF TUL CLOCK TOWtlt. CHAPTER VII. IN THE DUNGEON OF THE CLOCK TOWEB. BiCHARD Ddplessis had been confined in tliat dungeon which was popularly known m that of the Clock Tower, because the victims heard continually the dismal sound of a clock which struck each quarter, thus announcing to the condemned that time was growing short and eternity drawing near. Those confined in this dreary prison were understood to be beyond hope of pardon, and also on the very eve of execution. But the execution was often deferred, thus increasing the torture of the victim by perpetual suspense. Thus Richard Duplessis lingered, though he had been ft .:ally condemned to death, and had heard his sentence with tranquil mien and an undisturbed composure, which infuriated Premion, who stood by with taunts and sneers, drawing only from Richard an expression of the profoundest (Hintempt. Duplessis had no hope of revisiting his beloved village or s«ing Jeanne again. Hope, indeed, as regarded the things of earth, was dead within him, but with cheerful composure he pre- pared to meet his fate. He lay, heavily manacled, in a noisome cell, crawling with loathsome reptiles, where the swish of the river without filled up th>> pauses in the striking of the awe-inspiring clock. It was t' pie and manly faith of the soldier of La Vendue which kt, up his courage in those fearful hours and prevented him fmni sinking into the abyss of despair. He told himself that he was to give up his life for his beloved country and ;.V THE DVKOEOy OF THE CLOCK TOWER. tilt' fuith which he lield still doaror, and it mattered not whether on the guillotine or the battlefield. And, if he had to endure the unspeakable liorrors of this imprisonment, it was the part of a man and a Christian to resign himself to the inevitable. Often in his dreams lie went back again to the pleasant places of his boyhood, swift runs in the breezy mornings on the Marais with his young companions, merry games of cache-cache in the woods of the Boc'age, fishing expeditions with his beloved Count Gaston, always his hero and the idol of his boyhood, hours of study at the College at Vannes, whither he had been sent by the favor of the Marquis, and, last of all, his brief courtship and the joy of possessing the love of bis noble-hearted Jeanne, who hsd all the sterling virtues of the Breton woman — a fearless devotion to duty, a self-denial which was almost austere, a beautiful en- thusiasm for religion and for countr)', and all ih(i5e nobler traits which spring from the life-long practise of the Catholic faith. Sometimes, even in his waking moments, he stro"p to br-ng the past before him, and be recalled, with a half smile .ind a half sigh, the talk of the lads on the parade ground at Vannes. Their noble aspirations, their determination to die, if necessary, for God and country, their contempt of evil, their generous Utopianism. He seemed to hear Count Gaston talking to the others. He was always a leader in the circle he affected. What boyish earnestness, what inspiration in his fine face, what intense desire to reach cut and grasp the finer things of life! And how the others had responded, as the strings of a violin respond to the bow. Well, many of those lads had all too sadly realized their youthful dreams, and bad perished in the ranks of the faithful few who surrounded the King, or on the guillotine; others were, like himself, in pri n. tie was as yet ignorant of the arrest of Count iJaston. But some, on the contrary, had turned aside from ly TBE DUNQEOS' OF THE CLOCK TOWER. 01 the shining patli traced out in thoRp youthful dreams, pursuing devious paths. In the ranks of the -epublican army, in the host of unprincipled demagogues, of whom Premion was a typi*, at the very revolutionary tribunals were to be found some of thoae lads who had talked so bravely on the college rampus. He was surprised one morning nt the early appearance of his jailer, who brought with him a hlacksmith to strike off his manacles. The men would answer no questions, but presently led the prisoner into a well-lighted and eheerfiil room, which had little save its utter bareness nnrl the grated window to suggest a prison. Here he was better fed and treated with considerable indulgence, being even supplied, at his request, with writing ma- terials. Thenceforth he spent his spare moments in adding new pages to a manuscript which he hoped might one day reach his be- trothed, and into which he poured out every secret of his soul. One morning, shortly after his removal to these better quarters, he was so engrossed with his journal that he did not perceive a jailer, who had entered and vas standing observing him. "My dearest," he wrote, "I wonder if this change to com- parative ease and luxury means the approach of death ? If so, I shall try to confront it cheerfully and picture to myself that para- dise above, where there will Ik* a perpetual feast of all saints, ami where we shall surely meet. I wonder how it will be? Shall the faces we were familiar with upon earth be the same in that new brightness? Will the old look we cherished he there, or some other one born of great love and peace? In any case, my Jeanne, it will be there, and there alone, that we shall see each other again. These cruel walls will never relax their hold save to send me to the guillotine." lli TBS DUNGEON OF THE CLOCK TOWER. " That depends somewhat upon yourBelf," obte9rTed the jailer, dryly. Richard started violently, looking up and, for the first time, perceiving the intruder, who seemed to be peering over his shoulder. " You have been reading what I was writing ! " Dupli'sais cried, with a swift flush of anger. " I chanced to see the last sentence you wrote. It doesn't matter. I shall not tell tales," replied the other, imperturbably. Duplfssis, stifling the anger which he knew to be futilo, noticed for the first time that this was nOt the same jailer to whom he had been accustomed, and who had been a particularly brutal as well as taciturn fellow. "There are ways by which you might open this prison," suggested the newcor^er. " Name them," said Duplessis, looking up quickly. The jailer came forward and leaned upon the table, so that he was directly confronting the prisoner. " The surest way," he said, slowly, " would be to sell the Roche Andr6s, root and branch, old and young," " Sell? " repeated Duplessis, not at first realizing his meaning. " Pretend to have some particular knowledge about them," continued the jailer, coolly, " which will insure their condemna- tion OR enemies of the nation, dangerous to the public welfare." The man had scarce finigbcd when Duplessis sprang upon him. " Villain! " he cried, forcing him backward against the wall. "How has your wretched brain imagined such baseness?" "But your life?" gasped the man, half stifled. " A thousand lives would not tempt me to hurt one hair of those noble heads," replied P^iolessis. " Oh, that any one should have dared to breathe the thoug)it ! " in THE DDNOBOK OF TUB CLOCK TOWER. " Softly, or you will kill me," cried the man, for Richard, in his rage, scarce knew what he did—" and it was not by my hrain that this plan was laid. I'remion— " Hichard relaxed his hold, and the stranger took several gasping I)reuth8 to fill his lungs. When he could speak again he l)egan : " 1 heard the Citizen Carrier say to Premion that he must nnd would be rid of those pestilent Roche Andres, for that, on ihe one hand, they were forever striving to interfere with the Imsincss of the tribunals, and on the other, people were never tired of sounding their praises and encouraging other aristocrats to net similarly. Premion then said that you, who knew so much nlwut them, might be made to turn informer, and that is why you I live been brought up from underground and placed in this spacious cell. The same reason has caused the manacles to drop from your legs and arms. It might have been as well for me had they been left on a little longer. But that is by the way." " Premion dared to say such a thing of me ! " cried Richard, who, fairly speechless with rage, had sat through the other's re- cital with flaming cheeks and eyes aglow with a passion which secme\wi aside a ma^k, and Hichiinl stared at him in astoni^hnu'Dt. lie jierceived, too, for the first timt', that he wan attired rather as the servant of some great family ttan as a turnkey in the Revo- lutionary priRon. "How do you come here, and in such a dress?" demanded Richard. " Oh, I am the valet of a nobleman, imprisonnd hore at first, but having been converted to Jacobinism and promising to reveal family secrets, I have been assigned to duty as a jailer, and I wear my livery as a sign to proclaim my conversion." "You have done this thing!" cried Richard, looking at him with loathing. " You can coolly tell me that to save your own skin you have betrayed the family whom you served?" " Well, as the family to which I am supposed to belong is non- existent, the mischief is not great," said the other, calmly. " I am to give testimony as to the vices of the nobility at c notable trial which comes off next week." "You will do BO?" inquired Richard. " By that time I may have gone, say to the seashore for my health," laughed the man. " Perchance, if all goes well, you may hear mo company, end the young Count, too." " You have twice spoken of Count Gfston," Richard observed, " as though he were in danger." " Well, he does run some risk in being the guest of the nation in one of these delectable abodes," replied the stranger. " Count Gaston in prison ! " cried Richard, sinking into the chair from which he had risen. " Gracious heaven ! " He covered bis face with his hands ind groaned aloud. His tH TUB DCyOKOS OJ" THE CLOCK TOWBH. cvn miifortann hid never drawn from him luch « minifeatition of feeling. " If vou would «ave him, jnu munt pnt by all wc«kne««," com- manded the unknown. " KnuM- yourself. We »hall work to- gether." " You are, then, a friend? " Richard asked. " I am. nnd had you listened to my first proposal the guillotine night have had you, and welcome." " Who are you, then ? " asked Richard for the second time. " You may, perchance, have heard of .Tambe d' Argent ? " aaid the man, an I he pointed signHcan'Iy to a small, circular band of silver which he wore about his leg, covering t apot where he had once received an injury. Richard knew that it was from this circumstance that that remarkable man had derived his name. A light broke over the prisoner*B face as he cried, with a glow of enthusiasm ; " Is it possible that you can be that great leader himself? " Jambe d'Argent nodded, a rare smile breaking the darkness of his face. " And yet," added Richard, sorrowfully, " I thought Jambe d'Argent knew something of me, and that he never would have dreamed of trying me by an infamous proposal." " Listen, Duplessis," said the other earnestly. " I knew you, I believed in you, I tnisted you, though we have never met, elm I had not been here. You have done work for me, and done it well. You werr about t the time of your arrest to act as one of my most trusted lieutenants, but these are evil times, and the suf- ferings you have undergone might well have tried a weaker soul beyond endurance. Only the finest metals come forth from such a fire. Therefore, forgive me, for, thoufrh I had scarce a doubt of how you would pass throu?"- *he ordeal, it waa, nevertheless. IX TBt DVXOEOX OF THE CLOCK TOWER. a happy though a pi'riloui) moment for nu< wht>n ynii pinned me to the wall vondcr." Till' hiimoroua smile which i)la.V('(l nur hin tini fiio' an he [•poke wan totichwl with tcnili'rnn<». "(iml lulpinj; iis, vou ghill lie savoil, inikiil, mi)iirnfully. "Oh, the UKiial counts of the indielriMnt, an aristocrat, an enemy of the people, with many glanderous inventions added, and, last of all, the specific charge of treasonahle conspiracy. His con- ference with you in the parlor of the Red Inn was overheard by a concealed spy of I'rcmion." Richard groaned again. " Then he is lost ! " he crieil. "Unless we can save him," sug;5estee surprised." " To the hospital ! " crietl Richard, in amazement. OS ni THE DVyOBON OF THE CLOCK TOWEB. " You we a very sick man, Bichard Duplessis," continued Jambe d' Argent. " You are ill of a fever, and do not know any- thing that is passing. Your mind is disordered, and whatever you say is to be set down to the wanderings of frenzy." Bichard, beginning to understand, laughed outright. " So I have anticipated any possible imprudence on your part," declared Jambe d' Argent. " You have left me no loop-hole at all, monsieur," Bichard said ; " but I think I shall keep dumb." " It may be as well, though you may, if yon wish, mutter strangely, Richard, and speak' in disjointed phrases. And now, adieu, or, rather, au revoir." " Shall I see you again, then? " asked Richard, eagerly. He already felt for this stranger an unusual attraction, that glamor which this mvsteriouB leader exercised over so many. « Of course ; I shall see you at midnight. You have to be taken to the inflrmarv. My republican zeal will be anxious to save the life of so valuable a witness for the State. I shall heap attentions upon vou, and, if I should chance to kill you with kindness, I shall have you b-'ded as speedily and as privately as possible to avoid the anger of one Premion." He said these words with special significance. Then, as he opened the door and passed out, he put his finger to his lips to insure secrecy. And Richard found himself once more securely locked in, but with a heart how much lighter it is easy to imagine. Even the remote prospect of escape, the rare chance of regaining his liberty, was exhilarating to Richard's healthful and buoyant nature. ., . v* The bell of the Clock Tower had just tolled out midnight, the hour of mystery, by excellence, the ghost-haunted hour, the hour which thrius one with vague apprehension, the hour of crime. ly THE DVNO£OX OF TUE CLOCK TOWER. M the hour when the dead to-day parts from the living to-morrow. The door of Richard's cell creaked on its hinges, admitting Jambe d' Argent, with two other men. " This is the patient, Citizen Doctor," said the first named. "I would like you to examine him, for his condition appears to me serious, and were he to die the nation would lose an im- portant witness, and the Citizen Premion wonld be sorely dis- appointed." The cell was very dark, only the light of the lantern which one of the men carried illumining it. This light was turned upon the pallet bed in the comer, but Richard was not there. He was discovered sitting at the table, his head resting on his arms. The doctor bent over him, inquiring how he felt, but, receiving no answer, he felt his pulse, passed his hand over his fore- " The man is in a raging fever," he pronounced, " and must be removed to the hospital without delay." "That is as I thought," said the pretended jailer, "but I wanted your authority in support of mine." " Seize him, then, by force, if necessary," ordered Jambe d'Argent, and the burly fellow, who stood in the background, sporting his bonnet-rouge ostentatiously and odorous of stale tobacco, came forward to execute the order. " We must carry him to the hospital," went on Jambe d'Argent, speaking in a loud, swaggering tone. " I will lend a hand, and he must have every care, for his life can not be spared yet till he has brought those cursed aristocrats of Roche Andris to the national razor." The man addressed laughed thickly and coarsely, saying: " Never fear, citizen, we will take care of him," and shaking Richard by the shoulder he cried in his ear : " Wake up, my r^ 100 IS THE DUNOBON OF THE r,.OCK TOWBR. You shall have a good satueuloHe cockatoo, and come with us. or two to wait upon you." Richard muttered a few broken words, but made no attempt to ri8C, and the supposed jailer gave command. " Raise him and we will carry him between us. The other obeyed, and with some slight resistance on the part ol Richard, who seemed to be in a stupor, he was borne to the prison infirmary and laid upon a bed. One or two other patents Lrc in the room, and to the bedside of these «P""^ ''■"/•"J"; holding no further converse at the moment with R.chard. The cvalet went from bed to b,d, devoting particular attention however, to Richard, binding « thick bandage about 1»« h^'"""'^ oJing him a cooling drink. Those in the room took l.ttle heed :, whft went forward. The man in the adjoining bed seemed overcome with the double w.ight of his imprisonment and h s sufferings, and the other inmate of the room conversed so earnestly with thf doctor that Richard and his attendant were left pra<. tically unheeded. • i j». "You must drink this cup." the ex-valet sa,d, m a qmck, de- cided whisper, " but not till the hour of three has ;*"<=" great clock in the tower. Then swallow ,ts contents to the dreg.. " And what will follow? " " Ask no questions ' Leave that to me ! " There was a passing gleam of distrust - K-^^^f ^^^ This man, indeed, represented himself as Jambe d Ar^n^ L how was he to be sure? He met the eyes of the e.-valet fi.ed imonhim. They seemed to read his thoughts. ' "Your dist^st is misplaced," he said, in the same burned whisper "and th" alternative of trusting me is the gudlotme tturself and your friends. For know that not only Count Oaston, but Mademoiselle, too, is accused of connnracy, b«a«se IN THE DOXaEOX OF tBE CLOCK TOWER. 101 of her presence at the Red Inn, and will soon be arrested. The name of Jeanne Dumartin also figures on the list of the accused, and woul be taken, even had she not left the shelter of the convent ti 'ome here to Nantes in an effort to save your life." "Merciful God!" cried Richard. Then he added firmly: " Have no fear, I will drink the cup." " The potion must be taken at three o'clock," cried the ex- valet, raising his voice, so as to make himself heard by all. " Doctor, this stupid fellow can not be made to understand." The doctor approached, and succeeded at last in fixing Richard's attention. " It is often the case with fever patients," he said ; " they listen to an authoritative voice." He turned to the man in the next bed. " Should he appear unconscious, force him to take the draft," he said. The man promised. "Even if you have to force it down his throat," continued the doctor. " He shall take it," promised the man. The doctor and the ex-valet then withdrew, and Richard, left alone, mused upon his strange surroundings, and the things that had befallen, fearing to sleep and awaiting always the tolling of three o'clock. He suspected that the doctor was in the secret, and felt a warm glow of gratitude to Jambe d'Argent, who had thus endangered his own life and liberty in so desperate an at- tempt. As the booming, ill-omened pound of ibe Clock Tower bell rang out three, and before Richard bad time to move, the man in the next bed cried out to him : "Here you, Citizen, drink your potion. It is to make you Ill THB DVSOBOH OF THE CLOCK TOWBH. well for your business, which is to slit the throats of fat aristo- crats. Up with you, and take it I " Hichard, affecting to be rudely awakened from slumber, raised himself upon his elbow, and, after a moment or two ot apparent bewilderment, obeyed the n^iterated order of his neijrhbor, and drained the cup to the vety bottom, having first commended liis soul to Ood. TRIAL OF COUNT QASTOX DB LA ROCHE AXDRE. 108 CHAPTER VIII. TBIAL OF OOnNT GASTON DE LA ROCHE AyOBE. Olv the day following Richard's removal from the prison cell to the hospital. Count Gaston de la Roche Andre was summoned t'Sfore the Revolutionary tribunal on a variety of charges, of which the chief was his conference at the Rod Inn of Saint Lyphar, with other traitors, in which was clearly stated his ir- tention of taking the field in the army of the brigands, and heading the men of his own village in an attack upon the Blues. Premion did not directly appear as the young man's accuser, leaving that to the spy who had overheard the conversation. But he took his place among the motley crew which sat in judgment at the bar of Carrier, presided over by that notorious ruffian him- self. The room was crowded with men and women all hostile to the accused, and anxious to contribute, by their applause, at least, and their hostile demonstrations against the prisoner to is condemnation. The name was called : " Gaston Albert Charles Marie de la Roche Andr^, ci-devant Count and officer in the Royal Regiment." There was a pause in the crowded court. The name had been long a power in that region. Many in the multitude bad received benefits from the family, or had trembled at the strong arm which the Jlarquis had occasionally put forth against evildoers. The door being opened, there entered a young man of slender and graceful bnild, whose nobility of aspect for a moment overawed 104 TRIAL OF COVXT OAaTOH DE LA. ROCHE ANDRS. the fierce gathering. His ann was grasprd b\ the same furiooB Jacobin who had gone to Saint Lyphar on a spying expedition and returned with a full budget of information. He was in the pay of Premion, but he had served Carrier well before now by denouncing numberless priests and aristocrats to the tribunal. His darlt face, surmounted by the liberty cap of flaming red, was aglow with the eagerness he felt to secure the young man's con- demnation. For he had once been in the employ of the Marquis de U Hoche Andri, had been convicted of theft and pardoned bj the clemency of his employer, who had, moreover, obtained for him employment at a distance, and had supported his mother and sisters in his absence. The Marquis had failed to recognize him upon the occasion of his visit to Saint Lyphar, but the fellow's wrath had flamed up bitterly against him, especially when the old gentleman had threatened to have him beaten from the place. He was, in fact, one c' the most blatant of all the sans-culottes who indulged in flery tirades against the aristocrats who cumbered the earth, oppressing the poor and deserving, and tramp- ling on the liberty of the nation. "Your name?" demanded the President of the tribunal. " Gaston de la Boche Andr*." "Your station?" " Count and eldest son of the Marquis de la Roche Andr*." " Your occupation ? " " Till recently an officer in the Koyal Regiment." "Note, citizens, worthy republicans, that he acknowledges having borne arms against the people." " Having borne arms in the service of the King and against the enemies of France! " corrected Gaston. " King? There is no King in France." TRIAL or COVHT OASTOH DB LA. ROCHB A3IBRE. 106 " I refer to hia late Majesty, King I»ui8 the Good," ■&• awered Gaston, a flash of enthusiasm lighting up his face. There was ■ howl from the more advanced republicans. Gaaton looked around him with disdain. " The King was a tyrant and a traitor," cried the mob. " So are the aristocrats. Down with all tyrants ! Death was too good for Capet and the infamous Austrian woman, who hated the French." Gaston's eyer flashed. " I trust they are both in heaven ! " he said, solemnly, raising his voice so as to be heard through the room. " Or in hell, where you will go to join them soon I " said the angry chorus. Gaston smiled contemptuously, but made no further remark. His silence seemed still further to aggravate the yelling crowd. " Silence ! " roared the President, " and let us hear the crimes of which this prisoner has been guilty." " Yes ; let us hear ! " cried the mob. " * First, he was an officer in the detested Royal Regiment, and took part in that infamous orgj- at Versailles, being observed to join in that traitorous anthem known as * Richard, mon Roi/ after which he received a cockade from the Austrian.' " A howl of rage and derision sounded through the court and out of the window, echoing through the streets of the once sober^ commercial town. " ' Second,' " continued the President, " ' he has been since in correspondence with (migris and foreign traitors, " ' Third, he is himself a notorious oppressor of the people, being known to enforce his commands to an inferior by a blow.' " " Blow, indeed ! He shall get blows enough, if we can only get at him," shrieked a fury from amid a group of women. 106 TJMAL 0*" COV\T OABTOH DE LA ROCHS AUDRi. ■' ' Fourth, he hu deprived hU dependent* of the necewarie* of life in order to spend money in Paris and A'erBaiUes. " ' Fifth, he has been detected in endeavoring to poison a well in the neighborhood of his own chateau.' " "Bum him! Choke him! Tear him to pieces!" roared the human monsters standing by. " ' Sixth, he has aided the old aristocrat, his father, who shall presently be brought to justice, to enforce the levying of the corvie, the tithes, and other taxes vexatious to the people.' " " Down with the corvee; we shall mend their roads no more, these vile aristocrats. We shall make them mend ours, if they are not all killed by the nation ! " screamed the chorus. " ' Seventh, he has been known to set up innocent babes as targets for his archery.' " A roar of execration followed this announcement. The Presi- dent, again commanding silence, proceeded to give a Ust of other charges too infamous for repetition. Gaston had been listening indifferently to the first counts of the indictment, which were the ordinary ones against aristocrats, and had only manifested emotion once, when the name of his father was mentioned, accompanied by a threat. Now, however, a growing expression of wonder, of horror, of incredulity, over- spread his face as he listened to the latest charges. They were followed by a wild tumult, the women, in particular, striving to get near him, and, as thry said, rend him where he stood. « The monster! The shameless villain! The accursed aristo- crat ! Bum him ! Flay him ! and smoke out the nest he comes from!" There was a flush of shame upon the young man's face that such things should be said of him here, in the open court, in- famous slandfs which none dared question. TtltAL OF COVKT OASTON DB LA ROCUB ANnilE. 107 "I den; every word of thoae final chtrgee!" the priioner cried at lut, unable to bear it longer. " Thoy are (aUe and vibrant and pasaionate with that rare quality which goea to the heart. " He i« right," said some of the women. " The gir! has apoken fooliahly, but ahe haa done no harm." Othera criid out vehemently to let the ariatocrata and their friends pcriah together. " Men, citizona, will you permit this atrocity ? " cried Oaaton again. " I have liatened to charges against myself which have caused me to flush with shame. But I am ready to meet death as a brave man should, and to show you upon the scafFold how a gentleman dies. You shall not be balked of your revenge. I admit love and loyalty to the late monarch, t am proud to have served in the Royal Regimrat, and to have been present at that banquet at Versailles, a last expression of devotion to our hapleaa sovereigns. But I implore you to spare this woman, and 1 will make no defense. I will die without protest." His words produced an effect upon some, and Premion ven- tured to applaud them. He was silenced by a threatening glance from the President, who, with cold brutality, proceeded: " Citizen Roche Andri, wo have heard you, lying after the manner of your kind, but you have forgotten to add to your list of indictments that which properly stands at the head. You have said nothing of your conference at the Red Tnn of Saint Lyphar with the arch-traitor, Duplessis, by which you pledged yourself to bring a force of brigands to the camp at Grand Bordage. That story has yet to be told. Witness, stand forward ! " no TKiAL or mvvT oa»tok dm la. Kooaa audmM. Outon conld not rep«« . tUrt. Th. ii«™ w« mort unwrt- come to him. for, .Ithough h« knew th.t he would b. cund«nned m My event, he feared thrt thi. new evidence might «m to implictte othoM, and to bring even hi. beloved father and mother int. danger. The .py, who had overheard all that happened, „„ -oceeded to give a minute but highly colored account of the mterview between the two leader., and, pointing abruptly at Jeanne, he uid : " You were right in arrcrting thi. traitrcw. She, too, wa« there with another, and encouraged the brigand, by every mean, in her power." "She .hall die!" wid Carrier, .ententiou.ly. She .hall change the little pleasure eicuraion I had planned for her to > drive in the national omnibus." So he facetiously called the tumbrel. « Vou, Citiien Hoche AndrA, .hall go to the guillotine to- morrow at four, and the woman Dumartin .hall accompany you. I lilte to unite thoM who love each other." "Shame, yon hound I" cried Garton, while even Premion clenched hi. fist, convulsively in hi. comer. And at thi. moment an unexpected thing happened. A woman in a mobcap, and wearing the ordinary drew of the people, rtcpped fcrward. " If you arc to die, Ga.ton, for no other crime than that of being a true and loyal gentleman," she cried, "my place i. at your side. I am equally as guilty as Jeanne. She shall not die alone. For me and for those i love .he has come here. At least. I will go with her to execution." For the firrt time Count Gaston turned deadly paV and showrrt .ign. of deep emotion. " My God ! " he mnrmnred. " Holy Mother of the Hedeemcr, you alone can «ave her ! " TBtAI, or OOVNT OAMTOS Dt LA HOOHM AVDR± til " And M the txU rolli t " cried the Pretident, chnekling et hie uwn wit. " We ehall won hare every woman iu the room inxioui to die with thi> faaciniting irietocnt. But who are ;ou? Your name?" " Yaeult de Breteuil." Carrier gave a long whistle. " I have juat aent my men to the Convent of Angen in aeareh of you. So, they thought yuu were lafe with the holy nuna, ho, ho I inatead of at Nantea, where the pretty Count waa to be aecn." " Cease your intolerable brutality," cried Oaaton, " and go on with the trial ! " "Oh, my popinjay, I'll go on faat enough," he aaid, "and you'll have thia pretty bit of womankind with you to-morrow aftemc on your driving party. Don't be afraid." He then turned to Yaeult. " Your condition P " he aaked, roughly. " Connteu de Breteuil." "Your relation to thia man?" Yaeult hesitated. For the firat time it flashed upon her that ehe had placed heraelf in a false position. " I have the honor to claim her aa my betrothed wife," int< poaed Oaaton, "though the formal ceremony haa not yet taken place." Yaeult flashed a quick glance of gratitude toward her chival- rous young lover. "Is it as he says ? " inquired Carrier, Yeeult bent her head. " Then," aaid the wretch, with his cold, malicious aneer, " as there is no marriage in the heaven of the aristocrats, 1 ahall have to send you both to hell to celebrate your weddin);. We have plenty of evidence jgainat yon. Mistress. Your treaeonahle talk !!' lia TRIAL or OOVNT OASTOS DE LA BOOBE AKDB^. and conspiracy with traitor, at the Red Inn of Saint Lyphar are before us in writing. Witness, identify this woman." The mm-culoile. who had already figured so largely in the trial, eagerly obeyed. He swore without doubt that Yseu t had been present at the inn, and had urged on the brigands to kill aU the Blues. There were pity and admiration on the faces of many. But none dared speak. The fate of Jeanne had awed them. "Can we not find a husband for the Dumartin woman? asked Carrier, with the coarse humor habitual to him, "that we sl,™ld have a quartet. I am fond of weddings myself." His cold eyes rested on Premion, who cowered. But it passed over him again. Premion was useful. " Citizen," said the accuser of Count Gaston and the two girls, " I have knowledge that the woman before you has promised to marry the notorious traitor, Duplessis." "Capital!" cried Carrier. "Bring him here without delay. Is he at Nantes? " " In the prison of the Clock Tower." Carrier referred to his notes. J' He is, then, the arch enemy of the people, Richard Duplessis?" " The same." ^ ^. « Cause him to be brought hither. They shall .11 dance to the same tune." . A messenger was despatched, and deep silence fell upon the waiting court. Count Gaston exchanged with Yseult glances which conveved far more to her than the most eloquent protests of affection," and ho contrived at last to draw near where die stood, with her hand resting upon Jeanne's shoulder. "You have done me infinite honor, Mademoiselle, he whispered. TBIAL OF COUNT OASTON DB LA ROCHE AJfDBE. 118 " There wu no choice," Yseult said, with her eyes upon the floor. " Had there b«;n, would you have had things otherwise? " Yeeult hesitated a moment, then she answered : "At such a moment concealments are idle. No, Gaston; I would not have it otherwise." "Let me offer you now, in this terrible scene, my full and entire devotion, the love of a whole life. I am yours in death, as I would have been in life." " And I pledge myself likewise to you," cried Yseult. " 0, Gaston, we love each other, and that is the only brightness in the gloom." " Courage, my dearest. Death, after all, is but a step to life." " It vrill be easy, since we die together," answered Yseult. " Silence, there ! " roared Carrier, who had perceived the two whispering. " Separate the prisoners." But those few words had been enough. Each felt that they lifted a weight from the other's heart. Gaston had been anxious to seize the first possible moment to declare his love for Yseult, feeling that she had been placed in a difficult position by the announcement of a betrothal which had never really taken place, and which presupposed that declaration on his part had not as yet been put into words. And he heard the avowal of love from her lips with a feeling of intense joy and thankfulness. He had always loved her with the tender, chivalrous love of his fine nature, and had dreamed of her as his wife, while from boyhood upward he had admired her with a passionate admiration as the type of all that is beautiful and lovable in womanhood. Yseult, on the. other hand, thon^ she had long known of Gaston's sentiments toward her, had re- joiced at the force and sincerity which he had put into the few Ui TRIAL or COV^T OASTOy DE LA ROCHE AUDRE. ,„ra» it had been possible in such surroundings to speak They were betrothed now; in the eyes of heaven, at least no fomal ceremony could ,„ake them more to each other, and she w s glad in the consciousness that, had their marriage ever taken place, .t would not have been one of those merely convonUonal umons so common in France. It was curious how this feehng o gladne predominated over those other emotions of fear, of horror, of dreadful expectancy. Presently the messenger returned from the prison. MVhere is the prisoner?" demanded C-rrier, impatiently. " He can not attend the tribunal." "For what reason?" <• He died this morning at three o'clock." Now even when deaths were of an hourly occurrence, here was an impressiveness about this announcement which struck all ^"" mere is the Citizen Undriot, his jailer, late valet to an aristocrat ? " " Gone to superintend the burial." ^^ « Can he not be found ? I wish to speak with him here. " I will find him, if possible. Citizen." There was, meanwhile, a bustle and stir among the prisoners. Jeanne had fainted. Count Gaston and Yseult bent over her, murmuring exclamations of horror at the news. Premion gave vent to a fearful oath. Duplessis had, then, escaped his vengeance. .Teanne, by plentiful apphcations of cold water, was brought o ;,erself Premion drew near as she came to herself, and with pale face and eyes ablaze scornfully regarded him: " You, you arc his murderer! " she cried. Premion made a deprecatory gesture. "It is the more to be regretted," he said blandly, since TRIAL OF OODNT OABTOy DE LA ROCHE ANDRE. 115 the Citizen Duplessis had offered to give testimony which would implicate the Marquis de la Boche Andr^, his wife, and younger Bon." " It is false ! " cried Jeanne. " You base cur ! " exclaimed the Count, furiously. " Can you respect nothing, not even the dead? " ** I have here a memorandum signed by himself," declared Premion, " which you are free to examine." " I will look at nothing, hear nothing, against this man who was my friend," cried Gaston, vehemently. " I knew him to be loyal alike to faith an friends and country." Jeanne cast upon him a look full of gratitude. ** It matters not, since the fellow is dead," interposed Carrier. " He would have sold these aristocrats to-day, they him to- morrow, if the chance offered, and what would it matter to honest republicans? I must cause e searching inquiry into the manner of his death, and, perhaps, I may send this precious ex-valet, who had the charge of him, to make up Madame Guillotine's quartet. He should not have let him die." But as the ex-jailer could not be found, the court was de- clared adjourned, and the prisoners were ordered to be conveyed back to the dungeon of the condemned, under the ominous clock. Henriot, who had been despatched to Nantes, hastened home with the fearful tidings. He contrived to see the Marquis first, that he might acquaint him with all that had occurred. The Marquis received it with the composure and dignity of a gentle- man and a true Christian. But it was a sore task to repeat that awful news to his wife, the more so that he now regretted he had not sooner gone to Nantes and made an effort, at least, to eave his tsou. He had been prevented from so doing by the m in TBIAL OF COVyT OA-STON DE LA ROCHB AXDRB. counselB of that mysterious man, who had failed completely in his promises. The Marquis found his wife seated, with a copy of the Imita- tion " in her hands, near the latticed window of her chamber. " My dearest," he said, seating himself beside her, " you have your thoughts fixed even now on the ultimate destiny of all . Christians." , " Yes, Albert," she answered, " my heart is sad and heavy with premonitions of coming evil, and I am reading here those royal maxims of faith, which, alas ! are so far above me." '-• What verse were you reading? " inquired the Marquu. Madame read aloud : " ' Thou shouldst rather rejoice and give thanks, yea, account this as a special subject of joy, that, afflicting thee with sorrows, I do not spare thee ! ' " That is a hard saying, Albert," she commented. The Marquis spoke very gently. « Can you rejoice and give thanks that, afflicting. He does not spare thee?" he asked. "My God, my husband!" cried Madame, ''what would you say' What tidings have you to communicate?" "Have patience, have courage, my beloved Adrlenne. News has reached me from Nantes. Gaston is condemned to die." The mother covered her face with her hands, giving utter- ance to a cry of anguish so piercing that, lough not loud it rang out upon the air, startling a mother bird which was feeding its young in a nest near the window. "There is nothing wanting of nobility, generosity, piety, courage," went on the Marquis. " He will die as a true son of France and of the Church." "Oh, my first-bom, my well beloved," wailed the mother, in THIAL OF OOVKT aABTOl/ DE LA ROCHE AKDR£. Ill a grief that seemed for the moment impervious to consoktion, and which seemed to isolate her even from her husband. " And he will not die alone ! " continued the Marquis. The mother waited, asking no question. " Yseult do Breteuil is with him I " Madame, startled out of her lethargy, repeated: "Yseult?" " I will tell you the whole sad story," resumed the Marquis, "and how that humble heroine may be said to have given her life ill trying to save our boy by creating a diversion in his favor." Madame listened witn drooping head while her husband re- lated to r every detail of that strange scene in the court-room, as it was reported by Henriot, bo full of poetry and romance, of chivalry and self-devotion, on the one hand, so overladen with horror and foulness and black iniquity, on the other. When the narrative wat at an end, husband and wife sat together silently awhile, striving each for the other's sake to master the sorrow which consumed them both. Then the Marquis, taking the hook from his wife's hand, turned to the forty-eighth chapter, and read aloud, in a voice quivering with deep emotion ; " ' Oh, most happy mansion of the supernal city. Oh, most bright day of eternity, which no night ever ob- scureth. " ' A day always joyful, always serene, and never changing its state for the contrary. " ' Oh, that this day would shine forth. It shineth, indeed, for the saints, resplendent with everlasting brightness. " ' The citizens of heaven know how ;' vfnl that day is.' " Madame's face had gradually brightened til! it wore a look almost of exultation. ! I > ! have to die by the guillotine," Ba.d the Marque, ^-^MirtsaidtheMa^.--^-^:^- Crna:::!"'::;'... B.whieKXi.e,tHat.el.aa. ™w .o-ne final. ^J^ J, t^ Madame ;" let u, besiege heaven •' Let us pray for him, cneu ^^ ,ith our supplications that his plan may succeed. A^dtoS'" they passed into the oratory. CITIZBS PRSMIOH UBET8 AH OLD ACQVAJNTANCE lit CHAPTER IX OmZEN PBEUIOK MEETS AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE. When Count Gaston de la Roche Andrt was marched from the Revolutionary tribunal to hia prison in the Clock Tower, escorted by half a score of pikemen, on the day of his condtnina- tion, he was greeted with fierce denunciations as the slayer of innocents, the opprt>«sor of the poor, the haughty aristocrat, the leader of La Vendue, who had been about to bring his brigands to bum the town and put all honest Blues to death. Ga.«ton's mien was simple, frank, and manly, according to his wont, but his almost boyish face had an added touch of dignity, for sorrow is ennobling. In his whole carriage was the grace and simple elegance that usually comes of long descent and gentle breeding. One woman alone in the crowd bent her head as he passed. Per- haps she had sons of her own, or possibly she had received, in happier days, some kindness from the family of Roche Andr6. Premion remained in his room the rest of that day. He had not wished to appear so conspicuously in the trial of Gaston de la Roche Andr^, and he was very much exercised, too, over a letter which he had just received. It threw out hints that Richard Duplessis might not be dead after all. Now, the sudden and somewhat mysterious death of the prisoner of the Clock Tower had been a fearful blow to the lawyer. He felt that he had been balked of the full sweetness of revenge. He had intendid that Richard should die, hut not until he had drawn nut a lingering confinement, tortured by the thought of Jeanne in the power of lao ciTiisBy rBtuioN ustTS as old aoooa/xtawo*. hia rival— not until his character had b«en blackened in the eyes of Jeanne by char(ree of treachery toward the Roche Andrfa. This anonymous letter, therefore, roused Premion to a pitch of excitement which threatened to bring on a seizure, and re- minded him of the fact that the ex-valct, whom he trusted im- plicitly, and to whom he had confided various important com- missions, had not been seen since the burial of Duplessis, nor could .ny trace of him be discovered. He had hastened to Premion v.Hh the news of Richard's illness, had begged permission to bring a av?tor, and had seemed animated by a very passion of republican zial. It was upon him the lawyer had relied to secure from Richard some statement which might be distorted into an accusation against the Koche Andrfa. The darkest auspicious concerning his late confederate began now to take root in Premion's mind. It was clear that he had been a traitor, and had planned not Richard's ruin, but his rescne, and he, Morin-Premion, had been the dupe and the tool of an impostor. While he was full of the anger and bitterness of this discovery, a woman came to the door, and, her knock remaining unanswered, opened it and entered with a basket of clothes. Pre- mion roared at her to get out of the room, and as she retreated, lay- ing down her basket, he seized her by the arm and rudely pushed her, so that she came within an ace of falling down the stairs, which were just outside. " You may push me, Citizen Premion," said the woman, turning half way down the steps to flash back deflance at him, " but your own turn will come, and when you fall few, indeed, will mourn." " Begone, beldame ! " he cried fiercely, " or I shall send yon on one of Citizen Carrier's pleasure boats to help with his under- ground fort" OITIZSlf PREUlOtI MBtTB AS OLD ACQVAIXTANCB. lil Thii wu in allUBion to what were c«lled the noyada. » eyatem deviled by thi« monster of the Hevolution to destroy, at one blow, a whole cargo of priests and aristocrats. " If you do send me there," said the woman, with a scornful laugh, " I will be in better company than you ever were in in your life. But 1 should think you had deaths enough on your souL" " You shall answer for this insolence at the tribunal," roared Premion. " The last fish you caught in your net ought to have been enough for you-the son of the man who fed your mother when she was sUrving, and aided her to educate you." Premion was silent, partly from rage, partly from astonish- ment, that this woman should know these hidden pages of his history. " Then there was Hichard Duplessis, who one time saved your life. But he has escaped you." There was something almost triumphant in this last expres- sion. " And now you are plotting to get into your power, to send, for aught I know, to death, the betrothed of Monsieur Gaston and yoar own sweetheart." With *he8e words she flew quickly down the remaining stairs, whiie Premion sprang furiously forward, and would have followed her. But an instinct of prudence restrained him. The woman might he armed. The fate of Marat, " friend of the people," was stiU fresh in his mind. She turned on the last step and threw back at him c final look of mockery. " Have you asked the Citizen Undriot, the ex-valet, to ex- plain the cause of Duplessis's death?" she asked. "He will live to marry his sweetheart yet, who belongs rightfully tv him, and see you dance to Mother uoillotine's tune." l-remion -prang furiou.ly down the .t.|r.. " Seize that «oman," he -houted angtily to two or thm men . u » ■' Shi. is a royal lit »py. » *« to who stood lounging about. She u a n>y swallowed her. The lawyer, m m ^^.^^ the afternoon had written the anonymous letter. ■ - .„^ »a Morin-Premion threw open the pitiful eyes. godfather, and Then the Marquis had come in, like some lairy g^ that mans sun .- me g ^^^ bestowed OlTltMy rntMIOS UMtTS an old ACDUAIHTAllCa. lU now UDUied in hia cue, and ita former owner poeMwaed t (ir more coatly one. But vividly, la t flaah, came the {eeling he had then experienced of intenae gratitude toward that high-bom lady who had aeemed to him then to belong to another aphere. And it waa her firet-bom he waa aending to the acaflold. He leaned far out of the window, for the morning air waa cool on hia face, fevered with the vi^il of the night and with all tbeae diaquieting thoughta. But under the blue of the aky he aaw only Saint Lyphar and theee people who had belonged to hia own youth. He recalled a certain occasion when a beautiful young lady had ridden past him upon a anow-white palfrey. He had thought her then the fairest creature in all God's wonderful creation, and as high above him as the stars, and she had smiled at him and thanked him ao prettily when he had opened a gate for her. And now ahe waa to be dragged from a loathsome dungeon, to be flouted by evil men, and to die on the guillotine if it so pleased him. He wished for one brief instant that he could save them all. Then the thought of Duplessis occurred to him, his implacable hatred of the man burned up, and he steeled his heart. He remembered swiftly every schoolboy encounter in which Richard had been victorious, the open preference which Jeanne Dumartin had shown for him, and the favor of the young Count. In Dupleesis's defense. Count Gaston had given him a blow, and for that blow he should die. As for the beautiful lady, well, she had chosen her lot. Let her die with her lover. And Jeanne — the guillotine should have her, too, unless he could himself secure her or be assured of Duplessis's death. He dressed himself then, and wandered aimlessly through the streets for hours, turning his feet at last in the direction of the Place de la Guillotine, where crowda, particularly of women, were already hurrying. He took ,M 0/TI«* J-Ml"0» MEMTB AS OLD ACQVAiyrSSCM. up hi. .t.tion J«.t oufide th. -loo,, wher.. he ""'^ - "J^ It on without Uing «.n. The women, .. t ey P"*"*!- "-> It inviting him to come forth to the fe,tiv.. "'^^^'^f^^^ "There i. . .plendid crtful, Cit.«n." ened one pr.ct.. nun., . noble or two, . republic.n who «.. caught help.ng . TZ e«.p*, .nd, be.t of .11. the young Count and h,« .weethe.rt^ KrhTnd«,m; fellow, thi. Boche And,. I wi.h, .n.ead o^ killing .11 the« flne-looking nri.tocrat.. they would find them w.ve. among the Bine., th- daughter, of the Repubhe. C w'. a -hriek -f laughter at thi« .ally, in wh.ch Prem.on fonid Mm,«lf to jo.n. Hi. quiclc eye .uddenly cught ..ght t w^:.n who h.d deride! him but ye.t.day. He wa— Z\» identity though »he wa. differently .tt.red. She stood h idW the building, a proud, cold look upon her face Z i h .he corned tho. about her. Premion, '" w.tclnng he , t^rnoted an old man, clad a. a country ruat.c, w.th long ? v., u h.ir falling over hi. .hoUder. and . gener.1 «r of :r.im;:Lir.-ri. He«em«..ind^.-r,outof ^■^T^irPre'o";::. the countryman to pa» nn .Wd the Utter more vigilant, had observed the lawyer m rlel n^ he had Lned to the banter of the women If the Iple One pair of eyes, however, dwelt cunously upon "°.«nc.," said the woman near her, "the bell of Saint Oil. Ser >; ringing two o'clock. There are two hour, to wait." «mw ,HEMIOy JfMM AN OLD AOQVjUSTAHCt. M "One could w.it /«„, f„, th^ plewure we .hill hire," Mid he other. ,„d .h.. let her g.«. f„|l„* that of her noighlK,r to the t.ll «t.^ple in the di,t.me, ju,t touched b, the .unlight, u.d whince the bell pealed forth the hour. "It will b,. . mvrry aiKht," .,i,| the flr»t speaker; "above all Ctircn Roche Andri, with hi. .weetheart. and th. woman Du- martin." The listener', face darkened at the raention of thi. l..t name That 1, one who shall die! " .he muttered. " I will «e to that. I will follow the cart .top by .tep, and I .hall not lo.e ..ght of her for the twinkling of .„ eye. Richard Ih.p|e«i, shall lo«, hi. fine .weetheart, who consorted with arirtocrat. and preached to her equals." As .he .poke .he flx«l her eyes upon the rustic, almoat a. though .he were addressing him, and continurf her meditation.. " A. for the Count, I would have him live, if I could, and he might have the wax doll to whom he i. betrothed. And the DM... and prie.t,, I would save them. too. Once I, t"o, n«d to kneel to a pri,«t, and tell my sins, nnd k-lieve his word» of pare' n and peace, and, oh, God ! I wa. happy." It wa. well for her that during this strange soliloquy her companion, were too much absorbed in what was going forward eagerly lending their voices to the tumult of shouts, eriea' laughter, and jests. So that it was only the rustic who gave her :e attention. " Yon scorned me once, Richard Duplessis," she went on, in the same fierce monologue; "you preferred to me a pudding-faced wench who might have driven the plow. She is giving her"life to save you. Be it so. Once I would have given mine." She broke off with a half sob which did not e«:ape the notice of the obwrvant countryman. liliili "^l Wa,e that ,ou„ . not an.o.g ^h- ^a^ *-*""«^ .„d startling reply. But the rustic wa« notj^be ™oved. " You were weeping, good m.stres8, he sa.d _ "Faith, not I!" answered the woman proudly, tell y again, beware, or you will have cauae to w«^ ^_ ^^^^ " I came from the country to see the sights, on, imperturbably. ^^ " From the seashore, perhaps? toteUigenoe T^ere was no ^^^^f-^^Xeltf Zr..t^- Then the which shone for an instant in the eyes eyes were veiled, and he replied : '• From Morbihan way." ji„Wa ears' For there is one of the prisoners who must I will denounce you. For tnere is "■> die." ., „ monv" said the rustic, "Ma foi, it seems to me there are many, saia '"' ;;roLs may drown or be shot, or stay alive, for all of '"^Ct::;"; whom you, Citoyenne, are interested." inquired the rustic, slowly^ Tell Richard Duplessis from . That one is .Joanne ^^^^'^^ ^'^^^.^ ^J,, that it i. not Bucceed." OmZES PREMION MEETS AN OLD ACQUAJNTAKCB. 137 " But I have heard talk in the crowds here of this Richard DupleasiB, who is a leader of the brigands, and ' -t said that ho died in prison." A low laugh broke from the woman, 1 1'.t sht said nc .iiore, for at that moment Premion, issuing fron '' o wine she ), laid a detaining hand upon the shoulder of Thercse Duvai. "You will come with me and explain your words of yes- terday," he said, "and, if they do not bear explanation, to the tumbrel with you ! It will give a spice of variety to see a knitter of the guillotine occupying a place in the nation's chariot." Th^rJse looked around, disconcerted for the moment. She had forgotten the lawjer, on whom she had determined to keep watch. Her eyes sought those of the rustic, but he had dis- appeared. She stood a moment uncertain, Premion meanwhile scanning her face with attention. " I have seen you before," he declared. " You all but threw me downstairs some hours ago." "Before that, again." "Your memory is a good one, and your eyes see far hack. Perhaps it's as well they don't see too far ahead." " Cease your chatter," said Premion, angrily. " Whoever yon may be, you arc my prisoner now. Come with me to the wine shop. If you can satisfy mo there, you go free. If you can not, then to the guillotine." " Thank you, sir, for your promises," she said, with a mocking cnrtsy. " Sir me no sir. I am simple Citizen Premion." " A nice citizen, too, and, as you say, simple, to be tricked," cried the woman, saucily, " by an ex-valet, and — " It was on her tongue to say that he was about to be tricked 1« cmZBy PREM.O. MBErS AX OLD .Cg.AiXTAXC*. of Count Garton'. g.Uant beanng yesterday at the Jn „, the lovolv young creature at h. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ ,,„„« « I will look out for Jeanne! she mi toheraell, a J d'Argent .uceecd in freeing the other,, and what he here for, dressed like a countryman • ^^^^^^^ "What are you muttering?" asked Premion wn guillotine. See, I have my knitting here." f:rri::::rr7"ichfor.e^e:>^art.,.. f:trha:;—"ongind:ision.^e woman read '''■"Why are you so intent upon her destruetion?" asked Pre- "^:r^":^i:^— ^--"^"'^'""^ Duplessis" answered the — ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^ ,^„,„, Premion started. Ths woma ^^.^^^^ ^^^^^ in,ght into ^^^''-^y ;'X^t arew her hastily into she knew something of his history. the wine shop, whieh was just «^en -tenanted. .< Who are you ? " he demanded suddenly The woman gave a careless laugh. Why sho it? You may, perhaps, remember Thhtee I^^"'' « And are vou she? " cried Premion ,n amazement. CITIZES PRBMION MEETS A:: OLD ACQVAlNTAJfCB. lit " You may weU ask," Th^rtse said, with a defiance which wa. not without a tinge of sadness. "Tiid village beauty!" exclaimed Premion. "Why, I was one of your admirers myself." "Before you met Jeanne Dumartin," Thirise assented, com- posedly. « But let that pass. I cared as little for you or your ad- miration as the flower cares for the butterfly that flutters by." Premion bit his lip. " I was, as you say, the village beauty," continued TUiise Duval. " I had every clodhopper in the place at my feet. There was but one I wanted, and it is that one about whom so much love and so much hate now center— Richard Duplessis." "Curse the fellow!" " Yes ; curse him if you will. He scorned my advances, made light of my prettiness, and from the first threw himself with the devotion which only such strong natures can feel at the feet of Jeanne Dumartin. He was her slave, her call-boy, her very shadow." She paused, the full bitterness of what she said reflected in her face. "And mark you, Citizen Premion, the girl loved him de- votedly. She is giving her life for him, and I—" Her voice broke and ended in a wail of anguish. " I am striving to deprive him of the sweetness of that love. For you have missed your aim, Morin-Promion. Richard still lives, and I rejoice at it. But with regard to the girl, I shall not fail, I warn you." Premion stood very white and still. At last his dry lips framed the words : " If Duplessis lives, I have not the wish, any more than the povicr, to save her." The sound of tu:nultuous shouting ju.t then reached their ""-.QuicK let n,e go; they «e eo^ing!" ..id the breath,^. '^L .haU n.t go tm an U .ade ^W' ^^ J~ , ; K. "I have heard you utter treasonable words. Kou "'^;s::::^■"er«. "iteuyouin,u..oii.. the tul:: a .euth hound follows its prey, lest one chance of "^'^;i;:!;!:ld Morin-lWon. « I shaU detain you «11^ ■ ■ * . Tt wants half an hour of the time M oV „vp« but -ihe suddenly changed her tactics, black eyes, oui s[ii. . " j i,„„.i{ « T ,r)cnt mT girl- " To bepin then," she said, seating herself, 1 spent mj g To beg n tne ^^.^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^ j^, "°* pLinion shrugged his shoulders, indicating by a gesture that '^ 1: 1 "JhlX is a saint." she said, " and, perhaps, a prophe. ,„,„;rpo.eton,c,oh...ich.ordsa,.dhesa,dhe.ouU,pr. for me and save ^ ^- ^^ ^^^ ^^^ „ ,„,er; " always betimes the nature of a tigrees.' I OITtZE\ PREMION MEETS Ay OLD iCQVAItlTAltOB. 181 " And a tigreee you shall nnd me, Premion," said the woman, suddenly dealing him a heavy blow with n walking stick which had lain unnoticed beside her chair. When he recovered himself the woman had gone, and he heard her mocking laugh coming back to him distinct from all that discordant chorus of voices, every moment drawing nearer. At one of these shouting, swearing bands, who were hastening with wild cries to the Place do la C.uiiiotine, Th^rdse put herself. The fever of blood was in the maddened faces about her, the fury of destruction was in those staring eyes and the haggardncss of sunken cheeks. They cried out for the blood of the aristocrats, they sang mad songs, they waved their pikes above their heads, holding banners covered with blasphemous or ribald sentences, they tossed red caps into the air, or waved their arms as if call- ing down the vengeance of the gods. Of a sudden they were brought to a halt. They had come to the turn of a narrow street, where the houses were close to- gether. Directly in their path, efleetually obstructing the way, was a broken-down cart. Beside it, in a posture of uncontrollable grief, was a young lad. His head rested on a broken rail, and he sobbed aloud, while near him stood an elderly man, who also seemed as if he had come down from the country" He was looking at the vouth with a piteous expression of grief and concern. The most ourprising sight of all, however, and one not often seen in those days in the streets c.[ the town, was a gentleman, richly clad, with breeches and waistcoat of r-by satin, a surcoat of finest cloth, silken stociangs, and shoes with silver buckles. His appearance raised a shout of execration, and the mob were further infuriated by having its progress stopped. Those in the front uegan to hurl curses at the head of the unfortunate m CITIZEN PHEMIOH MEETS A» OLD ACVUAlHTAyOE. „«gon«rs, while tho« in the n-ar, not knowing what the stoppage meant, pressed on tumultuously. " Kill them all, and break up the cart for firewood, ened several voiecs. „ t * i,™ f .k» " Down with the aristocrat ! " shouted others. I*t him lake a drive in the national chariot." Tl>e woman Uuval, hurling horself forward, made a movement to strike at the gentleman, screaming: "You! you!" ,,, ,, Her voice failed her from very rage, and, meanwhile, the gentleman, who stood calm and composed before them, raised rind for silence and began to speak. Involuntarily, all wer silent, so comnanding was his mien, so strong the force of character which lit up his fine face. .' Citizens all, and you, fair ladies, in particular/' he began^ "There are no ladies here, traitor," cried Th^rise; they are having their heads frizzed for the guillotine." " Lrt me speak a few words to you," said the gentkman, dis- regarding the interruption. " Here are two worthy ctoens, like yo'urselv^ of the people, friends to the Repubhe, who have come L town expressly to see today's sights, and have brought with them such produce as they had, hoping to make -™--" P J^ Hearing your cries, they were hurrying toward the guillotine Sen this'aceident happened. I chanced to pass by, an coijd not help feeling compassion for this unfortunate >«"*. He ean not raise the horse himself; his shafts are broken; his father is too feeble. Will you not give him your aid? « Not now," shrieked some. " We must go on. We may be "^'-But you can not go on without much difficulty unle« you dear the way," urged the gentleman. CniZBlf PRSMION MEETS AK OLD ACgVAlNTANCB. 138 " This is a traitor, a royalist, an enemy of the people," cried Thirtse, who liad eeveral times rtrivcn to interrupt the gentle- man's discourse. " Ifs a royalist plot to balk the nation of its revenge. Break the cart to pieces." " Yes; break it, demolish it," roared the mob. " But I will not allow you to commit so inhuman an act," declared the gentleman coolly, and at the same time drawing his sword from its scabbard. " The first who advances dies." Pikes were brandished about him, thrust almost into his face. But the cart served as some protection, and none were anxious to court donth. " Who are you," cried a man, " that dares to oppose the will of the sovereign people ? " " I am one who is not to be trifled with," said the gentleman, sternly. "Contpuez the aristocrat, spit upon him!" cried Th«rise, in a very frenzy of fear lest she be too late, and advancing fear- lessly she leaped over the cart. Instantly the gentleman dropped the point of his sword, bow- ing courteously: " Plnce oux dames!" ThirJse could not restrain a glance of admiration. Here j-as that man, alone, facing a desperate mob, and trusting to his strong right arm and his fertile brain. "These aristocrats have their qualities," she thought; but instantly she turned upon the crowd. " Cowards," she said ; " can you not do as I have done, and to the lanteme with this aristocrat?" " To the lanteme! To the lanteme! " echoed the crowds. " N^ow, reallv," said the stranger, "you are tempting fate, my friends, by rushing on me. My sword will give a good account ,34 C/t;ZEX PREUWJ! UEETS an old ACOVAIHTAHOB. of it,elf Wforo it i. t.k.o, and, „,v laith, I do not think your con- sciences arc .o clean that jo,. should be in »uch a hurry to meet your Maker." .'lie i8 preaching the old superstition, pnertcraft. Kill him! Kill him!" roared the mob. "He is a priert m disguise." „ , ., " You are wrong there, Citia-ns, „s you .hall find ,f you come to close quarters," observed the gentleman, "The priest doe. not usually practise sword play." " We shall lose the sights it you do not walk over the body of this peasant and his horse!" cried Th^rise; "that is, if he will not move them." " We shall move them for him, cart, horse, and all, cried the gentleman. " It is the quickest way. So come, now. No trifling. I recommend you to get to work." The multitude paused for very astonishment, and some of the women laughed aloud, believing it a joke, but others took the matter more seriously. «'Tis d'Artois himself," they cried. "We are betrayed; he has the foreign troops behind him or he would not dare to show himself." , And looks of abject terror began to show itself upon some of the countenances. " The Comte d'Artois ! The Comte d'Artois ! " was whispered from mouth to mouth. " And the Austrians are at his back, and the dogs of brigands, too. Kill the tyrant, the traitor of the false Bourbon breed." " My friends," said the gentleman, calmly, raising his Toice so as to be hoard, " once more you are in error. You arc bestow- ing upon me all manner of titles which are far above my deserts. At one moment you declared me to he a minister of God, at the L'lTIZEt! PREUIOX MEETS AN OLD ACODAINTAWE. lU next imtant you exalt me to the rcyal dignity and to brotherhood with the late King Louis of blessed memory." He deliberately raised the hat which lie had but lately re- placed upon his head. A wave of fierci. indignation broke over the crowd. A herd of wild beasts let loose \ ,Te kf, terrible. But the gentleman's voice rose calmly as before in the pauses. " I may as well tell you at once that I am neither royal nor clerical, a gentleman, with long descent and short purse. I had forgotten that humanity had gone out of fashion wlion the rights of man were declared. I supposed that fraternity might mean doing a good turn for another now nnd then, and that liberty might permit those who wislied to serve their fellows to do so unhindered." The biting irony of the words were lost on some of tlie crowd, but Th^rte, with flaming face, cried : " He mocks us with fine phrases, this Judas of a d'Artois. Let us make an end of him." She had stood by in a species of fascination, as if anxious to see the end of the scene, but, above all, anxious to keep a close watch upon the mysterious stranger. " I might call you by another name," she hissed into his ear, " and so insure your death, but, for the moment, I pause. Try me not too far. The name of Jambe d' Argent would be as a red rag to a bull." " You were wondrous fair to look upon, Th^rise Duval," said the stranger suddenly, ignoring her words, " when I saw you first in the Red Inn at Saint Lyphar. You had come hjme from church like any little saint." The girl reddened, then paled. "And those eyes have not lost their luster yet," the gentle- man wont on. " Use their beauty on the side of mercy." A h.» .mile pUyea .bout T«rW. ">j;*^":,^. drous power. " If 1 were you, with .uch we.poii. y I would le«d this mob to deeds of herowm. T 1 „ot even le.d them to t.We your l.fe," -ud^he .. 1^ ...or would you do .. "J/ -—J T^l, r:!Lrii:rr:;rp:«..-uu«eut..u.n.. wonld incite to d<*d8 of blood." There was something of s.gnificance m h.. tone wtacb m. Thiriee for the first time pause irresolute. " Love is a mighty power ! " "Hate is stronger." ..Hate bear, bitter "Do not believe it," s-id ih., stranger. fruit." " Call it revenge." " Revenge recoils on its author." „.y die for a man, but sometimes she serves hm. best by g "\:;:s ?« ll of word, there in the midst of an e,- jziwit^.^.--:^/::— from their stupor as to busy themselves -'nrcrriXtilS^r- Meanwhile. tinued to exercise their '— ^ .^^ ™^,' ^^e JamV d'Argent so invaluable a leader^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ Thirise abashed and waning in her tuea reso CITIZSX PREUIOX MEETS AN OLD ACQUAtl/TAXCK. It; of the pike., amid jest, and coane laughter, were rtarting the peaaanta on their wav. " If a woman, through her agency, were to give a man happi- new, would it not be more than life? " he whispered softly, " and in after years would it not come back to him as a holy memory, so that he should bless that woman's name? " Tears were standing in the woman's eyes. " If, through her, on the other hand, came the death of his happiness, worse, far worse, than physical death, should he not re- member her with loathing, as the black shadow between him and the sunshine ? '' Thiriae bent her head. " You have conquered," she Mid, gliding silently forth from the crowd she had been leading on, while the gentleman, looking after her with moisture in his eyes, murmured: " God be praised for the softness of a woman's heart. It is to human life what the spring is to the year. And »o, there is our most formidable obstacle conquered, for she alone guessed at-our plans." ThiThe slunk away, gloomily, in the shndow of the biiildings. " ^*'« Michel is surely praying for me," she murmured. i I'-' IM TBS BSrOLVTIOSiKy TVMBUL. CHAPTEB X. IN THE BEVOLITIONAUT TCMBRtL. Mkantime from the Clock Tower dungeon had gone forth .„o"rof "ho. dUn..! cortege, .hieh, notwith-tanding the. ;:Le fan,iU.rity, w.e h.i.d .,, th. P-P"'- "'J- *; The name, had been called to the rtroke. of the Clock Tower IhU "a. an old pne. among them, one „f that «le„t army « Irtvr. which the French Kevolutiun gave to the world. Thur :S ti incomparahle virtues, devotion to duty. «ir..en .. and h role death,, contrast with the unfaithfulnee. of a few^ i the average hlBtorian or the clever romancer ,nee« at the Ze priests whom he repres..nts to he as unpopular a, a pllnx of heroes who went to death or exile, " unhonorcd and "erl were nuns who had languished in prison for many aayJ nd looked forward to execution as to a ,oyf«l relca.. Sit de Breteuil was there, more beautiful than ev.r ,n h.r I TT h>,.l driven thi» esrt so many times, and he often :;:rth:^;:":^-.------"'"''*^ IS THE RFVOLITIOSAKY TVUBKIL. l.tS criti. An officer of the National Guard rode »ilent and taciturn at the head of a «niall force, which nerTcd aa c«'ort. But, indeed, a guard seemed utterly unnrecasary, for the people orowdi'd about with ahrieka and howli of delight, commenting aflir thiir coarw. fashion upon the inmatcx of the tumbril, and BintjIinK out now one, now another, for their ribald je»t», while even from the windows above, which were crowded with spectators all along the line, taunts and jeers were hurled at the unoffending victims of the people's tyranny. In the multitude surrounding the tumbril, women predomi- nated—old women, tottering upon slieks, young women, laughing, iiowling, or joining madly in the singing of the " Carmagnole." .lust at the head of the white horses, which, like death's pale horse in the legend, had borne many a one to the grave, were par- ticularly noticeable a man and a woman who, keeping close to- gether, sang or danced in unison. The woman was in the ordinary garb of the women of her class, and the man, whose thin dark face was lighted by an expresssion of reckless gaiety, wore his liln-rty cap, and roared out the " Carmagnole " with a zest which drew all eyes upon him. " There's a good Republican for you," cried an old woman, taking a few steps herself to the lively tune they sang, " a merry lad, too, with his laaa on his arm." "Out of the way, mother!" cried the dark man, "or the horses will run you down. They don't know a patriot from an aristocrat." There was a roar at this sally, and tht oM woman stepped back, the dark man laying a soothing hand upon the bridle rein of the excited horse. All Nantes was in the streets that day. Premion, after his encounter with Thfrfse Duval, bad betaken himself to a window, whence, pale and trembling, he peeped m THE REyOLVnOHiKr TVMBRIh. 140 forth He dared not make an eflort to save Je«me, even U hi. of oLervation, and Jeanne, chancing to r..se her ^y^'^^^^ u- f ~ He felt that he would never forget that glance, r,r»r .-»»". .. » -. '•■ ■ "" — " ■" — "* r„ z."^'^ •• — "• »-" "'" " Softly, 80IIIJ • "■ . . .^^ ^jy of "^^Ttil'^irSin. hending h. head reverently; .. ,;;\ri 't fo'rg. .» ». the puce of execution. G.ve us ,,„t a**"!""""-" ,„„ ^th that mystic key," s^id to do the like for me." IV THE RSVOLVTlOHAJtY TUMBRIL. He did not look up as he spoke, tearing to betray my BecretB to the sharp eyes of the Revolutionists, but Oaston, glancing involuntarily toward a small window over a porch, saw a grave face look forth, while a hand was raised an instant. They were drawing near now to the place of execution, though the way was purposely made as long as possible, that the sovereign people might have every opportunity to gaze upon their fallen enemies. The bell of St. Giles struck the three-quarters after three. It wanted but a quarter of an hour to the time fixed for the carrying out of the sentence, and already the shadow of the guillotine loomed large in that square which had come to he known by its sanguinary name. The tumbril had to paae through an open space where there were no buildings of any sort, and where the crowd was less dense. Suddenly there was a tumult. No one knew precisely how or why. A tall man raised his voice, proclaiming something which, for the moment, caught the at- tention of the crowd. Suddenly the driver of the vehicle felt himself pushed from his place. The reins were instantly seized by the young man of the " Carmagnole," who had abruptly abandoned his companions. He sprang upon the cart, declaring that he would drive, te the driver had fallen oflf — that the guillotine must not be cheated, and that he would drive straight over all who came in his way. It seemed as if a very frrnzy of Republican zeal had seized upon him, and the crowd cheered nnd applauded him to the echo, while he mutely motioned Ypcult and Jeanne to crouch down upon the floor of the tumbril, the nuns imitating their example, nnd the Republican, in snme bewilderment, doing the like, so that only Gaston and the old priest remained erect. The dark man now, chanting once more the " rarmagnnl.\" «; ! i ' j„ ,W THB RBVOLVTIOy^r TUtlBHIL. tor him, crediting >»« ^'^^"f ' '^^ Suddenly, Predion, being attracted by the tall man m the r^ » J who had arrived upon *«-„«, s« along ^^^^ ,.Mon. reali.^ tHTrTr^r art!:^!.' horae., hut r;^:r;;:s:Tma^o,^ay^-2;:; of a rescue. , , ^ attempted inrtantly there was a A""'* *»" ' ""^ ^^J^^^and to a to clo« ahout ^^^:^%'^Jl\Z''ZrLLr at hand, T:";\tl"rt^rt, «hieh tore madly on. while those who had Bought to detain mm r ^ i„ a curiously half-hearted encounter w^to the m ranged themselves under that -^y^^^"^' '^^^^,^ "Who is he?" began to be whispered breathlessly. "The Due d'Enghien!" cried one. "The Comted'Artois!" said another. IN THE BBV0LVT10VA.RY TVMBRIL. 143 kind of awe even in hie friends, paralyzed the energies of the mob. " It's no use fighting against him," was the cry. " He is a spirit, an ame damnee sent to help these aristocrats." "There you are tallting superstition," objected a voice. " There are no spirits, no lost souls. No life beyond this," and the first speaker was terrified, and cowered away, for it was treason then to express a belief in a future existence. "You are right," said another speaker. "The friends of reason hold no such superstition. This man is just like all the brigands of La Vendfe. He fights like a wildcat, talks like a lawyer, and moves about from place to place as if he had wings." " Some day his wings will be clipped," prophesied a croaking voice, while above all the tumult rose the despairing shouts of Premion. " Beat them down ! Pursue that cart, or it will be too late. The aristocrats will escape. I tell you, they will escape I " But none paid any heed to him. All were too much engrossed with the wonderful personality of the great leader, about whom the wildest legends were in circulation. There was no one on either side of the Loire who had not heard of him. His fame was in every hamlet. The children whispered his name with terror. And here he was among them, with how large a follow- ing they did not know. The fact itself bewildered and terrified them. He, on his part, seemed to be everywhere; the strength of his arm seemed incredible, and his voice rang out like a trumpet call issuing orders, till at last the cart had disappearefi altogether from view. Then the tall man quietly withdrew his little force, all of whom seemed to glide away and vanish in the distance. Premion, raging like a madman, rushed up to the leader of the National Guard, which had been serving as escort, and, partlv ^^^ w tbe revolotioha-rt tvubbiv. by the very force of the e«..d and partly by contrivance ofJ^be rr;:rierc„th..o..^..^«^;^» !::r::«Xa:Xl'..the.»ofhUh»aanerror .trong drink, made his way to the ,e«,*.nn^n o ar^ . ^^^ suitable force should be sent .n P»-'^ ^"^^^^.^ ^^^rbial ^ere disposed to take his story w.th more than P ;r„':r i--.----- "-"»""" "■■'■ "''^' M.!" cried the incredulous official. "They "It is impossible! cnea tne _j .....e well guarded, and the same ""-' "'^ J"';" J^^ honest chariot ever since the Kepub.ic was V'^^^-^Jl^ZL,. rdteV'tarocrats to .«. rather than let them '"'"Fi" Madmen!" cried Premion. "The popnla« was Moo'r; Jart of a knave, and afterward over^wered, «.d ^nlriver^in whom you - ^^ -—o^, „.«. .t t.;:tr.^:::"-t2,Ci«.en,tore.r.n.ou, IN THE tEVOLVTIOKAKY TUMBRIL. 11 I if you do not go peaceably home and to bed. You say that Louis 1/anterne drives no more. Bah ! " " I maintain it, and I am as sane as the best of yon I " de- clared Premion, trying to speali calmly. " Who, then, holds the reins and drives the horses of the He- public?" " Who? The most dangerous man, save one, in all this dis- trict." " And who may that one be?" asked the official with an air of superior wisdom, while those about him grinned and tittered. " Richard Duplessis ! " At this answer there wao a roar of laughter from all the officials. " But we signed the permit for his burial three days ago." " The dead has risen." " Now we Itnow that you are raving. Citizen," they cried. " Do you know who I am ? " asked Premion, fiercely. " I do not, but I suspect," replied the chief official, with a humorous twinkle of the eye. " I believe you are the last arrival from the madhouse." " I am Morin-Premion ! " cried the infuriated lawyer. There was another roar of laughter at this. " We are certain of your lunacy now," said the chief. " You come to us with a story of this kind, and you expect us to believe that you are the most celebrated of Carrier's associates, a man whose sagacity has become a byword ? " " I repeat that I am Morin-Premion ! " The other shook his head. " A shallow demagogue he may be," he said, " but not such a fool as yon." ^remion flushed crimson. 14« ly THE RBVOLVTlOy^BY TVHBRlh. «You Shall pay for yo.r msolence," he said, "-f^l^ jouraelf arrested for compUcity. since you have made no e«ort whatever to defeat this plot." "Was Richard Duplessis, dead or alive, supposed to have '"""ot quite," returned Predion; "its details were carefully prearranged by one J-WArgent" ^^ ^^^ ^^^ Thp officials began to look grave. i.m v was so icat thatTt dominated, to a certain extent, even the Bevolutionary tribunals themselves. ..gj, "Jambe d'Argent!" muttered one to the >.on. "They might have been pursued," Richard eonjectured, "and dar«l not venture thither, lert they dieclo« thU hiding- ^"' Mt may be as you say," Jambe d'Argent assented. " Maltra Julien, who command, the ve»el, is a crafty old fox, and vnll cause Marie to show her heeU should danger be m the wmd. After that there was silence between the two men the .trained, intense silence of suspense, in the midst of wh.ch they beheld, a. some .trange portent, the .udden flashing up into the heavens of a red streamer. « Thank God ! " said Jambe d'Argent, fervently. "Amen!" replied Richard, "for this and all His mercie.. After that there was dead silence for a few moments. "He will not venture in just yet," .aid the great leader, calmlv, "until he makes sure that his signal could not have been observed by others than ourselves." A. the men waited and listened, there came a noise like the scream of the sea-gull. To™i« "Mattre Julien is signaUng us again!" cried Jambe d'Argent. " We must display ■ 'lights." A^d this having been done, Mattre Julien, with the pract,«.d ,m of a veteran mariner, steered carefully between the jagged TBt CAVtRS BT THE BBA. 191 mauM of tton«, and waa hailed by t joyful though subdued ahout from the watchers. Madame was the first to alight from the craft, leaning upon the arm of her beloved Gaston, and smiling as brightly as though she were arriving at the Chiteau do la Roche Andr« instead of s rocky cave by the sea, whence a vessel would presently convey lier and those she loved away from their beloved France. Woman- like, the cared less about the abstract features of the whole terrible situation in France than that her first-bom harl b,,n saved to her, and that the Marquis and herself had escaped the ignominy of a dungeon, probably the martyrdom of the guillotine. With the Marquis it was otherwise. He saw not only the down- faU of his authority and feudal importance, but the downfall of his order. He beheld a cataclysm, where others only saw a floor], which had overflowed its banks, but would return thither again. He looked aged and sorrowful, though he strove to maintain his habitual dignified serenity. Jambc d'Argent met hie guests with the grace of a courtier. " Madame," he said, " it is a strange and squalid abode to which I have the honor of welcoming you, but for the time bein<; it is your own. And you. Monsieur de la Roche Andr6, consider that you have reached home." " I thank you, sir," said the Marquis, " but my debt to you is too great and far-reaching for words to touch '.I." " It is mine to be grateful for the privilege of serving those 1 esteem," replied Jambe d'Argent, and, as if to change the subject, he led his guests through winding and rocky passages to a vaulted chamber, illumined by the light of a huge fire. Two girls sprang forward with cries of joy to greet the new arrivals. Vsenlt, looking more charming than ever in her simple Breton costume, and Jeanne, with her round cheeks, browned by ex- ,gf rai CAVfJIW ■T TBI Ml. pcure, ana her bine eye., rtood looking .t them .miUng through herte»rf. Oaiton iprang at once to Yteult't lide. " What I have suffered in your abaence 1 " the aid. " I feared, I feared you might be recaptured." "And I have .uflered from your abaencel" cried Oarton. " The neparation was cruel after w late a reunion." By the light of the pinevrood fire which glowed upon the hearth, he gaied tenderly into the young girl'i face. "How beautiful you are, my Yscult!" he cried, enthuaia.- tically— " in thi« peaaant disguise, more enchanting than ever." Yseult, blushing, answered with her pretty smile and dainty courtesy. , „ , a " You are learning to he a flatterer, Monaienr le Comte, and that I will never abide. So I must go and help Jeanne with our Hupper." . . « Not yet. ah, not yet," he pleaded, stretching out a detaining hand. " But Jeanne is doing all the work." « Our good Jeanne will not grudge me a quarter of an hour's pleasure." " It is so delightful, too, to really work and cook for ourselves and serve the table." " But it is far more delightful to me to hear you talk and sit beside you in the firelight, and realize that we have actually escaped from prison and death, and still have each other." Yseult's eyes filled with tears. " Oh, Gaston ! " she said, " when wc think of it ! " He assumed a lighter tone, to divert her mind from that fear- ful topic "So that is why you should be kind, and stay with me now, and give me this litt'.e half hour till the supper is ready TNt OAVtHN »r THS BMA. )« He ipoke with a boyish, winning gr«cc, which wu irnaintiblv nttnctive. ' " Yon said a quarttr of an hour liefore," laid YMult, mii- chievon.ly : " it i. the old rtory, the more one ha., the more on* wants." " That is exactly the ca«? when it is a question of your com- pany." "I shall really have to go away," said Yseult; "you are such a fine gentleman and a courtier with all those pritty phrase.." And »he made a movement to rise from the rude wttle by the fire to which Gaston had led her. But he would not let her go, and as he had a very imperious and masterful way with him when he liked, Ysenlt, yielding gracefully, «t still, smiling at him and looking unspeakably pretty in the firelight. " I fear yon are going to be quite a tyrant, Oa.ton," she laughed. " A tyrant and a slave, then, at once," said this ardent lover. " And as to pretty phrases, there are none ever invented that would not apply to you." Jambe d'Argent had been watching the pair all the while, a smile parting his mobile lips, and a shade of sadness darkening his steel-blue eyes, as he said to Madame : "If love laughs at locks and bars, it likewise laugh, at peril, and discomfort. Ix»k yonder, Madame, at the most charming picture of youth and happiness which it has been my good for- tune to we for many days. The glow on the cheeks, the light in the eye., the happy smile! Oh, that is, indeed, a direct legacy from paradise." Madame looked in the direction indicated. The firelight was shining fuU on the gallant figure of the young Count, straight «nd erect a. a lance, hit eager, handsome face bent toward his jj^ TM OAVBRV BY TBS 8BA. beautiM betrothed, who «emed, in the recovered glow of free- ?r and happine., radiant with a subtle lovelinees wh.ch lay no^ Tier in fom. or figure. Her brown eyes, delicately arch«i by d^er eyebrows, her reddish-brown hair, and her transparen^ Jive skin made up a picture from "hich the masters of art might have drawn inspiration. The Marquise, too, smiled and "'^Qu-a fait beau d'«re jeune," she said. "How beautiful it ia to be young!" , ., -And when young, lovely, as Madame -" -»"' ^ ^ Jambe d'Argent. with his courtier-like bow. "At the b.ai of the Embassy, thirty years ago, 1 remember a picture. Mademo «.lle de Saint Germain has just entered the room with her mother. She was clad simply in white, with a nosegay of violets in her hand." Madame started. , " There were a circle of admirera about her, and I, approach- ing with difficult,, received a smile, a gluice of the eyes, and flnaUy the honor of a dance." "You were there, and yon danced with me?" inquired Madame, in astonishment. j,..„„t " I was there, and 1 had that pleasure," said Jambe d Argent .. You could not possibly ranember me any more than you would ^member one of the wax tapers which gleamed around, but TMadame, I was looking at a star. That picture, that smile^ tiat glance I have never forgotten. I am old now, «id may dare to speak of these things." "And an old woman, long unused to flattering words, may hear" said Madame, with her hri,ht .mile; "but I pray you to tell me the name of one ..ociated tha. with m, far away youth." TM CAVBRlf Br TMB USA. ib6 Jambe d'Argent bent and whispered a. name. Madame started. "That name must never be mentioned aloud in France," the strange man said. " It is dead, dead as our order." " But Duke—" " The Duke ie dead, too, Madame. Jambe d'Argent lives." And so saying, he bowed and left the Marquise still standing, with an amazed, bewildered look upon her face. Jambe d'Argent now advanced to Bichard, casting upon him an amused, in- quiring look. He had never exchanged an audible word with Jeanne, although he had continued to catch her eye, and ever and anon, as she came and went about her household duties, he murmured a tender word heard by her alone, a word which sent her with brightened eyes and the glow of a happy light in them about her work. ^ "Uve-making suits you but ill, Duplessis," said Jambe d'Argent. " The clash of arms, after aU, agrees with you better." "Well, at any rate, my lord," said Richard, "love makes a very ass of me. It steals my wits and ties my tongue." "That organ of yours is never very fluent," said the leader. "Ton are a man of action rather than of words. But after all that you and she, that all of us, have passed through to- gether, I thought you would have had much to say to the pretty one yonder." " Jeanne i. satisfied," said Bichard, smiling, so that the smile lit up his dark face as sunshine upon a rock. "She looks so," agreed Jambe d'Argent. "Yet she is but a woman. Give your tongue a little more play. Lose your shy- ness, which make, you heaiUte to make love before an audience. PoUow the example of your Count He has done famously, an.1 I could swear has told hi. heautiful betroth^, with eye. and tongue, a down time, that she is the snn to his earth." 1 1 TSe CAVEBy BY THE SEA. ' laughed Richard, IM " I will try to meet your wishcB, my lord,' " when Jeanne is not so busy." _^ "Not my wishes, but hers and yours, you sly dog I sairt Jambe d'Argent. " Well, if your tongue is silent, your eyes are eloquent enough, and you have scaree taken them oif her." It was now necessary for Jambe d'Argent to offer his arm to Madame and lead her to the supper table, which he did with as much ceremony as though the cavern had been an ancestral palace and as though some rude deal boards, roughly put together, had been the banqueting board. The Marquis made l^.s bow to the old lady from Poitou, Gaston following with Yseult, while Richard brought up the rear with Jeanne. Jeanne had proposed to wait upon the guests, but to this none of the company would consent. Distinctions of rank were for the time forgotten, and aU agree: to help themselves to the good things put before them. The room was lighted by tallow dips in tin sconces hung about the wall, and a pine torch dipped in oil and placed upon the hearth further illumed the darkness. The table-cloth and dishea were of the coarsest, but never merrier company sat down to banquet. Their appetites were sharpened by the sea air; some had the added zest of a journey by boat. Their recent danger lent a charm to present security, their parting* to present companionship, while the happenings of the last weeks formed an inexhaustible topic of conversation. Added to this the glow that radiated from the faces of four happy lovers, and there was certainly material for a very enjoyable dinner party. So that if the Marquis do la Roche AndrS thought with misgivings of the probable fate of his castle, if Madame aiehed to think that she might reign there a. mistre^' and chatelaine no more, if both gave a thought to that other absent „n who was known, however, to be so far safe with Charette THE CAVEBI, BY THE BEA. .dve't:::;.;: tT ''"''■ "^' '^■" °" ">« -* -' - he e.pe.:j ir;r;„" ""-^"^^""-^^^^ -^ •-at Moved. Richard wasLrof a ^'°' """""' '" ""^ ""^ With Madame's permission," he said "rt.„ • I would like to give." ' """* '' '""' '"'"t Madame bent her head in assent. "Let us drink, then, to Th^rJse Duval " I'e did not understand. ' ' """"""^ "' ""* "To Th^rese Duval, then ! " cried Jaral« d'Arp,nt, To Thirise Duval !"cri«l the others 'V,ve Th^rJse Duval!" added Oaston terse and dramatic stvle, it was a 1. T ^'■«*"" ' J«n»» d'Argent told them, at the company's request, m.„, rae cavbrii ay thb ma. • M»f. of hU life. Some were 80 rtruige Mid » rtriking th.t ranean retreat. ^ ^^^j_ j„ ^^^ ^rii„ pnnee rtepped covamandingly to him. my forehead, and spoke rua y ^ _ .^ ^^. " ' Pass on. proud aristocrat ! i crieu. c .,„ .:— ;, -«» » '•- r„",:;.r ,— for me that I see you humbled. I shall see yo '"irtrrt:,'r%.ou„«c^tdeP.ini.«. ^"■?!l"^r:^t:^;'.or«ryshame.hesnent, YOU Be suem . nt wi^hness Yon have eaten at have .K.n sp^ially '-'"J^.^'^^'^^Z „„ „„t dare to ad- l,i^ taWe, and pretended friendship for l..in. ^ aress him thus, '^■''-^-if^:^'^';:!';..,^, gentleman, "I took no notice whatever of the fiery young g« --^^-rtom°"cr::d::r:Lrfr::ye!:w.s figure, stooped more from care ana gne _ .«o/.k which in baseness rivaled tnai oi "d':^o:;— en -mseW. maint^ed a .»ee ,h.<-h T felt to be disapproving, for the Revolutionary fury TME OAYBRS BY THB SEA. „ not then ,pre«d it, madness through the land A himself. 1 gave such 1 ' n ' """^ *'"'"«'" ^ "'" ^galit* /.ctor that rLTotjtZ "'™" ''*""'^ "^ "^ ^- - - p-aenr;ir:t:ir:hi:r '^"' -^^ hurried. ' """"w we were speedily ai/:on;c;^L;;c:rt"o;r^ ^'"° -^ ^^"- ^ .h«.ugh prudential mot'I a d i d """ '" "^ ~""'""* patience and magnanin.tyoire'.'^''""'' '" "*"'" *"« n.e with n,y i„iut ' ""' ''^''" "'■"' -P""^ "Well, one night his Highness and T .^ . . fortable moments, in extreme ner„r \^ " '™ ""'™'"- a high tower on a ro~ rthfd t "" "' '""^"''"^ '""» iailer found a stuffedTgu": IJCZ Zt ""' ""•™"'« *"^ It sat With head bowed Z tlT^U and t' "/ "'' ^'«'"^- not perceive the exchange Wht 1 d 7 ."' ™" '^ ^-^ »as raised and echoed faf ,„. . u '"' ""^ ''"^ '"'' ^-7 -aitiug with th?i h " r t "" "^ '■"""' •^■"- -" "'-/and Moli^?;:!,''!'"""' r^"^'"' »* *"« .ng where.™, Mo^sieur'Xt ^ 1' ^ ^^ '-»• - "y the« memor.es rather than by the dancing ,^ THB CAVEKH Bt TBS SEA. fireUght. Jambe d'Argent said, after an interval, musingly. .» though his thoughts were upon that bygone scene : "I have played many parts in my life, but never one. I b^ lieve. to suoh perfection as that of a renegade to my order and a denouncer of the vices of nobility." Some one asked : , ,_ ^x. i<> « What became of the gallant young Count and the others? " Happily for themselves," said Jambe d'Argent. "they were released for lack of evidence against them, before my little Ste with Monseigneur. Men were not then so bloodW as they have since become, and some form of trial was accorded. " hL the sound of a rude song reached the ears of the com- pany. The Marquis sUrted. and even Gaston half rose, with hi. hand to his sword. Jambe d'Argent smiled: « It is Julien and the rest of my men makmg merry in the adjoining cavern." And their song was somewhat as follows: " Ho, ho! Ice and snow! Summer and Sprlnc, Winter and Fall, We merrily sing, • Ood bless the King! ' Confusion and woes Fall on his toes! God hleia the King! " TOs chorus was followed by the singing, in a rich tenor voice, of a love song, which ran thus: "The maiden, the maiden I love. She has sun-bright hair and a .mil. wHhJJrt .««•. A ch«.k like the rose and an eye like the sloe. Here's to her whom I love) May the saints above Keep that beautiful maid from harm! TBE CAVBRt, Br TBB SEA.. ,„ Whir'!"""* '!!! "'"' " ''"•'" "'"'™"'' -P'"' the little group winch, Ieav.„g the table, had clustered round the fire, andTolf; S the tahf ""^ ""• °"""'' »'"="-« « P«"t" goblet from the table, spraug to his feet and joined in the refrain: " Here'! to her whom I love! May the salnta above Keep that beauUhil maid from harm! ■• He »ded with a gallant bow to Y«,„lt, who blushed rosily. Bravo, Count!" eried Jambe d'Argent "I lit. f man gallant in love, as fiery in war " '" ^^ ' " ""it; r" r' ''''"'"«' '"^ '"'"' ^ "-e table. o.p...gtheti.epiea.ntiy,L„u:::re:;;::r— it is .^ ' ^ ""•" '"" *^'''""'- "'^ -"> ?«"»»*'» beverage- It IS a Burgundy of the finest bouquet " "enrage, .»,,"7°V? "^'*' *"" " ^'^ "' '"«> °" v-nsavory viands" a argent and immediately ho knelt reverently, all present fol .ow.n^h.s e.ample, requesting Madame to reci;e theTr". They are saymg it within," he said when he h»d ^in, and .11 stood listening to the hum 'of .1 ™^' ^Z ad,o.n,ng eavern. "We need to keep the blessin'f P^ V «^and none here negl^s night or mLlng r::^:; ^t ^ 1« TBB MD W OSOt MORE. CHAPTER XII. THE BBD INN ONCE MORE. THBoroH all the stormy times that had come to Saint Lyphar, the Bed Inn still reared its head, catching the reflection of the ^„ at morning, and glowing under ">e'.nnth of the sunset^ Maltre Dumartin still presided there as of yore, and heard with.n his tap-room noisy and vehement denunciations of anstocrat. in general, and the family of Roche Andr* in particular. Du- martin listened, saying Uttle, for he krew '—..nee was . useless, and even dangerous, but in his heart he had an un- changing love and reverence for the old feudal lords, who had done so much for Saint Lyphar. He heard foreign .gita- tors denouncing the vices of nobility, but he knew that the people of the chateau had been models of every virtue, as was, indeed, the case with the Breton nobility in general. He was very lonely, Jeanne not daring to return to Sarnt Lyphar. She had gone with the exiled family of R^^e An«^ to England, where her marriage to Richard Dnplessis had follow^ upon that of Count Gaston and Yseult B«'^-\'«'Vl"'r being virtually widowed by the departure "'t^^' ''"''«" La Vendue to fight once more in the rank, of the Catholic arm^ Erminle, too, was married and living at Nantes^ «"! ^''^.^J J" father frequentlv, and often h. .hed over the day when she had tnced the " Carmagnole " with Richard l^ride the Revolutionary Tae RED iKx oyoK morm. jp- tumbril, in order that he might be near when the moment c»n,P to secure the vehicle. One evening Dumartin 8at alono, cowering over the fire and pondering gloomily on all that he had heard. A low knock wa» heard at the door, and m the innkeeper answered it a tall but boyiah figure, wrapped in a cloak, stood upon the threshold. A, he advanced into the room, Dumartin cried in a voice of auppressed excitement: '* M;n;iful heaven ! Count Robert, i, it you, or one from the dead ? " " It is I," said the other, his serious face relaxing into a smile "But we heard you had fallen with the brave General Bon- champ at Saint Florent." " I fell, but I got up again, thanks to the loyalty of a peasant who concealed mo in his hut. Ill of my wounds for a long time I came here, to find the chateau untenanted, and have so far been unable to discover any trace of my family. Speak, Dumartin speak! They can not have perished. God is too good to permit an uigel like my mother to faU into the hands of those demons " "They are all safe. Monsieur," cried the honest innkeeper a smile overspreading his good-humored face, "safe as can be and away in England, save Count Gaston, who is fighting with Gen- eral Charette, The Count has been taking a wife, too. You can guess who that would be ! " " Mademoiselle de Breteuil ? " " The same. And my Jeanne is with them, and is the wife of another officer in the Catholic army— Richard Dupleseis." "Richard Duplessis, our old friend," cried Count Robert, "who has become a great hero. His prnisrs are on ever}- tongue.' I have heard mu.h of him. But how did thi-v all reach England ? " "It is a long story, too long to tell now," said Dumartin. IM THE BED INK OSCE MORE. "Count Oarton, Jemrne, and Mile, ie Breteuil were ifcaeA rrom the tumbril which was taking them to the guillotine, and llichard wag also got out of prison, all through the doings of that supernatural being, that 'uiiiIh' d'Argent." " Jambe d'Argent ' " cried Robert, raising his hat. " Ood III. SB that gallant gentleman, one of the noblest of all that gallant host that has risen in La Vendue." " He is uncanny," muttered Dumartin; "most likely he is a spirit." "The spirit of enterprise, of daring, of heroism I" cried Hobert. " And now. Monsieur, what am I to do with you? You can not stop here. Citizen Premion is to address a number of men to-night, in this very room, and his theme is to be the destruction of the Chateau de la Roche AndrA. Some say he will not permit them to destroy it entirely, but just enough to satisfy the people, while he will come back when all is safe and live there." " The scoundrel ! " cried Robert. " Scoundrel he is, and, if he found you here, your life would not be worth the snufi of yonder candle." "But where shall I go?" asked the young man, helplessly. The innkeeper shook his head. " There are few places safe for one of your name in Saint Lyphar," he said. He stopped, as if in deep thought, then all at once cried out : " I have it ! There is a shaft for grain in my bam. I will let Tou down into it by means of a rope, and there you can re- main in safety for a time. I will come for you, do not fear, whenever I can do so without danger, and you can enter the inn for food and rest. Come with me now, instantly, for I fear Premion." TBt RED IN}/ OycE MOKE. jag They went out together. It waa still the dim twilight of .ummer. Dumartin and tho joungiT mao rtood regarding the aperture in the shaft which w,h soon to l,c his hi.ling-place and Robert was about to attempt the desoent, when a shadow fell across the floor. Dumartin starts guiltily, and Rol>ert put his hand to the place where his sword had been. It was no longer there, because from motives of prudence he had discarded it removing all traces of his military profession before venturing into Samt Lyphar. Next moment an old man, who had a quite decrepit appearance, -tood upon the threshold, leaning upon his stick and regarding them. " Alas ! " cried Dumartin, « we are lost ! " " What is lost? " asked the visitor in a muffled tone. " Yon and the young gentleman have some interest in the shaft. We will not say what that interest is, and I—" "And you, Citizen-I mean. Monsieur— I don't know what I mean," stammered poor Dumartin, flurried. " I want to give Count Hobert de la Roche Andr« a rendezvous for to-morrow morning in the parlor of the Red Inn." " What, yon know him ? " cried the innkeeper. " Since, sir, you are aware of my name and quality," fiid Count Robert, " I will ask you to explain why you desire to give me rendezvous?" Robert had much of the gravity and impressivenesa of man- ner which characterized his father, the exiled Marquis, whom he resembled much more than he did liis motlier. "You may trust me without explanation," said the old man. " I may have to ask you, sir, to accompany mo upon a little jrumey." "Whither?" " To a certain seaside resort near the Sands of Olonne, where ,^ TBM RID my OSCE MOKM. I once h*d the plewurc of enterUining Mme other member, of jour family." " You lire, then—" cried Kobcrt, st.pping forward. " No name.," interrupted the other. " 1 wear thi. wig, theie »gn> of age, thi. air of decrepitude for a purpo«., and that pur- |XMe i. to lie unltnown." "The waihore! The pleaaure of .ntertaining ! " Dumartin muttered. " Merciful power. I it must he JamU- d'Argent him- wlf." Hi. fear and agitation were «> great that he came within an ace of falling down the ihaft. " And you, Dumartin," .aid the mysterioug visitor. "Ye., your Mightinew,— your Wor«hip,-your Highnea.!" cried the'innkeeper, hi. knee, knocking together in hi. terror, and hi. eye* dirtended with fright. « Tu.h, man! Your love of title, i. enough to .end you and me both to the guillotine. Should any one inquire about me, I am old Dr. Duboi., hark ye, Dumartin, old Dr. Dnboi., decrepit nnd childish." " Ye«, your— I mean, old Dr. Bubois ! " " Yon muBt ari«; a. .oon a. it is light to admit me to the inn. This voung man, who is my attendant, a. I am not able to take care of mvself, must be ready to .tart with me. I leave in your hands hi. ontfit-a red wig for his head, a liberty cap to put on top of it, and a pair of rtriped broeche. of the proper Hevolu- tionary pattern, do you understand?" " Ye., Dr. Gobois." " If you remember everything else a. well a. you remember mv nami" lanjhed the old man, " there is no possible danger of mistake. Therefore. I beg you, too. Count Hobert, to take note of my inBtrnctionB. TMM RMO WW OKCM MOItB. I«7 He drew neu in order to repmt them imprewively, and Du- mirtin, weing hia approach, deftly changed his iweition in order to put Count Kobert between him and the formidable vinitor. He watched him uneaaily from under his bushy eyebrows all the time he was speaking, and when by accident or design the stranger put his hand upon his shoulder, he executed a very neat somersault, and arrived somewhere near the door. The old m n. laughing at the mishap, and with a parting jjesture urging caution. turned away, and was soon lost to sight in the gathering d M';n.^.- Dumartin, then arising from his recumbent posit; n, ni^i.ii the young gentleman down into the shaft, where he- \ ,- . , - main until Premion's meeting was over, and that detn;i(!.^Tii Lad taken his departure for Nantes, as he had announced liis lutei i , i' of doing. Dumartin made his way back to the house verj ^.-ip" h , starting at shadows and executing quite a variety of steps in hia constant apprehension of another meeting with the terrible Jati'^' d'Argent. Dumartin was scarce back at the inn when Premion entered, saluting the host with a mocking bow and a taunting address. " Have you had news from yonr pcari of a daughter? How she did cheat Dr. Guillotine! Perhaps he may get another chance at her some day. I should like to see her upon the scaffold with her husband." He made an expressive gesture, while his face grew dark with a scowl of fiendish hatred, which caused Dumartin to tremble, while Premion went on. " Her husband, the traitor, Duplessis, the slave of priests, the tool of aristocrats ! Some day T shall hold him in my power, and then he shall hum at a slow fire. Perhaps, if the widow has grown old, I may throw her in, too, as they do in India. If •Mil young, why, she may be mine after all." 1«8 THE KSD INS ONCE MORE. DumartiD furtWely He Unghed with diabolical malice. croBscd himself. " He is possessed, this man," he thought; "he has sold him- self to the devil." " Meantime, I don't know why I keep your head from falling into the basket. You are a traitor, Dumartin, a friea.l of aristo- crats. Your daughter and your precious son-in-law arc traitt.rs. Once I have finished this business of the chateau, I must really have you guillotined." He marked with glee the unspeakable terror of the innkeeper, and continued to torment him. " The Red Inn will be a capital berth for one of my friends. It has a splendid site. It is really the chief feature of the village, excepting the church, which I intend to have demolished together with the chateau, or turned into a stable." " Merciful Providence, what are you saying! " cried Dumartin. "Have a care how you blaspheme! Pire Michel said, only this morning, that the punishment of blasphemers is awful." " P4re Michel ! " Premion thought. " Wliere had he hr .t.I of that man?" Then it came back upon him— from the lips U Th^rise Duval, coupled with a sinister prophecy of evil to him- self. A chill crept over him, though the room was warm. Had this P4re Michel some power of enchantment? He remembered how Th^rise had come to him on the day after the rescue, and explained why she had failed in her promise to see Jeanne killed. " ' PJrc Michel was praying for me.' she had said, ' so I could not interfere to prevent a rescue.' " Premion turned impatiently to Dumartin, being anxious to rid himself of this memory. " Cease your insolent chatter, and be careful how you provoke TBS RED IXS OyCB MORE. me, or even yonr good cooking may not keep you alive another week." Duroartin trembled and was silent. " Who is this P4re Michel ? " Premion demanded suddenly, harking back involuntarily to that unpleasant subject. " The beggar who sits by the church wall." "Where is he now?" "Here!" said a muffled voice, and old P4re Michel stood liefore them, a tattered cloak covering his bent shoulders. " I have heard all, and I tell you, Morin-Premion, that the punish- ment of blasphemers shall fall upon you soon, if you do not change your course." Even in Premion's mocking laugh could be detected his in- ward fear — cold, creeping, like that which passes over those of strong imaginations on entering a graveyard. The old man raised his hand with an impressive gesture, as if reminding Pre- mion of God above them. Then he passed slowly to his customary seat in the chimney corner, bending down over the glowing embers, and apparently oblivious of all about. " This old scarecrow, too, must be shortened by a head," said Premion, looking after him. " Touch him not I He is a saint ! " cried out Dumartin. " The saints of the Revolution, Citizen," said Premion, " are those who kill most priests and nuns, rob most churches " The conversation, to Dumartin's relief, was interrupted by the entrance of a noisy crew, who had come to attend the ve- pubhcan meeting. Then ensued a jingling of glasses, uoarse laughter, rude jests, ribald or blasphemous, till Premion rose to speak. He had sat somewhat silent at the table in the cente- of the room, for over all the din he heard as clear as a bell the wo -ds of Th*r4se and the subsequent warning of Fire Michel. Tet, IM TBU BMD im OVOB MORM. once on his feet, he hnrled defiance at hie own very mugiringa, speaking with a reckless desperation unusual to him. He de- nounced more fiercely than ever all that waa meet sacred, and especially urged upon his hearers the work of demolition, which he would undertake upon his return. " The chateau shall disappear," he said, " or be given to some brave tarn culotte, who will hold it for the nation. The church shall follow. Tyranny and superstition shall fall together." " Speak on, Citizen Premion," said a voice, " and reek not that the hour of doom is approaching." Premion started and turned pale. His glance went first to P4re Michel, but his head was bent upon his breast in the cus- tomary attitude of contemplation. " Search the room ! " commanded Premion. The room, the outhouses, and the road outside were searched. The Jacobins present, for fear of being themselves suspected, were overaeelous in the examination. But nothing was dis- covered, for old Dr. Dubois had managed to take his departure from the window without in the first movement of surprise and alarm. From a secure hiding-place he laughed at the panic which he had created by assuming the r61e of prophet. " I argue merely from the logic of events," he said to him- self. "The Revolution is already beginning to devour its own progeny. Already many of the most conspicuous Jacobins have fallen. Many more must follow." Meanwhile in the inn parlor, though all had returned to their seats, conjecture and surmise were blended with a feeling of almost superstitious terror. The wind without seemed to have a voice, penetrating long dead consciences with unspeakable terrors. The crackling of the flames on the hearth had something por- tentous in its sound, and the figure of old Michel assumed an TBE JMO nnr o»om more. uoeannjr upcct. Citizen Premion, braving it ont, cmtinucd to denounce ariBtocrata, Moderates, Oirondiata, to utter horrible inaledictione against the clergy and the noblee, until, at last, he roee, lighted a cigar, ai.^ took a farewell glass of cognac. " I shall leave you, good friends," he said, lightly. " I take the midnight express for Nantes, but first I must freshen my wits by the coolness of the night air." Passing out into the night, he wandered aimlessly hither and thither, d,isiring to pass the time between that and midnight, for the tumult of the inn parlor had became intolerable to him, and he had read in the scared faces of the men how deeply that mysterious warning had touched them. Whether it was some sound which he heard, or merely the inetinct of the bloodhound gaining scent of the prey, it is impossible to tell, but he approached the door of the outhouse where Count Robert lay concealed, and, entering, struck a match. As he did so, he heard a muffled voice, crying: " Is that you, Dumartin ? " He answered in a feigned voice that it was. " Then, for heaven's sake, let me come up," complained the voice. " I am cramped and stiff, cold and hungry. I would rather face a score of sans culottes than stay another moment." " Wait but an instant ! " cried Premion, and, returning hastily to the inn, he found there still a dozen or so of the wretches with whom he had lately been carousing. " There is good sport for us, my children," he cried. " Du- martin has been hiding an aristocrat in his grain shaft. Come till we pluck him ont. To-morrow the inn is yours. Dumartin shall answer at the tribunal for the crime." The unfortunate innkeeper, deadly pale, stood motionless with terror. m TUB RtD tyS OKCB MORS. " Tell U8 whom you have in hiding, my good Citizen Du- martin ? " said Premion ; " though, indeed, it matters little, for you and he shall go to Nantes in company." Dumartin extended his hands in supplication, and Premion added in a low, stem voice, intended for Dumartin's ears alone : " The father's head shall now pay for the daughter's offenses against me." And he passed on, followed by the half-score of Jacobins, bearing lanterns and making night hideous with their clamor. They presently brought forth the young aristocrat, who, seeing into what a fatal error he had fallen in betraying his hid- ing-place, maintained a dignified and unruffled composure, which was the almost invariable tradition of his order in these times of social upheaval. " Your name and station ? " arised Premion. " I know of no right by which you question me," answered Count Robert. " You shall presently know," retorted Premion ; " but you can not deceive me by evasion. You bear in every line of your face the seal of those accursed Hoche Andrfa. You are the ci-devant Count Robert." There was a howl from the scoundrels who accompanied Premion. Nearly all were strangers to Saint Lyphar, and every man a pronounced Jacobin of the fiercest tj-pe. " Secure this beast of an aristocrat ! " cried Premion, " and ake him to the Red Inn." Only once did Count Robert show the slightest emotion, and that was when he beheld the ashen face and trembling Umbs of the poor innkeeper. " Dumartin ! " the young man cried, " forgive me for the mis- fortunes T have brought upon your house." " It matters not. Count Robert," said the poor man, trying THE RED tNli ONCE MOBS. 178 to speak finnly. " I would do the same again, and more, for any of jour race." " You shall have the advantage of going to prison, and prob- ably to the guillotine, for him," sneered Premion. " Secure the old man, too, my brave sans culottes, and to the cellar with him, among liis own wine casks ! " The order was obeyed, and presently poor Dumartin found him- self securely bound, in the darkness of the cellar, while Count Robert was locked into a small apartment, which served as a larder, with but a grating high up in the wall for a window. At dawn Morin-Premion set out to take the train for Xantes, having lost the midnight express in the excitement of his great discovery. He de- clared that he would return in a day or two with warrants for the prisoners, and a sufficient number of Marat men and other true patriots to strengthen their hands in the assault upon the chateau. " It is yours, true republicans," he said, " since those traitors of nobles have fled the country. It has a rich store of food, of wines, of plate, and jewels. They shall be yours, my children, upon my return." He set out jauntily from the Red Inn, little guessing that foot of his should cross the threshold no more, and that a Nemesis was waiting for him at Nantes in the shape of the spy whom he had once struck. Meantime the village of Saint Lyphar, as well as that once hospitable and prospe.-ous hostelry, was filled with the scum of neighboring towns, gathering like crows about carrion for the feast of plunder which Premion had promised. They emptied the larder, they drained the wine casks ; in their drunken fury they broke the furniture and defaced the walls. The old odiflee, battered, defiled, with broken windows and donr torn from its binges, looked the very picture of forlorn ape. Dumartin 174 THE RMD IKS OHOB MORE. and the young Count were meanwhile fed on the meieit acrap* of the coarseat food, barely sufficient for their sustenance. The self-styled patriots scoured the streets, pillaged the farms, whence most of the men had gone to the camp of Grand Bordage. Saint Lyphar had become a horror to itself, with these hordes of bawling ruffians, in red cap, woolen spencers, hoarsely filling the once pure and peaceful atmosphere with the " Carmagnole." They waited for Preraion, but Premion did not come, and at last they made up their minds that they would wait no longer. He was not their master. He had no claim upon the chateau. Tbey would go thither and enrich themselves with all that it contained. They were urged forward to this desperate course by the growing scarcity of food and drink in the neighborhood of Saint Lyphar. It was a lowering afternoon, gray and threatening, when these demons of discord began to assemble about the castle, which had been so long a place of benediction. The terror wad at its height all over France. Law and order had been set at naught, and the fire from burning chateaus mingled with the blood-stained atmosphere, and sent up fearful petitions to offended heaven. Forth from the inn swarmed the leaders, if leaders any conld be called in the motley throng of desperadoes, calling upon all to follow. Up the rocky path they rushed, arming themselves with sticks, with stones, with flails. But a few among them carried firearms. Their dark and evil faces were alight with the passion of greed, the fury of destructivencss. They made batter- ing rams from the stumps of trees, and carried with them barrows, which they had stolen from the farmers, to bear hence the plunder. They raised a wild chanting of the " Carmagnole," and. with a storm of curses and execrations, shook their fists at the grand old Tat HtD INN ONOS MORS. m pile which row ibove them, ae though it had been a sentient thing and guilty itself of oppreesion. Then, with a mad, determined nuh, they broke open a postern door and began to bring forth the storee. Suddenly a stem voice rose above the tumult. " Jacobins I Friends of liberty I " it said. " You have been waiting for Citizen Fremion. He was guillotined at noon to^ay I " An awful silence fell upon the clamorous multitude, and some among them remembered the mysterious warning which had been ottered at the Red Inn, and the words of Fire Michel. All eyes were fixed upon a tall figure, wrapped in a cloak. " Yon are mad ! " cried the more courageous. " Whoever you may be, you are dreaming. Fremion is no traitor, but an honest republican. He was here but lately, and expected to return." " True ! " said the stranger, " he left the Red Inn of Saint Lyphar, taking the train for Nantes. On his arrival, he was arrested there on the accusation of one who had acted as his spy. The charge was grave, that of being in correspondence with the ^migris at Coblentz. His treasonable papers were given up by bis accuser ! " Again there was a pause, and then a fierce fhont of " Down with Fremion ! Down with the traitor, who would have sold the people ! " "Aye, down with Fremion and all his works," said the stranger; "and I warn you now to desist frcm this task which Fremion commanded. Tjcave the chateau *o the proper authori- ties." Such a cry of rage broke out at these words that it scared the sea-birds in their nests on the Marais and woke the echoes of the Bocage — a furious outburst of cries, yells, denunciations, blasphemies. Tho tijer. deprived of its prey, is not moK ferocious; the cobra, uncoiled from its expected victim, ia not 176 THE RED INN ONOE MOKW. more venomous. They would tear the csetle stone from stone. They would burn it to ushes, once pillaged of its treasures. It was a wild scene, terrific even, with the background of an angry sky, dull red on ashen gray. The passions of those fierce men rose tumultuous as a tempest and turned against the stranger, who stood calmly with folded arms looking at them. He had risked much on that one venture, and he now knew that, with all his marvelous ingenuity ai.' -csourcefulness, he, Jambe d'Argent, was powerless to sa' ■ ihe chateau, or even his own life. He very deliberately Jrt his sword, as a ring of brutal- faced ruffians began to close about him. " He is an aristocrat '. " they shrieked. " He seeks to save this nest of aristocrats and deprive honest republicans of their due. Wo shall bum the chateau, and roast him at the same fire which consumes it." " Meantime, I should advise you not to draw too near," ob- served .Tambe d'Argent ; " this is a very keen Wade of mine, a pretty piece of steel, with a pretty taste in samcuhtiM." "Tear him to pieces! Close upon him! Break his sword into bits! " screamed the furious Jacobins, waving their red caps. But it was those in the background ■ ho did most of the screaming, and the men who were quite cloee to Jambe d'Argent were in no haste to draw near. Something in the resolute mien of the man awed them, and the flash of his sword seemed to dazzle their eyes. Yet not even the strongest will nor the most determined bravery on the part of one man can long prevail against a horde of lawless men, whose passions are inflamed by greed or cruelty. A simultaneous yell was uttered, and a mad liiBh from behind thrust forward those surrounding Jambe d'Argent, so that his sword was all but ineffectual. Pikes were raised above his head, muskets pointed at his heart, and one TUB RgD tXS ONCt! MOHt. m gigantic ruffian brancli.hed a flail closf to the liead that had planned ao many a daring schemi' for faith and royalty. Jamb« d'Argent looked alioiit liim mi in»tunt, commending hi» soul to God, and raising hia eyen to the angry heavens. But another sound broke upon the stillness : " Vive la religion Callwlique! Long live the King ! Soldiera of the Catholic and Royal Army, upon them ! " It was the voice of Uaston de la Riwhe Andr«, and his gallant young figure presently leapfd inti, the very center of the throng, his sprig of oak in his hat and hia scapular in his buttonhole. Olose following him came Richar|>har:" cried Gaston, "save first our leader, and th.n the chateau ! " A scene of wild confusion ensued. "We are M rayed ! The brigands are upon us!" cried the republicans ; " the brigands of La Vcnd^ ! " And they strove to fly, to hide themselvca, the few who thought of fight turning with a dnwdful desperation upon those redoubtable peasant soldiers who had inspired in the ranks of the republicans everywhere so great a dread. Cursing, swearing, howling, they struck madly about with whatever weapon came to baud, some turning in their mad terror upon their own com- rades. Xever had the chateau witnessed such a spectacle. Vever had the village of Saint Lyphar heard such sounds. " Count Gaston ! Duplessis ! " cried the Vendeana, using thow names as battle-cries, "lead on, we follow! To the rescue! to the rescue ! " " Aye, to the rescue, brave hearts ! " cried Gaston, snatching off his hat and waving it, as he dashed through the close circle about Jamhe d'Argent, which remained rather through fear and in THE HMD ISS OUCB UOHt. bewUdeiment thin from iny purpow of renewing the «ttMk upon the redoubtable leader. « I am safe, my children," wiid Jambe d'Ar^nt, imiling upon them, ai Gaiton and Richard almoat at the aai^e time reached hii 8idc, " but we have work to do yet. We mnrt purge Saint Lyphar thii time, or her atmosphere will become poiaoned." He was off to a distant part of the field as he spoke, his sword flashing as some magical talisman, his UU form everywhere oonspicuous. " It is the devil I " cried some of the republicans, flying before him. " It is Jambc d' Argent, who has brought the brigands here by his accursed sorcery," cried others, slinking away out of his path. "Give tiuarterl" cried Gaston, "give quarter to those who yield. Remember, we are the Catholic and Royal Army." " But to those who resist, drnth ! " cried the sterner Richard. It was late when the fight was done. The republicans, dis- persed, were fl.ving in all directions, striving to leave Saint Lyphar behind them, save the score or so who had fallen and the prisoners who had been taken. That night the Red Inn of Saint Lyphar was full of sullen-faced men, securely bound and guarded. They were the revelers of the previous nights and the pillagers who robbed the Red Inn ot its glory. But despite its half- ruined state, never in itf history did a more joyful little party «t down to supper than upon that nipht. Tl'.o materials for the supper were brought chiefly trr.m the castle, and prepared and nerved bv Hcnriot. The three leaders of La Vendue, Jamhe d'Arjrent. Count Gas- ton, and Duplessis, were seated with Count Robert, still weak and worn from his recent sufterings, and Dumartin, gradually re- Till RED INN ONCB MOKI. lit mrenng nnparcd, we shall lee stranger event!, for oiir country has to shake off a fearful nightmare. But it is gradually becoming purified, and the people are awaking from their mad drcom of blood. They have seen the heroism of the priests, the true priests of Ood, and here in U Veaite they have thrown in their lives with the people, and have led the hosts of God. Here in our Breton provinces, and, thank Ood, through- out Franc, noble and heroic deeds have almost outnumlxn.l those of horror. Meanwhile, let ns pledge the Catholic and Hoyiil Army I " The toast was drunk, standing and in silence. " Jambe d'Argent ! "• cried Gaston, raising his glass once more, " our inspired leader, who has so often saved us." " The family of Roche Andr« ! " cried Bichard next. " Our brave Duplessis ! " added Gaston, while at suggestion of Count Robert, a final toast was drunk : "To Dumartin and the Rm Inn op Saint Ltphar." • A bi»T« soldier and leader In the Vandean army was known by this quaint title of Silver Leg, because of a band of sliver which ht wore to conceal a wound. But I have not followed the historical narrative In his regard, either as to station or particular achieve- ments. I have borrowed merely hia name. The same Is the case with Duplessis. All the other charactera are Dctltious. PBINTED BY BEN2I0BH BB0TBIB8, NEW TOHK CITT. Mioocorr aEsouiriON risi chmt (ANSI ond rso TEST CHABT No 2) M2a 121 ■ 22 y^i^jL 1.8 1.6 ^ g APPLIED IM^GE Inc '653 East Mam Slret, Rochesltr, Ne. York itfi ("6) 482 - 0300 -Otion« (716) 288-5989 -Fa, 4««l»er Brothers' New Plan for Uissemlnatlnj Catholic Lttcntuik A NEW PLAN FOR SECURING Catholic Books on Easy Payments Sraall Monthly Payments. Books Delivered Immediately. All New Copyright Works by the Foremost Writers PUNTED FROM NEW PLATES. ON GOOD PAPER. SUBSTANTIAliY BOUND IN CLOTK ""».^» A MOST LIBERAL OFFER! ...The followinf pages contain a lilt o* the '-ookt in our Catliolic CircuUtise ¥? *L "" *** ^■'' '"•" "• °" *•>* t Jy-paymer ■ plan -«"«.• the rASilfr adv'ertt^pYker"' °° "" '""°*""' "" "''" "' """ "" recdjl°'of"|?oo *^'"""^ '° ""• "*"• •'" "» •«"' '» '•» immedUtely OD CATHOLIC CIRCULATING LIBRARY THE OTHER PLAN Or if, instead of forming a Reading Circle, you wish to get a Library fot yourself or youi family, all you need do is to remit a dollar bill and any Library will be for- warded to you at once. Then you pay One Dollar a month. 1 HE PLAN FOR FORMING -= READING CIRCLES = I>u*« only lO C«nt« • Nf onth \ New Bode £v«f7 Month t Total Coft fbr & IL2 Worth o( Book* to Read I YMrT »1.20 THIS EXPLAINS THE PLAN You form « Reading Club, say of twelve mera- Der», and order one ct the Librariea from ua. ivach member paya you ten cents a month, and you remit ua $1.00 a month, thua paying ut for the booka. On TMeipt of tHt firtt dollar wt will md you L 'i^^H't' '•*'''"^. You give each member a poolc. After a month all the memberi return their tooka to you and you give them another one. The booka are exchanged in this way every month till the membcri have read the twelve volumes in the r'"'i?''y; ^After the twelfth month the books may Be divided among the members (each getting one book to keep) or the booka may be given to your fastor for a pariah library. Then you can order from us a second library on the same terms as above. In this way you can keep up Tour Reading Circle from year to year at a trining cost. On tkt following pages will bt found a liit of tk« boobs tn tht difftrtnt Librarias. Thty art M# bttt that can b« had. Wail a dollar bill to-day and any UBRARY will BE FORWARDED AT ONCE BENZIGER BROTHERS N«w Voa«; Cutcihiiati : Cuicaoo- •Mt Barelar Stntt S4S Main Street Sll-Sll Madiion StrMt Dues, IOC. a Month Catholic Circulating Library E^."MS;'tb' JUVENILE BOOKS s> Copyrighted Stories for the Young, by the Best Authora Speciil n« price, $10.00 You fR the book! « ohm. •ad t«T. Ifce «•« of Hem while nlklm • Rc«d cxplsution of our Circnlatinf Libriry pl»° oo *rit paje Juvenile Library A S.J. TOM PIAYFAIR; OR, MAKING A START By KK., F. J. Fi.it, ■The be« boj'l book lh« ever c«me from the preu. THE CAVE BY THE BEECH FORK. By Rn. H. S. Sfai.oi.0, S.J. "Thl. U ft itory full of fo ind adventure. UAPRV nil^SRTI. A ROCKLAND COLLEGE BOY. By R«v. J. E. Corol, HARRY «!^|S^-'j„A RtJCKLABU VjU ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ p{„ ^„ ^ him, through the yeftre to irftdufttion. CHARLIE CHITTYWICK. By Riv. David ButliK,. S.J. Fftther BcuiM •howr . " ondiful knowleLe .ud Sue ftPPjecUt^u of boy ebftrftct^. There is no mftrlr of mawkuhneti m the book. NAN NOBODY. By Mait T. Waooamau. "Keept one fucinftted till t»« lut pftge is reached." ,»».(, LOYAL BLUE AND ROYAL SCARLET. ^By Ma.ioh A. Taooabi. Will helj kMp a«X the atrain of hero worrtiip .nd Ideal patriotism. THE GOLDEN LILY. By KATlAnas T. Hinisoii. "Another proof of the author'a wonderful genius." THE MYSTERIOUS DOORWAY. By Akha T. Saiiu««. A bright, apMk- OLd'cHARLHONT'S SEED-BED. By Sa« T. S»ith. "A delightful atotj of Southern achool life." ,„-_j_ THE MADCAP SET AT ST. ANNE'S. By Majiok J. B.o»ow«. Plenty of fun and frolk, with high moral principle. BUNT AND BILL. By Claba Molhoixauo. "There are pasaagei of true pathoa and humor in this pretty tale. Tnir FtnWFH OF THE FLOCK. By MAuaicu F. Eoak. 'TTiey are by no ™UiS hSni^ y™, iiiSi and ieir hearts lie in the r»h. P'«"'' PICKLE AND PEPPER. By Ella L. Doasn. "This story is clever and witty— there is not a dull page." • ^ A HOSTAGE OF WAR. By MAar G., BoHiaTin. "A wide-awake story, brimful of incident and easy humor. AN EVERY DAY GIRL. By Maiy T. Capwlir. "One ot the few talea thai will appeal to the heart of every girl. ASTRUEASGOLD. By Mabt E. Mahuii. "This book will make a name AN HEIh'oF DREAMS. By S. M. O'Mal™. "The book U destined to become a true friend of our boya. c * ..:- Tm MV^TPRV OF HORNBY HALL. By Arwa T. Sadum. ,^Sure to stir ™^.h?blSd of e?erf™"l b?y end to delist with iu 6»er touches the heart TWo'u™,e"gIRLS.' By Liiuak Mac«. "A real tale of real children." BIDINGDALE FLOWER SHOW. By Rev. Davib Biaski, S.J. His aym- J^iritt Swtoid ii so .vide« ind hia underatanding so pBf«t. 20 Copyrighted Stories for the Young By the Best Catholic Writers SPKCIA.Zk NBT F*RICB, 910.00 yi.oo down, li.oo a month Kwd explanation of our Circulatinc Library plan on prcccdL'*! pafaa Juvenile Library B HIS FIRST AND LAST APPEARANCE. By Riv. F. J. Fimi, SJ. Pro- fuKly illustrated. "A delightful itory by Father Finn, which will br popular with the girls as well as with the boys." THE SHERIFF OF THE BEECH FORK. By Rev. H. S. Sfaidiko, S.J. "From the outset tfae reader's attention is captivated and never lags." SAINT CUTHBERT'S. By R«v. J. E. Copus. S.J. "A tnilj inspiring tale. full of excitement." THE TAMING OF POLLY. By Ella Lobaini Dorsey. "Polly with her cool head, ber pure heart and stern Western sense of justice." STRONG-ARM OF AVALON. By Mabv T. Waccaman. "Takes hold of the interest and of the ' heart and never lets go." JACK HILDRETH ON THE NILE. By C. May. "Courage, truth, honest dealing with friend and foe." A KLONDIKE PICNIC. By Elsamos C. DomtnxY. "Alive with the charm that b'.:Iongs to cbililbood." h COLli^GE BOY. By Amtbomy Yorkk. "Healthy, full of life, full of Incident." THE GREAT CAPTAIN. By Kathakiits T. Himuoit. "Makes the most interesting and delightful reading." THE YOUNG COLOR '"'JARD. By Mary G. Bomisthl. "The attractiva- iiess of tbe tale ' lanced by the realneea that pervades it." THE HALDEMAN ..DREN. By Mary £. Mannix. "Full of people entertaining, refineu, and witty." PAULINE ARCHER. By Anma T. Saduxi. "Sure to captivate the hearts of all juvenile readers." TBE ARMORER OF SOLINGEN. By W. Hxbchxmbach. "Cannot fail to inspire honest ambition." THE INUNDATION. By Camow Schmio. "Sure to please the young readers for whom it ia intended." THE BLISSYLVANIA POST-OFFICE. By Maxioii A. Tagoart. "Pleasing and captivating to young people." DIMPLING'S SUCCESS. By Clara Mvlrollahd. "Vivacious and natural and cannot fail to be a favorite." BISTOURI- By A. MtLAWDat. "How Bistouri traces out tfae plotters and foils them makes interesting reading." FRED'S LITTLE DAUGHTER. By Sara T. Smith. "The heroine wins her way into the heart of every one." THE SEA-GULL'S ROCK. By J. Sawdiad. "The intrepidity of the little hero will appeal to every boy." JtTVENlLE ROUND TABLE. First Sniia. A collection of twenty atoi^M by the foremost writers, with many full-page iUustrationa. 20 Copyrighted Stories for the Young By the Best Catholic Writers SpBoiAik N«x Priob, 910.00 ti.oo down, ti.oo a month Rttd expUnatloD of our Circulatlac Library pUn on preceding p^ea Juvenile Library C F. J. Fi«», S.J. SFAtniHQ, SJ. PERCY WYNN; OR, MAKING A BOY OF HIM. By R«y. "Tlie molt lucceHful CstlioUc juvenile publiihed." THE RACE FOR COPPER ISLAND. B7 Rnr. H. S. "Fttlier SpildiDs'a dcecriptioni equal thoae of Cooper." SHADOWS LIFTED. B, Hi.. J. E. Cop»* S.J. "We know of no •Qorc ddicbtful and interesting." HOW THEY WORKED THEIR WAY, AND OTHER STORIES HAUIILB F, EoAM. "A l>tintn> OAll.»tlA« ^M .1 : I .t ., popular writers." WINNETOU. THE APACHE KNIGHT. leM intcreit." MILLY AVELING. By Saia Tmikm Sii«h, Smith hu ever written.'" A choice collection of atoriet by oue of the moM By C. Mat. "Chapters of breath "The best atory Sara Trainaa By Makt T. Waooahait. THE TRANSPLANTING OF TESSIE. cellcnt girl's story." THE PLAYWATER PLOT. By Maet T. Waooamab. "How the plotter* are captured and the boy rescued makes a very interesting story." AN ADVENTURE WITH THE APACHES. By Gaiiisl Ft«Y PANCHO AND PANCHITA. By M*«t E. Makhix. "Full of color and warmtn oi lifs tn old Mexico." RECRUIT TOMMY COLLINS. B, Maiy C. BoNaiTiiL. "Man, a borlah lleart will beat ai envio'ii admiration of litUe Tommy" »lf B«*NSCOME HI>^R. By M«aio» A. TAOo»aT. "A crediuble book in THE QUEEN;S PAGE. By K«TBAai„ Ty»«» Hi».»,. "Will aroiue tbe youns to mterett m hiatorica] nuttcra and ii a good atory well told " MAS Y TRACY'S FORTUNE. By A»». T. S.DLtm. "Spri^tly, intereHinf and well written.' BOB-O'LINK. By Mast T. WAccAMAir. lighted with Bob-o'Link." THREE GIRLS AND ESPECIALLY ONE. is an exquisite chsrm in the telling." WRONGFULLY ACCUSED. By W. Hkichen.acb. taioingly told." THE CANARY BIRD. By Camom Schm will be enjoyed by boya and girls." FIVE O'CLOCK STORIES. By S. H. C. J. "The chfldreo who are blMaad with iuch atoriea bave much to be thankful for " JWENILE ROUND TABLE. Sicoirn Siiixs. A collection of twenty bjf tfae.foremoit writers, with many full-r>age Ulustrations. "Every boy and girl will U dc* By Mabioh a. Tagoabt. "Therf "A aimple tale, enttr- "The story is a fine one and 20 Copyrighted Stories for the Young By the Best Catholic Writers SPBOiAb Nbx Priob, SIO.OO »i.oo down, »i.oo a ironth nnd spUutioii of our ClicuUtiif Ubrtrj pUi, on prmdisi pam Juvenile Library D '*'^S,2L"n^S oWi-aLXlS""*"- "" "^ " •'™ •">■ '- '"V^S:^- A^'LlTiS ^°«'- * «">' '->'^°« ••>'• '"■' ""kL".'u¥i- .„%J5"K SdJ^'f^^r --.if "'"°'"' ■'°'' "" "■"*"> THE DOLLAR HUNT. From the Frtnch by E. G. MAiTiit Tboi« oho .id. to pt . todiuKiw Ulc should read thli wiry "• '°°" ""> "»■ ■■T»r^."^ Sum. There is much truth in this imiple little itotV. Vl,. »„Sh ^' .?t 'i J-.^^'J'^,'!'',."^ lovsble I little fellow as thei« b In iij J3 tf-.? J^V 0" Piekle. the "ranir.uffn," the def eidSr of i«r. aecuted kittens and persona! principles. "eienoer or per- * ^E5,"W ?T, WOODVILLE B, A»»» T. S.PLII.. This i. a beautiful ^atioJi ■1™P«1'J' Wl' •■?Md •splHHidDa of oar Qrcnlttint l&nry pUn on Int pifi Library of Novels No. 1 THE RUtER OP THK KINGDOM. Bj G»*ci K*o». '*Wm than m* reader.'* KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS. By J. Ha«»i«oii. "A real, tree Ufe hiMor7r the kitwl one could live through and never read it (or romaoee." IN THE DAYS OF KING HAL. By Mauom A. Taooabt. Illurtratcd. "A talt of the time of Hemr V. of Enfland, full of adventure and axcite- meat." HKARTS OF GOLD. By I. Ephoi. "It li a tale that win leave ha reader the better for knowing lU heroine, her tenderncH and her heart of gold." THE HEIRESS OF CRONENSTEIN. By Couktim HahmHabh. "An •» quiaJte atory of life and love, told in touchingly aimple words." THE Pn..KINGTON HEIR. By Anna T. SAOuaa. "Skill and atrength ar* abown in this atory- The plot ia well conatructcd and the charactcra vividly differentiated." THE OTHER MISS LISLE. A Catholk novel of Sooth African Ufe. By M. C. Mabtim. A powerful atory by a writer of dininct ability. IDOLS; OR, THE SECRET OF THE RUE CHAUSSEE D'ANTIN. By Raodi. om NAvmy. "The atory U a remarV-bly clever one; it U wcU coif atnicted and evinces a master band." THE SOGGARTH AROON. By R«v. Jour. Guikar, CC A eqtital Irish story. THE VOCATION OF EDWARD CONWAY. By Mabkicb F. Eoa». "This ia a novel of modern American life. The scene b laid in a pleasant colony of cultivated people on the banks of the Hudson, not fsr from West Point" A WOMAN OF FORTUNE. By Chbistiah Rmd. "Thst great American Catholk novel for whkh so much inquiry is made, a story true la Its pkture of Americans st home and abroad." PASSING SHADOWS. By Anthokt Yoaxa. "A thoroughly story. It sparkles from ftrat to last with interesting sitottioni dislogoes that are full of nentiment. There ia not • slew paffc" tt Copyrighted Novels by the Bett Authoct 8r»oxA» Kbv Pkics, 918.00 ti.00 down^ 91.00 a month t of our Clmilatlac Ubnn pUn on ftnl Mfk Library of Novels No. II FHE SEmOK LIEUTENANTS WAGER. wmI OUwr SutIm. Iu ttorin bf M of tb* forcwMt Cubolle writen. A DAUGHTER 0( KINGS. By Kathuiih Tthaii Rinbmr. •*TU book k «oM •njojrablt.* THE WAY THAT tEP BEYOND. By J. Hauimn. "The Morr doM not dnc the plot it w«U worked oat, and the Internt cndurn to tht very iMt put." JORINNE'S VOW. Br ICur T. Wmmavan. With 19 full-pu* niaatrmtioni. "Tbert li fcnuiiw trtiitk merit In its plot and life-ttorr. It b full ot vitality and action." HE FATAL BEACON. By F. r. Hbacsh. 'Tbo ttory ia told w«U and cle*riy, and hat a certain charm that will be found interettiac. The prin- cipal cbaractert are alniplc good-hearted people, and the heroine** high ■ante of courage Impreaaea itself upon the reader aa the tale proceeJa." FHE HONK'S PARDON: An Historical Romance of the Tine of Philip A' of Spain. By RaoVL n NaVIBY. *'A story full of stirring incidents and written in a lively, attractive style." PERE UONNIER'S WARD. By Walth Lkkt. "The characters are lif^ like and there la a pathoa in the checkered life of the heroine. Per* llonnier ia a nemory that will linger. " TRUE STORY OF MASTER GERAF^. By Amiia T. Sadliib. "One of the moat tfiorou^ly original and delii^tfnl romances ever evolved from the pen of a Catholic writer." rHE UNRAVEUNG OK A TANGLE. By HAaioM A. Taooait. With fonr full-page illustrations. "This story tells of the adventures of a young American girl, who. In order to get possession of a fortune left her by an uDclc, whoa ihc had never aeen« goes to France." THAT MAN'S DAUGHTER. By HnriT U. Rose. "A weH-toId atory of AmerictP life, the aceoe laid in Boston. New York and California. It it very iitterettinf." PABIOLA'S SISTER. (A companion volume to Cardinal WIscman'i *Ta- biola.") Adapted by A. C. Cunxs. "A book to read— a worthy a«iitel to that mattcrpiacc. 'FaUola.' " THE OITTLAW OP CAMAKGUE: A Nord. By A. n Luiom, "A c mfni Witt vStntj of go In it." It CopTTighted Novell by the Best Authon SrBoxJLft Nbt Prigs. •la.OO $1.00 down, Si.00 a month BMd «3qilan«tk)n of oar ClrculiUac Ubnrj pUa on Cnt pufk Library of Novels No. Ill 07 GiACB Xaoii. "Btrend doabt Um bMt Ctthelk •KOT A JUDGMENT.- twvd of the ycsr.** fBE RED INN OF ST. LYPHAR. Br Ahh* T. Suuta. **A Morr ol ■tlrring tlmci In Frincc, when the ■turdj Vmikatu roM in dcfmot of country uid religion." HIB FATHER'S DAUGHTER. By KxTBAtiNB Tynan Rinkmm. "So dramatic and ao iotenaely intereiting that tbe reader will And it difletUt to tear himaelf awaj from the atory." Holt. "One* hia book becomet known H wn By Roaa Uolhouahi). Mr. Gladatone called thli OUT OF BONDAGE. By H. be read bjr a great many.' UARCELLA GRACE, novel a maatwfitct, rHE CIRCUS-RIDER'S DAUGHTER. By F. v. BaACsn. Thia wotk bag aeblercd a remarkable ancceaa for a Catholic novel, for in leta than a year three cditiona were printed. CARROLL DARE. Bj Kasi T. Waooamah. Illuatrated. "A thrilling itory. with tbe dash of horaea aad the claah of aworda on every aide." DION AND THE SIBYLS. By Mius Kxoif. "Dion !■ aa brilliantly, «■ accurately and aa elegantly clMilcal, aa acholarty in style and diction, aa faaclnating In plot and aa vivlJ in action as Ben Hur." HER BLIND FOLLY. By H. M. Rom. A cle>er story with an Interesting and well-managed plot and mu.7 striking situations, MISS ERIN. By M. E. FaANCia. "A captivating tale of Irish life, redolent ^' ...iiuine Celtic wit, love and p&thos." MR. BILLY BUTTONS. By Walteb Lkckt. "The figures who move In rugged grandeur through these pages are as freih and unspoiled in their way aa the good folk of Drumtochty." CONNOR D'ARCY*S STRUGGLES. By tfaa. W. M. BDrnoLna. "A atiry of which the ^lirit ii ao fine and tbe Catholic charactera ao nobly coo Continuation Ldbiraify 'OU SUBSCRIBE FOR FOUR NEW . OVELS A YEAR, TO BE MAILED TO YOU AS PUBLISHED, AND RECEIVE BENZIGER'S MAGAZINE FREE. Each year we publish four new novels by the best Cath- o'ic authors. These novels are interesting beyond the ordinary — not religious, but Catholic in tone and feeling. They ar- isrued in the best modem style. We ask you to give us a standing order for these novels. The price is $1.25, which will be charged as each volume is issued, and the volume sent postage paid. As a special inducement for giving us a standing order for the novels, v .hall include free a subKription to Benziger's Magazine. Benziger's Magazine is recognized as the best and handsomest Catholic periodical published, and we are sure will be welcomed in every library. The regular price of the Magazi le is $2.00 a year. Thus for $5.00 a year — paid $1.25 at a time — you will get four good books and receive in addition a yeai's subscription to Benziger's Magazine. The Magazine will be continued from year to year, as long as the standing order for tht lovels is in force, which will be till countermanded. THB FAMOUS ROUND TABLE SERIES 4 VOLUMBS, •e.oo so OSNTS DOV^Mi OO OBNTS A. MtOMTM On payment of so cents you get the books and a fiw subscription to Bcntlgtr's Magazine Th*Gnmi4$tSiori4shHit/ortmosiCatMicWrUtrtimiktWorU With PortrtiU ol lb« A»Aort. StotchM of ttolr LKw. *» *.»„"? .*! their Wofhfc Fwr tMquiiitf xotumti. cont*iBln| th« UMMrptwM o< M of tto lorwwt writer, ot A««.ica, Enolam. I«|aj>«. Gw«*»». *« Fw«^ M Mory comptet*. Open toy »olam« •! rmdom tnd yon will lad • fratt tiory to tatcrtftUi you. SPECIAL OFFER In ordtr to pUct thto Int Mn«etkm o( •torlw to wtpr h*««. •••»*• th« lollowiiig tiMclal o«tr: 5rW m M cm/* •od th. (our Sm »•'««• *»"^ HBt to TOTTtawdtottly. Th«i yo« poy »0 eenti cash month antU «t.M has hMB paid. LIBRARY OF SHORT STORIES BY A BRILLIANT ARRAY OF CATHOLIC AUTHORS Original stories by 33 Writers Four Handsome Volumes and Bentlger's Magazine for a Year at the Special Price of >9-oo 50 CENTS CX>WN; jo CENTS A MONTH Voti get the books st once, and have the nae o( them wbOa naUaf tm payment*. Send ua only 60 centa, and we will forward t»>«J«*» •*??^ 50 cenu entitle* yoo to Immediate poaaeaaion. No further paTment MWt M made for a month; afterwarda yoo pay M ccnta a month. Anna T. Sadlicr Mary E- Mannix Mary T. Waggaman Tcroinc Harte Vary C. RoneitMl Magdalen Rock Eugenie Uhlrich Alice Richardaon Katharine Jenkina Mary Boyle O'Reilly Clara Mniijolland STORXaS BV Grace Keen I^ouiaa Emily Dobrte Thea Gift_ ^ ^ Margaret E. Jort^an Agnea M. Rowe iaia C Walah ladie Hannix Letpi Gordon Giltner Eleanor C. Donnelly Teresa Stanton H. J. Carroll Rev. T. J. Ll^ntaton* SJ. Markm Ames Tasgart Maurice Francia Egan Mary F. Nixon-RonM Mrs. Francis Cbadwlck Catharine L. llca|dier Anna Blanche McGUl Mary Catherine Crowley Katherine Tynan-Hinkaon Sallic Margaret O'MalMr F^ms Howard Wl^t •hi PACBS JOS ILLUSTRATIONS A GRgAT OFFER THE LIFE OF OUR LORD =^= AMD ^== S/^VIOUR JESUS CHRIST AND OF HIS VIRGIN MOTHER MARY nOM THE OUGINAL OF L. C. BUSINOKR, LL.D. BY Rev. RICHARD BRENNAN. LLD. Quarto, half n : occo, full gilt side, gilt edge>, 900 pagci, 500 ilh .lationa in the text and 33 full-page illustrationi by M. PBUBRSTBIN PRICE NET $1000 Easy Paymi .; Plan $1.00 down, $1.00 a iiontb Mail $ixx> to-day and the book will be shipped to you immediately. Then you pay $1.00 a month till $10.00 is paid. This is not only a Life of Christ and of His Blessed Mother, but also a carefully condensed history of God's Church from Adam to the end of the world in type, prophecy and fulfilment, it contains a popular dogmatic theology and a real catechism of perseverance, filled with spiritual food {or the souL rhe Best Stortes and ArMcto Over ,000 Illustrations a Yea. BENZIGER'S MAGAZINE The PopuUr Catholic Family Monthly Rtcommtnd^d b, 70 Archbuhofs and BUhofs of (Iw Uxiud SlaUs SUBSCRIPTION, $3.00 A YEAR What Benziger's M^azine gives its Readers: Fifty complete stories by the best writers-equal to a book of 3<» pages selling at JiaS- . . . i. Three complete novels of absorbing interest-equal to three books selling at $l.as each. Over 1000 beautiful illustrations. Twenty-five large reproductions of celebrated paintings. Twenty articles-equal to a book of, .50 pages-on travel and ad- v™tu«; oTthe manners, customs and home-hfe of peoples; on the haunts and habits of animal hfe, etc. Twenty articles-equal to a book of .50 pages-on our country: historic events, times, places, importam mdustr.es. Twenty artides-tqual to a book of .50 pages-on the fine arts: celebrated artists and their paintings, sculpture, music etc., and nature studies. Twelve pages of games and amusements for in and out of doors. Fifty pages of fashions, fads and fancies, gathered at home and abr