If
 
 I
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE
 
 MORBIHAN ! 
 
 HIMSELF! " 
 
 I WOULD SAY THE NOBLEMAN FORGOT 
 FRONTISPIECF.. See page 298 .
 
 The Gallant Rogue 
 
 By 
 BURTON KLINE 
 
 WITH FRONTISPIECE BY 
 
 F. VAUX WILSON 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 
 1921
 
 Copyright, IQ2I, 
 Bv BURTON KLINE. 
 
 A II rights reserved 
 Published April, 1921
 
 To 
 MT MOTHER-IN-LAW 
 
 2136588
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE
 
 The Gallant Rogue 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 SOMEWHAT amused at his ridiculous situa- 
 tion, Canardin hummed a little tune. With 
 his dashing velvet coat tucked under one arm, 
 and his red-heeled boots flung over his shoulder 
 on a cord, Canardin picked his way along in the 
 dead of night neatly he picked his way across 
 the roofs of Paris. 
 
 It was not often in these days of his fame and 
 prosperity that Canardin returned in such a 
 fashion and by such a route from masquerade or 
 tavern. More often he bribed one of the King's 
 guards to haul him home in one of the public car- 
 riages. But, thankful in the present emergency 
 for practice in the past, Canardin hummed his 
 tune and made his way across the slippery tiles 
 with the agility and unconcern of a cat. Hap- 
 pily for that other sleek prowler of the moonlit 
 paths, the cat has only gravity to fear, and the 
 occasional stone of a mischievous boy. Canardin
 
 4 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 was being stalked by sterner forces. Not simply 
 the police of Paris, but the police of France were 
 upon his track. A moment before, a squad of 
 them had stood guard in the street before the 
 very house he was upon, and he knew it. Knew 
 it? Had he not paused for a low laugh at their 
 awed remarks about him and their sage sugges- 
 tions toward his capture? 
 
 With excellent reason did Canardin's taste in 
 the everyday color of a coat run to the greenish- 
 gray which so aptly matched the stones in the 
 dark alleys of Paris by day ; and to the waistcoat 
 and small clothes of a rusty red, which so nicely 
 harmonized with the tiles of its roofs by night. 
 So Canardin hummed his little tune and crept 
 along. The narrowest avenue of escape would 
 suffice for a cunning which had never yet failed 
 him. It is true that the lateness of the hour 
 brought every minute nearer the rising of the 
 moon ; but the same lateness had sent to bed the 
 people who might play the spy upon him if they 
 dared. 
 
 Moreover, at that very instant Canardin des- 
 cried, only a few feet ahead of him, a waterspout 
 which led down the rear side of the house into a 
 dark and deserted alley. It rather tickled his 
 fancy, the idea of there adjusting one of his light
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 5 
 
 disguises and joining the provost in the street in 
 front, as he had done more than once before, with 
 a gracious offer of his assistance in trailing down 
 the notorious Canardin. 
 
 In a moment his foot was on the scupper at the 
 top of this heavy bronze drain. First testing its 
 security, he let himself down, gripping even 
 choking the pipe with his powerful hands and 
 feeling for its joints with his feet. This was not 
 the first time the sturdy builders of Paris, with- 
 out knowing it, had befriended Canardin with 
 such a ladder. 
 
 At the third joint in the pipe, it must be said, 
 Canardin came to a sudden halt. For imme- 
 diately below him, to one side, was a window, 
 open and faintly lighted, which he had not been 
 able to observe from the eaves above. 
 
 For a period Canardin clung thus in space, 
 motionless, to make note if he had been over- 
 heard. Lowering himself by the length of an- 
 other joint in the pipe, he could see that a single 
 candle cast the light in the room. Thrust in the 
 neck of a bottle standing on a plain deal table, 
 it lifted its feeble rays above a litter of papers. 
 Otherwise, except for a tumbled cot, the room 
 was empty of furnishings, and yet to Canardin it 
 was instantly crowded with interest.
 
 6 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Seated before the table, with his back to the 
 window, was a young man, sometime writing 
 busily and sometime pausing to sigh and dash his 
 fingers through his hair. One other object of in- 
 terest attracted the eye of Canardin. On the 
 table, among the papers piled about, stood a bag 
 unmistakably filled with money, for two or three 
 shining pieces of gold had slipped through a hole 
 in its side. 
 
 " Bah ! Only a poet ! " had been Canardin's 
 first thought. "If he so much as breathes an 
 alarm, I'll crack his neck ! But no ! " he quickly 
 thought on. "The money! A poet with gold? 
 A miser, as I live! I must have a word with 
 Monsieur the Miser." 
 
 The police of the world might be and were at 
 Canardin's heels, with the gibbet in plain view 
 before him; at the sight of gold he forgot them 
 all, gold, that is, hoarded for no sake but its 
 own. This was not for greed of the money, be it 
 said, for Canardin now had plenty of that ; it was 
 rather because nothing but gold is so stoutly de- 
 fended, nothing else is so pleasantly won. Can- 
 ardin paused to consider. From the pipe where 
 he clung it would cost him a second's effort to 
 swing a stockinged foot to the window-sill ; from 
 the sill to the table where lay the money meant
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 7 
 
 two steps more. Canardin felt for one of his 
 pistols. 
 
 Noiselessly lie laid hold of the open sash and 
 let himself in, ready for the pounce and for what 
 consequence soever might ensue; and but for a 
 trifling circumstance, another error of judgment 
 might have stood to the debit of the first outlaw 
 of France. One of Canardin's boots, swaying at 
 his back, had knocked against the frame of the 
 window as he let himself in, and at sound of it 
 the young man at the table whisked about with a 
 violent start. 
 
 This was natural enough. What was less than 
 natural and more than strange, Canardin him- 
 self was subject to a start, and for a second stood 
 rigid in a pose of stupefaction. Then, as a mat- 
 ter of course, he instantly recovered his wits and 
 rushed forward with outstretched hand. 
 
 " Lavallais ! " he cried in a low voice. " Can it 
 be you? Good old Lavallais! My faith, but 
 this is droll ! What a circumstance ! " 
 
 The young man thus addressed rose stiffly and 
 in some bewilderment, and though he took the 
 extended hand, he studied with equal astonish- 
 ment the curious combination of elegance and 
 disorder in the dress of his guest, but especially 
 the pistol in his visitor's other hand.
 
 8 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " I I trust," lie stammered, " I am not want- 
 ing in hospitality. Monsieur will understand, I 
 am sure. But truly I am not accustomed, at this 
 hour - This, Monsieur will admit, is a tri- 
 
 " Unexpected? " Canardin clapped a hand on 
 the shoulder of his startled host and laughed not 
 the less gayly because his laughter was attuned 
 by habit to the pitch of caution. " Of course it's 
 unexpected ! That has long been my profession, 
 my dear Lavallais. That is how I have garnered 
 my wealth by being unexpected. And even yet 
 you do not recall me? You who have trailed 
 me for years! You do not recognize your Can- 
 ardin? " 
 
 " Canardin? " 
 
 "Not so loud, my dear Lavallais! Not so 
 loud, I beg of you ! Wait ! Pardon the liberty. 
 We who have so much to discuss must not be 
 overheard." The intruder moved stealthily to 
 the window, taking pains to throw no shadow 
 from the candle, and after a cautious glance be- 
 low he noiselessly lowered the sash. " That's 
 better, more intimate," he sighed, turning back 
 again into the little room. " Quite so, my dear 
 Lavallais Canardin ! The Brignon of those old 
 days at Clermont College, now long the Canardin
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 9 
 
 of general notice, whose company you have 
 courted so long. Since the police gave me that 
 name, I have refused to acknowledge any other." 
 
 " Canardin? " Scarcely believing his ears, 
 and even less his eyes, young Lavallais looked his 
 man up and down. 
 
 "Aye, Canardin. ' Can it be possible ! ' you 
 say. It is incredible. Yet here I am, the man 
 whose capture would make your name, your for- 
 tune, your place at court ! A hundred times you 
 have almost had me. Now I blunder in on you, 
 with equal surprise to us both. Admit, my dear 
 Lavallais, this is droll, is it not? And you do 
 not offer me even a chair! What! Only one 
 chair in your apartment, Lavallais? I must or- 
 der you one. A gilded one, to match your 
 deserts." 
 
 Coolly occupying the solitary chair in the 
 room, Canardin fanned himself with his plumed 
 hat. 
 
 " The couch for you, Lavallais, if you must 
 sit," he fared on. " For myself I must confess I 
 am a bit tired. My profession " and again the 
 low laugh of a man who had not a care in the 
 world " takes me well into the night, as you see. 
 And I have been kept very busy of late. But 
 you " Canardin let his eyes rove over the
 
 10 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 papers on the table at his side. They rested, 
 finally, where his hand soon came to rest, on the 
 bag of gold. " I observe you also toil by night. 
 And by all the signs, your toil is not altogether in 
 vain! for all the cracks in your walls." He 
 glanced about with an air mocking and critical. 
 
 " If if you mean the money," Lavallais stut- 
 tered, and hastened out a hand toward it in futile 
 protection, " it it is none of mine." 
 
 "Then I may take it with the better conscience. 
 It would distress me to have you object." 
 
 "Ah, no ! My dear Brignon ! Kill me if you 
 must " 
 
 " My dear fellow ! I do not, precisely, make a 
 habit of killing. It is nearly always an acci- 
 dent." 
 
 "But but leave the money to its rightful 
 owner, Brignon! Else my name is blackened 
 completely ! " 
 
 " Come, come, Lavallais ; you tremble ! When 
 I mean you no harm." The great fellow rose 
 and laid his hands on Lavallais's shoulders, with 
 a playful pinch by way of displaying his strength 
 when he wished. " Surely one may have his lit- 
 tle jest? What! Harm a hair on the head of 
 an old chum at college? How little you know 
 your Canardin! Besides, my dear Lavallais,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 11 
 
 you no longer have so much hair to harm ! " 
 Laughingly Canardin brushed a hand over the 
 scanty locks of his host. " Come ! Am I not the 
 very making of you, Lavallais? Think! To- 
 morrow you will be able to stroll into the tavern 
 for your stoup, and you will drop the words, air- 
 ily, this way ' Canardin? Ah, I have been close 
 indeed on his trail, that Canardin! And no 
 longer ago than last night.' Then you will yawn 
 over the sensation you have created. They will 
 demand to know more. In two weeks they will 
 make you procureur-general. Have you not 
 looked to Canardin to make your reputation ever 
 since you entered the law? Well! Here I am. 
 You have touched the very hand of Canardin. 
 You are a made man. Yet you tremble like a 
 leaf! Or is it from joy? Come, come, my dear 
 Lavallais" another shake of the shoulders 
 " do you not owe me a bit of hospitality for all 
 this? Where is your wine, your cheese? Surely 
 a notary will have a hunk of cheese hidden some- 
 where, a morsel of bread." 
 
 Lavallais sank back upon his cot, in relief as 
 much as amazement, as he watched this hunted 
 man, long and eagerly sought by half the forces 
 of France, stalk about the room as if he had all 
 of eternity at his disposal, and leisurely rum-
 
 12 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 mage the cupboard. In a moment Canardin re- 
 turned to the table, bearing his prize of a loaf of 
 bread and a lump of the expected cheese, which 
 he set down on the table with an arch look, to 
 draw attention to his sagacity. A pitcher also 
 he had taken down, having first smelled of its 
 contents and then gingerly tasted them. 
 
 " Ah ! " Canardin smacked his lips in exquisite 
 irony. " Milk ! Excellent for the nerves, my 
 dear Lavallais; excellent for the nerves! And 
 now " with his cheeks still rounded with the 
 bread and cheese, he sank into the chair again, 
 his feet sprawled out at ease before him " now, 
 my friend, let me help myself also to a bit of your 
 talk. You have been niggardly with it. I must 
 say, my dear Lavallais, you are a sparing host." 
 
 Driven to collect himself, Lavallais strove, 
 though it cost him an effort, to steady his voice. 
 " My dear Brignon or Canardin, I beg your 
 pardon this is droll, as you say. I am sorry 
 you have been so poorly entertained. Perhaps if 
 
 you understood I am indeed obliged to you 
 
 for your visit. It is " Lavallais laughed nerv- 
 ously " even stranger than you know. Even 
 more droll. I I doubt, however, if your call 
 will mean to me all that you are kind enough to 
 predict. When you entered " he faltered,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 13 
 
 and ended by pointing to the papers on the table. 
 " See? " He rose and selected a sheet lying 
 uppermost. 
 
 " Indeed ! " Languidly Canardin accepted the 
 proffered paper. " What have we here? You 
 haven't " he raised two twinkling eyes before 
 reading " been rifling some small estate; my 
 dear boy? " 
 
 " Far from that ! " 
 
 Canardin sighed. "What a pity! I was on 
 the edge of proposing a partnership. As men of 
 
 the same mind, Lavallais However ! " He 
 
 turned his attention to the paper and read for a 
 space, until he exclaimed, "As I live ! " and again 
 bent a quick glance upon the ashen face of Laval- 
 lais. 
 
 " I take it, you see," Lavallais laughed uneas- 
 ily, " I am little likely to interfere with any plans 
 of yours." 
 
 Canardin returned to the paper and read on. 
 "So! Can it be! The last fond farewell, it 
 would seem. You, Lavallais! The calm, col- 
 lected, irreproachable Lavallais! You were on 
 the point of something desperate. You hired 
 this poor place for the purpose. My dear fel- 
 low ! " Tossing aside the paper, Canardin 
 started up and grasped the hands of his friend,
 
 14 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 and still heightened that worthy's astonishment. 
 " I congratulate you ! No one is so fully alive as 
 the man about to kill himself. He has served 
 notice. He has proclaimed that he will not be 
 run over. He has treated life to his contempt. 
 But wait ! " He shook Lavallais as he would a 
 boy. " It is the very moment to begin ! Have 
 you not thrown an alarm into the world? Have 
 you not warned it to beware of you? From now 
 on it has to do with a man of spirit. Come ! Sit 
 there and tell me all ! But one moment ! " 
 
 Canardin adjusted himself comfortably in the 
 solitary chair. " Now ! Yet perhaps I can guess 
 it. She has refused your hand. She has held 
 you worthless. And you were about to add final 
 proof to her estimate! What folly! To con- 
 found a proud woman, one has only to live on. 
 And, if possible, remain at a distance. That pre- 
 caution, Lavallais, you will notice, has been 
 taken by all the poets." Canardin laughed 
 gently, but by no means merrily, it seemed to 
 Lavallais. For a moment, Canardin himself was 
 silent. "However," he collected himself, "the 
 sex has survived worse affronts than that! Be- 
 sides, it is precisely as they say. Woman in- 
 spires to higher things. To-night one of them 
 inspired me to the very roofs of Paris. Turn
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 15 
 
 where I pleased, there was her coach at my heels, 
 and her mocking smile at the window. Among 
 all those who have honored me with their pur- 
 suit, my dear Lavallais, none has interested me 
 so much. I must learn who she is " Canardin 
 yawned, as Lavallais thought, to cover something 
 " and er make her way less difficult. But 
 forgive me ! " His absent air had vanished. " It 
 is your troubles that concern us. And I may be 
 amiss. The gold on the table here it is not 
 enough by half to satisfy the old usurer. So you 
 would let him bully others by pointing to your 
 horrid example. Very well. Where is this fowl 
 usurer? I have a way with such fellows." 
 
 "No, my dear Canardin," Lavallais laughed, 
 "it is not " 
 
 " i My dear Canardin ! ' That is good. Laval- 
 lais, as a host you are improving ! " 
 
 " It is not as you suppose," Lavallais was 
 forced to laugh in spite of himself. 
 
 "What! It is worse? Lavallais, I begin to 
 think well of you. France will some day have a 
 capable servant in you ! But on my word, Laval- 
 lais " Canardin slapped his thigh " you docile 
 members of an orderly society bring me to the 
 blush. Fie on you, Lavallais ! " 
 
 Sheepishly, perhaps a little nervously, and still
 
 16 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 in spite of himself, Lavallais joined in the laugh- 
 ter at his own expense. " I have to confess that 
 I I am at present a good deal distraught. I 
 could see no other way out of it. As you say, it 
 is droll in the extreme. That I should be driven 
 
 to appeal to you Yet you, as a man " 
 
 " Finish it ! As a man of resource. Go on." 
 
 " As a man of infinite resource," Lavallais 
 
 laughed, " and acquainted with the world, might 
 
 for the sake of old times " 
 
 ^ Offer you a bit of advice. I know of no one, 
 my dear Lavallais, to whom a notary might bet- 
 ter go for advice ! " Canardin chuckled, and now 
 sat up alert in the chair. " I thank you for the 
 opportunity. Because I have a favor to ask in 
 return, and! " again the chuckle " to make sure 
 of my boon before you do away with yourself, I'll 
 ask my favor first. What do you say, Lavallais? 
 Give me a haven here for the night. For the 
 sake of old times. The phrase is your own. It 
 will amuse us both. I like now and then to be 
 on terms with decent society. Besides, I confess 
 I am weary. It is not that I am, strictly speak- 
 ing, a popular fellow. I happen only to be a 
 man very much sought. But come, now! To- 
 night we suspend everything. What do you say? 
 I do not rob you in your sleep, and you forget
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 17 
 
 you are a candidate for procureur- general. To- 
 morrow you take up the chase again. I must ask 
 you to forego killing yourself. The blame would 
 be sure to fall upon me. They would say, i What ! 
 He spares not even an old chum at college ! ' I 
 cannot allow it. To-night, as I say to-night " 
 and Lavallais looked up sharply at the catch 
 in Canar din's voice " to-night we are old college 
 chums again. What do you say? "
 
 CHAPTER H 
 
 TO this, then, had come the lovable boy Brig- 
 non of college days! Brignon the ready 
 wit, the born leader, adored by none so much as 
 by Lavallais himself in those days at Clermont! 
 Brignon the prankish, the splendidly daring 
 youth, now, as a man, feared and yet secretly 
 admired by half of France for his feats of mag- 
 nificent bravado. For an instant Lavallais 
 sought to make himself believe that here before 
 him sat the renowned Canardin, this casual vis- 
 itor of midnight or later, this figure so robustious 
 and good-humored, his philosophy so taking, his 
 mien so polished, his attire so elegant, his fame 
 so frightening. Browned like a peasant by life 
 in the open, he carried himself like a prince. One 
 moment devilish, the next debonair. His wit 
 was the despair of his pursuers, and the secret 
 delight of the country. Often his hunters them- 
 selves had perforce laughed at his humor in elud- 
 ing their best laid plans for his taking ! For a 
 long, long moment Lavallais sat and studied 
 him.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 19 
 
 " Good ! " Canardin caught Mm up on Ms 
 silence. " You agree, my dear Lavallais. It is 
 settled. To-night we are friends." As if in im- 
 mense relief, the strange man sprawled more laz- 
 ily in his chair, rested a careless arm on the table, 
 and more careless still his hand rested calmly on 
 the bag of money. " Now begin on your woes. 
 But I warn you not to make me laugh over loud. 
 There are plenty of ears about. So ! l It is true 
 that she loves me. Yet do what I will, my honest 
 toil brings in too little to suit the stern parent.' 
 I give you my word, Lavallais " Canardin's 
 head was lolling to and fro on the back of the 
 chair, in utter despair of the world "these 
 stern parents discourage me. But if your story 
 is to be very long, and very sad, perhaps we had 
 better exchange places. In my present state I 
 have a sudden fancy for your cot. There I may 
 possibly stifle my sobs with a sheet." 
 
 They solemnly exchanged places, according to 
 Canardin's direction. 
 
 " Now," he sighed. " Have at it ! " 
 
 Whatever the state of his mind, the young no- 
 tary was obliged to laugh at these vagaries of his 
 visitor. " You guess very shrewdly, Canardin," 
 he fetched forth at length. " The lady does love 
 me. We were about to be married. The rest of
 
 20 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 the tale is brief enough. It is not the parent, but 
 an uncle. The lady is an orphan, and the uncle 
 is her guardian. Six days ago he sent me back 
 to Paris with two bags of gold containing a thou- 
 sand pistoles each, to settle a debt of his which 
 was due. Naturally I was honored to have him 
 place in my hands a trust of such importance and 
 was eager to fulfill it punctually. But in the 
 coach on the way hither from Meaux I fell in 
 with a friend. In the middle of the day we 
 halted at an inn for refreshment. Perhaps we 
 grew a bit giddy. This fellow very kindly, I 
 thought offered to help me guard such a sum of 
 money. ' Canardin, you must remember, is at 
 large in these parts,' he reminded me." 
 
 Lavallais paused for a moment's laugh. " But 
 while we were at table the fellow excused himself 
 to consult a lawyer friend who, he had just dis- 
 covered, was about the inn. I never suspected 
 that under his cloak he carried away one of my 
 bags of gold. And I never saw him again. 
 When I had waited an hour, a valet brought me 
 a note from him, which said that Fate had dashed 
 all his hopes of making a fortune for himself with 
 my kind assistance. Instead, he had lost all the 
 money at lasquenet, and was on the way to the 
 Seine to drown himself."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 21 
 
 " Well," Canardin smiled languidly. " That's 
 reasonable. Such things will happen in life. 
 Cannot the uncle understand that? " 
 
 Lavallais made a wry face. " He takes him- 
 self to be reasonable enough. And indeed he is. 
 I have had until ten o'clock to-morrow morning 
 to make good the loss. Otherwise the marriage 
 is broken off. Such a sum I cannot of 
 course " 
 
 " Hence the fond note of farewell ! I see." 
 Canardin drawled it out, as if from the depths 
 of boredom, hence Lavallais's eyes missed the 
 swift but genuinely tender smile bent upon him. 
 Or was it that Canardin was truly amused at a 
 disaster so trifling? " I tell you, Lavallais," he 
 drawled on mockingly, " I have all I can do to 
 forgive that uncle of yours. What asses these 
 uncles are ! They marry their nieces to clowns. 
 The clowns go through the money, as clowns al- 
 ways do ; and the uncles are profoundly gratified. 
 So long as the money is lost through stupidity, in 
 the regular way, all is well." 
 
 Even more languidly Canardin rolled to his 
 side, so that, out of the corner of his eye, he 
 might enjoy the notary's wilted posture as he sat 
 by the table. 
 
 " I rather expected a little more excitement,
 
 22 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 you know? " lie laughed. " It's my settled belief, 
 Lavallais, that the only real crime in the world 
 is a tame story. However, for the sake of the 
 dear lady, suppose we see what can be done. 
 Here ! " Of a sudden Canardin sat up on the 
 couch and removed from his finger a ring of tar- 
 nished gold with a stone of green jade. " Take 
 this." He held out the talisman to Lavallais, 
 and now spoke rapidly. 
 
 "Listen, if you please. At seven o'clock to- 
 morrow morning you will go to the Kue Beau- 
 chaine. You know where it is? From the alley 
 near the end of that street, count nine houses. 
 At the tenth house you will climb to the sixth 
 floor and find a door with a boar's hoof nailed to 
 the panel. An old woman will answer your 
 knock. Show her the ring and she will take you 
 to the rear of the house. There you will meet a 
 humpbacked old man with a long gray beard. 
 Show him the slip of paper I am about to give 
 you." 
 
 Without altogether leaving the couch, Can- 
 ardin lurched forward to the table, tore off a cor- 
 ner of parchment, laid it upon his knee, and be- 
 gan scribbling a string of undecipherable char- 
 acters across it. 
 
 " Let us call that gentleman," Canardin smiled,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 23 
 
 "my banker. He will give you the money you 
 need. The ring you will present with my com- 
 pliments to your bride on her wedding day. It 
 is not to be worn, or shown, except in emergency. 
 If it is shown, my dear Lavallais, you might be 
 somewhat embarrassed by the attentions of my 
 willing followers. Guard that ring as one 
 guards a wife. You know, Lavallais " the 
 drawl returned, as Canardin still scribbled on 
 " I rather fancy the ladies, from a distance. 
 Their little whims are so engaging. On that 
 very account, however, they seem not to fit into 
 my scheme. Now ! " he ended, with a final nour- 
 ish to the paper. "Any more sad stories in your 
 life, my dear Lavallais? " 
 
 " But, Canardin, the money " 
 
 " Where does it come from, you mean? " Can- 
 ardin yawned once more. "From other stupid 
 uncles. Why shouldn't they even up each other's 
 stupidity? They ought to thank me for perform- 
 ing in their name an act of kindness no one of 
 them would think of doing for himself. And 
 now " Canardin sank back and settled himself 
 into a more comfortable hollow in the cot " let's 
 get back to old times, dear Lavallais. Tell me 
 something of our old Clermont lads. Chevaunne, 
 where is he? Cowardly boy, he was, I remember,
 
 24 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 always shivering in fear of a licking. What has 
 he come to? " 
 
 " He's in the foreign service, I think." 
 
 " That's because he must have borrowed a sou 
 and was nervous about remaining in France. 
 And that sneaking, crafty boy, with the fiery hair 
 we always called him the strawberry plant, 
 you recall what ever became of him? " 
 
 " Trevours, you mean? I believe he has an im- 
 portant post at court." 
 
 " Yes, Trevours. That's the name. Serves him 
 right! I always knew he would come to some 
 bad end. And what is his position at court? " 
 
 " He is Governor of Paris now." 
 
 Canardin lifted his head, for a moment, in in- 
 terest. " Indeed ! I must see that Trevours has 
 something to do. Hist ! " 
 
 Lavallais never really was certain that he had 
 seen Canardin move, so swiftly, so noiselessly 
 was it done. He simply sat open-mouthed and 
 became aware of the fact that in a single second 
 Canardin had ceased to be a lolling sluggard on 
 the cot, and was instantaneously a tense figure 
 with a pistol in each hand, quick with excite- 
 ment, and watching the door, yet careful always 
 to keep behind the candle. For a space there 
 was silence in the room. Then Canardin began
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 25 
 
 issuing orders, but in a voice scarcely above a 
 whisper. 
 
 " You hear them? The hounds ! They suspect 
 your light. In a moment they will investigate. 
 I thought I heard a creak on the lower stair. Go 
 to the window, Lavallais. No, don't rush. Saun- 
 ter there. Look up at the stars. No, no, man! 
 Let the candle burn. If you douse it, they will 
 be certain! Do as I say. Seem unconcerned. 
 My life depends upon it, Lavallais. And your 
 own good name. Now ! Open the window as if 
 for a breath of air. One moment! Wait! I 
 have just thought. If you do it badly, Lavallais, 
 remember this; I am here by no invitation of 
 yours. You are not to blame; you are not com- 
 promised. Explain that to them. Now, then! 
 Up with the window. If they challenge you, an- 
 swer. And as you love life, Lavallais, keep your 
 voice steady ! Now ! " 
 
 In a tremble, less from fear than from a thrill 
 of welcome excitement in his studious life, Laval- 
 lais did as he was bidden. Stationing himself at 
 the window, he lazily raised his arms to stretch 
 them, carefully examined the stars for a moment, 
 and then opened the sash as if for air. In the 
 street below he could mark the dim forms of 
 thirty men or more in the shadows of the houses,
 
 26 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 although he affected not to see them. Instead 
 he appeared to become lost in rapt contemplation 
 of the dissipated half of an old moon then begin- 
 ning to peer above the roof lines. A minute he 
 stood so, when a voice, in a silvery falsetto, 
 floated up from below. 
 
 "What ho, pale poet! Art keeping a tryst 
 with the Lady Luna? The old jade keeps you to 
 ungodly hours in her amours, it would seem." 
 
 "Ah ! " Lavallais looked down as if in the 
 greatest surprise. " Good morrow, my dear 
 Marshal of France ! " he called, in admirable 
 good humor. 
 
 A peal of soft laughter rose from the street. 
 " Thanks for the well-merited promotion, my 
 sovereign. How goes the rondeau? Shall I toss 
 you up a couplet? " 
 
 "A biscuit would be better," said Lavallais 
 fervently. 
 
 " Bravo ! " Canardin was approving behind 
 him, his voice safely covered in the laughter from 
 the street at Lavallais's happy sally. 
 
 " How goes the empire, Protector of France? " 
 the young notary was adding. " That's a brave 
 band you have there. What's the alarm? " 
 
 "Need a few more lackeys at your table, do 
 you, my monarch? Sorry I have none to spare."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 27 
 
 " But what an army you muster for a peace- 
 ful night!" 
 
 " It is France, Monsieur, on guard over your 
 roundelays ! " 
 
 "And to-morrow you'll charge me the devil of 
 a price for your guard, in taxes ! " 
 
 Windows in all the houses round about now 
 were opened, and sleepy heads in pointed night- 
 caps were thrust out in query. " Taxes? " a 
 thick voice called from one of them. " Do they 
 now collect taxes at this hour of the night? To 
 what is France coming ! " 
 
 Leaning far out of the window, as he was at 
 this juncture, Lavallais missed Canardin's quick 
 start behind him, as a new voice now spoke from 
 the guard in the street, a voice rasping and 
 deep, and very evidently accustomed to the ac- 
 cent of command. 
 
 " You all tax my patience ! " it said. " Go 
 back to your beds, good people. Your taxes are 
 well spent. Be glad you have us to protect your 
 sleep, your purses, your very lives ! " 
 
 "Alackaday ! " from somewhere a girl cried 
 out. " Has something happened? " 
 
 "Happened? Oh, no!" the captain of the 
 guard retorted. "Nothing has happened! Noth- 
 ing but Canardin. He passed this way to-night."
 
 28 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Canardin! " The dread name was chorused 
 in awed tones from a score of windows. " Can- 
 ardin, did he say? " And down crashed all 
 the sashes in unison, Lavallais's along with them, 
 since he saw it to be a good opportunity to with- 
 draw. 
 
 " Well done, my good friend ! " Canardin pro- 
 nounced, when he could cease from chuck- 
 ling. 
 
 " You approve, Canardin? " 
 
 " Approve? Lavallais, it was masterly ! Now, 
 out with the light." And as Lavallais did so, 
 Canardin laid his pistols on the table, stretched 
 his arms, let forth a hearty yawn, and made his 
 way in the rising moonlight to the cot again. 
 " What was it we were saying, my dear Laval- 
 lais? " came the now familiar drawl. "Ah, yes. 
 School days. Sit down and tell me. Chevaunne, 
 you say, went into the foreign service." 
 
 " But is it all over down there below, do you 
 think? " 
 
 " Oh, they're all off to bed at home, precious 
 glad I saved them a bit of real trouble to-night. 
 To-morrow they'll be bragging to their wives of 
 how narrowly they missed me. That boy, Jean 
 de Braille, at Clermont. You remember him, 
 Lavallais? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 29 
 
 " I believe he is in the Ministry of State. And 
 rising there. He left us all far behind." 
 
 " In the Ministry of State? Ah." Canardin 
 thought a moment, then smiled strangely. "I 
 always liked that Jean. Bare lad he was. Twice 
 I filched his jam tarts; he knew it, and never 
 once did he tell. But that insolent pup surely 
 you recall him, Lavallais? then the Baron, but 
 now, I believe, the Due de Morbihan." At this 
 recollection Canardin tossed back his head, held 
 his sides, and passed a full minute in one of his 
 bursts of low laughter. " Do you know what has 
 become of him? " 
 
 " He's living on his various estates, I suppose." 
 
 " And bored to death on all of them? Not he, 
 my dear Lavallais. Let me tell you something 
 droll. That quick deep voice from the captain 
 of the guard down below you remember it? 
 That, my dear Lavallais will you believe it? 
 was his excellency, the Due de Morbihan ! " 
 
 "You don't " 
 
 " I do mean precisely what I say. He does me 
 the honor of his pursuit. He, the Due de Morbi- 
 han now ardently courts my society! Under 
 pretense of public spirit in the service of France, 
 he is privately working off a personal grudge. 
 Not that he wouldn't kill me for his own sake, if
 
 30 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 I should let him ; but it is so much less vulgar to 
 do so as an officer of France, you see." 
 
 " But what grudge can the Due de Morbi- 
 han " 
 
 " Have against me? Oh, more than one. On 
 a night last week, for example, I happened to be 
 in bad humor and burned down one of his cha- 
 teaux. That is to say, I relieved him of a need- 
 less expense. It is only one of many little kind- 
 nesses I have paid him since those days at col- 
 lege. Do you know, Lavallais, it sometimes oc- 
 curs to me, Clermont must have been organized 
 purposely to teach the youth of France how to 
 capture Canardin." 
 
 Lazily Lavallais's visitor removed his waist- 
 coat. A ray of moonlight laid a still whiter 
 stripe across his silken white shirt. But here he 
 paused in his evident preparations for a quiet 
 night, and his dark eyes blazed. 
 
 " Lavallais, do you recall the incident at Cler- 
 mont when I stole the honey pots belonging to 
 the principal himself? You remember, then, 
 when I was caught, all the boys were privileged 
 to give me a beating in turn. Little I cared ! I 
 had had the honey. But De Morbihan! That 
 was a brutal lacing he gave me. I remember his 
 insolence. Well he might lay it on. The privi-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 31 
 
 lege was his, and I was obliged to take whatever 
 he gave. At that, it wasn't his blows that hurt 
 me ; it was that manner of his. As if he had an 
 immemorial right to be lashing such fellows as I. 
 That manner of his, my dear Lavallais, sent me 
 down what is called a career of crime. Till then 
 I had stolen for amusement. From that moment 
 I took a lash of my own in hand. By the way " 
 Canardin broke off abruptly " here's a pile of 
 my clothing." He tossed out the various articles 
 of his discarded attire. " Spread them out on 
 the floor, and lie on them, and be comfortable. 
 They'll make a capital bed." 
 
 Coolly Canardin adjusted the coverlet about 
 himself on the cot, meanwhile. 
 
 "After all, Lavallais, I'm rather clever in my 
 way. I might have had a career in your precious 
 society. If it had let me! But it was hunger, 
 Lavallais, that broke me. Always I seem to re- 
 member that hunger. My parents were rich 
 enough, but they were bourgeois, and had no ap- 
 preciation of genius. Their notion of sending a 
 boy down the right path was to see him well 
 starved. I took the direction they indicated! 
 They have made me a man of wealth. As a young 
 man should, I have learned something from the 
 precepts of my parents. Even so "
 
 32 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Canardin let forth another prodigious yawn. 
 
 " Even so I might, as you say, have done well 
 in the world. But the hunger of boyhood is 
 nothing to the hunger of manhood. That is a 
 hunger not of the stomach but of the head, a 
 hunger for opportunity, for a place in the world. 
 Well, after all, that has not been denied me, you 
 observe." 
 
 Lavallais sat listening in his chair, dumb un- 
 der the spell of this strange philosopher, this 
 explosive personality. 
 
 " The world," he heard the smooth, deep voice 
 coming out of the shadows, " has treated me pre- 
 cisely like my fond parents. I was a bourgeois, 
 and it proceeded to starve me. I had brains; I 
 had ambition. That is the combination that 
 runs the world. Yet look how we treat it ! If a 
 man is crafty and sour, he becomes a Eichelieu. 
 If he has a sense of humor, he becomes an honest 
 brigand like me. Pah! I merely take what is 
 just from brigands less honest than I. I merely 
 toss aside the dry rules of your society, which 
 always go wrong, and administer a plain justice 
 of my own. It is true that when some stubborn 
 individual has raised objections, I have been 
 obliged to reduce him to silence. But I, my good 
 Lavallais, I am myself a society. You agree? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 33 
 
 Canardin glanced down at the quiet figure now 
 huddled on the floor beside him. 
 
 " The fool is asleep ! " he laughed lightly and 
 rolled over. " How I have raved ! " 
 
 When Lavallais awoke, he was astonished to 
 find himself still prone on the hard floor, but 
 alone. His guest was gone. So also was gone 
 all the clothing to Lavallais's name. Nothing 
 remained to him except the rumpled finery which 
 had formed his very indifferent bed, belonging to 
 the most celebrated robber in France. Yet on 
 the bag of gold, which he found untouched, lay a 
 note that ran : 
 
 I am sure, my dear Lavallais, you will pardon 
 my theft of your coat and breeches. It must 
 please you to think of me in the guise of an hon- 
 est man at last. Besides, it was the one way left 
 me to get out of the street. 
 
 On my part it pleases me to think of you in 
 possession of my clothing. You will find it a 
 valuable clue as you resume the chase. You 
 have only to carry it to the nearest guard house 
 to become the talk of all France. I leave you to 
 fashion the story of how you got it. 
 
 Adieu, my dear Lavallais. May we meet 
 again, under circumstances as happy. 
 
 Your devoted 
 
 CANABDIN. 
 
 On that morning the wit of Monsieur Laval- 
 lais, the rising young notary, was sorely taxed
 
 34 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 for an answer to one or more extremely vexing 
 questions. Should he carefully blow out his 
 brains, as he had planned to do on the previous 
 evening? Or should he consent to live on, pay 
 the unreasonable uncle, attain fame, and marry 
 the lady of his choice, on stolen money received 
 from the foremost thief of France? For some 
 time young Monsieur Lavallais, twirling his in- 
 cipient mustachios, paced to and fro in the 
 narrow confines of his garret, wrestling with 
 these trying problems. In the end the lover in 
 Monsieur Lavallais came to a decision, leaving 
 the notary in Monsieur Lavallais to excuse such 
 conduct as he could. Monsieur Lavallais the 
 lover decided to live. 
 
 It was no great trick to him to contrive some 
 means of leaving his lodging, although he was 
 obliged to laugh heartily at the prank played 
 upon him as he turned inside out the garments 
 left by Canardin. The resulting garb was a mot- 
 ley of blue silk and pink satin linings, but these 
 his ingenuity easily concealed under a cloak 
 somewhat in the Spanish style, fashioned from 
 an old gray blanket. 
 
 Thus was his body clothed; but what about a 
 cloak for his morals? Here too ingenuity was 
 not long wanting. That powerful logic which is
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 35 
 
 habitual to a notary's mind quickly came to his 
 aid. 
 
 This note of exchange which Canardin had left 
 him, this too might be part of the hoax, it is 
 true. At the same time it occurred to Monsieur 
 Lavallais, the future public prosecutor, that he 
 might as well test its value. Moreover, on pre- 
 senting it at the address given, he might obtain 
 the most valuable evidence in pursuit of his cele- 
 brated quarry ! And in obtaining such evidence 
 against the master thief, would he not be per- 
 forming a great disinterested service to his king 
 and his country? 
 
 Accordingly Monsieur Lavallais, young notary 
 and future prosecutor, set out for the Rue Beau- 
 chaine and found it in a neighborhood where 
 the strange character of his attire was little 
 likely to attract unfavorable attention. The few 
 persons in the street were even more outlandishly 
 garbed than he. The tenth house beyond the 
 alley was truly there, and at the back of the sixth 
 floor was the door with the boar's foot nailed to 
 the panel. Precisely as Canardin had promised, 
 the old woman admitted him ; and, in a word, he 
 came away with a bag of gold, let it be under- 
 stood, as evidence against Canardin solely. 
 
 Having returned to his garret study with this
 
 36 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 prize, Monsieur Lavallais, the notary, proceeded 
 to weigh the evidence. He first counted the 
 evidence. The thousand pistoles were all 
 there. 
 
 Monsieur Lavallais then began to consider his 
 own situation. Here was a rising young notary, 
 who had before him, as public prosecutor, a bril- 
 liant future, this on the word of possibly the 
 highest authority in France. This young notary 
 had a sacred duty to perform. Had he not been 
 commissioned by an uncle to discharge a solemn 
 obligation? That obligation sternly called for 
 satisfaction. Before Monsieur Lavallais, lying 
 there on his table, was the means of satisfying 
 that obligation. Much else would it satisfy, in- 
 deed. There was an uncle's reputation, which it 
 would sustain. There was a creditor's just dues, 
 which it would meet. Was there not, truly, a 
 certain purification of money, whatever its 
 source, in putting it to such honorable uses? 
 
 If, after all this, Monsieur Lavallais still had 
 doubts on the subject, he had only to look ahead. 
 Suppose he used the money and paid the debt. 
 A needy creditor would be happy in the receipt of 
 his money at last. An uncle's reputation would 
 be secure. Monsieur Lavallais's own personal 
 probity would be vindicated. And all this being
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 37 
 
 so, the way was unexpectedly clear to to a re- 
 turn to the favor of Cecile. 
 
 Cecile! Ah, yes! There you have the most 
 potent logic of all. Monsieur Lavallais turned it 
 over in his mind. Could the happiness of C6cile 
 be forgotten? Did it not outweigh every other 
 consideration? What silly demand of ethics 
 could rise superior to the claims of a woman! 
 Monsieur Lavallais the notary, as well as Mon- 
 sieur Lavallais the lover decided to make use of 
 the money. 
 
 With six pistoles from the bag he had just re- 
 ceived, he risked the ridicule of the streets to 
 visit a near-by tailor, with a fantastic story of 
 having been robbed of all his clothing. A tailor, 
 however, asks few questions of a customer with 
 six golden pistoles in his hand. Moreover, this 
 too seemed to Monsieur Lavallais only part of the 
 logic of his case. Who but Canardin should be 
 the one to replace his stolen garments? 
 
 In his new finery, Monsieur Lavallais next 
 hired a coach and set out with the two bags of 
 pistoles to satisfy his uncle's debt. A creditor 
 receiving the payment of money is apt to be in a 
 cheerful frame of mind. When the man who 
 comes to pay a debt arrives in a coach, with every 
 evidence of rank and importance, your creditor is
 
 38 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 not in a mood to quibble over discounts. As a 
 result of his happy visit to his uncle's creditor, 
 Monsieur Lavallais came away the logical pos- 
 sessor of a receipt in full to return to the uncle, 
 and his pockets jingling with the proceeds of a 
 discount of ten pistoles and as logical a commis- 
 sion of ten pistoles besides. Deducting the six 
 pistoles of the discount which he had spent in 
 advance, quite as logically, this left him a bal- 
 ance of fourteen pieces of money to support his 
 dignity until he should earn some more. 
 
 The next step, as Monsieur Lavallais reasoned, 
 was to rush off to Meaux and present himself and 
 his happy account to C6cile. This he forthwith 
 did, yet not without misgivings.
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 AS the good folk in the little street where 
 Lavallais had found his garret were now 
 accustomed to the early beginning of his days, 
 Canardin fetched no more than the usual number 
 of curious faces to the windows when he himself 
 sallied forth, at an unripe hour that same morn- 
 ing, from Lavallais's doorway. Without recourse 
 to notarial logic, Canardin well knew, from long 
 experience, as from the instinct of his kind, that 
 for security and retirement no place would better 
 suit him than the more crowded thoroughfares of 
 Paris. He therefore bent his steps in the direc- 
 tion of the Seine and its quays. And inasmuch 
 as an amiable little scheme, one not without its 
 amusing features, had suddenly fashioned itself 
 in his head, he hummed a little tune as he strode 
 along. 
 
 Not even by design itself could Lavallais's garb 
 have better fitted in with the scene of Canardin's 
 choice. It is true that across Canardin's ample 
 shoulders the notary's well-worn coat sat some- 
 what close, and the even closer fit of the breeches
 
 40 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 lent an element of hazard to the habitual length 
 of his stride. Yet here again accident served 
 even better than purpose. Canardin but looked 
 more truly the notary in looking the more indif- 
 ferently clothed. And by means of a slight 
 stoop he learned he could both ease the pinch and 
 heighten the semblance. 
 
 In one particular only did Canardin depart at 
 length from the fidelity of his impersonation. 
 After a time, finding the dozen or more coppers 
 in Lavaillais's pockets somewhat fewer than he 
 was accustomed to by habit and taste, he first 
 paid a visit of his own to the Hue Beauchaine 
 and to the door with the boar's hoof nailed to 
 the panel. It only remains to say that the 
 plentiful supply of money he carried away 
 pleased him less than the fright he left behind 
 with his "banker." That humped old rascal, 
 used as he was to Canardin's caprices, was like 
 to die of a fit at sight of a caller at that hour in 
 the garb of a man of the law. And it need 
 scarcely be added that Canardin, a capital come- 
 dian whenever he pleased, made the most of his 
 moment. 
 
 " Well, well, old watchdog," he laughed, when 
 he had disclosed himself at last, "old human ques- 
 tion-mark ! The lone man in the world that I'd
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 41 
 
 scruple to knock down! A sound man in your 
 shoes would have died long ago from my thumps 
 of approval on his back. But let's come at once 
 to your one concern in life. How stands the 
 level in the coffers this morning? " 
 
 " Melting away like butter ! Well enough you 
 ought to know, my chief. These widows and or- 
 phans will be the ruin of you. How often have 
 I been obliged to warn you of that weakness ! " 
 
 "Yes, yes, old Bonbouche. But you forget. 
 A pillar of society like myself has his responsi- 
 bilities. This morning, perhaps a little earlier, 
 did a ?" 
 
 " He did ! He came and he went. Early. 
 Not an hour ago. And with him went a thou- 
 sand pistoles, no less. But for the paper he bore, 
 in your own code " 
 
 "Quite so. But tell me. How did he look 
 and bear himself? Clothed in the pink of fash- 
 ion, I'll warrant? And calm as a corpse, no 
 doubt? " 
 
 For some minutes Canardin rocked with mer- 
 riment over the description of Lavallais he re- 
 ceived, and refused to be sobered even as the old 
 man closed with the stern demand of his habit, 
 "And now, what luck last night? " 
 
 " Oh, magnificent ! I must tell you." As
 
 42 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Canardin's pockets expanded, his spirits were 
 apt to expand equally, and he now sat down on a 
 chest under the cobwebbed rafters of the garret. 
 " No vast luck with the old potter Joumette, if 
 that's what you mean. A mere thousand livres 
 which, by the by, I was obliged to leave on de- 
 posit along the way. I chanced to be in a hurry, 
 and they were an encumbrance. Besides, that 
 
 same young woman However " Can- 
 
 ardin paused. " But, my good Bonbouche, I am 
 persuaded you are right. The walls of that beg- 
 gar Joumette's house are lined with silver. Not 
 so, however, the cloud over the good man's head ! 
 Will you believe me, for two solid hours I waited 
 in the shadows beside his bed. And for two 
 solid hours his wife kept Joumette and me endur- 
 ing her reproaches. At last I could bear it no 
 longer. 
 
 " ' Canardin,' said I, ' it is your lot to be able 
 to leave. Joumette is not so fortunate/ That 
 woman, Bonbouche, was on the point of robbing 
 me of a thousand livres and my good opinion of 
 her sex. When, suddenly, she began to spout 
 priceless wisdom. They call me a clever fellow, 
 Bonbouche. It is only that I have sharp ears. 
 
 " 'A mere thousand livres you take in to-day ! ' 
 the old harpy howls. ' The merest instalment on
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 43 
 
 Monsieur de Braille's account! And where do 
 you leave it? Safe in the cupboard below! 
 Where any cub apprentice of Monsieur Canardin 
 is like to find it! 7 
 
 " Instantly, Bonbouche, I have an interest in 
 that cupboard. It will do to wait, however. 
 Madame has more to say. Much more. In an- 
 other moment Madame Joumette has recalled my 
 wandering respect for the institution of matri- 
 mony. 
 
 " ' A thousand livres, forsooth ! ' Madame goes 
 on, in the most prodigal good sense. ' Over a 
 thousand livres you rub your hands, as if it were 
 the last full reward of my life's devotion to you ! ' 
 Whereas, Bonbouche, such devotion, you will ad- 
 mit, is priceless. * It is but the month's allow- 
 ance that Guillemont the perfumer allots his 
 wife. But yesterday she showed it me in a 
 drawer of her console. As for Madame Tour- 
 maine and the jewels that litter her escritoire, 
 not to speak of the pecks she wears by day and 
 slips beneath her pillow as if they were nothing, 
 they keep me beggared in merely confessing my 
 sins of envy ! So much for what other husbands 
 do for their wives ! ' 
 
 " I leave it to you, Bonbouche, if it were not 
 my solemn duty to relieve Madame of so many
 
 44 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 temptations to sin, along with the thousand 
 livres. Joumette, I resolved, should enjoy his 
 wife's devotion without the cost of a sou." 
 
 After they had laughed enough over this, the 
 crooked old fellow again reverted to his passion. 
 " But to-morrow, early," he wheedled, " like a 
 good fellow, you will go and pick up the thousand 
 livres from their hiding place." 
 
 " To-morrow," said Canardin, " I shall do no 
 such thing. I have, instead, to-day, a little er 
 rand beside which those thousand livres are as 
 nothing. Joumette and his thousand livres, for- 
 sooth; Madame Tourmaine and her trinkets! 
 Useful, Bonbouche, and yet how petty. Now " 
 Canardin's arms yearned out as if for employ- 
 ment " for a moonlit road in the wilds ; a fat 
 merchant back from Havre and England with 
 half a million about him ; half an army to guard 
 his coach ; lusty guardsmen, too ; half a dozen of 
 my own, and I, to have a parley with Monsieur 
 the merchant ; we encounter objection, we have a 
 difference, a discussion, a dispute, a mele'e ; crack 
 of pistols, cracking of heads ; one last rush and 
 we're away ! That, Bonbouche, is taking proper 
 care of your widows and orphans ! To make up 
 for that, Paris must amuse me. Do you know, 
 my friend," Canardin gave a twirl to his
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 45 
 
 mustachios, a twist to his shoulders " I've ac- 
 quired a sudden taste for polite society." 
 
 " At last ! " Bonbouche sighed. " I've been ex- 
 pecting it ! Woman ! " 
 
 " I wish it were," said Canardin cheerfully. 
 " Instead it's merely a long deferred call. 'Tis a 
 scandal I've not sought him out since college 
 days, that splendid fellow, Jean de Braille ! Es- 
 pecially considering what he can do for me ! " 
 
 "De Braille? Secretary to the King's Coun- 
 cillor, Admiral ? " 
 
 " Even he." 
 
 Instantly the bent old man was on his knees 
 before Canardin. " Master, I beg of you ! Take 
 no such risk ! It is madness ! I shall never see 
 you again ! " 
 
 " Xor any more money? Isn't that your fear, 
 putting it honestly? " 
 
 "But such pranks will be the death of you! 
 Be reasonable! There are feats that even Can- 
 ardin may not bring off! Stick to the widows 
 and orphans, cost us what it may ! " 
 
 " Peace, man ! " said Canardin patiently. " I 
 hadn't completed the tale of the adventure of 
 last night. After I had finished with Monsieur 
 Joumette, his good wife must have heard some- 
 thing. I take it she sleeps with one ear open.
 
 46 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 At any rate the alarm was raised, and I was 
 obliged to hasten. The soldiers were too many 
 for my taste, and once again I had to keep com- 
 pany with the cats. That's to say, on the roofs. 
 The truth is " Canardin snapped his fingers, 
 with less patience again " there's a new wit 
 after me. A woman. I can't quite make her 
 out. She confounds my calculations. Will you 
 believe it, I found in the very pocket of my coat 
 the other morning, a slip of paper in her hand. 
 One word ' Beware ! ' I believe it is she who 
 lends them all the brains they've got. It's clear 
 that I've come afoul of some one. But who, 
 who ! " For a space Canardin paced the floor 
 thoughtfully. " But as to what followed, last 
 
 night, old wolf " He tapped the crooked old 
 
 back, and it was some time before he had recov- 
 ered composure to relate the remainder of the 
 night's events. 
 
 Since, however, we know already what he was 
 about to relate, and shall soon hear more of the 
 new drollery in his mind, it will do to follow 
 Canardin at once that morning, first of all to a 
 bookseller's stall beside the Seine, for the pur- 
 chase of a musty tome to nestle appropriately 
 under his arm and so signify his new calling as a 
 notary.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 47 
 
 Brief as it was, this transaction provided Can- 
 ardin with a moment of interest. " Did I hear 
 you mention Canardin? " he whisked about to 
 demand of a group of passers-by on the quay, for 
 his sharp ear had caught the syllables of his 
 name on their laughing lips. 
 
 " What, friend notary ! " one of them answered. 
 " But no, you gentry of the law would be the last 
 to hear ! " 
 
 " Canardin, yes ! " another was eager to say. 
 " He popped among us again last night. Five 
 hundred soldiery, and Trevours himself raging 
 like a madman at his heels ! And like that ! " 
 a snap of the finger " he vanished from under 
 their very noses ! " 
 
 " What a Frenchman is that ! " still another 
 carried on the comment as they left this sour 
 notary to his business. " I vote him a stipend 
 from the King's treasury! He never fails to 
 pluck the old skinflints we'd all strip if we dared. 
 And he keeps us amused, to boot ! " 
 
 Whereupon Canardin smiled, chiefly at their 
 tribute to his false impersonation. Nevertheless, 
 further to improve that, he next repaired to a 
 barber, where for above an hour he played the 
 notary to the life. When at last Canardin is- 
 sued, satisfied with his appearance, after a shave
 
 48 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 and many other more astonishing operations of 
 the toilet, his naturally abundant hair was po- 
 maded flat to his head and tied in a niggardly tail 
 at the rear; the crumpled, cocked hat of Laval- 
 lais was crammed upon his ears, and any good 
 widow in arrears with her rent would have shiv- 
 ered properly enough at the look he had studi- 
 ously affixed to his face. For a little while 
 longer Canardin went his way afoot among the 
 now swelling crowds upon the quays and the 
 bridges, by way of further testing the faithful- 
 ness of his impersonation, and drew almost 
 a true notary's comfort from the sour and 
 hateful glances of those who noticed him at 
 all. 
 
 Quite assured now in his headlong benevolence, 
 Canardin presently hailed a public coach and 
 had himself boldly driven, first of all to a tavern 
 for breakfast, where he ate like an honest notary 
 who has just settled an estate in fullest accord 
 with the laws of the King. The next address he 
 gave to his coachman was a point no other than 
 the fashionable quarter adjoining the Tuileries 
 palace. Here, on the top step before a mansion 
 in the Rue St. Honore", he fixed a frightened 
 flunkey with the incriminating look proper to a 
 man of the law and announced :
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 49 
 
 "A visitor for Monsieur de Braille if lie is 
 about so early." 
 
 On being assured, with some indignation, that 
 Monsieur kept thus excellent hours, Canardin 
 further astonished the liveried jackanapes with 
 the toss of a golden coin and the dry advice : 
 
 " Discharge my coach on your own terms, and 
 keep the remainder " which naturally meant all 
 but the whole of it. 
 
 A smaller coin sufficed to hurry another flun- 
 key indoors with a card which Canardin had 
 prudently found in one of Lavallais's pockets. 
 Katurally it proclaimed the name and the occu- 
 pation of Armand Lavallais. Canardin was bid- 
 den to follow. Kich eccentrics, whatever their 
 mode of attire, if they are loose with their change, 
 have never wanted for courteous tolerance in any 
 time or clime, and while Canardin was obliged to 
 wait half an hour, his waiting was done in no 
 antechamber. Straight to the bureau of Mon- 
 sieur de Braille, confidential secretary to the 
 Admiral Cantigny, for the moment a member of 
 the King's Council, he was ushered and stood be- 
 fore a cheerful and inviting fire on the hearth. 
 Accustomed as he was, at least for brief periods, 
 to the surroundings of the rich, Canardin seated 
 himself with the patient inquiry :
 
 50 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 "I hope Monsieur will not be long? I find 
 myself pressed for time." 
 
 " Monsieur," said the flunkey, " begs you will 
 excuse him for a few moments while he dismisses 
 a messenger from the King." 
 
 With an air of resignation and the words, "Ah, 
 well," Canardin settled back in his chair, not 
 without note of a jeweled snuff-box on the mantel 
 before him, which, when the flunkey was gone, he 
 slipped into his pocket as a truly priceless souve- 
 nir of his visit. As the wait lengthened out he 
 cast about for what other trifle he might take 
 with him for the sake of remembrance, and was 
 presently attracted to an object promising excep- 
 tional usefulness. On the desk of De Braille, 
 among a pile of dossiers there scattered, his rapid 
 eye fell upon one marked "De Morbihan." 
 Scarcely had Canardin, not troubling at the time 
 to examine his find, slipped it between the pages 
 of his book, when a cheery voice somewhere be- 
 hind him broke into a hail on the hurried opening 
 of a door. 
 
 "Ah, my old friend, Armand! Armand de 
 Lavallais ! To what do I owe this honor? " 
 
 " Not yet De Lavallais, my dear De Braille," 
 Canardin smiled drily, remembering in the nick 
 of time to cut down his natural good nature to
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 51 
 
 the character he had assumed. " Or rather, no 
 longer De Lavallais, since a loose-fisted grand- 
 father mislaid it somewhere in the past." 
 
 " We shall have to find it again ! Or fashion a 
 new one ! " 
 
 " That would be generous. And let us say, 
 useful. Especially to your King. Because that 
 i de ' would be sure to cost me double in taxes," 
 Canardin smiled a little more amply. At the 
 same time he felt his hand taken warmly between 
 both the hands of his host, whilst he glanced into 
 a shrewd but kindly pair of eyes twinkling in a 
 face handsome and jovial and yet touched with 
 dignity. Its owner, by the way, was under no 
 compulsion of scaling down his good humor to 
 the measure of a false character. 
 
 " Let's make it De Lavallais at once ! " De 
 Braille said heartily, as the two found chairs for 
 themselves. "And I'll tax you immediately my- 
 self." 
 
 " What ! Is there something else that I owe? " 
 
 "An apology, at least. For depriving me all 
 these years of your company. And of the privi- 
 lege of doing something for you." 
 
 For just an instant Canardin caught his 
 breath, and into his eye crept something that was 
 wistful, as he glanced over the unaffectedly
 
 52 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 bonny, unsuspectingly genial young man before 
 him. During that second Canardin felt many 
 things, chiefly a twinge of honest regret at de- 
 ceiving this open fellow whom he had loved and 
 envied long ago. There before Canardin sat the 
 possible materials of something he had never 
 known in life, a friendship. The pause gave 
 him a becoming air of embarrassment. 
 
 " Think of it, Armand ! For shame ! " he was 
 hearing. " Not since the days at Clermont have 
 I seen you! It is your own fault if I tell you 
 that but for your card I might not have remem- 
 bered who you are ! " 
 
 Canardin, studying his man, listened on. 
 
 " That, of course," De Braille was laughing, 
 "would have been stupid. That serious, studi- 
 ous, sober face," he cocked his head critically at 
 Canardin. " The one honest face in France ! 
 How could I forget it! Come, Armand, old 
 friend, what is it? " 
 
 "My dear Jean," laughed Canardin, "just 
 when I set you down as a courtier, you come to 
 the point like a statesman. Naturally it is to 
 ask a favor that I am here after all these years. 
 It is always the way. At the same time," he 
 ended more drily, " I may say I have been rather 
 busy of late."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 53 
 
 " Come, come ! You have only to speak. I'm 
 all eagerness to hear what it is. At least let me 
 know. Only make it something that I can do. 
 Else I may have to remind you that I am not, 
 precisely, the King himself ! " 
 
 " Very well, then, Monsieur, it is this." 
 
 "Armand! Remember, please, I am always 
 Jean to you," De Braille said kindly. 
 
 " That is good of you, Jean," Canardin an- 
 swered, and paused again for a wistful look. 
 "What I want, I think I may truthfully say," 
 he laughed gently at his own double meaning, 
 but with excellent effect for his cause, " is not for 
 myself. No favor to me personally. In a word, 
 it is this. I want Armand Lavallais " 
 
 "De Lavallais," Jean interrupted. 
 
 " I want Armand de Lavallais to enjoy a fuller 
 opportunity of service in His Majesty's cause." 
 
 Instantly De Braille's hands went up, so that 
 Canardin fancied he had opened a false trail. 
 He was at once disabused. "Armand, my simple 
 friend ! You are one in a thousand ! In a mil- 
 lion! The one man of your kind in France! 
 Such language is rare in this room." 
 
 "But, seriously " 
 
 " Oh, ask me anything now ! A dukedom, 
 whatever you will ! You are a marked man ! "
 
 54 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Yes," laughed Canardin drily, " I have some- 
 times thought so myself. But wait till you have 
 heard. Armand de Lavallais must be something 
 more than a notary. To be of maximum use 
 to the King he must have privileges and 
 powers " 
 
 " He shall have them ! You, I mean. But 
 why? Is it to impress the lady? " De Braille 
 laughed gaily at his own sagacity, and thereby 
 disclosed his own state of mind. "Ah," he 
 continued, " though I have not seen you these 
 years, I have heard your name at Court, through 
 the blushes of Cecile de Grammont." 
 
 Canardin laughed also as he absorbed this use- 
 ful information. " It will help," he said. 
 
 "And to what other good end? " 
 
 Canardin settled back in his chair to the com- 
 fortable thrill of his errand. "Very well. Of 
 course," he began, narrowly watching his 
 man and awaiting the effect of his words, " of 
 course you have heard of the man called Can- 
 ardin? " 
 
 " Oh, have I ! " De Braille laughed, and again 
 his hands went up, but this time in no pretended 
 consternation. " But for that Canardin I should 
 be almost a happy man ! He's nearly as hard to 
 snare as as " De Braille caught himself
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 55 
 
 sheepishly. " Of that later ! But don't tell me, 
 Armand, that you too, the shrewd, cool Ar- 
 mand, have been fascinated by that will-o'-the- 
 wisp ! " 
 
 " Would it startle you, my dear Jean, if I told 
 you I might soon have that Canardin here before 
 you? " 
 
 " No." Jean smiled. " For the simple reason 
 that it is so little likely to happen ! " 
 
 "Forgive me if I seem to boast, my dear 
 friend," Canardin leaned forward to say, " but 
 Canardin is closer to being before you than you 
 may be ready to believe." 
 
 "Armand ! I never should have suspected you 
 of being so taken in ! " De Braille was still 
 amused. 
 
 " But no longer ago than last night I actually 
 saw the man." 
 
 " My dear Armand, there isn't a man in France 
 who doesn't boast of having seen the tails of his 
 coat!" 
 
 " He was in my room ! " 
 
 " That's what all the children say ! " 
 
 " I exchanged a word with him ! " 
 
 "And yet you come here without him! Ar- 
 mand ! " The confidential secretary to a mem- 
 ber of the King's Council indulgently patted
 
 56 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Canardin's knee. " Come ! " lie said gently, " I 
 have heard of your devotion to that man Can- 
 ardin. But don't fancy, my dear old friend, that 
 to enjoy promotion you are condemned to chase 
 any such phantasm. Of course you will catch 
 him in the end," he added still more gently ; for 
 Canardin, though he was suitably complimented 
 by all this, felt driven to assume a rueful expres- 
 sion in justice to Lavallais. " May the honor 
 fall to you, Armand. And you shall be properly 
 rewarded when it does. There will be ready for 
 you a place at Court, never fear. But do you 
 
 know ? " 
 
 De Braille leaned confidentially closer. " Be 
 anything else you choose in the meanwhile, and 
 Canardin's captor whenever you find it conveni- 
 ent. As for me this is highly treasonable, my 
 dear Armand. I might lose my head for it it 
 would grieve me little if that Canardin were 
 never captured, even by you ! What would life 
 be like without that fellow ! He keeps all France 
 amused. There's the mischief of him. It is so 
 hard to be angry with him, as one should. Tre- 
 vours, De Morbihan he has all their mortal ene- 
 mies laughing at their frantic efforts to capture 
 him. I give you my word, since our days to- 
 gether at Clermont I have had a secret love and
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 57 
 
 admiration for that fellow. Brignon ! Was boy 
 or man ever so winning witli that roguish smile 
 of his ! Often and often I've wondered if so wild 
 a talent might never be tamed and cabined like 
 one of us. But no, that would spoil him. He 
 was born to divert us. And in the long run lose 
 his head like them all. But I hope that catas- 
 trophe will be long postponed. And by the 
 way " 
 
 Canardin had sat leaning back in his chair, 
 listening with even wonder and suspicion, sus- 
 picion as to whether De Braille might not have a 
 subtle and sinister point beneath such talk. Here 
 the honest and merry young fellow relieved his 
 guest of all uneasiness. 
 
 " This is strange talk for the secretary to a 
 member of the King's Council, you'll admit. But 
 while we are talking here, just as Armand and 
 Jean, two old friends together, let me mention a 
 matter of real importance." Through a bright 
 blush on his face, De Braille smiled foolishly as 
 he drew from beneath his brocaded waistcoat a 
 locket which he opened to disclose a very deli- 
 cately painted miniature. This he somewhat 
 timidly offered to Canardin's inspection, with the 
 simple and conclusive words, 
 
 " That is she."
 
 58 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " So I observe," said Canardin, the more drily 
 because De Braille filled the time with speech of 
 his own, which was probably as well, because 
 Canardin might scarcely have cared to speak 
 what was in his own mind. From the miniature 
 looked the same mocking face he had seen at his 
 side more than comfortably often of late. Too 
 busy with looking to listen, he took no heed of 
 De Braille's empty rattling in his ear : 
 
 "Were ever such eyes before!" (Canardin 
 thought not.) "So roguish a smile? Answer 
 me ! " (And Canardin almost answered.) " Can 
 you not see the wit that is there ! " ( Canardin 
 thought he could. ) " The spirit ! The raillery ! 
 And ah, but it can be haughty and biting at 
 times ! At other times so sweetly melting ! At 
 all times so sprightly! Her bewitching airs 
 they have me mad ! And oh, but she has a shrewd 
 head on her shoulders ! My faith, Armand ! I'm 
 supposed to be concerned here with trifling mat- 
 ters of state; but there is where my head is all 
 the while! With excellent excuse, you'll grant 
 me, eh? " 
 
 This strain De Braille kept going for some lit- 
 tle while, with that enthusiasm of a lover which, 
 to those who are obliged to listen to him, is not 
 always so catching as he supposes. In this in-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 59 
 
 stance it is enough to say that Canardin such 
 was the spell upon him of the painted thing in 
 his hand listened to the end without a trace of 
 boredom. Indeed, had De Braille at that mo- 
 ment a spark of interest left from the topic upper- 
 most on his mind, he might have noticed on the 
 face of his guest an expression far removed from 
 boredom. Instead, he babbled on : 
 
 "And I must tell you, Armand! Will you be- 
 lieve it! She, too, has lent her heart, her soul, 
 her madcap wits, to the capture of Canardin! 
 Ah, but you shall have to exert yourself, with 
 competition such as that! That man's doom is 
 sealed who has a witty and pretty woman at his 
 heels ! I'll stake her, Armand, against you all ! " 
 De Braille exulted. "And just to make a pretty 
 race of it, I'll help you all I can. You'll admit 
 I'm fair enough, barring the odds you have 
 against you? What her methods are, what is 
 her plan of attack? ah, that would be unfair to 
 her ! But come, what is it you need? Which re- 
 minds me. You have come on a serious errand, 
 and I have been frivolous." 
 
 " I believe," said Canardin, hiding under a dry 
 tone of voice the decided new interest aroused in 
 him, " I did mention certain special powers and 
 privileges "
 
 60 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 "Ah, yes; that's it. Away with rents, and 
 deeds, and suits, and such like. No more dry 
 civil law for you, eh? The spirit of romance 
 has got into you. Fortune alone will no longer 
 do. You must have a bit of spice, a dash of 
 fame. So you will capture Canardin! Eh, 
 Lavallais? Very good. It is a noble ambition. 
 Let us help it along. What would you say if I 
 obtained for you " here De Braille paused with 
 fine dramatic effect, and with his next words all 
 but lifted Canardin out of his chair " what 
 would you say if I obtained for you a lettre de 
 cachet?" He paused again, for that to sink in. 
 " Now say that I grudge anything to an old 
 friend! With that little slip of paper in your 
 keeping, you are almost the King himself. But I 
 need not remind Armand de Lavallais what it 
 will do for him, what doors it will unlock, what 
 persons will do his bidding, what positive terror 
 he may strike with it, if he pleases ! How is that 
 for a fair start against Mademoiselle Julie? What 
 is more, you shall have it to-day. To-night, at 
 the latest. In ten minutes I shall have a courier 
 on the way to Versailles. His Majesty's diges- 
 tion is improved of late. We must take advan- 
 tage of that. He will not refuse me his signa- 
 ture, I am certain. Not for the capture of Can-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 61 
 
 ardin, my friend! Nor shall I forget the new 
 patent of nobility. There ! " 
 
 De Braille was rising, either because he had 
 affairs of state at heart, or affairs of heart at 
 stake, it matters little which. As for Canardin, 
 beneath his notarial decorum, which it cost him 
 infinite effort to maintain, he was in a state of 
 considerable commotion! Such utterly incredi- 
 ble profit to himself, from a lark, a droll amuse- 
 ment, an errand of simple benevolence he had 
 proposed to himself in the name of poor Laval- 
 lais! A lettre de cachet! A little thing like 
 that, Canardin decided, would have its con- 
 venience for him, even though it cost his vanity 
 the impersonation of a country notary now and 
 then! 
 
 " But wait ! One moment before you go," De 
 Braille was saying, now no mean man of business, 
 as you see from his choice of words. " It is just 
 as well that you should acquaint yourself with 
 our own poor plans for Canardin's capture." He 
 hastened to his desk and began fumbling among 
 the litter of packets and papers lying there. Two 
 of these he selected, but with poor success still 
 hunted for a third. " Curse me ! " he mumbled. 
 "Where have I mislaid the most important of 
 all ! Morbihan will bless me if "
 
 62 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Perhaps this is it? " Canardin stooped un- 
 der the table to find the packet labelled " Due de 
 Morbihan " at the precise moment that he deftly 
 let it slip from between the leaves of the book be- 
 neath his arm. 
 
 " Oh, wonderful fortune, Armand ! I should 
 have been disgraced without that! Surely my 
 case looks hopeless ! " De Braille gaily excused 
 himself on receipt of the dossier. " It is odd 
 how an affection of the heart always reaches to 
 the head. These three " he now held the packets 
 out to Canardin " take them with you and look 
 them over for your profit. I need not remind 
 you what a trust they are. It will do if you re- 
 turn them when you call to-night for a certain 
 other document which shall be ready then. Of 
 course you will come in person for that. If it 
 happens that I find myself engaged," De Braille 
 smiled pointedly, " a confidential clerk will hand 
 it to you instead. But you alone are qualified to 
 receive such a thing, remember. And, by the by, 
 it will do you no harm to consult Trevours. You 
 must know him well. The Governor of Paris may 
 have suggestions of value. And I doubt not he 
 will be grateful for any advice of yours. And 
 now" De Braille was speaking rapidly, his 
 mind quite evidently in another quarter alto-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 63 
 
 gether, and his person eager to follow it, " you'll 
 forgive me, I'm sure. Especially as I mean this 
 to be but the first of many such happy occasions 
 between us." 
 
 De Braille's hand extended itself to Canardin, 
 a brighter smile than ever came to his face, and 
 in a moment the secretary, soul of amiability, 
 was at the door to his private apartments. Al- 
 most he had vanished through it, when, turning 
 suddenly, he heard himself recalled. 
 
 " Jean ! If you please ! " Canardin had halted 
 him. " Trevours I will see gladly ! " he added 
 grimly. " I can learn a deal about Canardin 
 from him! These I will consent to look over 
 only as you are with me. To take them with me 
 would be, I feel, prying." Canardin was hold- 
 ing out the envelopes, containing information of 
 priceless importance to himself. 
 
 " As you will, my dear fellow ! " De Braille 
 laughed, perhaps a little touched, and yet 
 amused. These punctilious notaries, what tire- 
 some sticklers they were for decorum! "And 
 now adieu! But no! How stupid of me! I 
 have just thought ! " He rushed forward and 
 grasped Canardin by the shoulders. " You are 
 to be one of us on Friday night, old fellow ! Al- 
 most I had forgotten! Your invitation must
 
 64 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 have gone astray. That Canardin will be the 
 death of you! But come! The Due d'Orleans 
 is giving us a little revel on Friday night at the 
 Palais Royal. Among other things a new comedy 
 by Moliere another old college fellow of ours, 
 you know. Gaming afterward of various kinds ! 
 Mademoiselle Julie will be there. You shall have 
 a sight of your formidable rival ! Ce"cile, I hear, 
 has declined. Some uncle or other is in bad sorts. 
 Will she grill you for coining without her? " 
 De Braille laughed as he gave Canardin a final 
 shake. "At least, look in for a moment. She 
 cannot slay you for that. Trevours will be there. 
 I have it ! Tell the jealous lady you went there 
 to consult Trevours, strictly on business! And 
 now I am off ! " And so he was. 
 
 For a space, Canardin, left to himself, studied 
 the door just then closed upon the laughing De 
 Braille. Suddenly he whisked about, drew from 
 his pocket De Braille's jeweled snuff-box, and 
 with a snap replaced it upon the mantel. It 
 must be owned of Canardin that he did peep 
 into the packet labeled " Morbihan " before toss- 
 ing it back among the dossiers on the secretary's 
 table. Then he left. 
 
 And the lackey who let him out of the door in 
 front, had he not been dwelling on his own lady
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 65 
 
 love, might have overheard a muttered remark 
 which would have been worth to him more than 
 one princely tip in Paris that night. 
 
 " Fie on you, Canardin ! Almost you played 
 the scoundrel ! " Such was the remark. 
 
 " Canardin? " he did hear shouted in his very 
 ear by one who, it appears, did chance to over- 
 hear. 
 
 Canardin's motions again almost passed the 
 eye for swiftness. His right arm shot to his left 
 side for the blade that was not there and quickly 
 rested on the book instead. In that instant he 
 ceased to be Canardin the ready and was La- 
 vallais the startled, and the blaze in his eye soft- 
 ened to a smile as he confronted a figure evi- 
 dently emerged from a well-guarded coach in the 
 street, and now rapidly mounting the steps be- 
 fore him. This figure, wonderfully bedizened in 
 velvet and laces, Canardin instinctively guessed 
 to be that of Trevours, the Governor of Paris.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 GREAT warriors, great poets, even horses 
 fleeter than their brothers, and men shrewd 
 above their kind are not always distinguished 
 by marks which set them off unmistakably from 
 the crowd; otherwise Canardin, lean, lithe, and 
 alert as he was, might have passed as a nobody 
 which, in truth, the modest fellow was often 
 content to do and Trevours would have been 
 hailed at once, from his bulk, his raiment, and 
 his manner, as the final effort of our common 
 Creator. The man whom Canardin now smiled 
 upon was of towering height and clearly of cor- 
 responding strength. His bronze face was stern 
 to the pitch of ferocity, an effect carefully fixed 
 and even enhanced by a pair of formidable mus- 
 tachios and a sharply pointed beard. Merely 
 to look into his eye, steely blue and piercing, 
 required an abundance of courage. And strictly 
 in keeping with all this was the gentleman's 
 voice. 
 
 "Did I hear Monsieur mention the fellow
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 67 
 
 Canardin? " this person boomed in a menacing 
 manner, as lie now mounted closer on the steps. 
 
 It was a ticklish moment. Like a hawk 
 Canardin kept watch on this newcomer, for any 
 light of recognition in his eyes. Neither did 
 Canardin lose sight of the numerous guard gaz- 
 ing up from the street in some excitement. One 
 other swift glance he spared for some possible, 
 last, desperate avenue of flight, this way or that, 
 if it transpired that he had been trapped. 
 
 "What Monsieur may have overheard," said 
 Canardin freezingly, haughtily, as became the 
 situation, " is of little interest to me. I should 
 say, however," he added, even more icily, " that 
 Monsieur had Monsieur Canardin very much on 
 his mind." 
 
 On the next instant the tension was suddenly 
 relaxed for Canardin. With an evident respect 
 for the nasty tongue of another of these annoying 
 notary persons, the great man contented himself 
 with ruffling up his gorgeous plumage and swept 
 grandly past the frightened lackeys into De 
 Braille's empty house. Canardin, on his own 
 part, lost no time in descending the steps and 
 passing the uncomfortably curious men of the 
 guard, with a stiffness in his step that was not 
 altogether born of an offended dignity. Once
 
 68 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 safely round the nearest corner, he quickly van- 
 ished toward his more settled haunts. 
 
 " Ah ! Master ! Again ! " cried the bent old 
 fellow Bonbouche, startled as Canardin darted 
 like an apparition into the attic retreat in the 
 Kue Beauchaine. "And with the Joumettes' 
 thousand livres ! " For Canardin had not neg- 
 lected, at a favorable moment, to recover from 
 its hiding place Madame Joumette's temptation 
 to envy. " Do you wonder, master, that I suffer 
 from ague ! " the old one babbled nervously. " In 
 the morning it is a fever of fear, when I know you 
 can never possibly return. In the evening, a 
 fever of relief when you do. And now with 
 money besides ! " He rubbed his warped hands. 
 
 " Peace, fool ! 'T has been a black day," said 
 Canardin. 
 
 " With a thousand livres ! " 
 
 " They will go quickly enough. But to-day, 
 Bonbouche " Canardin paused for a long gaze 
 out through the cobwebbed window "to-day, 
 for once, I saw something I may never have." 
 
 "No pretty woman, certainly! If once Can- 
 ardin should fix his eye upon one " The old 
 
 man ceased abruptly. One glance of Canardin's 
 eye, fixed upon him, had set him to shivering. 
 
 At once, by way of softening his savagery,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 69 
 
 Canardin related the morning's proceedings, to 
 the vast amusement of his willing lackey. 
 " Nevertheless," the old one sighed at the end of 
 it, " I am glad that droll adventure is over ! " 
 
 " It is not yet over ! " said Canardin. " You 
 forget a little matter like the let tre de cachet." 
 
 "What! No, master! For a mere scrap of 
 paper you would return to that place? They 
 will have it trebly guarded ! It is putting your 
 head into the very noose itself ! I am sure Mon- 
 sieur de Braille never meant it. He has forgot- 
 ten it already." 
 
 " I fear so myself," said Canardin sadly. " All 
 the same, I mean to make sure about that ' mere 
 
 scrap of paper.' If he has not forgotten If 
 
 once I get that little strip of paper " 
 
 In the swift procession of his moods, Canardin 
 felt the need of pacing the length of his garret, 
 springing on the tips of his toes, as if lifted into 
 the air by a soaring idea. By that touch alone, 
 however, was his inward excitement expressed. 
 What would have moved other men to paroxysms 
 of exultation, in Canardin stirred ironic melan- 
 choly. " With that mere scrap of paper, as you 
 call it, my beloved Bonbouche," he said sadly. 
 " I believe I shall lay all dross of self aside. It 
 is true that I never have relieved any but knaves
 
 70 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 of their ill-gotten gains. At the same time I 
 must own it was plunder, and for my own profit. 
 But now, Bonbouche ! " Canardin drew himself 
 up proudly before the old fellow, always puzzled 
 by these flashes of wild irony in his master. 
 " Now I am a servant of the King ! I no longer 
 plunder; I confiscate! in his honored name! 
 But quick ! " the outburst ended in quiet laugh- 
 ter. " The response must measure up to the du- 
 ties! My best rapier, Bonbouche! Tumble 
 out the whole wardrobe, while you're about 
 it!" 
 
 Wondering what new terror was afoot, the old 
 servant proceeded to open one chest after an- 
 other as he was bidden, to a steady stream of 
 expressions of disgust from his chief. 
 
 "What, fool! The best we have? It is noth- 
 ing but rubbish ! Lavallais would never forgive 
 me for such a vulgar misuse of his identity ! To 
 the dump with it all ! Duty demands a suitable 
 dress for itself ! The blessings of Providence on 
 old Joumette ! Thanks to his timely aid I'll pale 
 Morbihan himself this week. Friday night ! 'Tis 
 not long to wait. Three days." 
 
 " 'Tis Woman at last ! " Bonbouche bowed his 
 head in resignation, then raised it in such terror 
 that, for errands upon his master, he was totally
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 71 
 
 useless, as he heard Canardin unfold his plans 
 for the night. 
 
 " Hold your tongue, knave ! " Canardin sought 
 to halt his lamentations. 
 
 " Master, you are mad ! It is Woman. I know 
 it ! Nothing else could so addle your wits ! " 
 
 " Have done ! Where else, fool, could I be so 
 secure as under the personal protection of the 
 Governor of Paris ! " 
 
 Seeing his old servitor reduced to a pulp of 
 helplessness, Canardiq himself boldly dared the 
 busy streets of Paris by daylight, a procedure 
 more venturesome now than in the earlier hours 
 of the day, because Trevours, goaded to greater 
 fury than ever by Canardin's foray of the night 
 before under the very nose of his vigilance, had 
 caused a general alarm to be spread, and every- 
 where his men were on the watch. 
 
 Dusk was at hand before it suited Canardin's 
 fancy, or his notion of prudence, to return to the 
 loft. So captivated was Bonbouche, however, 
 by the appearance of his master when he came, 
 that almost the sly fellow was reconciled to the 
 wild new exploit which justified and required 
 such a costume. " It is no let tre de cachet he's 
 after ! " the old man inwardly raved. " It is 
 Woman ! The end of our prosperity has come ! "
 
 72 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 And by no means unjustified were Boubouche's 
 suspicions. It was evident enough, that Can- 
 ardin, in the choice of his garments, had been 
 urged by some purpose more stirring than the 
 mere need of disguise. Except for his stockings 
 of a heavy black silk, he was garbed in velvet, of 
 the deepest of bottomless blues. This would have 
 had a somber effect but for the paler blue of his 
 cocked hat, the sweeping white plume that graced 
 it, the falls of snowy lace at his bosom and wrists, 
 and the bright sparkle of stones on the buckles 
 of his shoes and the hilt of his rapier. Nothing 
 is more noticeable than a studied simplicity, and 
 by that very fact had! Canardin's taste been 
 governed. When the daring mood was upon him, 
 Canardin would set no bounds to his daring! 
 Not a flash of color distracted the eye from the 
 man who elected to stand forth for what he was 
 in that composition. It not simply invited, it 
 forced the question, " Who is that man? " 
 
 " This goes? " said Canardin, parading before 
 Bonbouche with ironically mincing steps in his 
 high, red-heeled shoes. 
 
 " It goes ! " Bonbouche agreed, readily enough. 
 
 " Then so do I. It needs a test. Forget the 
 ague to-night, old boar. I shall be well enough 
 looked after. Even on Friday night, outside the
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 73 
 
 Palais, in the crowd looking on at the revels of 
 others, there will be a few who are not such fools 
 do you understand? Our friends the usurers 
 may expect a few attentions. More coins to your 
 coffers, old miser! And at the Palais Royal, 
 during the course of the ball, a lackey shall an- 
 nounce me as Canardin. Au revoir ! " And 
 Canardin vanished. 
 
 Utter darkness had come. By a circuitous 
 route Canardin emerged on a corner where stood 
 the coach he had ordered to wait for him there. 
 At the best pace of the nags he had himself driven 
 at once to the house of De Braille. Scarcely, in 
 his heart of hearts, had Canardin dared to base 
 a hope of such a thing as a lettre de cachet on 
 the careless and probably forgotten promise of 
 De Braille. He mounted the steps a little sick 
 of his errand. What was his boundless surprise, 
 therefore, on discovering that the light-hearted 
 secretary had been neither remiss nor nagging in 
 energy. The magical paper, the verbal thunder- 
 bolt of royal forging, was ready for him. With 
 due ceremony Canardin received it of an awe- 
 struck clerk. It cost him an effort to forget his 
 haste and remember his dignity as he descended 
 De Braille's steps to r center his coach. 
 
 Just as he was about to step into it, it was
 
 74 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 whisked away on a sharp order, and Canardin, 
 standing speechless at the curb, found himself 
 confronted by a numerous guard, personally 
 commanded by the impressive figure of Trevours, 
 who now stepped close. 
 
 " Monsieur ! " came his booming voice. " I 
 must ask an explanation ! " 
 
 " Monsieur ! " Canardin drew himself up 
 haughtily, bolder than ever with a certain new 
 weapon in his possession. " I demand an expla- 
 nation ! " 
 
 "Is it possible that you do not know who I 
 am?" 
 
 " I would say the same of yourself, Mon- 
 sieur ! " 
 
 " You are a stranger to Paris ! " 
 
 " As truth is a stranger to fiction ! " 
 
 This remark appeared to baffle the Governor 
 of Paris and to heighten his suspicion. " The 
 occupant of this house is absent." 
 
 "That is profoundly true," said Canardin. 
 " Monsieur, will you have the goodness to state 
 your errand and have done with it? " 
 
 Trevours's hand reached out as if itching to 
 take hold of Canardin, but he seemed to think 
 better of it. Evidently he was nonplussed by 
 the dress and bearing of the man before him.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 75 
 
 " Monsieur," lie boomed, " a man of your height 
 was here this morning ! " 
 
 Meanwhile, now that they had their man, some 
 of the soldiery lighted torches, to help along the 
 proceedings. Trevours would have been as happy 
 had they not done so. He was forced to look 
 into the most taunting smile that impudence had 
 ever flung at his grandeur. For an old recollec- 
 tion had been confirmed in Canardin. This gor- 
 geous policeman, formidable as he had become, 
 still suffered, it was clear, from the ancient hand- 
 icap of a lack of wit. Evidently life itself had 
 availed no more than Clermont to sharpen the 
 noisy Trevours. " What is more," the Governor 
 of Paris was booming, " I distinctly heard that 
 man mention the name of Canardin this morn- 
 ing!" 
 
 "You probably did." Canardin put on the 
 dryest of notarial accents. " I had just been 
 closeted with my colleague, De Braille, on the 
 very subject of Canardin. And now, the some- 
 what noticeable marks of your importance en- 
 title me to the belief, Monsieur, that I have the 
 honor to greet his worship, the Governor of 
 Paris. Am I mistaken? " 
 
 " Aha ! Then you know very well who I am ! " 
 
 "I am satisfied, Monsieur," Canardin looked
 
 76 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 him over again, " that no other would so aptly 
 look the part and fill the office ! " 
 
 At this Trevours had wit enough to doubt for 
 a moment whether he had not listened to some- 
 thing insulting. He chose to be complimented 
 instead, and drew himself higher than ever, as if 
 to place his identity even farther beyond mis- 
 take, if that were possible. " Now will Monsieur 
 be good enough to give me his name? " he said, 
 somewhat mollified. 
 
 Canardin laughed outright. " Monsieur," he 
 said, "your behavior is a little out of the ordi- 
 nary. You ask as if you expected me to tell you 
 my name is Monsieur Canardin ! Whereas I had 
 hoped to be rememberd without the aid of a re- 
 minder." 
 
 Again Trevours suspected some subtle assault 
 upon his intelligence, and reverted again to his 
 usual defence of bullying gruffness. " Well, well, 
 Monsieur ! I have no taste for sly speech ! The 
 name, if you please ! " 
 
 " My dear Trevours ! " said Canardin. " Is it 
 possible that you do not recall your old school- 
 mate at Clermont, Armand de Lavallais? " And 
 Canardin stretched forth his hand. 
 
 Trevours released it quickly, with a measure 
 of contempt. To him notaries were dangerous
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 77 
 
 creatures, political pests, uncomfortably cun- 
 ning, little better than Canardin himself. And 
 this one, to judge by his sudden improvement in 
 dress over that of the morning, was the more 
 dangerous because rich. "Ah, yes, yes, Ar- 
 mand," he said coolly, after another of those 
 piercing glances at Canardin which were only 
 natural to the first watchdog of France. " Of a 
 surety. I knew you at once. Though it is years 
 since we met." Trevours was beginning to feel 
 uncomfortable in front of his men. Hence he 
 boomed louder than ever, " But you understand. 
 In my position one cannot afford to be deceived. 
 Never ! Not for a moment ! " 
 
 At this unusual commotion in the quiet street 
 a crowd had begun to collect at a safe distance. 
 Seeing this, Canardin himself spoke in a clearer 
 tone. " Is it really possible, my dear Trevours," 
 he said as if aggrieved, "that you took me for 
 the notorious Canardin! Am I to understand 
 that you have never yet seen the fellow ! " 
 
 Once more Trevours started angrily, at a sus- 
 picion that here was another of those digs at a 
 bluff, honest man. "Well, well, Armand. As 
 you will. One takes no chances, that's all. 
 Clermont, yes. But be reminded that Canardin 
 himself was at Clermont. Clermont did nothing
 
 78 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 to make a dove of that hawk ! " He started to 
 move away. 
 
 " Clermont was a dovecote, wasn't it? Eh, 
 Trevours? " Canardin held him boldly. " As 
 you and I well know ! " 
 
 The Governor of Paris responded with some- 
 thing in the nature of a grin. 
 
 " Do you recall, Trevours, that occasion when 
 you and I plastered the principal's chair with 
 pitch, in the certainty that it would be held 
 as it was against Canardin, thanks to the name 
 he had got already for his pranks? There was 
 once, Trevours, when you scored on Can- 
 ardin ! " 
 
 The Governor's smile gained something in 
 ferocity. 
 
 " And the lacing you were privileged to give 
 him for your own fault there was something, 
 Trevours, that should console you for all the 
 merry pranks that Canardin has since then 
 played upon you ! Eh? " 
 
 Still again the Governor of Paris started at 
 the tickle of edged words against his tough wits. 
 And was suitably stung. " Curse the impudent 
 rascal ! I will say he has led me a dance of late ! 
 But there will be an end to his audacities ! Mark 
 me, I shall have him in the end ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 79 
 
 "Would you scorn a a little assistance, my 
 dear Trevours?" 
 
 "What! Yours?" A smile, if it could be 
 called such, reappeared on the Governor's face. 
 
 " If you remember, I said this morning I had 
 been closeted with my colleague, De Braille," 
 Canardin said more confidentially. " It was his 
 earnest wish that I should fly at once to you. 
 And I was just on my way to bring you the bene- 
 fits of my advice when you happily arrived 
 with your ample guard. That guard, by the way, 
 Trevours at the very outset it is a grievous mis- 
 take. It too plainly publishes the news of your 
 presence. So that from the noise you take with 
 you, Canardin will always know your where- 
 abouts and govern himself accordingly. Better 
 be rid of it." 
 
 " By my mother's soul, a sage suggestion ! I 
 never would have thought of it, with my dignities 
 to support as I have. But no ! " Still again 
 Trevours was a prey to suspicion. " I doubt not 
 that was a thought of De Braille's, the jealous 
 ninny ! He wants to see me robbed of my digni- 
 ties!" 
 
 " Be rid of that guard, my dear Trevours. 
 Observe the crowd collected in the street already, 
 every beggar of them gaping in curiosity. Be
 
 80 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 sure that crowd is dotted with Canardin's spies. 
 They are everywhere. Drawn by your pomp and 
 keeping an eye on you. How will you ever put 
 salt on that bird's tail when you tread so heav- 
 ily!" 
 
 "Well spoken! Ho, Drouet! Captain! Be 
 off. Till I send for you." When the obedient 
 guard with its torches had moved away, Tre- 
 vours turned to Canardin, more comfortable in 
 the greater darkness. " Perhaps we had better 
 be indoors, out of sight. De Braille was expect- 
 ing me." 
 
 "Another fatal error, Trevours, with your 
 pardon," said Canardin sententiously. " Enter 
 this house, and Canardin's lieutenants will have 
 him posted in a minute as to where you are, 
 whilst he brings off some daring stroke in an op- 
 posite quarter." 
 
 " But my friend, what would you ! You have 
 just warned me that my guard makes me too 
 conspicuous, so that the rogue always knows 
 where I am ! " 
 
 " Par be it from me, my dear Trevours, to teach 
 you when to be seen, and when not. Your own 
 discretion must be your guide. Keep this in 
 mind, however!" Canardin now whispered. 
 " Canardin will never be taken by force, but only
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 81 
 
 by stratagem. Appear in public, and he natu- 
 rally retires. Enter a house, and he has you pre- 
 cisely placed. And there you are. As you may 
 have observed, Trevours, it is to be a battle of 
 wits. In such a contest I am sure you will come 
 out ahead if you hurry. I warn you it may 
 take patience, however. That Canardin will have 
 his fling!'" 
 
 " By my faith," Trevours said, more confiden- 
 tially, " it would not surprise me if the fellow 
 rifled my bureau while I am away ! " 
 
 " Ay, Trevours, on the word of good Jean de 
 Braille himself, that Canardin, it would seem, 
 has set all Paris laughing." 
 
 " At me, you mean? De Braille himself said 
 that? It was what he meant, I'll be bound, the 
 jealous jackanapes ! " 
 
 Inwardly Canardin was convulsed with merri- 
 ment as he hurried this cumbersome intelligence 
 now this way, now that. " There, my dear Tre- 
 vours," he said, as with the sincerest sympathy, 
 " is the whole hitch o' the matter. There lies the 
 puzzle for you. It is not Canardin alone that you 
 have to deal with, but Paris itself. You well 
 know how it insists upon being amused. And I 
 fancy that clever Canardin has guessed as much, 
 and will plague you accordingly."
 
 82 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Here the native terrors of Trevours's counte- 
 nance dissolved into a look of positive dismay. 
 
 Belentlessly Canardin plied it on. " And this 
 at the very moment, as our dear Jean tells me, 
 when the King looks to you the most anxiously 
 for the promptest riddance of the rogue. His 
 Majesty takes the jest to have run on quite 
 enough." 
 
 "Does he, does he? What what would you 
 counsel me to do? You notaries know every- 
 thing. What does De Braille advise? " 
 
 Now Canardin felt he could toy with his man. 
 " Listen to me, my good Trevours," he said im- 
 pressively, clearing his throat. " Do you know, 
 for example, the precise whereabouts of Canardin 
 at this moment? " 
 
 " That is to say, Armand, that you yourself 
 know? " Trevours said eagerly. " Where is 
 he?" 
 
 " I hardly dare risk a conjecture," said Can- 
 ardin, in the familiar dry tone. " That, at this 
 particular moment, is his own affair. But I have 
 singularly exact information as to where he will 
 be in a day or two. Perhaps Friday night. That 
 was my errand with you. It occurred to me that 
 we might exchange all the knowledge we possess 
 between us. I can then compare your plans for
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 83 
 
 his capture with my positive knowledge as to 
 where Canardin shall be." 
 
 " Excellent ! Splendid ! A bare moment in- 
 side will do us no harm. Come! Perhaps De 
 Braille will have valuable suggestions " 
 
 " He has just left, to keep an imperative ap- 
 pointment." 
 
 " At the royal command? " 
 
 " Oh," said Canardin, with such point that 
 Trevours was freshly perturbed, " I am sure the 
 command was royal ! " 
 
 " That means I must act at once ! " said the 
 Governor. " Friday night? No ! " he hesitated, 
 with a wry smile "that cannot be! Not Fri- 
 day!" 
 
 " Ah," said Canardin, " you had an expedition 
 planned for Friday night? " 
 
 " Not that sort of expedition ! " laughed Tre- 
 vours. " Suppose we make it for to-morrow 
 night. Canardin will then be in the neighbor- 
 hood of Meaux, I am told." 
 
 "Waiting, of course, to keep the rendezvous 
 with you ! Make it Friday night without fail, my 
 dear Trevours. Canardin will then be" the 
 rogue hesitated, and finished " elsewhere." 
 
 "You are sure? " 
 
 " I am positive."
 
 84 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " My men have other information. How do 
 you know? " 
 
 " My dear Trevours ! It happens that I have 
 devoted my life to Canardin. That man's shadow 
 and I have rarely been wider .apart than that ! " 
 Canardin snapped his fingers. 
 
 The Governor drew himself to his fullest 
 height and answered in a superior manner, 
 " Many have said as much ! " 
 
 " Oh, understand me ! " the generous Canardin 
 granted. " Canardin must be a slight matter 
 amid the Governor's other cares." 
 
 With a grave nod the Governor of Paris 
 signaled that at last he himself had been under- 
 stood. 
 
 " Others," said Canardin, " are constantly 
 juggling for your exalted place." 
 
 There the Governor winced. 
 
 " That, Trevours, is why I have come to Paris. 
 I said to myself, ' It is a scandal, no less, that 
 the good Trevours should be made a laughing- 
 stock to all France, because of this mere come- 
 dian, Canardin ! Before the Governor knows it/ 
 I said, ' some designing knave will have his sta- 
 tion away from him.' " 
 
 " Do you really think so, Armand!" Trevours's 
 perturbation deepened.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 85 
 
 " Trevours, we folk from the country are not 
 the simpletons that Paris delights to think us. 
 Even there we have heard that unless Canardin 
 is soon captured, your dignities, the reward of 
 years of the kicks you have received and given 
 about the Court " Canardin spoke the rest more 
 loudly " will be in jeopardy." 
 
 " Is it possible ! " gasped Trevours. " Come, 
 let us go in where we may be more in private. 
 But what what am I to do ! Curse the fellow ! " 
 His alarm took refuge in anger. " I have turned 
 all Paris upside down. Clue after clue I have 
 followed. And he isn't there ! Damme if I don't 
 believe the rascal has supplied the clues him- 
 self!" 
 
 " That," said Canardin gravely, " is quite pos- 
 sible. Here. Come. On second thought I have 
 something," he snapped, as if swayed by some 
 generous impulse. " Something not for the ears 
 of lackeys. Come." 
 
 " Have you? " Trevours said eagerly, suffering 
 himself to be escorted to the top of the flight and 
 to the dark shadows of the entry to De Braille's 
 house not, however, wholly out of sight from 
 the street. It was not in Canardin's thought, 
 even at that quiet hour of the day, to let slip the 
 soundest position he had yet attained by the
 
 86 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 side, and under the protection of the Governor of 
 Paris. 
 
 " Listen, Trevours," he said, with an air of the 
 greatest caution. " Guard well what I am moved 
 to tell you. Put away your appointment on Fri- 
 day night with the fair one. She will not desert 
 you just for that whilst Canardin may. You 
 will be the best judge of this clue that I have. 
 How much it is worth I do not know. My own 
 information was that Canardin was to be at Issy. 
 But from a source I am not apt to question, it has 
 been whispered that on Friday night Canardin 
 will attempt a stroke bolder than any before. 
 At a point which you would be the last to guess." 
 
 " My own apartment, I'll wager ! Whilst I 
 am away. 'Twould be just like him to plague 
 me like that. To raise a laugh at my expense." 
 
 " That," said Canardin, " may well come, later. 
 This hint of mine has it, nevertheless, that on 
 Friday night Canardin will aim, not to raise 
 laughter, but, Trevours, to strike consternation. 
 It will be in the very neighborhood of the King 
 himself ! " 
 
 "Versailles?" Trevours whispered loudly. 
 
 " As I said, Trevours ; Versailles, no less. So, 
 at least, runs the hint I have received. 'Twould 
 be quite in key with his bravado. But for my-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 87 
 
 self I scarcely believe it. My own guess is that 
 he will stop at Issy." 
 
 "Issy? What is there for Canardin at Issy! 
 No, I am sure it is Versailles. 'Twould be just 
 like him!" 
 
 " Issy, I think." 
 
 " No, Versailles ! Armand, I am undone ! " 
 
 " Nonsense, my dear Trevours. There is your 
 opportunity! What better could you wish! 
 There he is, in the very neighborhood of your 
 King. And there, Trevours, you take him! 
 There, under the very eyes of Majesty itself, 
 where none can rob you of your glory ! Instantly 
 your sagacity is vindicated, you are restored to 
 royal favor. What more could one ask ! " 
 
 The Governor of Paris slapped his thigh over 
 this entrancing picture of himself on the crest 
 of glory. " Armand, I shall have him ! " 
 
 " Take your shrewdest men. The very shrewd- 
 est. Even though you have to strip Paris." 
 
 " I will take five hundred ! " 
 
 " The park is a large place. You will need 
 them all." 
 
 "A thousand!" 
 
 " Good ! Be on the move at once. Place your- 
 self at their head. Leave no wood uncombed 
 along the way. Girdle the royal park with a
 
 88 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 human wall. And by the stroke of twelve you 
 should have your quarry in hand for good and 
 all." 
 
 " Provided " for a moment Trevours enjoyed 
 this prospect, and then finished " provided he 
 is there ! " 
 
 " Rumor alone, Trevours," said Canardin, 
 barely able to suppress laughter outright, " is 
 sufficient to take you there. The King will ap- 
 plaud such energy in his protection, such sleep- 
 less vigilance. At the lightest alarm you have 
 flown to guard him! Besides, Trevours sup- 
 pose Canardin were there? " 
 
 " True ! It is true ! " 
 
 " And to allow for any contingency, I have a 
 stratagem of my own. On Friday night I will 
 go myself to Issy. Few will know or care if 
 Armand de Lavallais makes a fool of himself. 
 But as I am a thoughtful rather than a daring 
 man, I will ask you for a guard." 
 
 " The favor is yours an even return ! Forty 
 men! The cunningest foxes at my com- 
 mand ! " 
 
 " They would only embarrass me." 
 
 " Fifty, then ! A hundred ! " 
 
 " A single one would do. There is one in par- 
 ticular that I had in mind."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 89 
 
 " He shall be one of the fifty. You have only 
 to name him." 
 
 " His name," said Canardin, with great nota- 
 rial simplicity, " I am told is Monsieur Julie." 
 
 Trevours first uttered a low whistle of amaze- 
 ment. His mental processes next worked for- 
 ward to a milder astonishment, expressed in a 
 gasp. Last of all he laughed boisterously at this 
 egregious simpleton. " Julie? " he said. " Julie 
 ' his ' name? " he laughed on and then sobered 
 suddenly. " See here ! De Braille put you up 
 to that, I'll warrant ! Julie, my dear Armand, is 
 Julie ! Julie Lecoigneux ! Wait ! " 
 
 The Governor of Paris fumbled about his 
 frilled bosom for a moment busily and at last 
 drew forth a miniature upon which Canardin 
 beheld the precise image which had sent De 
 Braille into such raptures a few hours before. 
 And the raptures of Trevours resembled those of 
 De Braille as the miniatures themselves were 
 precisely alike. "The merriest little minx at 
 Court ! " Trevours at last came to a close. " In 
 all Paris ! In all France ! And the quickest wit 
 in the world! You might well consider your 
 ranks full, if she were among them! And what 
 a prank she would think it ! I have it ! " Once 
 more Trevours slapped his thigh, that being the
 
 90 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 manner in which thought was most apt to ex- 
 press itself in him. " She shall go ! On Friday 
 night. In your hands, Lavallais, she would be 
 as safe as in a nunnery ! " 
 
 " Thanks," said Canardin. 
 
 " Oh, this is capital ! " But suddenly Tre- 
 vours's merriment shaded again into beefy cun- 
 ning, and thence into his professionally sus- 
 picious nature. " Armand, I see it ! You have 
 been cruelly played upon. De Braille has wanted 
 me out of his way on Friday night, in order to 
 have the lady to himself. He has taken advan- 
 tage of your simplicity. 'Twas he put you up to 
 this, I'll wager. To break up my rendezvous. 
 It is the night of the Palais ball. She has prom- 
 ised me every quadrille. Very well ! We'll fore- 
 stall Monsieur de Braille ! If I must be at Ver- 
 sailles on Friday night, she shall be with you at 
 Issy!" 
 
 " In one matter, however, Trevours, be pru- 
 dent, please," Canardin stipulated, with a show 
 of embarrassment. " Promise me that you will 
 not inform the lady who I am." 
 
 " Aha ! Armand ! " Trevours nudged him. 
 " The other lady might hear of it, eh? " 
 
 " You are shrewd, Trevours ! " Canardin 
 laughed. " It might annoy my fiancee, Ce*cile
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 91 
 
 Ce"cile " For a moment Canardin struggled 
 
 to remember the name. 
 
 " You are affianced ! " Trevours caught him 
 up. " To Cecile de Grammont? All the better, 
 if I know that lady ! You are as safe as a church ! 
 You will cherish my Julie as you would a 
 daughter ! " 
 
 " Yes," sighed Canardin. " I suppose that will 
 be the way of it." 
 
 " Now one condition I make myself," said Tre- 
 vours. " Morbihan shall not be of your party." 
 
 " I am content," Canardin assented cheerfully 
 enough. 
 
 " In any company soever that little minx Julie 
 can well take care of herself as you will quickly 
 find, my dear fellow! Except with Morbihan, 
 curse him ! He stops at nothing ! " 
 
 " Has Morbihan, also, a miniature? " asked 
 Canardin, with Lavallais's own simplicity. 
 
 " What? Morbihan ! " Trevours laughed 
 heartily. " Not he, my dear Armand. Not but 
 that he'd sell his soul to own one. I, Armand, 
 have the only one as there is only one Julie ! " 
 He laid his hat across his heart. " Both, both 
 are mine." 
 
 As the Governor of Paris clearly had much 
 more to say on this point, Canardin recalled sud-
 
 92 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 denly that he had important affairs to conclude 
 elsewhere. Especially as matters had now 
 shaped themselves, almost of their own accord, 
 so nearly to his liking. The point and hour were 
 duly fixed when Mademoiselle Lecoigneux was to 
 be committed to Canardin's protection, along 
 with the guard appointed to assist him in the 
 improbable capture of himself at Issy. And so, 
 as it now seemed to Canardin that he might 
 await the course of events with a certain measure 
 of confidence, he left Trevours and went his way. 
 The evening and the night of Friday, but two 
 days hence, promised a certain prospect of 
 amusement. 
 
 Even the two days intervening, Canardin's 
 wits prompted him, were subject to profitable 
 employment. It might be more than merely be- 
 guiling to have an eye on Lavallais and discover 
 what use that fellow was making, not so much of 
 the thousand pistoles, as of his knowledge and 
 his time. The amusements of the ensuing Fri- 
 day might exceed even Canardin's anticipation, 
 if the other Lavallais took it into his head to be 
 also at the party. Which is precisely what oc- 
 curred.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE true and only Lavallais presented him- 
 self at the Palais rout for an excellent rea- 
 son. It was the wish of a pretty and imperious 
 lady. 
 
 Thanks to funds supplied him by the first thief 
 of France, this votary of the law and relentless 
 enemy of his benefactor found himself hand- 
 somely reclothed, his purse replenished, the fatal 
 debt discharged, and the prospects of his happy 
 and highly fortunate marriage restored. The 
 one gift that Canardin had withheld was a plau- 
 sible story of how all this had fallen about. 
 
 The more Lavallais thought of this, the more 
 ardently the honest fellow cursed his poor gifts 
 as a liar and wished he had taxed Canardin for 
 this final boon. However greatly Monsieur La- 
 vallais loved a certain pair of large blue eyes, 
 already he had found them able to question 
 sharply. And though his mind raced almost as 
 fast as his lathered nag, the very turrets to C4- 
 cile's abode seemed to accuse him as he ap- 
 proached. 
 
 Ce"cile de Grammont dwelt with her guardian
 
 94 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 uncle in perhaps the most exquisitely ordered of 
 the smaller chateaux, near Meaux, pitched on a 
 hillside on the Paris side of the Marne and over- 
 looking its matchless valley. The great hall of 
 this chateau kept its memories of the several oc- 
 casions when no less a person than Monsieur 
 Moliere, supported by his troupe, played his 
 merry pieces there. The place was the scene of 
 constant entertainment. And even Monsieur 
 Canardin had been known to make it the point of 
 one of his informal visits. 
 
 Fancy, therefore, the agitation felt by Mon- 
 sieur Lavallais as he arrived, thus early in the 
 afternoon, at the dwelling of his dear lady ! How 
 shall he sit calmly in his chair, there in the great 
 hall with its many carven seats, its tall candles, 
 its walls of Gobelin tapestries, its floors velvet 
 to the foot with the richest rugs from the East ! 
 With pounding heart he listens for the first inti- 
 mations of her footsteps on the stair. And then 
 the moment when she enters ! 
 
 Can you not see the slim figure, in the mouse- 
 gray robe, with the dainty laces at her wrists 
 and throat, a little dimly outlined against the 
 tapestries at that darker end of the room? A 
 bit blinded at first, Mademoiselle Ce"cile faces the 
 windows to see who it is has come, and seeing,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 95 
 
 she runs on the tips of her toes, her delicate oval 
 face sharpening in feature and outline as it 
 rushes into the light. The saucy lips part over 
 the whitest of teeth ; the dark eyes widen in sur- 
 prise and gladness ; and she flies into his arms. 
 
 " Armand ! Oh, Armand, it is you ! " 
 Women's weeping is seldom logical, and it is 
 there, at the very beginning, that Cecile tosses 
 to the winds Monsieur Lavallais's guide and com- 
 pass. " There, there, my own," she explains after 
 a time. " It is because I am so glad when I 
 thought you were lost to me." And so far all is 
 well. 
 
 It would be such a pleasure to spangle this 
 poor paper with all the pretty words she used, 
 the catchings of her breath, her little gasps of 
 endearment. Alas, the happy cries she uttered 
 are not to be caught in words. It must do to say, 
 in this cold fashion, that a little French 
 demoiselle, who loved and thought her lover lost, 
 had found him again. She made him sit down, 
 she crouched at his feet, and listened all over 
 again to the story of his devotion, upon which he 
 dwelt again and yet again. 
 
 Nevertheless, as many may have observed, a 
 woman's curiosity is one of the constant forces 
 of Nature. It never slumbers for long. Hence
 
 96 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 it was that after a time Ce"cile was certain to 
 raise those questioning eyes of hers and propose 
 the dread question. 
 
 " Ah, you are with me again, Armand, my dear. 
 But tell me, how did you do it? Such a, dreadful 
 sum of money! How ever did you raise it in 
 time? " 
 
 For answer the shivering Lavallais could think 
 of nothing better than to draw from his wallet 
 the magical receipt for the debt and wave it be- 
 fore her eyes and let it speak for itself. It was 
 not enough. 
 
 " Then that awful ogre is paid ! Let me see. 
 Yes, it is true." The mischievous Ce"cile pressed 
 the slip of paper to her heart. " Now we can go 
 to uncle together. Come, let us fly! Armand, 
 you are wonderful ! But wait. Tell me. How 
 did you do it? And in just six days ! My brave 
 Armand! Ah, my dear, I knew you could and 
 would. For me. But how was it done? It must 
 be a wondrous tale." 
 
 What could poor Lavallais do but make a wry 
 face and as wry an answer ! " Indeed," he fal- 
 tered, truthfully enough, " it has been a passing 
 strange adventure." 
 
 Whether it was the beauties of Nature at that 
 season of the rear, or whether it was need of
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 97 
 
 more room for his great love, that drew Laval- 
 lais's feet to the tree-shaded park, need set no 
 problem; there it was that he asked Cecile to 
 walk a while and hear yet again his vows of de- 
 votion. Long and sweetly he strung it out, yet 
 sweet as this was to the lady, that practical turn 
 to her nature, which Lavallais never had re- 
 spected more than now, was not long in return- 
 ing to the thousand pistoles. And be it to the 
 credit of the fellow, he told her the truth, and 
 told it all, especially as it seemed, though he 
 said nothing of it at the time, that she had a 
 surprising knowledge already of what had be- 
 fallen. 
 
 " I suppose," he faltered at the end of it, " I 
 should never have gone to Canardin's refuge and 
 got the money. Still, it was logical." 
 
 "Ah, yes, you should! I'm so glad that you 
 did ! " cried Ce~cile, suddenly disclosing to Laval- 
 lais a new and astonishing logic of her own, 
 which he instantly recognized as vastly superior. 
 " The money? It is nothing but money ! We'll 
 call it a loan, as he says. At the proper time we 
 can easily repay it. But tell me more." Still 
 more tightly Mademoiselle Ce"cile clasped the 
 arm of Lavallais, whose relief was now so great. 
 " How very, very droll, his leaving you nothing
 
 98 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 to put on but his own clothing ! And you say he 
 is so cynical toward women! And this this is 
 his very ring ! " 
 
 She toyed with the odd trinket which Lavallais 
 had placed even then, incontinently, upon her 
 finger. " To think that you have actually seen 
 the real Canardin! And talked with him! 
 What is he like? I was so sorry to miss him 
 when he was here last week." 
 
 " What ! Canardin here f " 
 
 " Yes," said Cecile proudly. " Didn't you 
 know? He took away all of my poor Mama's 
 ugly old brooches and rings. But he left me in 
 place of them the most beautiful cluster of wild 
 orchids ! It was so thoughtful of him. Tell me, 
 Armand, is he so terrible? Most wonderful of 
 all, you were the means of saving his life ! You 
 have made too little of that part, my dear. Is he 
 really so amusing? " 
 
 " I I rather suspect, my own, that you are 
 just a bit infatuated with Canardin." 
 
 " Jealous boy ! I'm in love with Canardin, of 
 course! Haven't I reason to be? Because" 
 she raised her beautiful eyes, so trustful and so 
 mischievous " he has given you back to me." 
 
 So they threaded the paths in the park, while 
 a summer's sun set upon them without their
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 99 
 
 notice. A second time Lavallais was obliged to 
 give his account of Canardin's entry into his 
 lodging, before her curiosity was appeased. She 
 demanded the most particular description of his 
 air, his appearance. She laughed more merrily 
 than ever at a second round of quotations from 
 Canardin's humorous philosophy. The truth is, 
 though Cecile listened most attentively during 
 Armand's recital, she was busy with a good many 
 thoughts of her own meanwhile, as she disclosed 
 a moment later. 
 
 " How very amusing ! " she exclaimed. " The 
 great thief and the great lawyer lying down to- 
 gether! Chums for a night! And now you are 
 to take up the chase again ! " Stooping beside 
 the way, C6cile plucked the reddest of red roses 
 and laid it to her lips, unafraid of the compari- 
 son, and not forgetting an arch look at Lavallais 
 to see if he were jealous of it. " Of course you 
 will catch him, Armand, dear. Do you know 
 why? For the same reason that you captured 
 me." 
 
 " Only, lie will be the more easily taken ! " 
 Lavallais fetched out rather grimly. 
 
 " You will catch him," Cecile laughed heartily. 
 " Because you have a strength that is greater 
 than all the cleverness and daring of Canardin.
 
 100 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Do you know what it is? " She glanced up at 
 him archly. " It is your patience. It is terrible, 
 that patience. You used to make me fearfully 
 angry, do you know? I might flirt as I pleased, 
 but always you had that confidence of yours. I 
 gave in to you myself because" she sighed 
 "I saw there was no hope for me. You are 
 modest and sweet, Armand; but oh, that pa- 
 tience of yours ! Besides, I am beginning to think 
 you have something else in your favor." 
 
 " Oh, certainly I shall capture Canardin," 
 Lavallais laughed in irony, " if only I live long 
 enough, and if only he will consent not to get 
 himself hanged or shot in the meantime! But 
 what is the something else I have in my 
 favor? " 
 
 " Catch him you will, as you shall see, Ar- 
 mand," thus Ce"cile ignored his open bid for more 
 flattery ! It happens that Armand was not pres- 
 ent in her busy thoughts just then. " But to 
 what end will you capture him, pray that man? 
 Just for your own reputation, your own advance- 
 ment? Would you take his life in order to make 
 yours? After what he has done for you and 
 for me? Ah, no, you are not so base ! Armand, 
 listen to me." 
 
 Indeed Armand listened with interest, and
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 101 
 
 amusement too, to this airy talk of Canardin's 
 capture, as if it were imminent on the mor- 
 row. 
 
 Being near to a rustic arbor in the garden, it- 
 self near the chateau, and so under the watchful 
 eye of the duenna who eternally kept C6cile un- 
 der a gentle oversight, the young demoiselle 
 seated herself and drew Lavallais to a place be- 
 side her. 
 
 " Let us capture him, yes," she was saying 
 saying very, very seriously indeed. "But to 
 what end? To be strung up on the gibbet? To 
 be broken on the wheel? No ! No ! What a fate 
 for a brain so clever, a heart so warm, a spirit so 
 daring ! " 
 
 " Dismiss your alarms, my dear Ce"cile ! Your 
 beloved Canardin is in no need of your tears ! " 
 Lavallais laughed at her. " You speak of him 
 as if he were only a fox, to be caught in any trap." 
 Then, seeing the hurt in her eyes, he hastened to 
 say more seriously, " How little you know your 
 Canardin! Think of what he is! Of what he 
 has done ! Truly, my dear Ce"cile, such deeds as 
 his must not go unrebuked. It is bad for " 
 
 " One moment, Armand. It is bad for France 
 not to punish such misdeeds. It is worse for 
 France not to make use of such talents."
 
 102 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 "A pretty philosophy, surely! If only femi- 
 nine fancies " 
 
 " Yes, I know, my dear Armand ; but wait till 
 you have heard me ! He is a man of brains, you 
 tell me, your Monsieur Canardin. He must be, 
 to accomplish what he does in the face of such 
 desperate odds. You say he rails at our society. 
 That is not because he is truly wicked. What 
 if he is in revolt against us ! It is because of a 
 wounded pride." 
 
 "A wise little head you have on your shoul- 
 ders, Ce"cile! And that heart does you credit. 
 I only wish I could be so sanguine. But that 
 wild revolt in Canardin it is not so easily 
 quelled." 
 
 "You forget, Armand" and here came the 
 arch glance again "that I have you to believe in. 
 And perhaps there's something else besides." 
 
 " Ah, yes ; that ' something else ! ' What is it, 
 please? " 
 
 " Armand ! " As part of the feminine accept- 
 ance of logic it was essential here that Ce"cile 
 should rest her mist of tawny tresses against 
 Lavallais's shoulder. "Do you think I am 
 charming? Keally? You've said so, of course. 
 But" she looked up, blushes and all "is it 
 true? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 103 
 
 "Ce"cile!" 
 
 "Yes, but is it true?" 
 
 " Of course it is true ! But why do you ask? " 
 
 " Armand, you you said lie was unused to a 
 woman's wiles? " 
 
 " Cecile ! You little know what you say ! That 
 wild hawk? It is unthinkable ! " 
 
 " I am not so sure." 
 
 " Cecile ! Have you conceived a silly girl's 
 wrong-headed notion of that man? " 
 
 " No. I merely love him. And for precisely 
 the reason I gave you. Because he gave you 
 back to me. Everything tells me your Canardin 
 is a man. And isn't it my duty to help you catch 
 him in my own way? What sort of wife should 
 I be to you otherwise? " This sounded sus- 
 piciously like logic, to begin with, and Cecile 
 proceed to amplify it. As might be expected in 
 her case, the argument, nevertheless, opened with 
 the word " Because." 
 
 " Because I'll tell you," Cecile now began in 
 earnest, with still more blushes, but with addi- 
 tions to her years and her wisdom that aston- 
 ished Lavallais. " In your Canardin I recognize 
 an unmistakable Frenchman. In no great while 
 you are to take your place in France, and I am 
 to be your wife. And I wonder whether we shall
 
 104 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 be better friends of France than that man you 
 are pleased to call a wild hawk ! I know how I 
 should behave if I had brains and a spirit like his. 
 All that I am I owe to France. What that man 
 is he owes to Nature alone. If I or you had a 
 spirit like his, a measure of courage, a breadth 
 
 of humor like his " Cecile let the lolling 
 
 head on Lavallais's shoulder express the rest. 
 " Frenchmen like that we send to the gallows ! 
 We drop their bodies in the sewer ! To-morrow, 
 or very soon, they will catch him. To-day Achille 
 de Morbihan was here, along with De Braille. 
 Julie also is with me. That, of course, explains 
 it!" Cecile laughed. " And they talked of that 
 man Canardin, all of them, as if he were a par- 
 tridge. A bit of game. A pestilence, a plague, 
 to be stamped out. A fox to be baited. It amazed 
 me, what they know of him. And very soon I 
 learned where they got their information. Will 
 you believe it, Julie had it ! That hoyden cousin 
 of mine ! She knows everything ; she gets every- 
 where. The fool who dares to affront her has a 
 dozen rapiers aimed at his heart, and the little 
 minx knows it. Her pretty ears are simply hop- 
 pers that gather every bit of gossip in France. 
 Long before you got here with that miser's re- 
 ceipt, I knew from her that you had it, and
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 105 
 
 whence you got the thousand pistoles ! The little 
 mischief is as clever as she is bloodthirsty. It's 
 merely the fashion, according to her. Every one 
 in Paris is amusing himself by pursuit of Can- 
 ardin. And making forty other Canardins every 
 hour ! " Ce"cile ended. 
 
 " H'm, my dear," Lavallais reflected. " Only 
 making it the more amusing to our friend Can- 
 ardin, I should say." 
 
 " For the time, perhaps. But what can he do 
 against France ! Funloving France, stalking its 
 best brains! Do you wonder that a French- 
 woman, like myself, is indignant ! " 
 
 What Lavallais did not wonder at was that a 
 Frenchwoman like C6cile should be a bit jealous 
 of another Frenchwoman like Julie. This he 
 kept to himself, however, and said instead, " Be- 
 ing the best of French brains, I rather fancy 
 Canardin may be trusted to take care of him- 
 self!" 
 
 "Not to hear that little Julie! When he's 
 caught, I suppose she'll very properly shudder 
 at her work. Just now it's no more to her than 
 a move at chess, against the men. Being nine- 
 teen, she knows no better. Being clever, she can 
 be told no better. And to play with such fire in 
 the France you and I know the France outside
 
 106 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 of Paris! For the good of the realm that man 
 Canardin must be ' captured ' in a different fash- 
 ion. Outside of Paris he's the idol of the coun- 
 try. If they hang that man, they'll have the 
 other half of France to hang with him! Cap- 
 tured, yes! He must be! And who but you, 
 Armand" Ce"cile looked up at him "are 
 the man to do it, you who know him so 
 well." 
 
 " Just like that ! " Lavallais playfully snapped 
 his fingers at this easy undertaking. 
 
 C6cile had a counter for him. " That's how 
 the others take his capture ! " she said. " Will 
 you let them beat you? Already they have re- 
 turned to Paris. Even Julie is preparing to fol- 
 low. Stay with me a while, Armand ; then " 
 
 Ce"cile now bristled up, perhaps the most practi- 
 cal of all Canardin's captors. " Then off you go. 
 To find him, I'm sure. I count upon you. And 
 to be ahead of them. You know his haunts as 
 well as they. Or better. You have actually 
 talked with him as not one of them has. You 
 will do something with him, because you come to 
 him on a better errand. It is a game between 
 you! And think of the stakes! the reward, if 
 you return that man to France ! " 
 
 The excellence of this philosophy there was no
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 107 
 
 gainsaying, as Lavallais held it off in review as 
 philosophy. 
 
 " Your supper first, of course ! " Ce*cile encour- 
 aged him not quite successfully. 
 
 With or without supper, the reduction of that 
 philosophy to fact was enough to put a wry face 
 on any man. Whereupon the proud beauty took 
 it on herself to quicken her Armand's medita- 
 tions. 
 
 "Am I to understand, Monsieur Lavallais," she 
 said, not quite playfully, either, " that your 
 Ce"cile alone is not a sufficient reward to you? " 
 
 There Lavallais truly started. " Cecile ! You 
 mean that reward is to be reserved until ? " 
 
 " Since you have furnished me with the idea, 
 Monsieur," Cecile laughed wickedly, " let's have 
 it so!" 
 
 " But, my own ! I begrudge you nothing ! 
 You know it ! At least cut your demands down 
 to the possible ! " 
 
 " Canardin's capture must come before mine ! " 
 she plagued him, so that it was almost impossible 
 to doubt her. Indeed, there is no knowing how 
 far she might have carried her cruelty, but for an 
 unexpected diversion. 
 
 " Now who's baiting a clever Frenchman ! " 
 they heard an even more merry and mischievous
 
 108 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 voice. And out of the gathering dusk, from 
 somewhere on the lawn about them, a flying fig- 
 ure consisting, as it approached, chiefly of a mass 
 of tossing ringlets, flung itself on the grass at 
 their feet, and the mocking smile of Julie Lecoig- 
 neux looked them over.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 r I ^HE mocking laugh ended in words even 
 * more mocking. "And what reward shall I 
 have, dear cousin, if I bring him myself? Let us 
 say we have him here next Saturday morning. 
 And not a hair missing from his head. Your 
 darling Canardin, no less." 
 
 " Hear the child ! She's mad on the subject ! " 
 Cecile laughed, reaching out for a handful of 
 those ringlets, as Julie tossed them out of range. 
 "At least she pretends to be. It's only to plague 
 Morbihan and De Braille." 
 
 "And you ! " Julie added, with such a volume 
 of mysterious laughter as proved her point. 
 " Come, what do you say, Ce"cile? Let's have it. 
 What's to be my reward? With Canardin here 
 on Saturday next? " 
 
 "A spanking, whether you bring him or not." 
 
 Here Lavallais took up the matter. " I'm per- 
 fectly willing to believe her," he said. 
 
 Out of her superior knowledge Julie was pre- 
 pared to laugh, as she could well afford. Laval- 
 lais, however, had stopped her. " Indeed, my
 
 .110 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 friend," she said saucily. "And what, pray, do 
 you know? " 
 
 " Nothing," said Lavallais, " except what I 
 have gathered from Canardin." And there it 
 was C6cile's part to laugh heartily. 
 
 " But I'm serious ! " Julie protested, and even 
 spoke it seriously. 
 
 " I can well believe it," said Lavallais. " My 
 dear," he turned to Ce"cile, so that she was puz- 
 zled by his own sudden mockery of seriousness, 
 " I am saved after all. Canardin will be here on 
 Saturday. Does it matter to you which one of us 
 brings him? " 
 
 In the deepening twilight Cecile studied first 
 one of their faces, and then the other. " What 
 
 have you two ? " she began. But Lavallais 
 
 the lover could ill endure her suspense, and 
 fetched them back to laughter. 
 
 " If Canardin learns that Julie is to be here, he 
 will be here himself. Of his own accord." 
 
 Julie leaped up for a little slap at his cheek. 
 " You horrid thing ! " she complained, but soon 
 was dancing a mad little turn before them. 
 " Very well, if you'll have it so, you pair of coo- 
 ing doves! Just for your benefit I'll have a 
 declaration out of your Canardin before it's over ! 
 To satisfy your craving for delicate sentiment!
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 111 
 
 Though I fancy my cousin " she tapped CeeUe's 
 cheek this time "would rather have that for 
 herself! Who knows? It may be. As for my 
 part " the girl turned upon them a little fiercely 
 " I'm not a poor lover of France myself ! Not 
 the less so because I can't quite sentimentalize 
 over an open and defiant outlaw! A pretty 
 France we shall have if we make pets of such 
 wild despoilers! There's only one thing in his 
 favor." 
 
 The capricious thing had flung herself down on 
 the turf again at Cecile's knees, with a foolish 
 laugh. 
 
 " He's he's so awfully clever ! " she fetched 
 out. 
 
 " Just what I say, my child ! " CScile caught 
 up the point. " Quite too good to waste." 
 
 " He's worth one's efforts ! " 
 
 " I'm glad you admit it, my dear ! " 
 
 " He's led me one chase ! But " 
 
 " But, what? " 
 
 Julie was even more livened now, and pointed 
 at Lavallais. " Tell you what, Monsieur ! It's 
 a race between us ! I'll wait till to-morrow. And 
 give you your start to-night. Or any amount of 
 start." Julie broke off to laugh out more of her 
 merry mystery. " It's pathetic, the drakes he
 
 112 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 has made of you men! Trevours? Oh, la!" 
 She kissed her finger tips to the first twinkling 
 stars, and then sobered again, so far as she was 
 able. "We can toss for his soul with C6cile " 
 
 " When we've got him," Lavallais finished for 
 her. " It's rather wise to stipulate that," he 
 laughed drily. 
 
 " Very good ! What will you wager on that? " 
 Julie was ready for him, and with such a show of 
 confidence as freshly alarmed Ce"cile. " Out of 
 your thousand pistoles? " 
 
 What Lavallais would have wagered against 
 this mischief was left to question, for a lackey 
 now appeared with a tray of chocolate, which at 
 that hour they found very grateful. When they 
 had drained their cups, the lackey said : 
 
 " Monsieur de Grammont, your uncle, Madem- 
 oiselle, asks me to remind you of the hour, and 
 of the dampness." 
 
 "Thanks, Etienne! But Armand!" Ce"cile 
 started at a hot drop on her wrist. 
 
 " I'm so sorry ! " said Lavallais. " The tray 
 was not where I thought it. Did I scald you? " 
 He lifted the uninjured wrist to kiss it. 
 
 " Etienne ! You will be more careful, please ! " 
 Ce"cile corrected the innocent instead of the 
 guilty. "A new one who came this morning,"
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 113 
 
 she explained as the lackey moved away. " But 
 one takes whatever comes, at this distance from 
 Paris." 
 
 " One does ! " said Lavallais. 
 
 The ladies, however, now thought of the hour, 
 and not of odd tones in gentlemen's voices, and 
 C6cile and Julie set off for the chateau without 
 note of Lavallais's remark. 
 
 Other servants were in attendance on the sup- 
 per table, and whatever it was that Lavallais had 
 on his mind he suffered to rest there, even as he 
 later suffered himself to be later dismissed to 
 Paris in one of the De Grammont coaches. Then 
 it was, however, that a certain matter returned 
 to his mind, not to be dispelled even by the pros- 
 pect of his first real appearance in the circle of 
 the Court, in Ce*cile's company, at the Palais 
 Eoyal. 
 
 The undeniable likeness in that lackey's voice ! 
 The original, it is true, he had heard but once ; 
 but it was a voice ever afterward to be unmistak- 
 able. Could it be that Saturday itself was too 
 far away for ? 
 
 " Pshaw ! " Lavallais reflected as he rode away. 
 " Remarkable man, that Canardin. But that is 
 too much, even for him ! "
 
 TV /T 
 **-- 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 , it is because I am an enemy to 
 
 ennu. 
 
 If any one had stopped Canardin as lie 
 mounted the stair to the Palais Eoyal on that 
 Friday night, with a question as to why he was 
 risking himself to the open scrutiny of those who 
 most ardently of all craved a grip at his neck, 
 that, in all probability, would have been his an- 
 swer. 
 
 A merely clever man in Canardin's shoes would 
 have clung like a leech to a disguise already 
 proved effective, and so would have passed as Ar- 
 mand de Lavallais. A very clever man would 
 have remained away. As nothing mattered to 
 Canardin except amusement and adventure, and 
 as a certain acquaintance with adventure had 
 taught him his powers, this opportunity was irre- 
 sistible. Whether or not he was clever by birth, 
 more than one awkward surprise in the past had 
 taught him cleverness. And so, to give himself 
 the proper latitude for his purpose, on entering 
 the Palais he gave to the major-domo the name of
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 115 
 
 the Sieur Marcel de Brisac, Comte de Stras- 
 bourg. 
 
 This was a happy thought at the start. Once 
 the proud name he gave was whispered about, 
 Canardin became instantly the object of admir- 
 ing attention as a distinguished visitor from the 
 important new province. Dozens placed them- 
 selves in the way of an introduction to this Comte 
 de Brisac, and gleaned the more marvelous infor- 
 mation about Alsace because Canardin himself 
 possessed none whatever about that region. So 
 long as he was careful to avoid a too close contact 
 with De Braille, not forgetting De Morbihan, 
 Canardin was reasonably secure for a time. And 
 his stay, in any case, was to be shortened by the 
 fantastic errand to Issy. 
 
 A band of music played rondeaux, sarabandes, 
 minuets, gavot':es by Lully and Kameau, and 
 much to the elation of the dancers the illustrious 
 Lully himself led the players. Countless others 
 of note were there, painters, poets, dramatists, 
 statesmen, great beauties, great gallants, great 
 fops. 
 
 "At last," said Canardin to himself, "I am 
 among my peers ! And this is the proud world, 
 Canardin, that has been beating you into rebel- 
 lion! Pah, the lash only stings when it falls
 
 116 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 from, the hand of a superior ! Every third man 
 of them here is your like, except that he is able 
 to keep a straight face ! " And in this spirit he 
 put on his haughtiest air and strode into the 
 midst of the business, minded to make play and 
 have it amuse him. 
 
 Which it did from the start. The Palais itself 
 was a glitter of crystal lights and was every- 
 where gilded and gorgeous, and nowhere shone 
 more blatantly than in its contradictions. On 
 the walls blazed the brains of the greatest of 
 painters, and the painted chairs threatened col- 
 lapse at the weight of a child. The useless was 
 one with the grand, so long as both served the 
 worship of what was refined. As with the fur- 
 nishings, so with the persons and what they said. 
 It suited Canardin's mood to a nicety. Every- 
 thing suited his mood, excepting one thing. 
 
 A certain mocking smile, which even yet he had 
 seen only in fleeting and indistinct flashes, was 
 yet to be found, though now for half an hour he 
 had moved through the crowd in search of it. 
 Here, seeing a minuet forming in the grand 
 salon, he promptly cast about for a vis-a-vis, not 
 so much for the dance as to pick up useful infor- 
 mation. Especially as his own instincts taught 
 him that the mocking smile, because it was
 
 mocking, was probably playing a game with, 
 him. 
 
 On the instant that Canardin led into the 
 dance the lady of his selection, he found the qual- 
 ity of his entertainment improving. Twice be- 
 fore then, he recalled, her train had been swept 
 under his feet, as if trailed there deliberately. 
 Her face, now that he caught it in full, under a 
 chandelier, gave him a start for its likeness to a 
 certain other. The likeness of a twin, at least, if 
 not of an original. 
 
 " Madame la Marquise," said Canardin, as he 
 danced, for he was never lacking in talk, " it is 
 the sorrow of my life that I should be better ac- 
 quainted with your portraits than I am with 
 yourself ! " 
 
 " Monsieur ! " she answered, with the merriest 
 light in her eyes. "And just when I thought you 
 a stranger to Paris on the evidence of your 
 steps." 
 
 " I am a stranger to flattery, Madame as you 
 are a stranger to charity. As for my steps, any 
 man is a stranger to the dance who is so peril- 
 ously close to forty." 
 
 "Be of good cheer, Monsieur. Every day is 
 taking you farther from forty," said the lady, so 
 that Canardin gave a look at the saucy Tartar he
 
 118 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 had caught. Whereupon she laughed gayly, to 
 blunt the edge of her wit, and suddenly each, 
 without the aid of a portrait, recognized a jolly 
 rogue in the other, and both were well along in 
 their postponed acquaintance. 
 
 " By the way, Monsieur," said the lady, " let 
 me shorten your exertions in gallantry. I am 
 not a Marquise, except twice weekly, and then 
 only in play. It is all I can stand of it." 
 
 " I am sure any Marquise could endure to be 
 you," said Canardin. 
 
 " Come," said she, " let us leave this nonsense. 
 Especially as you do it so badly. That is proof 
 alone that you must be somebody." 
 
 As soon as the dance was ended she led him 
 away to the end of the long room. " Now that I 
 have told you who I am," she said to Canardin, 
 as he found chairs for them both, " perhaps you'll 
 return the favor." 
 
 "And in the same manner," said Canardin. " I 
 too am playing a part." 
 
 With the air of a queen the lady swept a lovely 
 arm toward the room and said, " It is so very com- 
 mon ! When I thought you some one out of the 
 ordinary ! " 
 
 " No. That is the sorrow of my life," said Can- 
 ardin, " that I am ordinary."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 119 
 
 "Then you have a vaulting ambition, Mon- 
 sieur ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Canardin, in the familiar dry tone, 
 " it keeps me vaulting." 
 
 " ' It,' or she? " the lady laughed. 
 
 " She? There is no she. Perhaps that is an- 
 other of my sorrows. At times, Madame, I am 
 bound to admit that there are other pleasures 
 than toiling for France." 
 
 " Come, Monsieur," said she, " aren't you a bit 
 of a humbug? Would it annoy you if I said I 
 know who you are? And that I can guess why 
 you are here? " Then she mocked him: " It is 
 the sorrow of my life that I should be better ac- 
 quainted with your report than I am with you." 
 
 For a moment Canardin studied in vain which 
 name he should give to disabuse her, De Brisac 
 or Lavallais. " It is good of you to mistake me 
 for some one of importance," he said, to gain 
 time. 
 
 "Come! Don't be stupid for once in your 
 life," the lady said, and whispered in his ear, 
 " Monsieur Canardin ! " 
 
 With habitual iron mastery of himself, Can- 
 ardin gave no sign of the violent inward start 
 that took him. His gaze slowly turned upon the 
 woman, to read her.
 
 120 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Had it come then, at last but so soon, the 
 false move, the one fatal step, that ultimate cer- 
 tainty which always threw a shadow over his 
 lightest moments? His fate at last in the uncer- 
 tain hands of a woman, the only foe entitled to 
 his respect? 
 
 It suited the lady to hold Canardin in suspense 
 for a time. Meanwhile he shot a lightning stare 
 of scrutiny from one to another of the people 
 about. And found them serenely occupied in the 
 neatness of a bow, the effect of a ravishing glance. 
 Not one of them troubled to turn and run him 
 through. 
 
 Canardin concluded that he was not yet dead. 
 " Madame," said he, " it is kind of you to mistake 
 me for a person of such celebrity. But you drive 
 me to a disclosure that I ought in decency to 
 keep to myself. I too have devoted myself to 
 adjusting a few of the inequalities in our perfect 
 world. I am in Paris to present to the King's 
 Council the interests of a great lady of my prov- 
 ince Madame de Longlen who has suffered a 
 cruel wrong at the hands of her husband. It is 
 nothing to brag of, however." 
 
 " It is not," the sweet lady agreed. " I have 
 heard of the case. It was talked of much and 
 settled last month. And the lady's name, by the
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 121 
 
 way, was De Kinglin not wholly unknown in 
 your province, Monsieur." And she laughed. 
 
 So did Canardin laugh, with mischief of his 
 own. "Are there two of you here who know? " 
 he asked resignedly. 
 
 "Your sum is correct for the present, Mon- 
 sieur Canardin. But heaven knows how quickly 
 the number will multiply, if you linger so much 
 as an hour ! Come, Monsieur ! " the lady rallied 
 him in confidential tones, and in a voice of such 
 quality as gave Canardin to wonder if he truly 
 need look much farther for the spice to life he 
 was after. " We are not all like Monsieur Tre- 
 vours. Do you hold all our wits as cheaply as 
 his? " She tapped his arm with her fan of 
 plumes, then spread it to shield the heartiest 
 laugh at his expense. "That was droll, Mon- 
 sieur ; that was priceless ! Julie will thank you 
 for that!" 
 
 " I rather counted on Trevours's telling her," 
 said Canardin sadly. " I made the matter so 
 secret." 
 
 " It is as you say, Monsieur Canardin," the 
 lady laughed on at him. "You have devoted 
 your life to the service of others. There are sev- 
 eral besides Julie Lecoigneux who will thank 
 you for getting that great bear Trevours out
 
 122 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 of the way! Monsieur de Braille, for in- 
 stance." 
 
 Canardin obligingly let himself into her trap. 
 "At times, Madame," he said, " I fear I am weak 
 and selfish. But it was really to have Trevours 
 out of De Braille's way that I sent him posting 
 off to Versailles." 
 
 With that the lady disclosed that she was no 
 great enemy to Canardin. "I wonder, Mon- 
 sieur ! " she exclaimed earnestly. " There are 
 prizes withheld from even your audacity! 
 Surely you yourself have no hope " 
 
 Canardin looked at her keenly, and for a mo- 
 ment baffled her as to his designs. " Madame," 
 he said, " you flatter that audacity of mine. And 
 there is something you forget. If I am the man 
 you take me to be, I happen to be the one man in 
 the world to enjoy the honor of Mademoiselle 
 Julie's actual pursuit. What a blackguard I 
 should be to disappoint her ! " 
 
 "Julie Lecoigneux will not be disappointed, 
 Monsieur! There's a dangerous wit in that 
 young woman ! " 
 
 " But at least you will grant me, Madame, a 
 fight for my life? " Canardin laughed. 
 
 Not so the lady. "What, here, Monsieur!" 
 she said in genuine alarm. " In not twenty min-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 123 
 
 utes this company will know to a unit who you 
 are ! Not but that half of them would welcome 
 your discovery as a priceless break to their bore- 
 dom! Is it possible they do not know of you, 
 speak of you? Well ! A mysterious stranger is 
 here, a striking figure. Will there not be suspi- 
 cion, even hope, that it is you? It would be so 
 like that Canardin! And do you fancy there is 
 any cover for that bold bearing of yours? No, 
 Monsieur. For once I must play the traitor 
 and that to my dearest friend and get you away 
 from here ! " 
 
 " Madame," said Canardin in the greatest good 
 nature, but drily, " were I Canardin, you would 
 flatter me off to the gallows. Many thanks for 
 your goodness, but it seems to me safer to stay on 
 and earn your enmity, if your friendship costs so 
 dear." 
 
 " Monsieur ! " said the lady freezingly. 
 
 " I would add, by the way, that Mademoiselle 
 Lecoigneux, and your description of her wit, are 
 separated by the width of her tendency to talka- 
 tiveness." 
 
 "Monsieur!" The lady now passed from 
 freezing to heat. " I am hurt, and not for myself 
 alone. Mademoiselle and myself are inseparable. 
 Nothing is withheld between us. Perhaps I
 
 124 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 should say that our one point of difference is 
 Canardin whether he should be hanged or be 
 pensioned ! " 
 
 " And you are for ? " 
 
 " Monsieur, if you knew who I am, you would 
 not ask such a question. Or question my friend- 
 ship. You and I share a common contempt for 
 this comedy." Her fan swept the room. " But 
 I suppose everything is to be forgiven to one from 
 
 the provinces. Paris knows me as Come ! " 
 
 she broke off abruptly. " I need the air. Take 
 me out on the gallery." 
 
 All eyes followed the striking pair, as Can- 
 ardin assisted Mademoiselle out of her chair 
 and led her away on his arm. As it was 
 still in early autumn, the tropical plants had not 
 yet been removed from the open court within the 
 Palais, and exotic odors rose from them, mois- 
 tened by mist from the fountain in the center. 
 Saunterers threaded the paths, more concerned, 
 however, with the blooming youth on their arms 
 than with the less gorgeous blooms on the plants 
 about them. For a little while Canardin and his 
 lady leaned over the beautifully wrought and 
 scrolled iron railing to the gallery, and watched 
 them. A few were already seated at tables, ac- 
 cepting partridge, ices and wines fetched by the
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 125 
 
 lackeys. One of these lackeys, after glancing up 
 at the gallery, lifted a glass and set it down 
 again, at the same moment that Canardin 
 twirled his moustache. 
 
 " As you are in the best of health," Canardin 
 remarked at last, " and have little other need of 
 the breezes, I take it you also saw Morbihan ap- 
 proaching in there." 
 
 "And in his cups ! Let me tell you, Monsieur 
 Canardin, when that man, having failed in a cer- 
 tain quest, returns to the gaming tables, it will 
 be seasonable for you to leave ! " 
 
 "And disappoint Mademoiselle Julie? In 
 case she is not you? Impossible ! " 
 
 "As to that, Monsieur Canardin, Julie Lecoig- 
 neux has only to bide her time ! And I give you 
 my word, she is a very determined young woman. 
 See here ! " The lady straightened from her 
 leaning posture and stood facing him. Under 
 the glow from the lighted windows about the 
 court, Canardin watched a face merry and 
 piquant become pale and serious. " Leave fool- 
 ing aside, Monsieur. Please see where you stand. 
 One may carry a lark too far. And I have heard 
 you set down as a gentleman. You are in 
 the gravest possible danger yourself, and you 
 menace others. Even if you have the least pos-
 
 126 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 sible love for your own life, remember them. If 
 you disclose yourself here, or let yourself be 
 found, think of the scene that would follow ! The 
 uproar! The party itself might be broken up. 
 The worse for you as well as distressing to 
 others. For all her mad pranks, Julie Lecoig- 
 neux has a position at Court, remember, and a 
 dignity to be sustained." 
 
 " I see," said Canardin gravely. " By that you 
 mean that I cannot allow myself to be taken at a 
 time so inconvenient to Mademoiselle Lecoig- 
 neux ! " 
 
 The lady burst forth into laughter again. " It 
 could not have been put better, Monsieur Can- 
 ardin ! You have amply confirmed my estimate 
 of your character." 
 
 " But what must be your estimate of my wits ! 
 My own reading of the situation is otherwise. It 
 would scarcely be etiquette, you say, to take me 
 here. Then I know of no safer place for me. 
 Let us go in." He reached for her arm. 
 
 She came closer. " Leave fooling aside, I beg 
 of you ! Can you make the leap to the court be- 
 low without hurt? At the window behind you 
 stands the Due de Morbihan, watching us ! " 
 
 " Pah ! He sees four of us, I'll wager. And 
 what he wants is a tte-a-tte. Let him wait.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 127 
 
 By the way, I could stand it, myself, to see at 
 least two of you, Mademoiselle. Even though 
 one would be saddened by the thought that it 
 could be only an optical illusion. Certainly Na- 
 ture has not fashioned two " 
 
 " Peace, man ! Morbihan has left the window ! 
 He is coming out ! There in the doorway be- 
 hind the curtain he stands ! " 
 
 " Be attentive to me ! " Canardin said, in a low 
 voice. Louder, quite audibly, he opened, " I paid 
 a visit to my friend and colleague Jean de Braille 
 this morning. As no one else seems able to stop 
 this Canardin, it seemed my imperative duty to 
 take a hand in ending the scandal. Did De 
 Braille, I wonder, convey anything to Mademoi- 
 selle Lecoigneux? " 
 
 " Only all that he knew ! As usual ! " 
 
 "Yes, but special and priceless information 
 concerning ? " 
 
 " You mean something said by a simpleton no- 
 tary, a Monsieur Monsieur " 
 
 " Armand de Lavallais? " 
 
 " That was the name. I believe he made the 
 most absurd and outlandish pretensions " 
 
 "To catching Canardin, precisely." Can- 
 ardin looked over his shoulder now. " You see, 
 he is gone. When a pretty woman is near, any
 
 128 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 man is safe from Morbihan. One loveliest, wisest, 
 wittiest woman in especial ! I fancy, Mademoi- 
 selle, whatever the condition of his eyesight, he 
 took you to be as / do Julie Lecoigneux." 
 
 " Monsieur ! " She drew back with a little 
 start. Then laughed lightly. 
 
 " I rather thought, Mademoiselle Lecoigneux," 
 Canardin went on, " that you were arguing for 
 your own comfort, when you wanted Canardin 
 out of the way even over the railing, if need be. 
 But I happen to be only Armand de Laval- 
 lais." 
 
 " Monsieur," the young lady said, recovering a 
 little. " I thought we had disposed of that little 
 jest." 
 
 " My pretensions, it is true, Mademoiselle, may 
 be absurd and outlandish. But so long as they 
 give me a community of interest with you " 
 
 " Monsieur ! Eecall yourself ! " 
 
 "I am speaking of a professional interest, 
 Mademoiselle. Perhaps it would seem less out- 
 landish if I showed you " Canardin made mo- 
 tion of reaching into an inner pocket " a lettre 
 de cachet made out in my name, and handed to 
 me only this evening." 
 
 Again Mademoiselle drew back with an excla- 
 mation. But whether the exclamation was for
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 129 
 
 Lavallais's importance or Canardin's audacity, 
 Canardin was unable to tell. 
 
 " It came to me through De Braille's influ- 
 ence," he continued, watching her narrowly. 
 "What a wonderful fellow that De Braille is! 
 I am sure you have observed it." 
 
 Having done Lavallais one good turn in the 
 morning, Canardin was perfectly ready to end 
 the day with another good lick in favor of De 
 Braille. But Mademoiselle was not the com- 
 plaisant De Braille. All excitement now, and 
 watching him closely, she said, " Let us go in !" 
 and caught at his arm. 
 
 " Mademoiselle has no further need of air? " 
 
 " Of information, rather ! " she laughed nerv- 
 ously. When they had got back among the 
 throng, where the numbers were dense enough to 
 screen the tumult of doubt and uncertainty he 
 had stirred in her mind, she said, on a sudden 
 thought, "Now, tell me about Ce"cile. Ce"cile 
 first ! De Braille will keep. Pour it out to the 
 very uttermost. How is the dear girl? What 
 have you to say of her? " 
 
 Canardin paid that young woman, whoever she 
 was, the tribute of one swift, wry gaze. Then he 
 covered his amusement, his embarrassment, and 
 his mute admiration of her wit in a long, low
 
 130 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 bow. In the short course of that bow he had 
 time to think to himself, " Curse you, Canardin, 
 for never having made the acquaintance of that 
 fiancee of yours ! " Aloud, and even while think- 
 ing of that, he said, " Mademoiselle, it is impos- 
 sible to praise one lovely lady in the presence of 
 another." He then wished the house might 
 catch fire, or something. In Mademoiselle's eyes 
 was a light more than a trifle too bright for him. 
 Canardin seized the readiest moment to take his 
 leave. To Canardin the temperature of the place 
 appeared to be rising. Himself in need of a little 
 air, he stepped out on the gallery again, a quieter 
 place for observation. 
 
 "So that is Julie Lecoigneux!" he sighed. 
 And would have sighed more, but that he now 
 caught sight of something else to pique his curi- 
 osity. In the salon, near the window, De Braille 
 was standing in company with the Due de Mor- 
 bihan. The Due was pointing, somewhat un- 
 steadily, to the door to the gallery; both were 
 talking excitedly. 
 
 Canardin lingered only long enough in the 
 gallery to await the appearance of a particular 
 lackey. " Curse the laggard fool, where is he? " 
 Canardin growled. But in a moment the fel- 
 low appeared, and after some difficulty Canardin
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 131 
 
 managed an exchange of the same sign. "I'll 
 slit that idiot lackey's throat if he's drunk 
 again," the master snapped, and then hastened 
 within.
 
 CHAPTER VHI 
 
 VEXED by the slight inharmony between 
 himself and the lackey, Canardin turned 
 impatiently back to the crowded room for a word 
 with De Braille. A man of Canardin's temper 
 may toy with subtlety on occasion; when any- 
 thing awkward impends, he boldly demands to 
 know what it is. Thus boldly headed toward De 
 Braille, even though Morbihan himself were by, 
 Canardin entered the great hall again in time to 
 witness the close of an apparent " scene ", which 
 he instantly saw had to do with himself. The 
 occupants of the entire room had stopped what- 
 ever had been their exercise of the moment before 
 and stood rooted, astonishment on every face, 
 and every face turned toward Canardin. Evi- 
 dently something of a sensational nature had 
 been said concerning himself. The temperature 
 of the room was rising higher for Canardin ! De 
 Braille and the Due de Morbihan were not to be 
 seen, but in a moment the meaning of this im- 
 promptu tableau was plain. From the depths of
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 133 
 
 the crowd, transfixed in silence, came sounds of 
 a scuffle, and then De Braille's voice. 
 
 " Morbihan ! Achille ! I beg of you ! It can't 
 be he ! Come away. Take the air and recover. 
 You are mad. There are things which even the 
 Due de Morbihan may not say. Not here." 
 
 " I t-tell you I kii-know! " came Morbihan's 
 thick and guttural reply. " It's he ! D-do you 
 shuppose I c-can't shee with m'own eyes? I'll re- 
 port this th-thing to the K-King himself ! " 
 
 " Think where you are, Morbihan ! Another 
 time, another place." 
 
 " Wh-what ! And let that d-dog escape ! " 
 
 " Think where you are, man ! This will out- 
 rage our host! Your suspicions are silly! 
 Base!" 
 
 "B-base? He's here, my li'l pink Jean! 
 Base? Th-that calls for an accounting. T-to- 
 morrow at three, at F-Fontainebleau ! You 
 h-hear me? An' if I get n-near that fellow to- 
 night, I'll I'll run him through! Or I'm a 
 d-dog myself ! " 
 
 A door closed upon the altercation. Gradu- 
 ally the tableau dissolved. By some one's quick 
 order the viols struck up again. A few, the 
 younger of the party, renewed their dancing. 
 Others fell into furtive chatter. But however
 
 134 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 rigid attitudes unbent, an ominous stiffness re- 
 mained. Such things are not forgotten. They 
 spread like a vapor. Whether Canardin's name 
 had been actually mentioned, he was unable to 
 guess. He finally decided that it had. For 
 though he turned on his heel with entire uncon- 
 cern, he everywhere encountered an air of con- 
 straint. Men stared at him; the women deftly 
 drew away. Whoever he was, it was sufficient 
 that he was a figure disapproved by the Due de 
 Morbihan. 
 
 Any newcomer, with the cleanest of hands, 
 who enters a brilliant company totally unknown, 
 will have his embarrassments. Canardin, rub- 
 bing elbows with any number of those who, at the 
 instant of recognition, would pounce or shout an 
 alarm, was hardly so happy as he sometimes was 
 at two in the morning, correcting those evils 
 which usurers inflict upon a helpless society! 
 He glanced toward the chair where he had left 
 the disappointing Julie Lecoigneux, the object of 
 his visit, the excuse for his intrusion. She was 
 gone. Even she had deserted him. 
 
 Coolly, with his head high, and the air of a 
 man burdened with matters that take one far out 
 of all this frivolity, Canardin moved out on the 
 gallery again. For some minutes he waited in
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 135 
 
 vain, and then, for a second, reeled at a shock. 
 Not one lackey but two finally appeared among 
 the crowd in the court, looked up at him, and ex- 
 changed with him the identical sign. Something 
 had gone wrong. 
 
 Almost, and in precisely one hour, Julie's 
 warning had come true. Back in the brilliantly 
 peopled room he was noticed only to be avoided. 
 The train of many a robe of scarlet, lavender, 
 rose or gold he saw, but rarely its jeweled cor- 
 sage! The men felt for their blades or their 
 pockets as he passed. At such a time a Canardin 
 does something. 
 
 Stalking by the row of chairs at the border of 
 the room, each turning upon him a pair of curi- 
 ous eyes, he presently descried Monsieur Moliere, 
 for that moment sitting alone, waiting to go on in 
 his comedy, but weary already and looking ill 
 and old. By the turn of fortune a chair was 
 vacant beside him. It was Canardin's chance, a 
 chance to reestablish himself. 
 
 "Monsieur," he said, languidly sinking into 
 the empty chair at the great man's side, "it would 
 be unpardonable of me to address you were I not 
 convinced that on one point at least we meet as 
 equals." 
 
 "That is quite possible," drawled Monsieur
 
 136 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Moliere, at once amused. " Wlio is it I have the 
 honor to address? " 
 
 "A man as sad as yourself, Monsieur," said 
 Canardin, never lacking for things to say. 
 " Monsieur, in company with thousands of others 
 in Europe, I am a devoted lover of your works. 
 But I say to my friends, * Wait ! Monsieur Mo- 
 liere's masterpiece is yet to come. That we shall 
 have when at last Moliere consents to tell us 
 what he knows/" 
 
 " What, Monsieur ! My candor has earned me 
 cabbages enough already ! " 
 
 " Monsieur Moliere, do you suppose I am the 
 only one who hears, between your merry lines, 
 the cry of a heart that is breaking for his fel- 
 lows? " 
 
 " You are certainly original, Monsieur, in your 
 compliments ! " 
 
 " I have been watching you this evening, Mon- 
 sieur wondering to myself, ' What does Moliere 
 think of this scene ! ' What must any French- 
 man think of it?" 
 
 Monsieur Moliere's reply was a silent thought 
 to himself, " This gentleman is cracked." 
 
 Canardin rolled on undismayed. "A sweet 
 lady said in my hearing this evening, 'Ah, this 
 this is France ! Whereas, you and I know bet-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 137 
 
 ter. Monsieur " Canardin now turned more 
 fully, more confidentially to the great man " it 
 is an astute monarch who puts his historians on 
 the fattest of pensions." 
 
 " He is drunk," thought Moliere. " I wish I 
 could carry my wine as well ! " 
 
 " Such historians," Canardin braved the mock- 
 ing smile directed upon him, "become your 
 strongest rivals! This age, they are saying al- 
 ready, is the greatest, the most brilliant of all. 
 At once, Monsieur, such history outdoes your 
 works in comedy ! " 
 
 The narrowing glance in Moliere's eyes was 
 saying, " There is wit in his madness ! " 
 
 " I am a stranger to these places," Canardin 
 was saying, quite truly, and added even more 
 truly, " They would prefer to have me a stranger. 
 One warms his hands here, I find, but not his 
 heart. Are you really at home here yourself, 
 Monsieur, where no one says what he believes, 
 and no one believes him? " 
 
 The great reader of men sat listening with 
 gathering interest, with a guess of his own at the 
 heart that was speaking between these mad lines. 
 
 " Who cares what is said, so long only as it is 
 said with elegance? " Canardin continued, so 
 that, while he spoke in a low voice, others about
 
 138 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 strained to catch what it was that so plainly 
 drafted the interest of Moliere. " How can one 
 keep a straight face here when genius, like Ra- 
 cine, listens with the utmost gravity to the jacka- 
 napes ! Merit, like that of De Braille, meets its 
 mimics with the greatest respect. Those who 
 have risen by effort and those by assassination 
 are here together, and even the pious overlook the 
 difference between them. I have seen the sage 
 and the silly flirting under the balconies, the 
 beautiful dancing with the beastly. Meanwhile 
 French peasants are dying to the music of Lully. 
 Monsieur, I am a jolly rogue myself. Here I am 
 among my own kind." 
 
 " Monsieur," said Moliere, " if you keep on, I 
 shall have to quote you ! " 
 
 " Monsieur," said Canardin, " if I keep on, you 
 will never dare to quote me ! This is not France, 
 Monsieur. Let us be thankful for that. France 
 lies there." Canardin made a fairly general 
 sweep with his arm. 
 
 The gesture attracted further attention. 
 Dancers whose eye had been caught forgot their 
 steps for a second. Others still stared, but now 
 in a different manner. 
 
 " Monsieur," Canardin was encouraged by all 
 this, "I see in your eye that you think this
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 139 
 
 strange talk. One keeps such emotions to him- 
 self, if he can. At least here. This is beautiful, 
 it is grand. Such lovely women, almost they are 
 worth what they cost. But I happen to have 
 come, Monsieur, from that France where the bills 
 are paid. There you will drive along the roads 
 and mark strange humps in the fields, rummag- 
 ing the soil with ferocious energy. Suddenly 
 they stand up, scorched almost black by the sun. 
 And what you thought were animals turn out to 
 be men and women. Speak to them and they 
 answer you in French. It is a fact, they are 
 human ! At night they slink off into caves, and 
 there eat black bread and roots, and drink water. 
 Water, Monsieur! They save other Frenchmen 
 the terrible drudgery of sowing and tilling and 
 reaping for their own livelihood. And we oblige 
 them to beg for the bread they have earned by 
 such toil ! Here, Monsieur, the historian writes 
 at his ease. Out there " again the gesture 
 " the tenth part of all France is begging. Here, 
 Monsieur, reach success by the blackest route 
 you please, and the historian hastens to set down 
 your name. The others, out there, he forgets." 
 Canardin paused. 
 
 " Go on," said Moliere, with a bright light in 
 his eyes. A scarlet-liveried lackey, who had over-
 
 140 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 heard, drew nearer to Monsieur Moliere's side 
 and was listening also with heightened interest. 
 
 "No, Monsieur," Canardin said, with great 
 emotion, " I cannot go on. It is too much for 
 me. This elegance, this last refinement of mind 
 and taste, flourishes on the wealth and authority 
 of a great king. What will happen when a weak 
 one follows? Then, Monsieur, I see a vision. 
 Through this solid floor, among these frightened 
 dancers, I see a great fist daring to rise, gnarled 
 by toil. Monsieur ! " Canardin broke off, laugh- 
 ing. " I have said too much ! After all, under 
 my serious exterior there is a vein of gayety, 
 which one of these days will get me into mis- 
 chief!" 
 
 " I shall be glad to speak a word for you ! " 
 laughed Moliere. 
 
 " I may yet ask that favor ! " laughed Can- 
 ardin. " Monsieur, I can honestly say I'd be glad 
 to die like a French peasant. But perhaps I 
 have lived too much among them. Such loveli- 
 ness here, such wit France may well be proud 
 of it. That lovely young thing over there, Mon- 
 sieur "Canardin inclined his head toward a fa- 
 miliar face which had appeared "that, I be- 
 lieve, is the celebrated Mademoiselle Julie Le- 
 coigneux? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 141 
 
 " Bless you, no ! " Moliere laughed so heartily 
 that even the near-by lackey forgot his discipline 
 and likewise laughed. " Have you also encoun- 
 tered that lady's tongue, Monsieur? " Moliere 
 asked, with amusement. " There is only one like 
 it in France. The most bewitching little Tartar 
 of her time! That is the dashing comedienne, 
 Sophie Arnould." 
 
 " Oh," said Canardin. " She thought I was 
 forty ! " And of what other absurdities he might 
 have been delivered will never be known, for 
 events burst upon him, suddenly, with the simul- 
 taneousness of a sheaf of rockets. No sooner had 
 he left the welcome protection of Monsieur Mo- 
 liere when the fireworks started. 
 
 Nevertheless, Canardin's purpose had been 
 fulfilled. As he strode sadly away, he saw him- 
 self reestablished in the graces of those from 
 whose stare respect had banished hostility. 
 
 "Who is that man?" Monsieur Moliere ex- 
 claimed as Canardin passed from hearing. 
 
 It happened that he asked this question of De 
 Braille, who now rushed up with a question of 
 his own. " They told me, Monsieur, I should 
 find him here ! " 
 
 " That man? But who is he, De Braille? " 
 
 " A friend of mine. Armand de Lavallais. A
 
 142 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 provincial notary of note. Something of an ec- 
 centric, no doubt. Where is he, please? " 
 
 " He left, all too soon ! Find him again ! " 
 
 " That I will ! Great news for him ! For us 
 all, Monsieur ! A lackey has just brought report 
 this one here, as I live ! probably waiting to tell 
 you also that the famous Canardin has been 
 captured ! " 
 
 " What, Monsieur ! " Countless persons 
 crowded near. 
 
 " It is true ! At last ! The ladies in particu- 
 lar will be delighted ! " De Braille turned to 
 them. " Their milliner, Perdrigeon, has robbed 
 them often enough. Well, now he has been 
 robbed himself ! Though he'll probably get it all 
 back from the bottom of the Seine. Canardin 
 was taken while rifling his shop ! Where is Ar- 
 mand? " 
 
 Followed and aided by an excited group, he 
 soon caught up with our sad companion. "Ar- 
 mand ! " De Braille caught the shoulder of the 
 astonished man and whisked him round. " Do 
 you hear it? My poor fellow ! Your life's labor 
 is all in vain ! Canardin is captured ! I've told 
 them to bring him here, and put him on display ! 
 MONSIEUR himself, when he comes, will be dis- 
 ported! That dukedom for you, nevertheless,
 
 143 
 
 my Armand ! " De Braille laughed. " I'm sure 
 your labors have brought this about ! " 
 
 "Armand? " a lady near by exclaimed. " I 
 thought he was the Comte de Brisac ! " 
 
 "Ah ! " De Braille turned, having overheard. 
 " That is only another of his heavy disguises ! 
 Now, poor fellow, he may leave them off. Bid 
 them good-by. As for Julie! My poor Julie! 
 She's probably in one of her own. All evening 
 I've hunted her. God knows where she is ! Prob- 
 ably laughing her head off at me, from under the 
 gray hairs of some old dowager, watching for 
 Canardin here! 'Twill break her poor heart 
 when she hears the news ! " And De Braille was 
 off on his fruitless quest of her. 
 
 " I ought to be with you to sympathize ! " cried 
 Canardin, following. 
 
 They had forged through the crowd not above 
 twenty steps when another loud voice halted 
 them. " Canardin has been taken ! They've got 
 the man Canardin! A lackey has just brought 
 the news. So like the rogue ! He was caught in 
 the Bureau of Trevours himself ! " this shouter 
 gleefully published his news. 
 
 This actual shout, which came from the far end 
 of the room, sent a wave of delighted exclama- 
 tions and laughter down the length of it. Now
 
 144 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 the whole company knew of the capture. At 
 once De Braille and his follower set off in that 
 direction. " He has got it wrong," laughed De 
 Braille. "But no matter. Let's see what he 
 knows." 
 
 In not ten steps they were halted again, by a 
 shout, this time, from the opposite end of the 
 room. "Aye, Canardin is taken ! But you've had 
 it all awry. I have just come with the news from 
 the crowd in the Place du Louvre. They are mad 
 with excitement. A lackey heard the uproar, 
 and went to see. They took Canardin in the an- 
 cient Roman Amphitheatre near the Sorbonne. 
 The rascal had actually gone there to join a com- 
 pany of guards sent by Trevours to capture Can- 
 ardin at Issy ! " 
 
 This fetched an immense outburst of laughter 
 from the entire gathering. A crackle of com- 
 ment arose on every side. "Ah, that Canardin ! " 
 " He was born to amuse us ! " " What a pity this 
 is the end of him ! " and such remarks. To all 
 this Canardin himself contributed something that 
 renewed the laughter. Lifting himself on tiptoe, 
 he shouted back to the voice at the end of the 
 room, 
 
 "Are you sure they have got all of that Can- 
 ardin? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 145 
 
 "Really," said De Braille, sobering now. 
 " There do seem to be too many of these happy 
 successes ! I wonder if some one is not hoaxing 
 us!" 
 
 " I am reasonably sure," said Canardin, drily 
 now, " that some one is ! " 
 
 " S-some one (hie) i-is," came the echo, from a 
 speaker whose identity was unmistakable, as the 
 onlookers, now suddenly silent, parted before the 
 uncertain approach of the Due de Morbihan. 
 His perruque was at odds with his head. His 
 jaw protruded, and his bristling moustache was 
 lifted in a harsh smile that disclosed both layers 
 of teeth. In his eye was the cold glint of a man 
 angered on wine to the point of rage. By one arm 
 he dragged a terrified lackey, and by the other 
 he led the immensely mortified but true and genu- 
 ine Armand Lavallais. Straight before De 
 Braille and Canardin he brought them, while the 
 roomful of people, unable to remember decorum 
 before such a new interest, dropped other pur- 
 suits and edged round about, a circular audience. 
 
 With that canine smile, the Due, his burly fig- 
 ure lurching now against Lavallais and now 
 against the lackey, said to Canardin, "M-Mon- 
 sieur, I sh'pose you'll permit a word with 
 you? "
 
 146 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Certainly, if you are able to utter one," said 
 Canardin. 
 
 " D-do you re-rec'nizhe this man? " lie shook 
 Lavallais's arm, with a drunken air of having got 
 everything over except the hanging. 
 
 Poor Lavallais, already blushing crimson as 
 the center of so much public curiosity, heartily 
 wished he might die, if that were the only escape 
 from the admiring smile with which Canardin 
 glanced up and down the new finery the aspiring 
 young notary had bought from those thousand 
 pistoles ! 
 
 " You kn-know thish man, m' dear feller? " the 
 Due was snarling. " No m-matter ! I'll shee to 
 both you in good t-time. You, too, m' dear li'l 
 pink J-Jean! Al-l-low me to int'duce you to 
 your old f-friend, Arm-mand Lavallais! H-a-a, 
 ha, ha ! " he ran off into laughter. " S-sure there's 
 a hoax here t-to-night. There's th' cream o' the 
 j-joke ! " He pointed to Canardin. " Jean, I 
 ought t' h-hang you inshtead. And give Can- 
 ardin y-your place at C-Court!" The Due 
 glanced over the stupefied crowd, to call a closer 
 attention to this prodigious pleasantry he had 
 uncovered. Being a peer of France, he felt privi- 
 leged to take his time and make the most of it. 
 " As for you," he turned back to Canardin, " I'll
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 147 
 
 d-do for you in a m-minute. W-wait till y' hear 
 me with 'im ! " he called to the crowd. 
 
 Canardin, however, had ceased to heed the peer 
 of France. His eyes were riveted instead on the 
 poor, offending lackey, who seemed ready to faint 
 from mortification and terror. 
 
 The Due himself now turned to the lackey, 
 whose fright he increased with a roar. "As for 
 this Mow-born lout ! " He shook the lackey's 
 arm till the fellow cried out with the pain. " He 
 all but sp-spoiled with his idiocy my coup of a 
 1-lifetime. I've a mind to w-wring your neck." 
 He growled it out, like some angered animal. 
 "He's the monkey that started the news," the 
 Due said to the crowd, and turned back again, 
 with another violent shake. " You will try your 
 merry wit on your betters, w-will ye ! 'N' almost 
 lose me my prize ! I'll teach ye your duties, ye 
 lout, ye gutter-born jackanapes, ye " 
 
 The Due's apostrophe, even to a humble lackey, 
 descended to terms that soon turned the ladies 
 away, until Canardin's singular defence of the 
 poor fellow turned them back to see again, with 
 a shrill cry. 
 
 With movements of his arms almost too rapid 
 to see, Canardin had the Due reeling free of both 
 Lavallais and the lackey. Two more swift
 
 148 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 touches, and before all eyes the lackey's scarlet 
 cocked hat was rolling on the floor, and beside it 
 what had been but a moment before a luxurious 
 little moustache and beard on the lackey's face. 
 Instantly a circle of raven ringlets cascaded 
 down, and after one lightning glance of conster- 
 nation, the now crimson face of Julie Lecoigneux 
 buried itself against the laces at Canardin's 
 throat. 
 
 " I thought," said Canardin, " that I recog- 
 nized Monsieur Moliere's devoted attendant." 
 
 "Julie!" De Braille stepped forward and 
 stopped, helpless to decide whether to take Julie 
 away, or first run Morbihan through. 
 
 " You! " De Morbihan cried at her, with more 
 point and less elegance. Meanwhile he straight- 
 ened himself, as became the occasion. " So this 
 is the way you " 
 
 " Morbihan ! " came De Braille's warning. The 
 young man was white and his hand reached at his 
 side. He caught himself quickly, however, with 
 a sense of where they were. " To-morrow, Mor- 
 bihan," he choked out, hardly able to control his 
 words. "Kemember your promise! At Fon- 
 tainebleau ! " 
 
 " One moment, gentlemen," said Canardin, in 
 the old dry tone. "You will spare this, I am
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 149 
 
 sure." He reached out and plucked from Laval- 
 lais's shoulders the cloak which he had not yet 
 had time to leave off, and with it shrouded from 
 neck to toe the figure of Julie -Lecoigneux, shrink- 
 ing in the tight and scarlet breeches of a 
 lackey. 
 
 Of all the countless witnesses to this moment 
 of drama, Morbihan was the first to recover him- 
 self. Even something of sobriety he likewise re- 
 covered. " But that is Canardin ! " he shouted, 
 and made a lunge. " Julie knows ! " 
 
 All eyes were meeting Canardin's. "Well," 
 he said coolly, " it would not strain me unduly to 
 think of worse company for Mademoiselle Julie." 
 
 " Ra-a-a ! " was as close as Morbihan could 
 come to words for his feelings. " Take him ! " 
 And he would have obeyed his own command, but 
 that De Braille stepped before. 
 
 " Julie," he said, to the back of her curly head, 
 " is that man Canardin? " 
 
 " She knows ! " roared Morbihan. 
 
 " If I were certain," said Canardin, "that Mon- 
 sieur le Due is able to read, I might show him a 
 certain letter I received from the hand of His 
 Majesty this morning." 
 
 " A fraud ! Out of the way, Jean ! " 
 
 " Julie !" cried De Braille, throwing his weight
 
 150 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 against the onrush of the Due. " Tell us ! Is 
 that man Canardin? " 
 
 To raise her face, at that moment, in that com- 
 pany, perhaps cost Julie Lecoigneux a greater 
 effort than the writing of all Moliere's comedies 
 cost that man of genius. She kept it straight, 
 however. Earnest, even. One glance she and 
 that man exchanged. And perhaps all that Mon- 
 sieur Moliere has ever written was in it. Only 
 one of the things that Canardin's eyes said in 
 that second was : 
 
 " What ! So long as my capture is inevitable 
 in the end, at Issy, shall we say? why let them 
 spoil it for you here? " 
 
 Hers said : " Trust me ! " 
 
 Why it was, after that, that Mademoiselle 
 Julie impetuously put herself at a considerable 
 distance from Canardin, only she or any other 
 woman knows. Perhaps because there was some- 
 thing else in Canardin's glance. 
 
 From that distance of a step or two, as she 
 heard Morbihan demand again, "Is that Can- 
 ardin?" Mademoiselle Julie studied him, still 
 with a straight face. She even cocked her head 
 on one side, to make the study more painstaking. 
 Then she said : 
 
 " No, that is not Monsieur Canardin."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 151 
 
 Nor is it to be known precisely what, beyond 
 an impish spirit of mischief in her, made her 
 whisk about upon poor Armand Lavallais, and 
 say in terrible tones : 
 
 " But I'm not so sure of that man ! " 
 
 "He!" Morbihan turned. They all turned 
 upon Armand. " Come, Monsieur ! " the Due 
 thundered. "Are you the impostor? " 
 
 Said Julie Lecoigneux demurely : 
 
 " I distinctly heard a dangerously beautiful 
 young woman here use the word Canardin to 
 him this evening." 
 
 " Monsieur ! " said the Due to Lavallais. 
 
 " Monsieur ! " echoed De Braille. 
 
 When they turned back to Canardin, to com- 
 pare the two for purposes of discovering which 
 was the unbidden guest, Canardin was gone. 
 And to make sure of one Canardin at least, they 
 hustled poor Lavallais away.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 AT eleven o'clock that night Canardin, now 
 in the leathern suit he affected for his 
 hardier exploits on the road or in the country, 
 repaired by arrangement to the floor of the 
 ruined Roman Amphitheatre at the foot of the 
 hill near the Sorbonne. There, in the flesh, and 
 gathered near the solitary oil lantern lighting the 
 place, were the forty brave men chosen by Tre- 
 vours to proceed with Canardin toward his cap- 
 ture at Issy. 
 
 Warned to expect a commander of eccentric 
 appearance and manner, they saluted Canardin 
 without question, and with a curiosity that he 
 did his best to conceal he passed among them 
 on inspection. Young fellows they were, in the 
 main, thick and heavy set. Trevours had picked 
 with a generous hand. Every mother's son of 
 them had a face to thrust out that gathered some- 
 thing of ferocity from the very darkness itself. 
 
 " H'm ! " was Canardin's professional opinion, 
 as he passed down the line. " I shouldn't mind 
 adding such tough ones to my own numbers ! As 
 fine a gang of cutthroats as ever I've seen ! As
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 153 
 
 fine a set of captors as an honest man could want ! 
 Beauties, every one of them ! But " 
 
 In a word, not a thing was lacking to Can- 
 ardin's satisfaction except the only one that mat- 
 tered. Look as he would, not a whisker was 
 there that had a loose look. To try their voices, 
 then, he made them call off their names. Every 
 man jack of them bawled his out like a croak 
 from a bassoon. At any other time Canardin 
 would have said with gusto, " The finest French 
 voices outside of a bull's hide ! " Under present 
 circumstances he thought a frog's was sweeter. 
 
 She was not there ! 
 
 Perhaps, after the uproar at the Palais, it has 
 been too much to expect. 
 
 To end all possible foolery, Canardin asked 
 point-blank. " I was informed by Monsieur Tre- 
 vours that a young man named Lecoigneux, anx- 
 ious to be present and assist at the taking of Can- 
 ardin, would join this party under my personal 
 protection. Is that man here? " 
 
 No one answered at once, until a spokesman 
 felt something incumbent on him. "No such 
 person appeared, Monsieur," he growled in tones 
 like the creak of a gallows stair. 
 
 " H'm ! " came Canardin's sniff. " His valor 
 died in the cradle ! "
 
 154 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 There was nothing for it but to lead this pre- 
 cious collection to the nearest woods, lose them 
 thoroughly, and leave them to wander back to 
 Paris as it suited them. 
 
 "Forward, gentle angels!" Canardin gave 
 the command and sent them ahead, with their 
 throats full of laughter and nothing in their 
 heads. Otherwise they might have questioned a 
 commander who chose to see their backs instead 
 of showing them his. So to Issy they started, 
 with forty light hearts, and one that was heavy. 
 
 Truly her interest had been short-lived. Can- 
 ardin's vanity was sorely hurt. Going out into 
 the vasty darkness, thus, all uncaptured, he felt 
 hideously lonely. After those wild ruses with 
 De Braille, with Lavallais and Trevours, not to 
 mention the little excitement at the Palais Eoyal, 
 there would now be not a single hospitable cranny 
 left him in Paris. And for the amusement of at 
 least one last word he had hoped of the fairest 
 and most determined of his takers, before quit- 
 ting the city. To be suffered to depart like this, 
 forsooth, neglected, ignored, dropped out of mind ! 
 In return for that, he would see that he was 
 missed. Paris should remember his stay, short 
 as it was. While he was about it, by way of 
 souvenir, he decided to convert these forty good
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 155 
 
 men to his own uses, if he could find a way to do 
 it. 
 
 Already Canardin was planning one, as he 
 piloted his crew along the road by the Seine in 
 the blackness of a cloudy night, his spirits sink- 
 ing, his petulance mounting at every step. The 
 going was rough and the way was long. Finally, 
 after several miles, it occurred to Canardin to 
 be rid of his bad humor by unloading it on these 
 luckless beggars. 
 
 " Halt !" he called, and kept them standing in 
 the road, whilst he sat down to rest on a stone. 
 
 " What is it, Monsieur? " one of them asked at 
 last. 
 
 " I thought I heard an owl," said Canardin. 
 
 " That has been known to happen before, Mon- 
 sieur." 
 
 " Silence, fool ! It is the favorite signal among 
 Canardin's band ! " 
 
 " Our valor has not died in the cradle, Mon- 
 sieur," a young man laughed. 
 
 " Then your prudence did ! Consider ! We 
 are still fourteen miles from Issy. Yet his men 
 are posted that far out. It means three hundred 
 of them at the least. I am your commander, 
 men, not your murderer. Any of you wish to 
 return? "
 
 156 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Let us listen," a low voice suggested. 
 
 The owl just then obliged with a hoot, but from 
 another tree. 
 
 " There's the answer," said Canardin. " They 
 are aware and watching. I know their tricks! 
 Nasty work, taking their crafty shots! One 
 never sees whence the bullet comes. And their 
 aim makes widows and orphans. We'd best sepa- 
 rate. No ! That opens the way to a massed at- 
 tack!" 
 
 " We'll need all our own mass to meet it, Mon- 
 sieur," growled another. 
 
 " Even more so, as we go forward," said Can- 
 ardin. 
 
 " Had we best wait for reinforcements? See- 
 ing we're but forty? " 
 
 " Wait? And let the prize slip ! " snapped 
 Canardin. " You know the reward. I've heard 
 it said there's a dukedom awaiting his captor. 
 That's what the King himself thinks of that Can- 
 ardin. Yet the brains of the fox in the might 
 of the lion alone will take that man ! " 
 
 " If Monsieur fits the description, let him go on 
 alone ! " Canardin overheard one say to another. 
 
 "And leave his estate behind him ! I'd be any 
 notary's orphan, if any one asked me ! " that 
 other answered.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 157 
 
 "My men," said Canardin, "it is time we 
 shaped our plans. But first let me tell you. I 
 am willing to take Canardin. After that he be- 
 longs to you for the hanging. Many men I have 
 sent, and many more will I send, to the gallows. 
 But never that man. A plague on his head, yet 
 I never knew him to rob an honest man. Always 
 it is thieves a thousandfold worse than himself. 
 Money lenders ! those sharks that have perhaps 
 every one of you honest Frenchmen in their grip, 
 snatching the very chair and kettle from under 
 your thatch, the clothes from your back, the 
 crust from your lips, all to the detriment of 
 your dignity they are Canardin's delight ! 'Tis 
 a pity he must be hanged so soon. Otherwise he 
 might rid France of those pests." 
 
 " I could point him to one ! " a feeling voice 
 said. 
 
 "And what does Canardin do with his takings? 
 Hands them back to the poor that have been 
 pinched by those sharks till they cried to die! 
 Man of law that I am, I must say there are cer- 
 tain laws that are well broken. There is the 
 devilish cleverness of that Canardin. Never once 
 has he broken a good law, nor left a bad one un- 
 rebuked. Let it hit whom it will. This sum- 
 mer, for example, what does Canardin do with a
 
 158 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 marquis, no less ! It is the will of God that we 
 must have these nobles to ride us down on the 
 highways and cost us taxes at home. Neverthe- 
 less, there are some of them that overstep even 
 the will of God in such matters. What does this 
 marquis do but seize Jean Balmaque's prize 
 heifer, the pride of Jean's life, the sole support of 
 Jean's family, and slit open its body, does this 
 marquis, for a warm place for his feet, to cure his 
 gout. Such is the open report of that matter. 
 The truth is too black for the telling. You know 
 for yourselves how these marquises do for you. 
 If only they confined their attentions to your 
 heifers! With excellent reason does this Can- 
 ardin hunt up that marquis, and burn down his 
 place, and haunt the poor devil night and day, 
 till he cheerfully paid poor Jean Balmaque for 
 his heifer. It was but one of the many sins done 
 in our poor world that your Canardin, sinner 
 himself, has rebuked." 
 
 " H'm ! " came thoughtfully out of the night. 
 "He might have done worse, might Canardin! 
 Pity there is only one of him ! " 
 
 " Aye, but he has hundreds to help him thou- 
 sands even. And more lucky beggars joining his 
 banner by the month! A hard time he has, to 
 keep them away, with the merry times he pro-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 159 
 
 vides for them, and the fat of the land for their 
 wage! There is the frightful strength of the 
 man that he is so loved by his followers, for 
 the kindness and bounty they have at his hands. 
 What wonder the King is at his wits' end to catch 
 that Canardin, with men like yourselves on beg- 
 garly pay when you're paid at all and fed 
 poorer than pigs in the sty ! " 
 
 " 'Tis true ! " several said to each other. 
 
 " What time o' night might it be, Monsieur, if 
 you please? " 
 
 " High time we be going on," said Canardin, 
 still comfortably seated on his stone. " But one 
 moment. You have reminded me. I must warn 
 you. Perhaps, after all, the married among you 
 had better retire. I have known men to set out 
 after Canardin and never afterward be seen again 
 among their fellows. 'Tis a fearful thing, to van- 
 ish so and leave not a trace for a widow to sigh 
 over! So terrible is that Canardin's strength, 
 so silently is it spread out, like a secret order, 
 that no man knows when his sins will take him 
 into the net ! This is the very night for it ! Aye, 
 it is well that we hang him soon, or his power 
 may be such that not even in the name of the 
 King may so slender a band as we honest men 
 set forth after that man and hope to return alive !
 
 160 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 So I say, the married among you had better turn 
 themselves homeward, to those who need the little 
 bread they earn. It will do for the young and 
 unmarried, who have so little to leave behind, to 
 follow on with me." 
 
 " But if we divide the force, Monsieur," a 
 young man said, " it means fewer than ever 
 against Canardin's many, whichever few he at- 
 tacks." 
 
 " Or both," said Canardin, pricking up a new 
 interest at this new voice. " In that case, your 
 one hope of safety will lie in taking instant oath 
 to Canardin! Unless you like fading away in 
 your tracks ! " 
 
 " By heavens ! " said a deep bass, " take my 
 head off if you will, Monsieur, but I would not 
 take it amiss if some one told me where that kind 
 Canardin is to be found ! I have a sudden fancy 
 for that Canardin! and none for shivery work 
 like this, with these owls about ! " 
 
 " From no further away than behind yon hill, 
 Canardin, no doubt, has overheard what you say, 
 my man. And will make you as safe as a church, 
 among Frenchmen who are becoming rich by be- 
 friending the poor. By righting behind the law 
 the wrongs that are done in front of it ! Tis a 
 strange thing, the law, as who should know bet-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 1G1 
 
 ter than I ! And to think that I should so soon 
 be having that friend of the poor, that Canardin, 
 hanged on the gibbet ! " 
 
 A chorus of whispers came out of the pause. 
 " Let him do his own catching and hanging ! As 
 for me, I'm married ! " 
 
 " But we single men can't be left here alone to 
 our fate ! " 
 
 Then the louder voice of that younger man, 
 with the touch of a taunt in its tone : 
 
 " Monsieur is giving Monsieur Canardin warn- 
 ing enough of that hanging to come, with all 
 these owls about to listen! There flies one 
 now ! " 
 
 "There speaks a bold spirit !" their commander 
 piped, and stood up so suddenly as to startle his 
 band. " I'll warrant that young man and I alone 
 are enough ! " 
 
 " I'll pick no quarrel with that ! " was whis- 
 pered and answered: 
 
 " The man is cracked ! We had better flee ! " 
 
 " Stay, men ! I give you my word. If it comes 
 to the worst, I will surrender you all, myself 
 included, to Canardin, rather than see us all 
 hanged to the trees like dogs. Aye, he may well 
 be bold," the commander said, " who has not yet 
 seen a hanging! No sight for babes and suck-
 
 162 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 lings, indeed! Hangmen themselves have sick- 
 ened at their work, as I have seen with my own 
 eyes. Aye, 'twould surprise me little if the ghost 
 of old Jacques Chabert himself would scream 
 from that wood in a minute, as I tell of his hang- 
 ing for the theft of a pheasant last March. True 
 it is, the pheasant belonged to one of the six 
 chateaux of his excellency the Due de Morbihan, 
 whilst Jacques was only a peasant, and right 
 well hanged for his crime. My faith, the row he 
 made about it, crying to heaven for his life, that 
 peasant, after the fright he had given that bird ! 
 "Not even the King's mandate, mind you, was 
 enough to convince that stupid Jacques, a man 
 like yourselves, that he had honestly come by his 
 hanging ! It came at the end of a night precisely 
 like this dark, silent, when the very leaves 
 whisper bloody secrets, and anything may hap- 
 pen. Next morning at dawn, when they haul 
 that worthless Jacques from his cell into the 
 sunlight, not even then is he able to believe what 
 they mean to do for him! Not though there in 
 the crowd about the gallows is his wife herself 
 looking up at him! When her face is so white 
 and her eyes so big that a fool could have seen 
 the sight of his own death in them. Up the steps 
 they walk that Jacques, and read him the ter-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 163 
 
 rible account of his crime. And all Jacques does 
 is look stupidly about and down at his wife, as 
 if he couldn't believe a word of it. Aye, but he 
 believed it the next minute. This next second, 
 men, you may hear his spirit repeat in that very 
 wood the sound he made when he cast up his eyes 
 and saw the pretty golden scarf they were letting 
 down about his neck! He just looked up, and 
 went this way : 
 
 "<A-a-i-i-e-e!> Like that!" 
 
 Canardin cupped his hands and shouted this 
 at the top of his lungs, so that the woods rang 
 with it, and long, avenging echoes hurried to 
 join them from far across the Seine. 
 
 " That hangman went mad and died in a hor- 
 rible fit, as you may well believe; and here in 
 these very woods, at night, his soul goes fleeing 
 before the screams of that poor Jacques, so that 
 priests themselves shiver in their beds when they 
 hear it ! " 
 
 These last of Canardin's words were addressed, 
 along with Canardin's deep and mellow laughter, 
 to the backs of thirty-nine other lusty hangmen 
 who suddenly had no stomach for their job. Pell- 
 mell they pattered down the road on the way to 
 safety and to Paris. One lone young man of the 
 forty remained, laughing with him. And even
 
 164 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 that one's laughter died a swift death as Can- 
 ardin turned and said quietly : 
 
 "Ah, I thought I counted only thirty -nine 
 names to forty persons."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 "DETWEEN them there was a very brief si- 
 * * lence, which Canardin was the first to break. 
 " I believe, Mademoiselle Lecoigneux," he said, 
 " that we have an appointment at JVleaux to-mor- 
 row Saturday." 
 
 She answered nothing, out of her many emo- 
 tions at the moment. It says something, never- 
 theless, that one of Mademoiselle's emotions was 
 that of embarrassment at appearing in such fan- 
 tastic habiliments before this particular man. 
 Canardin laughed gently, as he noticed, even in 
 the heavy darkness, her doubtful glances toward 
 her boots and breeches. 
 
 " Truly, Mademoiselle," Canardin decided to 
 help her out, " I scarcely know how to forgive 
 myself. Those brave gentlemen seem to have left 
 us in something of a dilemma. Perhaps you have 
 noticed." 
 
 The lone remaining soldier of the King con- 
 tinued to enact the young man for just one min- 
 ute longer. She placed her hands in the gaping 
 pockets of her coat and surveyed this man, or 
 as much of him as she could make out in the
 
 166 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 darkness, moved both to be furious and to smooth 
 him down in some disarming manner. So she let 
 fly a bit of a laugh, of the very tiniest dimensions. 
 It would do just as well to see how he meant to 
 behave. And when he kept her waiting, with 
 laughter of his own, the instincts of her sex of 
 course taught her to fly to woman's first precau- 
 tion in any emergency. She stamped her foot 
 and was haughty. 
 
 " Monsieur ! I believe you contrived this ! " 
 
 " No, Mademoiselle," said Canardin modestly. 
 " You do me too much credit. It's nothing but 
 sheer good fortune." 
 
 In spite of herself Mademoiselle laughed again 
 at that. Matters were becoming perilously good- 
 natured, and she was obliged to check herself. 
 
 " Monsieur ! I would have you understand this 
 is serious ! " 
 
 " I suppose it is," said Canardin, as if he were 
 crushed. " I do so badly. How long it has taken 
 to come within reach of my capture ! And now 
 that it is here at last behold ! It is dark. It is 
 late. You are totally without escort. We are 
 on the edge of a wilderness. It is inconvenient 
 to Paris. Ah, Mademoiselle, don't say, if you 
 please, that this is any of my contrivance ! " 
 
 Once again Mademoiselle crushed down a
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 167 
 
 gurgle of laughter with only the stoutest effort. 
 Fortunately he gave her something to resent. 
 To remind a lady at such a time of all the con- 
 ventions she had broken so badly ! Even so, Julie 
 fell into the very vein of this dominant figure 
 when she said : 
 
 " Next time, Monsieur, you will please to man- 
 age better." 
 
 " Be sure I'll improve, Mademoiselle ! " said 
 Canardin. " And yet I can't survive many of 
 these disappointments. To have come so close to 
 being captured and have you decline it after 
 what it has cost you ! Bonbouche, it seems, has 
 loved your money better than mine. And you 
 have paid him for nothing. He knows only my 
 past, and it's what I have in my head for the fu- 
 ture that alone has value for you. Would you 
 accept, also, another bit of advice? When next 
 you leave a memorandum in my pocket, be care- 
 ful to erase from the other side of the paper the 
 name and the tender sentiments of Monsieur de 
 Braille. He might be annoyed." 
 
 " Monsieur ! " Julie tried still to be severe. It 
 is true that the night hid her blushes, but not all 
 her self-control could rule out traces of amuse- 
 ment in her tones. "Will you please give over 
 trifling ! We have a situation on our hands ! "
 
 168 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Trifling! To this prankish and mischievous 
 girl the distance and the darkness were no more 
 than an impropriety. To Canardin it was a day- 
 light peopled with matters that he was seeing 
 only too clearly. Alone, he would have taken 
 such hazards as wearisome matters of course. 
 This delightful impediment could not be got too 
 quickly out of them ! 
 
 Julie Lecoigneux missed in Paris ! After that 
 stormy moment at the Palais ! Her whereabouts 
 and her madcap errand now certainly guessed, 
 even by wits like those of Morbihan ! Within the 
 hour, Canardin knew, the road, the woods, the 
 river would ring with the calls of her searchers. 
 He gazed at that point in the darkness whence 
 came the sound and the scent of her, and im- 
 agined what a moment it would be when he 
 handed her back to them. Gave her up. Now 
 that there was a something shall we call it a 
 novelty? in hearing that voice in having such 
 a forbidden thing so near 
 
 Canardin inwardly showered himself with 
 curses and commiseration! Then he laughed. 
 There was something he had forgotten. After 
 all she was Julie Lecoigneux. Her own easy 
 recollection of that fact further amused him. 
 
 " Monsieur ! " he heard. It was her demand
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 169 
 
 for assurance. His silence had made her un- 
 easy; his laughter more so. The darkness ob- 
 scured his intentions. Without sound of him, 
 Julie was without guidance. She burst into a 
 blaze of anger, accordingly, to Canardin's added 
 pleasure. He recognized a spirit up to his own. 
 " This is outrageous ! " Julie was saying. " See 
 where you have placed me ! I little thought this 
 of you, Monsieur Canardin! To put me in 
 peril! But, Monsieur, if you think to frighten 
 me " 
 
 "You have your pistols, Mademoiselle. And 
 to make them more useful to you see! I toss 
 mine away." One after the other she heard their 
 splash as he flung them over the wall into the 
 river. " What else would you have? " 
 
 This fetched from Julie such a protest of the 
 opposite order as only women permit themselves. 
 For all her bravado of speech, she had been pru- 
 dently backing to a distance. Here she stopped 
 in her tracks, horror-stricken. " Monsieur ! " 
 she cried. "We needed those things for our 
 common protection! How could you! What 
 dangers there may be lurking about us, you little 
 know! However," she ended on a particularly 
 withering note, " I forget what it is to be Mon- 
 sieur Canardin ! "
 
 " There will be annoyances in store," Canardin 
 hopefully conceded. 
 
 "In plenty, Monsieur! Be serious, I beg of 
 you! Consider the hour! And where we are! 
 I must ask you to take me back to Paris at 
 once ! " 
 
 " I thought, Mademoiselle, that / was the 
 prisoner." 
 
 " Monsieur Canardin ! " 
 
 To Julie the situation had begun at last really 
 to represent itself for what it was. And at 
 thought of Paris, Julie Lecoigneux, the privi- 
 leged player of a prank, now that the prank had 
 turned out badly, was at once replaced by Julie 
 Lecoigneux the great personage. In the dark- 
 ness Canardin was witness to certain telltale 
 wriggles and wrenches. When he was sure she 
 had got the pistol from its holster, he laughed 
 again gently. 
 
 " I suppose Monsieur regards these things," 
 Julie said coldly, " with the contempt that comes 
 of over-familiarity. But at least I shall be able 
 to find myself with it, if Monsieur " 
 
 In the blackness, Julie missed the great heat 
 that leaped into Canardin's face, for she could 
 have aimed no more deadly shot. It took him a 
 long while to answer. But what he said told also.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 171 
 
 "You have spoken less about Canardin than 
 you have of yourself, Mademoiselle. As for my 
 honor, the next hour may speak for itself." 
 
 The bright flush which that fetched upon Julie 
 was likewise lost in the night. Not so her im- 
 petuous act. She came to him and reached for 
 his hand and pressed it. " I have been base, 
 Monsieur Canardin! Forgive me! But Mon- 
 sieur ! " she quickly dropped that high tone. 
 "The 'next hour?' Are we so far away as 
 that?" She gave a playful shudder, which he 
 felt through her hand. " Would you wouldn't 
 you consent to start at once? " 
 
 " As you will," said Canardin, still hurt. As 
 if his eyes really could penetrate the blackness, 
 he glanced down the road so soon to bring hurry- 
 ing crowds to meet them. " It is not willingly 
 that I turn my back to a lady, Mademoiselle," he 
 said, " but perhaps you will be more at ease if I 
 walk before." And down the road he started, 
 not, however, without promptly blunting the 
 edge of that biting remark. " The road is rough," 
 he said over his shoulder, "and you will best 
 dodge the stones by watching me find them ! " 
 
 Julie kept the rebuke for herself, all the same, 
 and smiled as she received still another reminder 
 of her place, for Canardin hit up such a pace
 
 172 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 back to Paris as she was hard put to it to main- 
 tain. In no great while she was obliged to call 
 out: 
 
 " Monsieur ! If you please! You are in such 
 haste to be rid of me ! " She wanted to laugh, 
 and was on the verge of vexatious tears instead, 
 when she came up with him, and puzzled what 
 next to say. 
 
 So Canardin spoke for her. " I will not pro- 
 pose, Mademoiselle, that we link arms for our 
 common protection. But it will do not to stray 
 apart too far. On such a night one need not be 
 ashamed of a little caution." 
 
 Thus they went on, side by side, at Julie's own 
 choice of pace, which soon lagged more and 
 more, as the heavy boots and the weight of her 
 rough garb and accouterments told upon her. 
 Also, something else was telling upon her, the 
 silence. This was a new sensation to Julie 
 Lecoigneux, not to be courted madly, but to be 
 held off at length, instead, in stiff indifference. 
 At such a time, when a woman has no other 
 means of melting a man, she complains. Usually 
 that is effective. So Mademoiselle burst out : 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur, truly you must find me a log 
 or a stone ! I am dead ! " 
 
 He found her better than that, a grassy place
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 173 
 
 on a little bank beside the way. And moved 
 away! 
 
 " Ah, how could you do this ! How could you 
 bring me here ! " she sighed. 
 
 " Because I am Canardin, Mademoiselle. I 
 think of no better answer." 
 
 Julie Lecoigneux permitted herself a quiet 
 laugh. Canardin had taken position against the 
 damp black bark of a tree. But a man who al- 
 lows himself to be nettled by a woman has placed 
 himself in her power, provided only that she 
 knows what to do with that power. 
 
 Canardin piqued this spoiled girl. He pro- 
 posed a new problem. A man who held himself 
 so utterly independent of every one else, herself 
 in especial, was a stranger to Julie. And by so 
 firmly putting her back into her own world he 
 left her helpless and baffled. Belittled, even ! In 
 her way of life he was as much at home as she; 
 his world she could enter only by donning out- 
 landish garb and cutting a ludicrous figure. 
 
 Julie began furtively fumbling at the shaggy 
 wig and beard that made a burlesque of her 
 strongest weapon, her beauty. 
 
 "What are you doing, Mademoiselle?" Can- 
 ardin caught her up at once, which pleased her, 
 because it proved he was watching. " Leave the
 
 174 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 horsehair on, if you will. There will be hundreds 
 in search of you. Any minute we shall hear their 
 halloos. In case a mere guard comes up with 
 us first, you will get off without disclosing your 
 identity. You will say you were one of Tre- 
 vours's company, left behind." 
 
 " What will you say, Monsieur? " 
 
 Canardin ignored the question. " One mo- 
 ment ! " he whispered. 
 
 With catlike tread, Canardin was across the 
 road in three strides. He crept there. Once 
 across he stooped, and peered and listened over 
 the rude wall there guarding the road from the 
 river some feet below. 
 
 " I hope, Monsieur," said Julie, in a plaintive 
 tone, as he crept back to her side, " there are to 
 be no more ghost stories to-night ! " 
 
 What Canardin thought he forebore to say: 
 " Also no new additions to the company of 
 ghosts ! " Still he spoke nothing, not even the 
 thanks he felt because now it was necessary for 
 them to be closer together in order to be heard ! 
 
 "What are you thinking, Monsieur Can- 
 ardin ! " Julie whispered, when she could endure 
 his silence no longer. Since he refused the place 
 she made on the bank beside her, she rose and 
 came to his elbow.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 175 
 
 All but inaudibly she heard Canardin hum- 
 ming the little tune that always indicated the 
 working of his mind when danger was thickest. 
 " I was only thinking, Mademoiselle," he said 
 finally, " that if they've had the wit to set hounds 
 on our trail, your waiting will not take an hour, 
 after all." 
 
 Julie was instantly a different being. 
 " Hounds! " the proud girl blazed. 
 
 " Not so loud, if you please ! " 
 
 " ' They? ' " she disregarded him. " Who are 
 1 they? ' Who would do such a thing! Do they 
 actually hunt you with hounds? " 
 
 " I fancy," said Canardin, " this time the com- 
 pliment is not wholly for me. That is probably 
 Morbihan's idea. And not quite so loud, Mad- 
 emoiselle, I must insist." 
 
 At the name, Julie sank back again on the 
 bank, but with a clutch at Canardin's arm as 
 drew him with her at her side, very much melted 
 at last. " Morbihan ! " she said under her breath, 
 when she recovered breath at all. 
 
 " So you see, Mademoiselle," said Canardin, 
 " what it is that Canardin has got you into ! " 
 
 Julie thought for a moment. " No, my friend ! 
 It is not because of you. I know that man. He 
 would never quit his cups for you at this time
 
 176 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 of night. I know Ms errand! Hounds! He's 
 among his own kind! You'll see how I'll need 
 this pistol ! You are sure you heard them? " 
 
 " It might have been any one's cur, Mademoi- 
 selle. That one was far, far off. Across the 
 river, I'm sure. We must wait to make 
 sure." 
 
 " ' That one! ' Then there have been others? 
 What ears you have ! " 
 
 " A little while back, it is true behind us I 
 heard one. I don't want to alarm you unduly, 
 Mademoiselle Julie. Yet it is as well to face 
 things. Let us go on, in a minute or two. It 
 seems to be the quarter in which you are least ex- 
 pected! And I should prefer to see you among 
 friends." 
 
 " We must go back over our steps, Monsieur ! 
 To walk forward into such forces as that man 
 will have is madness! They will be too many 
 for any wit, even yours ! " 
 
 " The way behind us is closed, if you will re- 
 call, Mademoiselle," said Canardin quietly. 
 " The hounds are already behind us." 
 
 To tell the truth, matters looked dark to him 
 for once. However, he was fairly confident of 
 Julie's chances with Morbihan. That brute, he 
 counted, would be too busy with gloating at
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 177 
 
 getting her into his hands, to handle her with 
 worse than the insult of his embrace. 
 
 " That horrible man ! " Julie pressed her 
 hands together. " He is strong enough to do as 
 he pleases elsewhere. Those at the Palais to- 
 night he will have them ruined to-morrow! 
 And all because of my mischief ! " 
 
 " Mine, Mademoiselle." 
 
 " It would have been the same, if you had not 
 been there. That man sees Canardin every- 
 where ! " 
 
 Canardin laughed lightly. " Some day, Mad- 
 emoiselle, I must see that we meet inti- 
 mately." 
 
 " Oh, but you must not, Monsieur ! You 
 
 would " Julie stopped herself, as she felt 
 
 Canardin start at this strange warmth of hers, 
 in his favor. " Can't we hide here till morning? " 
 she hurriedly changed the subject. 
 
 " The morning would ask you questions," said 
 Canardin quietly. "And Paris would furnish 
 plenty of answers. It is not alone the safety 
 of your person that is to be considered. Evi- 
 dently your friends are going to take care of 
 that!" 
 
 "You mean, Monsieur Canardin ? This 
 
 means, then, that in taking me to safety you
 
 178 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 have taken yourself into frightful danger ! And 
 you expect me to permit it ! Monsieur ! " 
 
 " For the safety of both of us, Mademoiselle, 
 will you kindly hold still? That is asking much 
 of a woman, but in this case " 
 
 Perhaps it was as well that darkness inter- 
 vened between the eyes of Julie Lecoigneux and 
 those which Canardin merely turned in her direc- 
 tion at every sound of her voice. As it was, the 
 scent of her hair rose to him, the fragrance of her 
 body, even through its clumsy wrappages, and 
 the breath of her words was on his cheek. As this 
 also proposed a new problem to Canardin, danger 
 might lurk as long as it liked ! 
 
 So they sat in quiet, this curiously assorted 
 pair, tossed together by their own wayward ca- 
 prices, the Court beauty and this hunted man. 
 Used to outlandish situations, Canardin thought 
 nothing of it, except that it was wholly delight- 
 ful. Even Julie found herself accepting it 
 calmly, because something even nearer still to the 
 impossible had happened to her. 
 
 In this fantastic pass she had got herself into, 
 facing real danger for the first time in her life 
 or seeing it faced the great lady, the profes- 
 sional beauty, the thoughtless maker of mischief, 
 all the privileged personages comprehended in
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 179 
 
 her single person had dropped away. Only the 
 woman remained. Now this woman was excited 
 and pleased to feel herself utterly safe with this 
 man of a strange power. He too had changed in 
 her eyes. The clown of yesterday, who only 
 amused her with his drolleries and daring, to- 
 night, at the Palais and now, had given her 
 strange things to think of, things that haunted 
 her memory. He seemed the one man in France 
 she could utterly trust, and she waited, with en- 
 tire faith in his resources, for what he would 
 say. 
 
 "There, Mademoiselle," he said at length. 
 " Do you hear it? " 
 
 With a shudder and a light pressure on his 
 arm, Julie caught the faint, far baying of a 
 hound, and said nothing. 
 
 " You hear that because the wind, what there 
 is of it, brings it this way. But no wind is taking 
 the least evidence of us to that beast. And the 
 sound is farther away than it was. If it fades 
 still farther in the next ten minutes, it is so 
 much to the good ! " 
 
 " Then we may venture home? " she asked, a 
 bit ruefully, it seemed to Canardin, unless some- 
 thing played tricks with his ears. 
 
 " I'm afraid that is possible," he laughed back,
 
 in the same key. " At least, I shall have a strata- 
 gem to propose. We must wait to make sure. 
 Please listen." 
 
 Julie wished she might speak, but obeyed. 
 Even what she thought, she scarcely dared admit 
 to herself, but to put it brutally, this it was: 
 " So, then, it is all over after all. If that is so, 
 this is the very moment for tender things, inti- 
 mate things! We must be acquainted, now if 
 ever ! It would be just like him. I wonder if he 
 will speak." 
 
 He did. 
 
 " Mademoiselle," he said, " when I said I was 
 sorry for this, I was scarcely trifling, as you 
 thought." 
 
 This was promising. 
 
 " If I repeated it now, I should be trifling. 
 Because I'm not sorry." 
 
 " Nor am I ! " said Julie candidly. 
 
 " Better wait, Mademoiselle ! " said Canardin 
 grimly. 
 
 " Yes? " she encouraged. 
 
 He waited, and then ventured, " Indeed, I was 
 about to say something. But you would think it 
 absurd." 
 
 " We can tell, when you say it," she gave a low 
 laugh.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 181 
 
 " Absurd to you, but not to me. To a man like 
 myself there are no absurdities except one. 
 That is " he gave her no time to ask what it 
 was "the hope of such company as yours. 
 Never again shall I be a lonely man, Mademoi- 
 selle! Think of that! I shall always have the 
 recollection of this novel experience to take with 
 me. I wanted to know what it was like, and " 
 he turned to her quizzically " a man in my posi- 
 tion is forced to hurry." 
 
 " It is coming ! " she thought. 
 
 Perhaps in Canardin's own way it did. " And 
 that is why I am not so sorry for your alarms and 
 fatigue, Mademoiselle. Because they will make 
 you remember me." 
 
 " I don't believe such reminders " Julie 
 
 started to say. " Hark ! " she whispered and 
 stiffened. " What was that? " 
 
 " I touched a twig with my foot," Canardin 
 fibbed. He too had heard something. 
 
 As all remained quiet, Julie was eager to go 
 on with this novel acquaintance. " I do not 
 frighten easily, Monsieur. Believe that, please. 
 But this is such a punishment! I might have 
 known I should pay for my mischief to-night." 
 She laughed noiselessly. " There were terrible 
 times at the Palais, after you left. Poor Armand
 
 182 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 de Lavallais ! His CScile was so disgusted with 
 him ! He cut such a figure at his first appearance 
 in Court circles ! She tossed him over ! But of 
 course, when she learns the facts, she'll come to 
 his side and save all her venom for me ! Surely, 
 Monsieur ! " Julie broke off, " I heard some- 
 thing ! " 
 
 They kept deathly still. But so did the night. 
 
 " Every minute I fancy I hear that man ! " 
 Julie sighed. " As certain as death he will seek 
 me. And those silly sheep who fled us will hurry 
 to tell where I am, if he meets them." 
 
 " Give me your pistols, Mademoiselle," said 
 Canardin. He took them. 
 
 " But he will have half of France against 
 us!" 
 
 " Most of France, I have found, Mademoiselle," 
 laughed Canardin, "prefers to devote the night 
 to slumber ! " 
 
 Perhaps it was purposely to shock her that 
 Canardin brought up this reminder of what he 
 was. It seemed to her, nevertheless, that he said 
 it with a strange new bitterness. She laid her 
 hand on his arm and said suddenly : 
 
 " Who are you, Canardin ! " And then an- 
 swered the question herself, "The one honest 
 man in France ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 183 
 
 He only laughed. " No. Only a useless pro- 
 test, Mademoiselle." 
 
 " Always Mademoiselle ! Am I worth, no con- 
 fidence ! " 
 
 " Julie, then? The best I can hope is to set an 
 example, Julie. Perhaps others will follow, to 
 copy it." 
 
 " And set things right? " 
 
 " What a humbug you'll have me be ! " Can- 
 ardin laughed outright and talked in natural 
 tones, as if caution had ceased to matter. 
 " Whereas I am Canardin, luckiest of men ! " he 
 said gayly. " Now certainly that ! Thanks to 
 you ! Before I had gone too far, Julie, I wanted 
 to make sure what this was like. Now I know ! 
 Even though it is the blackest of nights, and that 
 enchanting face of yours is shrouded in horse- 
 hair!" 
 
 Again Julie started to snatch that away. And 
 again he stayed her. 
 
 " Besides, I have seen that face of yours, when 
 you least suspected. And it is not one that is 
 lightly forgotten." 
 
 "Isn't it?" said Julie. Somehow this bluff- 
 ness pleased her. 
 
 " And I have come to be a judge of faces." 
 
 " Yes, I suppose ! " Julie complained.
 
 184 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " In just this way. I see them as none other 
 does. Who would be at pains to seem anything to 
 me to one so little worth the trouble! I see 
 them as they are, because I am Canardin. Not 
 a single false air to Canardin, because he has 
 nothing to offer. Not the smallest slight 
 he is not worth even that. Such a one 
 has ceased to be merely a man. He is an ad- 
 miration. He is a post, a tree, with a pair of 
 eyes." 
 
 " Do the eyes never yearn, Monsieur Can- 
 ardin? " Something of the old mischief had 
 crept into Julie's voice. 
 
 " It is their own affair," Canardin swept on. 
 " In a moment we must be going. When I spied 
 over the wall a while ago, I saw a boat tied up 
 at the bank. As soon as it is safe to cover those 
 hundred paces, we drop over the wall. Once out 
 on the water, our trail is lost ; not an eye can see 
 us. A half hour's scull, and we are under the 
 Pont du Louvre. It is over. I wonder if you will 
 remember my gratitude." 
 
 This shocking ease of escape let Julie down 
 with a jar. How pleasant had been the tingle 
 of all this came to her with the sense that Paris 
 and safety lay but round the corner. Moreover, 
 though they may be fated to come to nothing, a
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 185 
 
 woman likes to toy with tender themes. So 
 does 'a man. Canardin conscientiously went 
 on. 
 
 " Adieux come hard, dear lady. Some harder 
 than others. But now, be it short or long, my 
 life is enriched! Thanks to you. I speak of 
 these things with the only honest sentiment I 
 possess, the misgiving that I am a fraud. My 
 part is to laugh, only. And yet, sometimes, it 
 comes over even me that the celebrated divinity 
 in woman is after all a little more solid than a 
 poet's fancy. At least one thing has been set up 
 in creation that men may worship. The home- 
 liest hag has her share of that magic. Some poor 
 man adores her. I envy that man. Sometimes, 
 to be honest, I cease to be an admiration and be- 
 come a man ! " Canardin laughed. 
 
 The low laugh ended. Nothing was audible 
 but the lapping of the Seine against its stones. 
 The world seemed disembodied and empty, un- 
 til Julie spoke. 
 
 " It is a beautiful sentiment, Canardin. But 
 I wonder if it is so satisfying as a hearty em- 
 brace." 
 
 " I " Canardin turned and his two arms 
 
 opened and remained in that gesture of yearn- 
 ing, of anticipation. And dropped. "On that
 
 point you must consult an authority," he laughed 
 quietly. "I dare not torture myself with such 
 knowledge, Julie. I am an authority only on 
 what it is to be Canardin when the beautiful 
 pass." He waited, and then slithered off into a 
 lighter key. "What an indignity upon woman 
 that there should be degrees of beauty! They 
 should have it alike. Whereas, it is but once in 
 a lifetime and only that once provided he is 
 lucky that a man looks into a face that actually 
 dazzles, that blinds him, so that he scarcely dare 
 look. And looking, his vision fairly swims be- 
 fore the sight. Nothing in that face is to be seen 
 clearly, because too much is there to be seen. It 
 is her eyes! he decides, if he dares to look into 
 them long enough. That smile it is blinding. 
 It is the tint of her cheek, the curve of her lip, the 
 tossing of her black hair! It is the texture of 
 her skin, the music of her laughter ! It is a bom- 
 bardment of these ! It is a flood of them, a cata- 
 ract of charms ! Before such an onslaught a man 
 is swept helpless and happy. He kisses wisdom 
 adieu. He offers himself to be overwhelmed! 
 Beyond that he asks nothing ! " 
 
 to admire! " 
 
 ; gently, perhaps a
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 187 
 
 little dizzy on these unwonted altitudes of seri- 
 ousness. 
 
 "And you have seen such a face?" Julie 
 asked. 
 
 " I have seen such a face," he mocked her 
 gently. "And I will answer another question, 
 which you want and fear to ask. The face is 
 yours. Oh," he now said fully, even hurriedly, 
 " I have been as free as any wild thing rioting 
 in freedom, above every law. But there is a 
 force that reduces the strongest to bondage. It 
 is the force of a woman's charm. No man is 
 above it. No man can escape it. I knew that, the 
 moment I saw you for the first. And I could sur- 
 render the more abjectly, because it mattered 
 so little. As nothing else was permitted me, at 
 least I could think ! " 
 
 "And what did you think, Monsieur?" Julie 
 murmured. 
 
 "You see! To you I consist of words, and 
 there is an end of the matter. To me you are like 
 a star as wonderful, and as far away. There 
 is another matter ended. That is one of the 
 things I thought. The rest would only amuse 
 you." 
 
 " I am not so sure." 
 
 " I am. It has taken you to stir me and you
 
 188 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 are the last person on earth to be concerned over 
 that." 
 
 " Perhaps, Monsieur " Julie herself wondered 
 at her own hardihood in words! "there are 
 forces that a woman, too, cannot escape ! " 
 
 " Then she must be saved them. There is some- 
 thing that seems to have been forgotten." 
 
 "That is ?" 
 
 " That I am Canardin." 
 
 Julie had brought her eyes as close as she 
 dared to Canardin's, to read what she could in 
 the darkness. In the daylight he would probably 
 have used fewer words, and his face would have 
 been even more inscrutable. " You have told 
 me something important, Monsieur Canardin," 
 she said. And before he could mock her as he 
 was sure to do, she told him what it was. " That 
 you are a frightfully hungry and lonely man." 
 
 Half rising, Canardin answered rapidly, 
 hardly heeding what he said. Perhaps he had 
 scarcely heard Julie. " True ! How one craves 
 to be liked. And remembered. Especially that ! 
 Even I! Julie, could you find that possible in 
 my case? Could you be so good as to keep me in 
 mind for a little while? Because look!" he 
 said in her ear. " There ! Along the wall ! In 
 a minute you will see his hat. The boat I spoke
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 189 
 
 of was full of men. Do as I say. Step into the 
 middle of the road and be walking toward Paris. 
 Here, first one of your pistols. You may want 
 at least one shot." 
 
 He drew her up, trembling like a leaf, and 
 pushed her gently into the road, and sent her off. 
 " Everything depends on your courage now, 
 Julie! Where is all that spirit, that scathing 
 humor, that biting scorn ! Did you save it all for 
 Canardin? " he laughed finally in her ear. 
 
 " But you ? " She tried to cling to him. 
 
 " Will stay by at least till death and after- 
 ward tell you a real ghost story ! " 
 
 " Ra-a-a ! " came over the wall, at once identi- 
 fying the source of the roar. A head followed the 
 sound. Ten others followed. In the middle of the 
 road, but standing still, Canardin had kept the 
 spot covered with a pistol. Before he saw the 
 need of a shot, there was a rush past Julie toward 
 himself. 
 
 " The beggars were right ! She's where they 
 said ! That's she ! You heard the ninnies ! Not 
 a scratch for her, mind ! Who jostles her, dies ! 
 Here's the jackal we're after ! " 
 
 With no guide but Morbihan's voice, Canardin 
 swept his pistol hand about, among the scuffling 
 figures in the road, fearful of hitting Julie if he
 
 190 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 fired, still doubting the need of a shot, or the 
 good of one, against such numbers, in his own 
 defence. Before he could decide, the night which 
 had been black to his eyes became suddenly 
 soundless to his ears. Fit to split him open, a 
 blade came down across his head from behind 
 him. 
 
 " That is not Canardin ! " he heard Julie cry, 
 as if from afar off. " It's one of Trevours's cap- 
 tains ! " 
 
 " Toss him over to the dogs ! What's left of 
 him we'll pick up to-morrow ! " the voice of Mor- 
 bihan faded off. And what was afterward said 
 Canardin failed to hear. 
 
 In the morning he found himself lying under a 
 bush at the foot of the wall, automatically re- 
 vived by an occasional wave from the Seine. Or 
 was it the strange dog, with the heavy welts 
 across its back, licking his face? On feeling 
 himself over for injuries, Canardin discovered a 
 frightful gash, in the iron lining of his hat.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 ON returning to Paris, Canardin found cer- 
 tain annoyances awaiting Mm there. To 
 begin with the lighter ones first, the traitorous 
 Bonbouche had been tossed into prison, the 
 " bank " in the Rue Beauchaine raided, and a 
 small amount of plunder recovered, what sum 
 Canardin had not prudently removed in advance. 
 As a result of the frightful farce enacted at Ver- 
 sailles, under the eyes of the King, Trevours had 
 been driven from office in disgrace. De Braille 
 himself had felt the sting of rebuke for his laxity. 
 Rumor had it that he had even fled from France, 
 in his remorse. All the work of Morbihan, nat- 
 urally. 
 
 Whatever twinges these things brought to Can- 
 ardin's conscience, he bore them with his ac- 
 customed fortitude. It was something more of 
 an annoyance that the Due de Morbihan, finding 
 that he had after all brought down the celebrated 
 disturber, took such noisy credit to himself for 
 the feat. But in spite of that Canardin suffered 
 the news of his death to circulate about the capi-
 
 192 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 tal without contradiction. Needing a rest in 
 any case, he found it convenient to be dead. 
 More than once before, when it suited his pur- 
 pose, he had relieved one Paris with the fact of 
 his death, till it pleased him to relieve another 
 Paris with the fact of his resurrection. Now, 
 moreover, there rested in Canardin's hands an 
 interest transcending every other and calling for 
 the utmost quiet in its working out. 
 
 Not Canardin alone was perturbed, but Paris 
 itself was scandalized, and proportionately grate- 
 ful for a new interest, at the disappearance of 
 Julie Lecoigneux. 
 
 For a fortnight Canardin watched for himself, 
 and listened in vain to the Paris gossip for clues. 
 The Chateau de Grammont, he found, owned to a 
 far greater anguish than Paris, but to an equal 
 ignorance as to the whereabouts of Julie. Fi- 
 nally, however, Canardin thought he caught a 
 gleam, and turned his back on the spiteful 
 stories and on Paris, and himself withdrew, 
 close upon the absence of the Due de Morbihan. 
 
 In consequence the country round about soon 
 had cause to lament that Paris had given Can- 
 ardin cause for so much resentment. His follow- 
 ers seemed to have swelled to an army. And 
 their leader, now as high-handed as he had once
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 193 
 
 been high-minded, seemed to take less careful aim 
 at the objects of his interest. The puzzling thing 
 about him was that money and other material 
 wealth no longer appeared to suit him. One 
 after the other he entered even the dwellings of 
 those well able to refer their spotless honesty to 
 Jehovah Himself. Some of them he entered, at 
 the head of his band, in broad daylight. Invari- 
 ably he turned everything upside down, invari- 
 ably he left with his hands empty but himself 
 full of spleen, evidently defrauded of the mys- 
 terious thing, whatever it was, that he was after. 
 At length this pillage also ceased, and now the 
 rumor was that Canardin had been driven from 
 France itself. 
 
 This persisted until the day when Monsieur 
 de Lavallais he was now a " De " received at 
 his new apartments in Paris a certain stranger, 
 weary, woebegone, bedraggled, and terribly 
 frightened. To any one of merely extraordinary 
 penetration this fellow would have brought the 
 news that at last Canardin had hit upon the 
 wanted stratagem. De Lavallais was indeed 
 amused, but not at once enlightened. 
 
 "You are Monsieur ?" he began to the 
 
 trembling old figure before him. 
 
 " I am the town provost of Fericourt, Excel-
 
 194 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 lency." Beyond that the poor man was unable 
 to say anything, and only handed De Lavallais 
 a slip of folded paper. 
 
 Prepared to be bored or annoyed by a beggar, 
 De Lavallais was electrified instead. The paper 
 read, in the well-remembered hand of Canardin : 
 
 44 This man has captured me. He wants a rep- 
 utation. Give him one. Above all, notify De 
 Morbihan." 
 
 As no inward stir ever broke down De Laval- 
 lais ? s outward caution, he laid the paper on the 
 desk before him, and for safety kept it under the 
 flat of his hand. " Who wrote that? " he asked. 
 
 The man was hardly able to speak for excite- 
 ment, "It was given me," he stuttered, "by 
 Monsieur Canardin himself. I saw him write 
 it." 
 
 " That is to say, you saw it written? " 
 
 "I have so testified, your Honor. Monsieur 
 Canardin did it with his own hand! And gave 
 it me to bring you ! n 
 
 u A man, you mean, who said he was Canardin. 
 It is an old trick, my man. You are really the 
 provost of Fericourt? Show me your papers." 
 
 In gathering confidence, and as proud as a pea- 
 cock now, the old fellow drew from his pocket a 
 tattered and soiled commission which seemed to
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 195 
 
 satisfy De Lavallais, though he grudged to say 
 so. 
 
 " And the man pretended to be Canardin? " 
 
 " He said you would recognize the handwrit- 
 ing, your Honor ! " 
 
 Much as he hated to admit it, the scalawag 
 was convincing De Lavallais. Noticing as much, 
 the broken-down provost let loose a thunderbolt 
 From another pocket he produced a small parcel, 
 wrapped in many folds of thin paper, which he 
 turned over to his examiner. "Monsieur Can- 
 ardin said he would one day take my head off if 
 I gave it to any but you," he handed out, along 
 with the parcel. " And by my faith, Monsieur, 
 I believe he would do it! There is something 
 about that man " 
 
 De Lavallais had been unfolding, this while, 
 and now tumbled out of its wrappages, with a 
 surprise that even he was hard put to conceal, a 
 certain green jade ring. With this balanced in 
 his palm, he shot a piercing look at the pro- 
 vost. 
 
 " He told me did Monsieur Canardin that 
 if you doubted the handwriting, he thought that 
 might convince you." 
 
 " There is only one of these," said De Lavallais 
 severely. " And that is in the possession "
 
 196 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Begging your Honor's pardon, that is pre- 
 cisely what Monsieur Canardin warned me you 
 would say. It was in the possession of Mademoi- 
 selle C6cile de Gourmont " 
 
 " De Grammont? " De Lavallais corrected. 
 
 " That was the name ! And he had been 
 obliged to withdraw it, craving your indul- 
 gence, because it had been too freely dis- 
 played." 
 
 " One moment, Monsieur. Be seated, if you 
 please." As the provost willingly did so, De 
 Lavallais called a secretary, whom he kept wait- 
 ing while he dashed off a note in his own hand. 
 " Take this at once," he said to his functionary. 
 " Mademoiselle is with the Duchesse des Larmes 
 to-day. If she cannot come in person, ask her to 
 answer at once." 
 
 The young secretary vanished, and De Laval- 
 lais again addressed himself to the quivering 
 figure waiting on the edge of a chair before him. 
 "You will admit, Monsieur," he said, "this is 
 extraordinary. Let us grant for the moment, 
 however, that you are correct in your assump- 
 tions." 
 
 This language of insult, which he scarcely 
 understood, delighted the old fellow. " Oh, Mon- 
 sieur, I assure you "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 197 
 
 De Lavallais raised his hand. " You are aware 
 that for years Canardin has eluded the most de- 
 termined pursuit of France." 
 
 " That is what he reminded me, Monsieur ! " 
 the provost proudly reported. 
 
 " Yet his capture has fallen to you ! I have 
 no wish to disparage, Monsieur Provost, either 
 your veracity as a man or your ability as an 
 officer. Yet you will see that this is most un- 
 expected." 
 
 " Those, your Honor, are the very words Mon- 
 sieur Canardin put into your mouth when he 
 prepared me to meet you ! " 
 
 " H'm ! " said De Lavallais. It was annoying 
 to have Canardin taking the cleverness right out 
 of his mouth. That fact alone established the 
 absolute authenticity of the provost's capture. 
 " What the devil is he up to ! " De Lavallais 
 pondered. Aloud he said, " H'm ! Granting, of 
 course, that it is the veritable Canardin you have 
 apprehended, you still have him? And well 
 guarded? " 
 
 "Oh, your Honor, he faithfully promised to 
 remain until I returned ! At the very least until 
 then ! On his word of honor ! He said he wanted 
 to make sure I had carried out his errand, or 
 he'd knock off my damned old block of a head!
 
 198 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 And by the Lord Jupiter, your Honor, I believe 
 he'd do it!" 
 
 " No doubt," said De Lavallais. " He didn't, 
 of course, confide to you just what he had in mind 
 in sending you on this errand? " 
 
 " Indeed he did, Monsieur. It was extremely 
 good of him. He said it was to give me a reputa- 
 tion. To secure my future." 
 
 " That seems to be a hobby of his," De Laval- 
 lais admitted, chiefly to himself, with the sus- 
 picion of a smile. 
 
 " He did say he hoped you might return with 
 me." 
 
 " Said that, did he? " De Lavallais was alert 
 at that. 
 
 " But I assure you, Excellency, that is unneces- 
 sary. You would not, I am sure, take anything 
 away from my glory? " 
 
 "Whatever you deserve shall be yours, my 
 good fellow," De Lavallais nodded graciously, 
 the more so because he thought he began to see 
 through Canardin's wiles. " On second thought, 
 I think I had better accompany you." 
 
 " But he is my prisoner, your Honor ! He said 
 so himself ! I am sure Monsieur Canardin meant 
 to see to that himself ! " 
 
 " Be it so. When can you start, Monsieur? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 199 
 
 "The question, Excellency, is only whenever 
 you choose." 
 
 "We can arrange that," De Lavallais cau- 
 tioned himself against his own rash impulses, 
 " when I have had a reply to my note. In the 
 meantime, would you be good enough to give me 
 some account of how you accomplished this 
 extraordinary capture of Monsieur Can- 
 ardin? " 
 
 "Well, Monsieur," the aged provost nerv- 
 ously grasped his hat between his hands, cleared 
 his throat, and leaned still farther and more con- 
 fidentially forward. " It was this way. I am a 
 modest man, and will not lay it on. It was 
 simple. You see, it was a rainy night, a nasty 
 night. On such a night one craves society. Feri- 
 court is a shockingly orderly place. And the 
 provost is paid in a manner exactly opposite to 
 justice. He should be paid a fee for the order he 
 brings, and not for the occasional thief who is 
 kind enough to visit the town. It is not only a 
 poorly paid duty, it is a lonely duty to be tramp- 
 ing the empty and sleepy streets in the rain. So 
 I drop into the tavern, where I hope some kind 
 soul will buy what I cannot afford for myself, 
 a warm bite and a drop o' drink. And that is 
 precisely what happens."
 
 A smile, which the provost was too absorbed in 
 his enthusiastic narrative to notice, was spread- 
 ing on De Lavallais's face. 
 
 " For a long while I am left in a corner. The 
 office of provost in Fericourt, Monsieur, has 
 fallen into rust and disrespect. No feats are per- 
 mitted one, no reputation. That is what Mon- 
 sieur Canardin was kind enough to observe, on 
 his own account. I saw that man sitting by the 
 fire, extremely modest and retired. He seemed 
 very tired, even sad. But, Monsieur, that man's 
 eyes see all, his ears catch everything. He reads 
 the very heart of a man. In no great while he 
 beckons me to him, where none has deigned to 
 notice me before. 
 
 " * Sit down,' he says, so that all observe this 
 extraordinary courtesy to me, the mere provost. 
 ' You are the provost here,' he next says. 
 
 " ' Yes, Monsieur,' I owned to it. ' How did 
 you guess it? * 
 
 " ' You look so poor and hungry,' he answers, 
 so kind. 'Will you sup with me?' And while 
 a most excellent fowl is served, and such wine 
 as only our Monsieur Connard alone buys for his 
 table, the gentleman surprises me. ' Have you a 
 convenient jail in the place?' he asks, as if the 
 idea had just occurred to him. He seemed to be
 
 pleased at something of a sudden. * I'm sure I 
 should prefer it to this,' he says. With that, the 
 
 landlord To cut it all short, Monsieur, a 
 
 terrible fight ensues, which would have spoiled 
 my supper, but for a startling occurrence. The 
 gentleman starts up with a pistol in each hand. 
 Where they came from the Lord only knows. And 
 he has only to say, very quiet-like, ' I should be 
 sorry to take advantage of you, gentlemen. But 
 I happen to be Monsieur Canardin,' and the place 
 is cleared as if by magic. Indeed, your Excel- 
 lency, in order to obtain witnesses all in due 
 form, as he was kind enough to explain, he was 
 obliged to go out in the rain and drive some of 
 them in again, at the point of his pistol, with 
 their eyes popping out of their head. I give you 
 my word, your Honor, I was myself in some- 
 thing of a quiver, from delight, you understand, 
 at the great good fortune which had come upon 
 me." 
 
 " I begin to understand," said Monsieur de 
 Lavallais with a smile. 
 
 " ' But, Monsieur Canardin ! ' I said. ' I have 
 nothing against you! ' 
 
 " l One moment/ said he, and puts a pewter 
 saltcellar into his pocket. ' There,' says he. 
 'It's not the worth o' the thing, but the idea.
 
 202 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 They're always wanting to put that on my tail, 
 and I can't have it. I don't know how many of 
 those things I have had to put out of harm's way. 
 Now, then, Monsieur Provost ! ' And will you 
 believe it, that man makes a speech to those half 
 dozen loafers hiding behind tables and settles, 
 as much in my favor as if he'd known me for life. 
 'Now, then, Monsieur Provost/ he comes to an 
 end. * You have captured Canardin. As it is a 
 bad night, I hope it is not far to the jail. To 
 make sure that you are properly rewarded, I'll 
 attend to that myself. Here is your fee.' He 
 pulls out of his pocket a coin of gold fit to dazzle 
 the king. There it is." Monsieur the Provost 
 proudly wrenched the thing from his wallet in 
 proof. 
 
 " ' As these gentlemen have assisted you in my 
 arrest, they also deserve something,' says Mon- 
 sieur Canardin, and tosses them a handful of 
 silver. ' Might I ask,' he winds up, ' as a favor,' 
 he says most graciously, ' that in return you will 
 go about and spread the news of my capture at 
 the hands of this gallant gentleman, your pro- 
 vost?' And as they are only too eager for an 
 excuse to leave, without the appearance of being 
 impolite, they go in a hurry. He pays his bill 
 with another gold coin, all in a manner so hand-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 203 
 
 some that one is forced to admire such a man. 
 ' Now, Monsieur, I am at your service,' he says 
 to me. What was my mortification, your Honor," 
 the provost wound up, more confidentially still, 
 " that we should be kept waiting an hour in the 
 rain till I could get the jail opened for his ac- 
 commodation. Yet in the politest manner in the 
 world he dismissed me when I showed him to his 
 cell. And though I waited about to see if there 
 were anything else I could do for him, he flung 
 himself down on the hard boards, and went to 
 sleep like a child. And there he is." 
 
 " H'm ! " said Monsieur de Lavallais, swinging 
 about as if to study the matter against the sky 
 through a window, but really to hide his features. 
 " I suppose your gallant and truly remarkable 
 capture created some excitement? " 
 
 " There's those in Fericourt that don't yet be- 
 lieve it. But, Monsieur, there he is ! " 
 
 " H'm ! " said De Lavallais, to cover another 
 thought in his head : " What the devil was that 
 move for? " While he was studying that ques- 
 tion, the breathless secretary returned with a 
 scented missive, which De Lavallais took and 
 tore open with even more than his customary 
 eagerness. 
 
 " Armand, you jewel ! " it ran. " I was afraid
 
 204 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 to tell you I had lost that ring ! Where did you 
 find it? And when will you bring it? " 
 
 De Lavallais turned to the old provost, still 
 with a smile, but with more respect on his face. 
 The smile was at thought of the amusement of 
 Paris when he should spread this news, or at 
 least this story. " You say, Monsieur Provost, 
 that Monsieur Canardin particularly wanted to 
 see me? " 
 
 The old fellow fumbled his hat in a bit of em- 
 barrassment. " Well, your Honor, he did say as 
 much. I put that in to impress you. What he 
 said was that he knew you'd be glad to hear the 
 news. And so might this here Mademoiselle 
 Mademoiselle " 
 
 " Mademoiselle de Grammont? " 
 
 " The same. But in particular, your Honor, in 
 particular, he seemed anxious for the news to get 
 to the Due de Morbihan. He thought you might 
 get it to him. He said I'll tell you exactly what 
 he said." 
 
 The provost leaned across the desk and whis- 
 pered to De Lavallais that which clarified a mys- 
 tery which should have been clear to him from 
 the beginning. 
 
 " He said, ' If this doesn't fetch that hell-hound 
 out of his hiding, I'll complain to the King ! '
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 205 
 
 It don't exactly sound like language meant for a 
 Due. But I feel certain, your Excellency, it 
 wasn't meant for you." 
 
 "When did this happen? " De Lavallais was 
 moved to action. 
 
 "Kight before last." 
 
 " The news has spread? " 
 
 " All over. Like lightning. But there's those 
 that don't believe it! And there he is! Eight 
 where I put him ! " 
 
 " Come with me," said De Lavallais, rising 
 abruptly. " A man who has accomplished what 
 you have done deserves to be suitably recognized. 
 I must introduce you to a bit of society. You 
 shall have your reputation. Monsieur Canardin's 
 command must not be ignored. I want the 
 Duchesse des Larmes and Mademoiselle de 
 Grammont to hear your story. Etienne," he 
 turned to his secretary, " procure a coach for my- 
 self and the provost." 
 
 " Lor', your Honor ! " the provost shivered 
 anew. "What language shall I speak to a 
 duchesse ! " 
 
 "The language, Monsieur, of the captor of 
 Canardin."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 BY the hardest of traveling it was a day's 
 journey to Fericourt, and much can happen 
 in the course of a day. The accumulation of 
 fatigue, for example. As De Lavallais knew, 
 Cecile had no sooner heard the provost's account 
 than she commanded an instant errand to Feri- 
 court. As the journey was formidable and the 
 day well spent, he was indeed able to postpone 
 it until the following morning. Her anxiety 
 then, at the start, was boundless, and it gathered 
 momentum along the way. 
 
 " They'll have his head off before we get 
 there ! " she complained at every mile. 
 
 In vain De Lavallais upheld the formalities of 
 the law against such indignities of haste. 
 
 " If Morbihan gets there ahead of us, you know 
 very well what will happen ! He carries a King's 
 mandate for that express purpose. And with or 
 without that, he would act as he pleased. And 
 let the consequences take care of themselves." 
 
 " He is at least smoked out of his hiding, my 
 own."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 207 
 
 " Thanks to Canardin," she retorted. " And 
 perhaps at Canardin's own expense. Think of 
 that, my dear Armand." 
 
 As there was no appeasing the imperious lady 
 on that score, De Lavallais thought of something 
 else. " Perhaps we may drag some news of Julie 
 out of your friend Morbihan. If we are fortunate 
 enough to see him." 
 
 The effect of that was electrical. De Lavallais 
 received a smart clip on his shoulder. " Armand ! 
 I am utterly surprised that you have not seen 
 it before!" 
 
 " Seen what, my dear? " 
 
 " Kot even now do you see it ! That that has 
 been Canardin's purpose in all this rigmarole ! " 
 
 Inasmuch as Ce"cile herself had but just caught 
 the point, De Lavallais would have said some- 
 thing regarding the injustice of this rebuke, but 
 that he was learning the ways of women. 
 
 At Fe"ricourt Ce"cile laid prompt claim not only 
 to the privileges of a De Grammont but of a 
 woman. In no time she had herself, her duenna, 
 and her retinue established at the inn. In no 
 time further she had herself driven to the dingy 
 little building set aside as a jail. About it was 
 gathered a crowd composed of the population of 
 Fe"ricourt and the entire countryside for miles
 
 208 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 about. With difficulty a way was made for 
 Cecile's coach, and the already hysterical excite- 
 ment of the crowd was hoist to a still higher 
 pitch at the scene which ensued when she stopped 
 and opened her door. 
 
 From the barred portal of the little jail a burly 
 man, broad and swarthy, and of such rank that 
 the mob automatically parted before him, was 
 issuing as if to meet her. Seeing Cecile and the 
 somewhat astonished De Lavallais beside her, 
 this worthy lifted his hat, swept her a magnifi- 
 cent obeisance, and then burst into an uproarious 
 guffaw. 
 
 " Morbihan ! " she cried, so that every one 
 gasped at his identity. " You here ! What have 
 you done with that man? " 
 
 For a moment Morbihan could not answer for 
 laughing. "Your your Canardin is past," he 
 choked out, " past all worries ! Even yours, 
 my dear C6cile ! " And his laughter began 
 again. 
 
 C6cile swept down from the coach and blazed 
 straight toward him, as the crowd fell back in a 
 new direction. He barred her way. " Let me 
 in," she flared up at him. " Where is he? " 
 
 Morbihan stepped aside, motioned her on with 
 a flourish of his hat, and only halted further
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 209 
 
 laughter to say, " Proceed, Mademoiselle. Go in. 
 See for yourself." 
 
 " Armand ! " Cecile summoned her faithful. 
 " Support me." And Armand obeyed. " As for 
 you, Monsieur ! " Cecile turned upon Morbihan 
 again. " In one hour you will attend me at the 
 inn. It is not an invitation, Monsieur le Due ; it 
 is a command." And she swept into the little 
 building. 
 
 In a little room near the entrance a judge was 
 holding session in the manner of an inquest, now 
 evidently nearly finished. One or two last quak- 
 ing witnesses remained to be examined; those 
 who had gone before were huddled about on old 
 benches, their faces filled with fright. The Judge 
 seemed more angry than otherwise disturbed, so 
 indignant, in fact, that he suffered Cecile to enter 
 and listen without a challenge. Verily indig- 
 nant, she thought, at this palpable misuse of the 
 law. 
 
 " No one entered this building ! No one left it ! 
 No one saw any one enter or leave it! That is 
 the burden of your testimony ! " the Judge was 
 declaiming at the terror-stricken group, evidently 
 charged with the oversight of their distinguished 
 prisoner. " All the same, some one entered, and 
 some one left. You all know what happened.
 
 210 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Yet you are shielding the guilty party ! That is 
 perjury ! I am out of patience with you ! Before 
 I have done with you, you yourselves shall all be 
 prisoners! Be sure then that if the law itself 
 cannot find out your guilt, a just God will search 
 out your sin! Canardin's blood is on your 
 heads!" 
 
 " What is it, if you please, Monsieur Judge? " 
 Ce"cile spoke out, being unable to contain herself. 
 " May I be suffered to know what has happened, 
 having the interest of France at heart? " 
 
 " Mademoiselle ! " The Judge was only too 
 glad to call to witness to his just cause for in- 
 dignation this tutored person from the larger 
 world. " Justice this day has suffered a grievous 
 affront here. One such as will bring a reproach 
 upon all France." 
 
 " Yes, yes? " Cecile questioned impatiently. 
 
 " We had here a celebrated criminal." 
 
 " I know ! " 
 
 " The great Canardin ! " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! Proceed, Monsieur ! " 
 
 But the pomposities of a country jurist were 
 not to be shortened by any woman's impatience. 
 " All France has laid claim to his person. On 
 the soundest charges. The law had a right to 
 him. We had the proud privilege of surrender-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 211 
 
 ing his living person to the proper authorities. 
 Now, with what excuse we may offer, that privi- 
 lege is denied us. Something dreadful has hap- 
 pened. Yet, as you heard, ( no one has entered, 
 no one has left this building ; no one has seen any 
 other enter or leave it ! > What would you ! " 
 The excellent fellow stopped, his eloquence ex- 
 hausted. 
 
 " You, Jacques Gonfleur ! " he began on a new 
 witness. " You too, I suppose, saw no one enter 
 here? " 
 
 " Yes, sir. No, sir." 
 
 " What do you mean, wretch? " 
 
 " To be exact, sir, I saw the charwoman enter, 
 sir." 
 
 " The charwoman, indeed ! And saw her de- 
 part, no doubt ! " The Judge was now sarcastic, 
 for the benefit of his distinguished listener. 
 
 " Yes, sir. I saw her depart." 
 
 " You see " he turned to Ce"cile " I can get 
 nothing out of them ! " 
 
 "Is it possible, Monsieur," C4cile ventured 
 the observation, "that these good people have 
 been let us say, intimidated by some one of 
 influence or wealth, who had a private grievance 
 against your celebrated prisoner? " 
 
 " That, Mademoiselle, is only too possible ! "
 
 212 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 The Judge glared at his victims, whose uneasi- 
 ness betrayed much to Cecile. 
 
 She rose in agitation and would have left to 
 seek consolation of Armand, and the Lord knows 
 what else of Morbihan, when a thought stopped 
 her. " Has any one appeared, Monsieur, to 
 claim the body? " she asked, in a voice scarcely 
 audible. 
 
 "Who would have ventured such an imperti- 
 nence! " the Judge thundered. 
 
 " I was going to claim it myself, Monsieur," 
 said C6cile freezingly. 
 
 " Claim it? " The Judge could scarcely be- 
 lieve his ears. " Evidently you have not heard, 
 Mademoiselle. It is gone. We have it not. And 
 yet as I say, not a bolt has been moved; not a 
 bar is broken; no one has entered or left. This 
 was but an hour ago. An hour ago that man was 
 here, alive. He ate. He was heard to curse the 
 food. To-morrow we were to deliver him to the 
 hands of justice, in due course. Immortal glory 
 would have rested on this province. Now " 
 
 " Come, C6cile ! Be away from here at once ! " 
 she heard Armand's voice in her ear, since he had 
 followed her. As nothing else would budge her, 
 he seized her arm. " This fool is only spouting. 
 Come ! The provost has just taken me to his cell.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 213 
 
 I've seen how it was done. You wouldn't believe 
 it ! Fiendishly clever ! " 
 
 " I can easily believe it ! " C4cile shot out, 
 ready with much more for her friend Morbihan, 
 until she caught De Lavallais laughing. 
 
 By now he had got her out into the corridor, 
 and very soon had her hurried into another door, 
 to the jailer's office, now fortunately unoccu- 
 pied. Before De Lavallais could close the door, 
 however, a procession of two passed by, consist- 
 ing of the tottering old provost and a thing even 
 more tottering wrapped in the great-coat of Can- 
 ardin. A moment more the occupant of the 
 great-coat had broken away from the provost and 
 darted into the room containing the interested 
 Armand and Ce"cile. 
 
 " Go 'way, M'sieu ! Go 'way ! " it said to 
 Armand. 
 
 He left, laughing almost with Morbihan's en- 
 ergy. And Ce"cile found herself alone with the 
 great bulk of a plump charwoman, bearing noth- 
 ing upon her person save Canardin's thoughtful 
 great-coat, and nothing in her hand save one of 
 his golden coins. 
 
 "He take my mop! He take my pail! He 
 take everything I got ! And leave me like this ! " 
 the hysterics began, as C6cile closed the door
 
 214 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 upon a story that loosed in her much more 
 laughter than the bare story prompted. 
 
 A roar from the crowd outside marked the 
 spread of the story outside of the building. The 
 Judge himself, it may be assumed, heard it in 
 time, but whether with the same measure of ap- 
 preciation, it may be doubted. 
 
 Even Morbihan himself called, and was re- 
 ceived at the inn with better grace than would 
 have been prognosticated from the atmosphere 
 of an hour before. The man could be jaunty and 
 affable, when it suited his fancy, and the peni- 
 tence he pretended did something to soften 
 C6cile after her first demand : 
 
 "Young man, what have you done with my 
 cousin Julie?" 
 
 " Mademoiselle Julie is with my sister Agnes 
 not far from here, by the way nursing a 
 pretty set of nerves." 
 
 "The idea of spiriting her away, with not a 
 word from either one of you ! " 
 
 " The little lady had been going at a pretty 
 gay pace. There's no holding her, as you know 
 well enough. She needed a firm hand, a rest, and 
 utter quiet. And she's had them all, as you 
 were not able to supply them yourself, my dear 
 C^cile."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 215 
 
 " With you about ! I wonder ! " 
 
 " It does seem the only way I can fix her at- 
 tention on my poor deserts," the smooth devil 
 laughed with a deceiving modesty. " Agnes will 
 bring her to you soon, if I can't persuade the 
 lady to stay." 
 
 As the idea of Julie's coming to final rest in 
 the house of Morbihan, so soon as the Due should 
 reform himself, or Julie should perform that 
 service for him, had never been especially abhor- 
 rent to Cecile, this promise contented her, and 
 she let the Due go, with his parting shot at her 
 sudden sentimental interest in personages like 
 provosts, charwomen, and Canardin. 
 
 It was not until the following day that the 
 Due's glib prescription for Julie's nerves was 
 discovered to have had sundry poisonous ingre- 
 dients in it. To CScile's considerable astonish- 
 ment, when she drove home next day to Meaux, 
 Julie was there before her, already returned, with 
 two chirurgeons slightly more skilful than De 
 Morbihan in attendance upon her, and with a 
 vehement yearning for rest nowhere but in 
 C4cile's embrace. 
 
 Till late that night she kept Ce~cile choking for 
 breath, so close the poor girl clung to her, and 
 shaken with wonder, for the physicians them-
 
 216 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 selves had forbidden further questions and 
 answers, after the first one that astounded 
 Ce"cile so greatly. 
 
 " Why, my child ! How did you get here? " 
 
 " Monsieur Monsieur Canardin brought me." 
 
 " Monsieur Canardin! " 
 
 There the physicians had cut things short. 
 " She's in a delirium," they said. And not for 
 days was Julie to be permitted or persuaded to 
 tell anything further.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THOUGH consumed with feminine curiosity, 
 Cecile scrupulously followed injunctions 
 left by the medical men. Quiet above all having 
 been enjoined for Julie, she saw that there was 
 quiet. The name of Canardin was never men- 
 tioned. For that matter, France itself heard 
 little from Canardin. The usual accounts of his 
 death got abroad. These also Ce"cile suppressed. 
 As he had died often before, no one put much 
 faith in the new reports. The peasant who 
 boasted, as usual, of having seen Canardin's 
 ghost on the lonely night highway was treated 
 to laughter. Military circles freshly congratu- 
 lated themselves on having made France at last 
 too hot for him. Or if it were not that yet, it 
 would be, so soon as the Due de Morbihan per- 
 fected his plans. If coaches still were stopped 
 on the road, it was never in broad daylight, as in 
 Canardin's heyday, but at night, in lonely spots, 
 and clearly the work of some impostor. All that 
 rifling of guardhouses, with which Canardin had
 
 218 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 been wont to give playful exercise to his virtuos- 
 ity, had ceased. Bobbers now began to be caught, 
 whereas, it was remembered, that happened in- 
 frequently in the case of Canardin. These things 
 lent color to the growing belief that Canardin 
 had left the country at last. 
 
 To one person at least this came as a disap- 
 pointment. " It is a positive grief to me ! I don't 
 mind saying I had my heart set on ArmamTs 
 taking him. It would have meant so much to 
 his career." 
 
 This confession came from Cecile de Gram- 
 mont one morning, timidly, at breakfast hour. 
 She ventured it because she saw that something 
 or other had begun to amuse her visitor. Seeing 
 the amusement deepen at that, she ventured still 
 further, defiantly: 
 
 " Nevertheless, Julie, do you know, I once had 
 my own notions of winning over that extraor- 
 dinary man. The fact is " she blushed a bit 
 " I have those notions still. You needn't smile, 
 you little mischief! You once amused yourself 
 in the same fashion. And where that headlong 
 daring of yours availed nothing, I suppose I 
 ought to learn better. Yet you know, my dear " 
 Cecile was watching her closely " such a man 
 cannot be wholly evil ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 219 
 
 " You really think so? " Julie asked demurely, 
 devoting herself to her fruit. 
 
 " Oh, I'm sure of it ! " Ce"cile was the more 
 positive, because it began to look safe to open a 
 long-neglected topic. " The grace, the dash, the 
 rollicking humor of the man ! Born anything but 
 a bourgeois, you very well know what that man 
 would have become ! " 
 
 " Yes," said Julie. " I have thought so my- 
 self." 
 
 " You f Who wanted once to see him hanged ! 
 And wagered his capture! You chased him, 
 didn't you, only to find that he is Canardin ! I 
 wonder " Cecile peeped sheepishly over her 
 chocolate cup as she said it " I wonder if he's 
 never to be tamed." 
 
 " Armand says never," Julie pronounced, as if 
 that settled it. 
 
 " In any case he seems to have vanished," 
 Ce"cile gayly agreed, still watching the effect of 
 her words, and was puzzled at Julie's mischie- 
 vous smile. 
 
 Three mornings later she was even more 
 puzzled, and a little captivated, to find by her 
 lone place at the table a bunch of wild flowers 
 and a card among them on which was written : 
 
 CANARDIN.
 
 220 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Nor did she lay this up as a joke of the prank- 
 ish Julie's, as was her first thought, for the 
 bundle of wild blooms, as she handled it, pres- 
 ently discharged a certain green jade ring, which 
 she had lost again, or missed, some time before. 
 She hid them quickly, ring, card, flowers and all, 
 on hearing Julie's tread on the stair. Fancy a 
 woman, however, keeping such a matter to her- 
 self very long ! 
 
 She kept it till evening, no longer. That 
 evening, as air was one of the medicaments pre- 
 scribed for Julie, the two of them strolled the 
 lawns about the chateau. In the locusts and 
 lindens above their pretty heads, the first birds 
 of spring chattered over the feasts of the day. 
 A new season of green and graceful slopes, of 
 flowers and fruit for those who might own them 
 was opening with all those mysterious intima- 
 tions that gladden something primeval in the 
 heart of man. Creation itself is then in love with 
 the earth, and mothers it tenderly, and sees that 
 hushes and warmth surround these young be- 
 ginnings of growth. 
 
 Through this quietude, as they walked, an odd 
 sound intruded from a point far away, that 
 singularly carrying, strangely penetrating " Ee- 
 e-o-oy" of the peacock which, by Nature's ca-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 221 
 
 price, has been made sweet to the ears of his 
 hen. 
 
 " I know of no one," C6cile said, " who owns 
 one of those birds about here. Yet I've heard it 
 before, at long intervals." 
 
 " A wild bird, I suppose," Julie remarked, glad 
 that her smile was lost in the coming twilight. 
 
 " I fancy so," said Ce"cile. " Come, child ! " 
 she tightened an arm about Julie's waist. " It's 
 been so good to see you livened of late. Spring is 
 planting roses in your cheeks. I hope my own 
 are as lucky. There's a peacock of another sort 
 coming to-night. Soon we shall coax one here 
 for you. I fancy it will not be hard ! " Another 
 squeeze of the waist. " But, Julie, you're chilled ! 
 It's time we went in ! " 
 
 " Not yet. It's too lovely." 
 
 " But lonely ! Without some excitement from 
 Canardin ! " C6cile laughed and studied the effect 
 of that. 
 
 As there was none, she tried another effort. 
 " On my last visit to Paris I saw an old flame of 
 yours." 
 
 " Indeed? They all seem old. Which one? " 
 
 " Achille de Morbihan." 
 
 "That man?" 
 
 The effect had come or part of it. " Don't,
 
 222 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 my love," Cecile laughed. " I believe you've fash- 
 ioned that man to be whatever he is. Wild 
 thing! He owes his rash courses to you. But 
 no, you would encourage that silly De Braille! 
 Pretty and witty he was, I own. But ah, my 
 dear, we older heads are wiser. You see what 
 De Braille has come to, don't you? Disgraced 
 and fled ! Why, Julie ! " Cecile stopped herself, 
 for the mercurial Julie, on tiptoes the moment 
 before, had taken to weeping convulsively. 
 " Forgive me ! " They walked on under the trees 
 for a space longer. " But sometime you will ex- 
 plain to me, Julie? " 
 
 Julie nodded. 
 
 " Everything? " 
 
 Again Julie nodded. 
 
 "What upset you so, at the Morbihan place? 
 Tell me, was De Braille there? " 
 
 " Oh, don't! " cried Julie. 
 
 " There, there ! I'm going to make you laugh, 
 instead ! Here's an affair of mine, if you please." 
 And Cecile told of Canardin's ring and the flow- 
 ers, while Julie dutifully laughed. " So, he 
 hasn't gone after all ! " Cecile felt encouraged. 
 "And do you know what I believe? Laugh if 
 you like " Ce"cile herself was obliged to titter 
 foolishly " but that man is lonely! Tired of
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 223 
 
 his wild life! He wants to come into the fold! 
 He's signifying as much ! " 
 
 " Cecile ! " Julie rallied her. " You have that 
 man on your mind ! " 
 
 " I'm not alone in that, young woman ! " And 
 Julie started. " Do you know what you told me 
 when you came here, ill? That Monsieur Can- 
 ardin had brought you ! " 
 
 " Did I say that? " cried Julie, in alarm. 
 
 "And very much else, my dear. Some of it 
 sweet. But then you were in a delirium. All 
 the same, you are not so viciously hostile to 
 Monsieur Canardin as you pretend to be. You 
 may as well admit it. Come, isn't it so? " 
 Again Cecile's arm tightened its embrace. " Be- 
 cause I want to convert you to my little con- 
 spiracy. With your wits in it Oh, there 
 
 goes that thing again ! " Cecile broke off. Both 
 drew up in their pace as the odd spell of that 
 peacock's note again gave them a little thrill. 
 
 Hardly was it finished when a base imitation 
 from the contrary direction announced the ar- 
 rival of De Lavallais. 
 
 Not without a certain sly smile could Julie 
 watch his air of proprietorship as the excellent 
 fellow turned over his horse to a groom. What 
 thanks had he, what knowledge even, as to the
 
 person and the process by which, he had attained 
 his new rank? 
 
 "Ah, Armand, make haste ! " Ce"cile, always 
 profuse with her endearments, scarcely could 
 wait to hale him to the supper board and show 
 him the new tokens of Canardin's arrival, the 
 card, the posies, the well-remembered ring. 
 
 A little wearily De Lavallais heard that topic 
 come up again, and set his face to finish it. For 
 half the course of the meal Ccile poured out her 
 " hobby," Armand called it. Surely Armand 
 could find some means of reaching him, of bid- 
 ding him welcome there in her own house, if 
 need be ! 
 
 " It's really Julie's pretty idea," she fibbed. 
 " I'm utterly aghast at the knowledge she has of 
 him." 
 
 " They're matters of common gossip," Julie 
 observed. 
 
 " So much the better ! " C6cile argued. " Be 
 the statesman, not the hangman, Armand! 
 Think what it will mean to you, to go to your 
 King with a loyal servant made out of a danger- 
 ous enemy ! He wishes it himself ! He's shown 
 us as much ! " 
 
 No lover listens with enthusiasm to his lady's 
 urging of another man's cause. As patiently as
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 225 
 
 he could De Lavallais heard her through, then 
 tossed his napkin across his lap, touched the tips 
 of his fingers together, and answered her. 
 
 "My dear Cecile! It is perfectly true that 
 your Canardin has not left France. There hap- 
 pens to be evidence of that other than your pretty 
 flowers evidence not so pretty. It may be per- 
 fectly true, as you say Julie surmises, that Can- 
 ardin has got above petty offences. He has left 
 off the petty offences for others that are worse! 
 It is true enough that Canardin has signalized 
 his reappearance in a manner that official cir- 
 cles all over France must notice ! " 
 
 Having eyes for each other only, neither Cecile 
 nor Armand marked the deepening pallor in 
 Julie's cheeks. 
 
 " I confess," De Lavallais was rolling on, a 
 little captivated by the music of his periods, 
 " there was a time when I sympathized with 
 your pity for Canardin. I have lost patience 
 with him. He has put himself outside every 
 pale. He is no longer a menace to Frenchmen; 
 he is a menace to France. He means to be a 
 revolutionary! He has forgotten his humor. 
 Yesterday he took a step that will arouse all 
 France. I'll make it short. He did me the 
 honor to impersonate Armand de Lavallais. He
 
 226 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 flourished a lettre de cachet, if you please, indis- 
 putably in the King's own hand, but made out in 
 my name, and one " De Lavallais fetched this 
 out in a very deep voice " that I never heard of ! 
 With that false authority he put himself in com- 
 mand of a company of the King's soldiery. This 
 was at Amiens. He then invaded a court of law, 
 and " again De Lavallais sank his voice " ar- 
 rested the very judge I " 
 
 C6cile tried to interpose some futile condona- 
 tion. " It was merely a flourish ! " Julie, see- 
 ing better, gave a choking little gasp. 
 
 " The King will find it hard to condone such 
 courses," De Lavallais sighed. 
 
 " Why why did he do that? " Julie pinched 
 out the words between her set lips. 
 
 " Oh," said De Lavallais largely, " your Can- 
 ardin can always allege a lofty purpose. He's 
 clever at that. On entering the court he declared 
 in a pompous manner that it was high time to 
 purge the judiciary of France. And to set an 
 example, he charged this judge with sitting on a 
 case in which the judge himself was an interested 
 party, and rendering a decision in his own 
 favor ! " 
 
 "Well!" said Julie, her breath coming fast, 
 her black eyes snapping, greater and rounder
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 227 
 
 than ever against the deathly pallor of her 
 cheeks. " Well ! Wasn't it true? " 
 
 " What if it was ! " De Lavallais hedged. 
 
 "Ah ! " Julie sank back in her chair in a great 
 relief. " You said it was true ! " 
 
 " But think of the enormity, my child ! " De 
 Lavallais hammered the cloth with his fist. 
 " The time has gone when it was possible to sen- 
 timentalize over Canardin. He has gone too far. 
 It is time to make an end of him. He is wise if 
 he flies the country while there is time. We have 
 positive knowledge that he is ready to range with 
 his band ' purging France ' he calls it from 
 Arras to Marseilles, from Lyons to Bordeaux. 
 All the malcontents in the realm have flocked to 
 him. Canardin has been known to boast that he 
 himself is a society. The boast is becoming the 
 fact. The man is a force. It will take a consid- 
 erable power of the State to put him down. And 
 that " Armand leaned back triumphantly 
 "that is the man you would tame with a few 
 melting speeches ! " 
 
 Ccile had propped her elbows on the table and 
 buried her face in her hands. It was Julie who 
 came to life and wakened them all. A hot flush 
 had succeeded the pallor on her face. She half 
 rose as she spoke. Her hands gripped together
 
 228 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 folds of the cloth. The black ringlets danced to 
 the vigorous tossing of her head. Her white 
 teeth sparkled in the candlelight, as her red lips 
 parted in such a smile as only comes when a 
 woman praises. 
 
 "Monsieur de Lavallais," she began in a ringing 
 voice, " I can tell you from a superior knowledge 
 of Monsieur Canardin that he is as good a friend 
 as France ever had. ' Friend ' of France? 
 France is the one thing he loves ! You think you 
 know his generosity, Monsieur de Lavallais. The 
 new dignity to your very name you owe to a whim 
 of his. I have even more to be grateful for at his 
 hands. I know that man. I amused myself 
 with trailing him. I caught up with him be- 
 cause he let me. And I met a man, Monsieur, 
 whom Nature, if not the King, has made a prince. 
 He has saved my life, he has saved my honor 
 careless of his own. Two months ago you 
 thought I was delirious " she said this to CScile 
 " when I told you Monsieur Canardin brought 
 me here. That was the fact. He learned where 
 I was. And again he saved me " this to Ar- 
 mand "from a peer of France. With Morbi- 
 han's sister! I was a virtual prisoner of the 
 Due's, safe only because Canardin's ' malcon- 
 tents' peopled the house and gave it its one touch
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 229 
 
 of propriety. To lure Morbihan away, to give 
 me a chance of escape, lie risked the stratagem of 
 imprisonment. He gave it the color he gives to 
 all his high deeds the color of a jest. It was 
 no jest, Monsieur de Lavallais. In the middle of 
 my chance of escape, Morbihan returned with a 
 posse, fifty to one against us, hemmed in a wood. 
 I am here only because Monsieur Canardin drew 
 the pack away from my hiding place after him- 
 self. God knows how he threw them off. He 
 would never tell. Then he brought me, as he 
 said he would, back among friends. Such things 
 in our golden age ! " The highly-strung Julie 
 laughed a little hysterically. " Tell me. Does 
 France need purging, Monsieur de Lavallais? 
 That was your sarcasm. Is there no beggary? 
 Are there no venal courts in France? No, Mon- 
 sieur de Lavallais, such a man is not to be won 
 over with a few melting speeches. France will 
 be fortunate if all her eloquence and yours, 
 Monsieur can win him over." 
 
 With wide-open eyes and open mouths, Ce~cile 
 and Armand heard the girl, watched the spec- 
 tacle of her animation, saw her drop into a chair, 
 half laughing, half sobbing, under the pressure of 
 feeling. Yet she was the first to speak again, to 
 these still astonished listeners.
 
 230 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " You think us silly women, Armand ! " She 
 laid her hand on C6cile's shoulder to mark their 
 partnership. Now she was all animation; the 
 strong feeling, the somber recollections were 
 gone. " Just because you think that, Armand, 
 I'll lay you a wager! What do you say? Ke- 
 member! I've chased this Canardin before. I 
 know the odds against us. Now, then, Monsieur, 
 the stake is Canardin's life, for France ! If we 
 win, the honor is yours. If we lose, we are the 
 fools you think us. But these are the condi- 
 tions." Julie was tapping the cloth with a fore- 
 finger to mark off her points. " We agree, Ce"cile 
 and I, to get on his trail. You agree to sur- 
 round the rendezvous with the protection of the 
 State. And await the result. As it is in the in- 
 terests of the State, not even Morbihan should 
 object ! Monsieur, are you game? " 
 
 " 'Tis done ! " De Lavallais clapped the broad 
 of his palm to the table. With this sealing of 
 the compact, they all relieved themselves of a ten- 
 sion in a burst of hearty laughter. Cecile 
 scarcely could embrace her excited and exciting 
 companion closely enough. A fresh flagon of 
 wine was brought. For half an hour they added 
 one touch or another to this inviting scheme. At 
 the end of that time Julie, with an arch ostenta-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 231 
 
 tion, left the other two to themselves, under pre- 
 tense of going at once to plan her stratagems, 
 which was, quite literally, her purpose. 
 
 It is true that Julie climbed the broad front 
 stair. It is also true that she promptly descended 
 a back one, having paused in her chamber only 
 long enough to gather up a cloak. Like a wraith 
 she stole unobserved from a rear door and crossed 
 the soft lawn, making for a wicket in the wall 
 about the orchard. An owl was complaining 
 there. 
 
 " I'm so sorry to keep you waiting ! " she ex- 
 claimed to some one on the Franceward side of 
 the wicket. 
 
 " I could wait forever ! " a deep voice returned. 
 " But not the news I have. You'll think it capi- 
 tal. De Braille has been found ! " 
 
 Julie thought a moment. " Oh," she said. 
 "I'm I'm so glad." After another hesitation 
 she boldly opened the wicket, stepped close to 
 the shadowy figure and said something, said it 
 with point, with a ring in her voice was it of 
 impatience only, or was it passion? " Is there 
 not another man who has found himself '? And 
 is ready to return to France? " 
 
 "I was not aware, dear lady, that Canardin 
 had ever mislaid himself," came the familiar,
 
 232 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 taunting, low laugh; but as it was evenly ap- 
 parent from her silence that Julie had been hurt, 
 Canardin more gently explained, " I like to ven- 
 ture close to your haunts, my dear Julie. But 
 there's one thing we're always forgetting. I'm 
 a wild thing, after all." 
 
 " Quite so ! " she agreed. "A peacock ! " 
 
 As Canardin accepted with a laugh even this 
 telling shot, Julie first stamped her foot, which 
 signified anger and impatience. She then burst 
 into tears, which meant a hotter impatience, 
 perhaps. Finally she rushed upon Canardin, 
 took his cloak in her grip, and shook it vehe- 
 mently. And daylight alone could have shown 
 how lovely and crimson she had become, and 
 what was meant by these acts. 
 
 "Am I never to reach you ! " It was incred- 
 ible, the measure of exasperation she poured into 
 the words. And was it only exasperation? 
 
 " I have my little appointed task to do, my 
 dear Julie," Canardin said, no longer laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 "I own it was wonderfulj it was masterful, 
 what you did with that Judge. But as if you 
 had picked the one way to accomplish such 
 things ! " 
 
 " I know of no better way for me."
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 233 
 
 " I do ! At least " Julie stopped abruptly, 
 
 and the darkness covered the quick pinch she 
 gave her lips with her pretty fingers, and the 
 sudden new light that came to her wet eyes. As 
 suddenly her vexation vanished, as she instantly 
 gave notice, by linking her arm with his and 
 leading him up and down across the lawn. 
 
 "What's this?" Canardin sought to pene- 
 trate this new mood in the girl. But three times 
 they doubled on their tracks before she could re- 
 duce her inspiration to words. 
 
 " I've a new lark for you, Canardin," she put 
 it that way, and laughed. His arm felt an extra 
 pressure, too, such was her delight at having hit 
 upon this certain new approach to him. And 
 while he listened, with a far shrewder under- 
 standing than she guessed, she unfolded her 
 pretty scheme. " Now, will you? " it ended. 
 
 " H'm ! " With that he obliged her to be con- 
 tented while he took his own turn at steering 
 them in silence up and down across the lawn. 
 "H'm! Armand, dear fellow, to surround us 
 with the mantle of his protection, indeed ! Mor- 
 bihan to welcome me to Court! H'm!" such 
 were Canardin's unspoken reflections. "Are 
 they making use of the girl? She doesn't sus- 
 pect it, of course, but is it a trap? "
 
 234 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " Well? " The word fell from Julie's lips just 
 halfway between a hope and a fear. 
 
 As he kept her pacing at his side, the fear 
 overruled the hope in her. Even to herself her 
 pretty purpose of his reclamation looked hope- 
 less and childish, now that she heard it in so 
 many words. Cage this bold spirit, this eagle, 
 or vulture, as others would have him? And 
 invite the prisoner to take his caging as a 
 lark! 
 
 Nevertheless Julie held out the cage again. 
 "Well?" she repeated in a voice of tempting 
 appeal. 
 
 The darkness hid from her how deeply she had 
 touched him. From her tremulous tone he drew 
 everything that she had let slip into it. Once 
 before they had laughed together when she 
 raised this project of his polite remaking, " for 
 his own good." There was no laughing now, at 
 Julie's reason for raising it again. The tremble 
 in her voice had fairly trumpeted the reason, 
 however the night had covered her blushes. 
 
 " See how you force me to beg ! " she com- 
 plained. 
 
 Canardin at last laughed gently. " It will 
 take a deal of debating," he said. " Every night 
 for a week ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 235 
 
 " I shan't mind ! " Her hopes rebounded. 
 " If, every night, you agree ! " 
 
 Perhaps for the first time in his life Canardin 
 was obliged to falter for words. " It has been 
 sweet, these looks at you even though it has 
 been always in the darkness." 
 
 " Then come into the light ! " she cried, so 
 that Canardin stopped still. But so did his 
 tongue. 
 
 By all the gods, though it was across a gulf as 
 wide as the world, and was not to last forever, 
 he had liked this coming near and calling to a 
 kindred spirit. This was the end of it. That 
 much was implied. Either he came all the way 
 to her, or he was to come no more. 
 
 She waited. Then, suddenly, a patient girl 
 vanished, and Julie Lecoigneux stood before him 
 instead. " It is a new thing for me to plead with 
 a man," she blazed, so that he started. " The 
 offer is still open ; the pleading is over. The de- 
 cision is yours. Darkness or the light; which 
 shall it be, Monsieur Canardin? " 
 
 He did his best to laugh again. " That is to 
 say, I am dismissed? " 
 
 In her outraged pride she rushed away, but 
 turned at the wicket to hurl at him this : " I have 
 told you, Monsieur, where we shall be, and when,
 
 236 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 C6cile and I. You are asked to the rendezvous. 
 It is for you to be there as you please." 
 
 Back to the chateau she fled, and to a night of 
 decided unquiet. On the following day she kept 
 strictly to her chamber. That night, neverthe- 
 less, the peacock's call resounded again.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A ND on a certain cool morning a little later 
 ** that spring the public coach set forth from 
 Lyons for Paris at its regular early hour. Be- 
 cause it was a prosperous line, without much 
 competition, the six bays to its hitch were sleek 
 and frisky, and the coach itself, newly washed 
 and untouched by dust on roads still hardened 
 from recent frosts, shone and glistened in its 
 gorgeous yellow paint, the panels to its doors 
 picked out in purple because it boasted of enjoy- 
 ing the King's own sanction. 
 
 The two passengers who alone engaged seats 
 that day within the coach, since a chilly air made 
 riding inside preferable on so long a journey, 
 were a slim young man, a little pale and thought- 
 ful and perhaps eight and twenty, modestly 
 garbed in cinnamon brown, and a man of older 
 appearance in resplendent blue velvet, with laces 
 at his wrists and throat which any woman would 
 have recognized as exquisite. His manner, how- 
 ever, more than his dress, proclaimed him of 
 some rank and dignity. One would have looked 
 at him twice, as a possible reincarnation of Maz-
 
 238 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 arin. The pointed beard was slightly heavier, 
 and the mustachios decidedly so, with a rakish 
 air, belonging less to the study or cabinet than 
 to the court of law, or perhaps the field of battle. 
 In age he might have been fifty. 
 
 It suited this dignitary, as the coach now 
 rolled along free of the town into the open coun- 
 try, to speak but occasionally to his younger com- 
 panion of the journey. Indeed he had the car- 
 riage of one with large and pressing affairs in 
 mind, who had traveled the route often enough 
 before to take interest in his surroundings only 
 so far as to keep a sharp eye on the various es- 
 tates along the way, as a means of measuring the 
 rate of their progress. Once he settled back in 
 his seat with an evident satisfaction which he 
 soon explained to his friend. 
 
 "Well, my dear fellow! So far we have the 
 world to ourselves? " 
 
 What was this gentleman's annoyance, there- 
 fore, when, at a mean little village some distance 
 away from Lyons, the coach was halted to accom- 
 modate a considerable company of other trav- 
 elers! The gentleman's annoyance lived very 
 briefly, however, when he caught a better view of 
 them. A lady of some importance, to judge by 
 her retinue of servants and the number of their
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 239 
 
 boxes, and certainly of striking beauty, was soon 
 firmly established in the body of the coach, along 
 with a lady companion, of even greater beauty 
 than herself. Naturally it would never do to let 
 these ladies ride backward, and immediately the 
 two gentlemen offered the exchange of their own 
 seats which faced forward. 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur ! " The first lady gave a look 
 of survey over the evident j*ears of the elder gen- 
 tleman. " I cannot consent to disturb you ! " 
 
 " Mademoiselle," the distinguished personage 
 answered with a taking smile, " let me insist. It 
 is not the first time I have turned my back upon 
 Paris." And while they all laughed pleasantly 
 at this sally, and before he would suffer the coach 
 to start on, the exchange of seats was made. 
 
 On top of the vehicle her ladyship disposed a 
 maitre d'hote!, a cockatoo, a lackey, and two 
 maidservants. Indeed they left no room for other 
 passengers, which seemed to give them some con- 
 cern, especially as her ladyship plainly took the 
 gentlemen themselves to be the intruders. 
 
 " I'm sure, my dear Lucille," she said to her 
 
 companion, " I don't see where any more " 
 
 But after the gentlemen's courtesy, she could not 
 afford to speak her full thought. And in this 
 manner the two sets of passengers, while doing
 
 240 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 their best to avoid a too great familiarity, never- 
 theless surveyed each other furtively now and 
 then. 
 
 From Lyons to Paris it is a journey of above 
 three hundred miles, which implies a ride of eight 
 days in a lumbering coach ; and at that season of 
 the year, when the weather is capricious and the 
 inns apt to be crowded, the ordeal may be easily 
 prolonged to twice that time. Hence the charac- 
 ter of one's company takes on some consequence. 
 And by the looks which the ladies exchanged, it 
 was more than apparent that the slightly elder, 
 while interested in her fellow travelers, was 
 somewhat put out. 
 
 For a time she kept up a desultory comment 
 with her friend, on one or the other trifle, and 
 the gentlemen on their own part passed a word 
 or two as they tooled along. So matters pro- 
 ceeded, in the stilted manner customary to fellow 
 passengers unknown to each other. For perhaps 
 an hour they rode thus, when, in turning out for 
 a passing wagon, the coach lurched so deeply in 
 the gutter by the roadside that the distinguished 
 person trod upon the delicate slipper of the lady 
 opposite him, quite by accident, of course. 
 
 " I very humbly crave your pardon, Mademoi- 
 selle ! " he hastened to say, and was really so
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 241 
 
 grand in his humility that she could take no of- 
 fense at it. 
 
 " It is of no moment, Monsieur, I assure you," 
 she replied, and resumed the conversation with 
 her companion the more assiduously, to cover the 
 pleasure his conduct had given her. She even 
 wished he might tread on the other slipper, 
 which he did on the next lurch of the coach. 
 Again, of course, he was profuse with his apolo- 
 gies. 
 
 " It is nothing, Monsieur. One must expect 
 such mishaps in this form of travel." 
 
 This remark was sufficiently general as a com- 
 plaint against life, and required no reply. The 
 gentleman, however, offered the most courteous 
 and hearty agreement, ending : " If Mademoiselle 
 can forgive the presumption, I would say this 
 must be an unfamiliar experience to her." 
 
 At this flattery to her circumstances the lady 
 smiled and, before she was aware she was speak- 
 ing, had said, " Indeed, Monsieur, it is something 
 of an ordeal. Especially as we are almost cer- 
 tain to be halted by other passengers. In fact, I 
 was assured there would be at least one more of 
 us. But perhaps he has been disappointed." 
 
 Monsieur smiled broadly. Was this an elope- 
 ment? "I would say, Mademoiselle, that the
 
 242 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 missing traveler is not the only one disap- 
 pointed." 
 
 Mademoiselle started, then blushed violently, 
 and to cover her unreadiness said the first foolish 
 thing that came to her mind. " Oh, Monsieur, 
 what I mean is that there cannot be too many of 
 us, with the terrible Monsieur Canardin at large 
 and so apt to appear without warning at any 
 time." 
 
 The gentleman rallied her further. "Ah, 
 Mademoiselle, from what I have heard of that 
 Monsieur Canardin of yours, he is not the sort 
 to offer affront to any lady." 
 
 " I hope you are right, Monsieur," the lady 
 said. " I have heard as much. But I am told 
 he is active in this very neighborhood, and no 
 matter how gallant he may be, it would give me 
 a turn if he should appear too suddenly." With 
 that she bit her unruly tongue, to keep it quiet. 
 
 " Have no alarms, I beg you," the gentleman 
 responded as if somewhat hurt. " I should do 
 my best to see that you were not molested." 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur, I know " Mademoiselle 
 
 said what she could to soothe the injury he 
 evinced, to have his bravery called in question. 
 And for a mile or two nothing further passed be- 
 tween them.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 243 
 
 At the end of that distance, however, it was a 
 question which of the two, the lady or the gentle- 
 man, the more earnestly desired to renew the 
 conversation. And the gentleman promptly and 
 properly undertook the responsibility. 
 
 " Since it appears, Mademoiselle, from the 
 number of your servants and packages, that you 
 are bound for Paris, as I am myself," he said, 
 " would it not be well to avoid an awkward situa- 
 tion? If you can induce yourself to trust me, I 
 will introduce myself. I am the Comte Eugene 
 de Bonnefois." 
 
 Mademoiselle was unable to suppress a visible 
 emotion. As an old acquaintance of a former 
 Monsieur de Bonnefois, now some time dead, this 
 announcement took her aback. 
 
 " I owe you an explanation," Monsieur le 
 Comte hastened to say. " The title only lately 
 passed to my branch of the family." 
 
 " I am honored by your candor, Monsieur le 
 Comte," Mademoiselle brightened, though she 
 was not yet reassured. "And since I can do no 
 less, let me copy your example. I am, in my own 
 right, the Marquise de Beauvais." Which was 
 her delicate way of fixing her unmarried 
 state. 
 
 The Comte de Bonnefois bowed low, while the
 
 244 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Marquise seized the opportunity of a quick 
 glance of inquiry at her lady companion. 
 
 "And how is the Comtesse, that dear lady? " 
 she next demanded, seeing that something needed 
 to be said. 
 
 " I wonder," said De Bonnefois, " if you may 
 not be thinking of some one else. I wish the re- 
 mark applied to me," he smiled sadly. " There 
 is no Comtesse de Bonnefois. That is why I go 
 to make my devoirs to the King, and implore to 
 be sent on some desperate errand or other, in 
 which " he sighed and leaned back in his seat 
 " I may forget my ennui." 
 
 " I only trust, Monsieur, your errand will be 
 by no means desperate. These times themselves 
 begin to be desperate. France can ill spare any 
 pillar such as you should be." 
 
 " Yes, my lady, it is so, I suppose. The times 
 were never so bad when peers of the realm are 
 privileged to rifle the estates of their friends, and 
 even imprison those who protest! One never 
 knows where he will meet the assassin. I sur- 
 vive, I take it, because I lead a charmed life. Let 
 me tell you!" De Bonnefois leaned forward. 
 " You will never believe this. But I have even 
 faced the redoubtable Canardin himself and got 
 off scot free ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 245 
 
 "You, Monsieur? Be careful how you trust 
 yourself to that man ! I have heard of his out- 
 rageous audacity. When will he ever be brought 
 to terms ! " 
 
 The Comte de Bonnefois leaned back again. 
 " I suppose, Mademoiselle, Monsieur Canardin 
 will have to be endured, like the plague, until he 
 becomes extinct." 
 
 " I wish I had your philosophy, Monsieur. 
 Extinction and Canardin seem to be far apart! 
 He is young, and daily grows stronger. Truly it 
 is frightening, the hold he is gaining on the popu- 
 lace. Yet such a man must have extraordinary 
 powers. I cannot believe he is wicked at heart. 
 So much of what he does is right. It is only his 
 way that is " 
 
 "Shall we say, abrupt?" laughed De Bonne- 
 fois. 
 
 Perhaps the Marquise de Beauvais spoke a lit- 
 tle more warmly than she intended. At any rate 
 De Bonnefois leaned toward her with an odd 
 smile. 
 
 "You will pardon me, Madame. But those 
 are strange sentiments from one of your rank. 
 Are they general? I begin to understand the 
 strength you allot to that Canardin ! " 
 
 "I give you my word, Monsieur," the chal-
 
 246 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 lenged lady defended herself, her eyes snapping 
 sincerely enough, " while it would frighten me 
 horribly if we should be stopped on the road by 
 Monsieur Canardin, I am burning to meet that 
 celebrity! Ah, Monsieur, what a pity it would 
 be to see a man of his abilities wasted broken 
 on the wheel ! " 
 
 "It would so," said De Bonnefois quietly. 
 " My dear Paul," he addressed his own compan- 
 ion, " if there were only one other such champion, 
 I fancy you yourself might consent to be Can- 
 ardin ! " 
 
 As this was said with a good deal of point, and 
 obviously had to do with some topic privy to the 
 gentlemen themselves, both the ladies politely 
 looked away. At which De Bonnefois, of course, 
 recalled himself. "Will you forgive me, Mes- 
 demoiselles! And you, Paul! May I pre- 
 sent my own devoted friend, Monsieur de 
 Brillat? 
 
 The Marquise de Beauvais presented the 
 gentlemen to her companion, Mademoiselle Lu- 
 cille Leconnais. Bows were made, but after 
 that, until luncheon time, the conversation re- 
 mained where this had brought it, among the 
 small amiabilities. A stop was made at a con- 
 venient inn, and though De Bonnefois courte-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 247 
 
 ously begged their company at table, the ladies 
 excused themselves to eat in private. 
 
 " I do hope, Julie," said Cecile de Grammont, 
 when they were alone, " though I swear I 
 couldn't help it I do hope I was not indiscreet 
 in supporting Canardin before that utter 
 stranger. You think I was? Evidently you 
 do," she added, for Julie was barely able to re- 
 strain her excited laughter. 
 
 " One never can tell in these days, it is true, 
 who's who," Julie, with a laugh, let drop for 
 whatever it was worth to Cecile. 
 
 " It's little I care ! " that good lady exclaimed. 
 " He saw himself the sense of what I said. Evi- 
 dently there are others who think as I do in re- 
 gard to Canardin. The question is, How shall 
 we accommodate Canardin when he joins us! 
 You don't suppose he's taken affright " 
 
 Here both ladies were obliged to laugh at the 
 entrance of Armand de Lavallais, ludicrous in a 
 straw-colored wig and the general habiliments of 
 a maitre d'hotel. " Well ! " he exclaimed, " what 
 do you think of him? Have you counted the con- 
 tents of your pockets? " 
 
 " Think of whom? The Comte de Bonnefois? " 
 Ce"cile ran to him. " He begins to be charming, 
 Armand! Not enough, of course, to give you
 
 248 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 alarm. But my dear! What about Canardin? 
 Do you suppose he has got wind of this? And 
 declines to trust us? " 
 
 " ' The Comte de Bonnefois ' ! " De Lavallais 
 asked stupidly. 
 
 " My dear Ce"cile ! " Julie laughingly embraced 
 her friend. " He's so beautifully taken you in ! " 
 
 " You mean Monsieur le Comte de ? " 
 
 " Who else ! " Armand corroborated. " Ssh ! 
 Not so loud! That is he, my own! Come! 
 Give over the prank! The excitement is too 
 much for you. See how you tremble ! "
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 CONSIDERING her agitation, Cecile de 
 Grammont exhibited no little courage as 
 they took their places in the coach again, on the 
 resumption of the journey. For some little time 
 she feared to speak, for fear of betraying the 
 quiver in her voice. 
 
 Whether or not Canardin guessed the cause of 
 her agitation, he could scarcely help noticing the 
 fact of it, and did his best to set her at her ease. 
 Apparently intent on amusing himself with the 
 situation, he insisted on keeping up the fiction of 
 their pretended identities, and said, when they 
 were comfortably settled again, 
 
 " If it is not an intrusion, my dear lady, you 
 interested me greatly this morning with your 
 evident interest in the welfare of France. I have 
 found such interest unusual. Most of us are 
 concerned with our own private pleasures. And 
 I must accuse myself, along with the rest ! " 
 
 This looked like a promising beginning, but 
 Cecile was still too violently atremble to venture
 
 250 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 more than polite assent, and waited for what was 
 to come. 
 
 The Comte de Bonnefois went on. " I also 
 meant to make some fitting response to your very 
 kindly sentiments toward that strange man, Can- 
 ardin. Sentiments with which I have some sym- 
 pathy. Now, perhaps, you will forgive me if I 
 tell you I think you attach a too great importance 
 to him. Since the death of Colbert a loss that 
 few of us realize our factories have gone into 
 a decline. No one makes laces. Industry has 
 disappeared. The French peasant no longer 
 farms ; he begs. And goes to jail when he cannot 
 pay his taxes. The nobles oppress him even 
 when he does. Well, such things spread unhap- 
 piness. It is not your Canardin that is strong. 
 It is French misery that is mighty. That misery 
 will insist on having a spokesman if not one 
 man, then another." 
 
 " But, Monsieur ! " Julie spoke up before she 
 was aware of it. " You will notice, it insists 
 upon having a good one ! " 
 
 De Bonnefois bowed, as Julie received a re- 
 proving glance from C6cile, as much as to say, 
 
 "Peace, child! How little you know him! 
 Leave him to me ! " To De Bonnefois she said, 
 " I hope you will forgive me, Monsieur, but you
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 251 
 
 speak with such evident knowledge is it pos- 
 sible that you know that extraordinary man? " 
 
 " Monsieur Canardin," he laughed, " is a man, 
 I fancy, of few intimates! But I can see that 
 the question of Canardin is perhaps deeper than 
 you imagine. Such a man feels that he has a 
 function to perform duties to his poorer coun- 
 trymen that are not lightly laid aside for the 
 pleasures of the salon. Call him perverted if 
 you will, but you will not easily make a lap dog 
 of such rude material ! " 
 
 " No one wants it, Monsieur ! " the proud 
 daughter of the De Grammonts was warming to 
 the argument. " You have supplied me with 
 your own words! How could he not perform 
 those duties of his, if he brought his generous 
 heart and his knowledge of the poor to the King, 
 and then went forth to his work with the full 
 power of the State behind him ! Pah ! " Cecile 
 suddenly forgot to argue and became a woman. 
 " I have no patience with your friend Canardin ! 
 What a loss to France he is, Monsieur ! " 
 
 De Bonnefois showed himself suitably amused. 
 "If only, Mademoiselle," he said drily, "facts 
 were not so deaf to argument. There is one 
 fact about your protegS that has been over- 
 looked."
 
 252 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " That is, Monsieur? " C6cile demanded. 
 
 " He has soiled himself beyond reclaim. And 
 to begin with, he is a man of mean birth." 
 
 " What, my friend ! Monsieur Canardin be- 
 longs to the one aristocracy I can acknowledge 
 the aristocracy of brains ! " 
 
 " Would you forgive me again, Mademoiselle, 
 if I reminded you of facts? Heaven's standard 
 your standard of men is not yet the standard 
 of France." 
 
 " With Moliere, an upholsterer's son, by the 
 King's own word the chief adornment of his 
 reign? " 
 
 " Monsieur Moliere," observed De Bonnefois, 
 "has been wise enough to steal nothing but 
 ideas." 
 
 This would have ended the passage in a peal 
 of laughter, but that the Marquise de Beauvais 
 had still a word more. " No, Monsieur le Comte, 
 I am coming to think otherwise of your Can- 
 ardin. When so much might come of him, it is 
 nothing but a monstrous pride, and a false one, 
 that keeps him out of it ! " 
 
 " It may be his preference, Mademoiselle. And 
 that too is a fact. He might say it was kind if 
 you made him a Due, and still like it better to be 
 a little king in his own way. We all have lean-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 253 
 
 ings that way, Mademoiselle. Even I. Perhaps 
 you ! " De Bonnef ois laughed. " When the jew- 
 eler sells you false gems, would you not behead 
 him if you dared? Well, that is what Canardin 
 does. Sometimes the method has its merits, I 
 think, when I see (as I have seen) sweet girls 
 robbed, disgraced, by a man who is sleek, sub- 
 stantially placed, and beyond the reach of even 
 reproach." De Bonnef ois aimed that especially 
 at Julie, who hastily glanced away. 
 
 "Ah, Monsieur ! " The pretended Marquise 
 leaned forward, smiling, with her bold stroke. 
 " I believe you yourself are Canardin ! " 
 
 " I am, Mademoiselle," said De Bonnefois im- 
 perturbably. "At heart. Each one of us is. 
 That man, alone in France, has the daring to be 
 himself. And yet you would cure him of that ! " 
 
 Seeing that he was only immensely amused 
 with this fencing of wits, that he was only mock- 
 ing her, Cecile, with eyes and hands upraised, fell 
 back in her seat, to indicate that he was hopeless. 
 Nothing could have touched him more. Julie 
 was piqued to notice as much. And De Bonne- 
 fois was all the more touched as he himself no- 
 ticed that. 
 
 "Speaking as a man," he said, addressing 
 Cecile, " it seems to me you have yourself over-
 
 254 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 looked the strongest argument you have em- 
 ployed." 
 
 " And what is that? " Julie interposed. 
 
 " The one I have just listened to," De Bonne- 
 fois began, and strangely broke off in a wave of 
 his hand to an apparent acquaintance standing 
 at a garden gateway by the wayside a gesture, 
 it occurred to Cecile, which he had used more 
 than once during the afternoon. " The gentle 
 words of a sweet and lovely woman," he finished. 
 
 There Julie exchanged a glance with her C6- 
 cile, but nothing came of it, because the Comte de 
 Bonnefois now indeed felt moved to talk. With 
 a searching look, at C6cile, Julie was pleased to 
 observe, he launched volubly into a different 
 strain altogether. 
 
 " Strange fancies occur to one on a journey," 
 he said. " Perhaps you will forgive me. It may 
 help to pass the time. It seems to me strange. 
 Perhaps you will enlighten me. I have often 
 been accused of impiety, Mademoiselle. And one 
 never knows when he will be called to account for 
 it. Or how soon," De Bonnefois laughed gently. 
 " To-night, perhaps. One of Canardin's bullets 
 may find me. Yet who would not rage as I do ! " 
 He pointed to an elm that, in their rapid passing, 
 looked like a wineglass filled and brimming with
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 255 
 
 a liquid green. " Such a tree I admire. Prob- 
 ably not as you whose natures are more exquis- 
 itely attuned. Enough, only, to turn me melan- 
 choly. I notice only that that thing is so beauti- 
 ful, and that I shall be here such a short while 
 to enjoy it. Perhaps you can tell me. Why 
 should that tree live so much longer than a man? 
 Is it impious to ask that? " 
 
 " Then, Monsieur, life is sweet to you? " Julie 
 asked, to her own and to general surprise. 
 
 " It has given me much to be grateful for, 
 Mademoiselle," he answered her, as gently as she 
 asked it. " So many lovely sights ! " he smiled, 
 till she hurried her gaze away from him. 
 
 At which he also turned away, with a sudden 
 drop into indifference, to the less lovely but still 
 respectable scene outside, and fell into such a 
 tribute to the French landscape, forest and pas- 
 toral, so full of a lively fancy, so burdened with 
 acute observation, so touched with poetry, that 
 at first Cecile was amazed and fascinated, and 
 then disappointed, while Julie was moved so that 
 she almost sang. 
 
 " It is no use ! " said Ce"cile to herself. 
 
 " He is touched ! He is melting ! " said Julie. 
 "But he is proud! He is shy! And he will 
 have his pleasantry with us ! "
 
 256 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 That night, at another inn, Armand de Laval- 
 lais said to his lady, " It is too much ! The strain 
 is undoing you! By now you see that he is be- 
 yond you! Let me shoot him forthwith, and 
 have done with it ! " 
 
 " My dear Armand ! " said C6cile, with a calm 
 and penetration that won the admiration of 
 Julie. " You would not survive the half of a sec- 
 ond, if you tried it ! The road is fairly lined with 
 his henchmen ! At every rod he nodded to some 
 gardener or peasant, at work beside the road ! " 
 
 " But you cannot go on with this, if that is the 
 case ! " 
 
 "Armand, by this time to-morrow I shall have 
 him in hand ! He has been vain enough to want 
 to create an impression ! " 
 
 " Trap that wild hawk with a bit of feminine 
 flattery!" 
 
 " You shall see ! " Ce"cile pronounced, meaning 
 that to be final. 
 
 " You shall see ! " repeated De Lavallais under 
 his breath, for already he was coming to realize 
 that logic was not always triumphant over a De 
 Grammont !
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 TN the morning, when their journey was con- 
 * tinned, CScile de Grammont, always proud, 
 and on occasions like this, when she very much 
 wanted her way, inclined to be imperious, was 
 now more than ever annoyed by De Bonnefois's 
 further taste for mockery. He chose to observe 
 a stubborn and settled silence. 
 
 " He is as capricious as a woman ! " she com- 
 plained to herself. 
 
 Whereas her own taste was for an immediate 
 burst of candor on the part of all of them, opened 
 by herself, perhaps like this : 
 
 " Now, my dear Monsieur Canardin, let us 
 drop all this pretense and be sensible ! " Prob- 
 ably a dozen times this beginning was ready to 
 slip from the end of her tongue, and a dozen 
 times she faltered before something in the man's 
 eye, which made her feel a strange power that 
 brooked no trifling, not even at the hands of a De 
 Grammont. From time to time De Bonnefois 
 consented to exchange a glance with her; but to 
 a pretty woman, that is the most casual of her 
 rights. And from time to time she made efforts
 
 258 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 less candid than she would have liked, to draw 
 him out. He was civil enough in response, yet 
 almost cool. Sometimes she fancied a flicker of 
 amusement crossed his eyes. 
 
 " He's thinking it over ! " she consoled herself. 
 " We've given him enough to consider, certainly. 
 He looks positively sad, at moments. Bidding 
 his confounded old forests farewell, no doubt ! " 
 
 For all De Bonnefois's feigned indifference to 
 the ladies within the coach, however, his interest 
 in persons along the wayside appeared to have 
 doubled. Xot a vehicle passed but he scanned it 
 with the closest attention, and one or two of them 
 he watched for as long as he could through the 
 window at the rear, beween the interested faces 
 of Cecile and Julie. Now and then he waved a 
 hand or nodded to some lonely worker in a field. 
 
 " What is the man laying ready for us ! " Ce"cile 
 thought to herself. Aloud, to De Bonnefois, she 
 said rather pointedly, " You have an astonishing 
 acquaintance, Monsieur le Comte de Bonnefois ! " 
 
 " I have always tried to be friendly to the poor, 
 Mademoiselle," he answered quietly, with an- 
 other glance at her from his oddly penetrating 
 eye. " I have a conceited notion that perhaps it 
 helps to keep France in order." 
 
 Scarcely had he spoken when C6cile de Gram-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 259 
 
 mont made the acquaintance of still another side 
 to her remarkable fellow traveler. Whether she 
 screamed or not she never afterward could re- 
 member. But in a flash the dreamy gentleman 
 opposite her was transformed into a man with 
 blazing eyes, his every muscle tense as wire. 
 From apparently nowhere a pistol had appeared 
 in his hand, so swiftly drawn from his pocket 
 that her eye had missed the motion. 
 
 In a second or two she had the explanation, as 
 a horseman emerged from the leafy alders shroud- 
 ing the entrance to a lane. He struck into a 
 gallop, swept into the highroad, and passed close 
 to their coach, not without a long and impudent 
 stare within. 
 
 "Ah ! Good day, Brideau ! " De Bonnef ois 
 called to the fellow. "How goes the chase? 
 Shall we soon catch up for a sight of the 
 hounds? " 
 
 The rider answered something unintelligible to 
 Ce"cile, and was speedily away, on the road before 
 them. 
 
 " I must ask pardon," said De Bonnefois, as 
 he replaced his weapon. "At first I thought he 
 wore Canardin's livery, but I see it was that of 
 the Due de Morbihan. In these times, you know, 
 one takes no chances."
 
 260 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Cecile looked sharply, after that dry speech. 
 Her face might still be white, but her wits were 
 about her. "As you say, Monsieur," she herself 
 said drily, " one takes no chances with the great 
 Canardin about ! " 
 
 Again De Bonnefois turned upon her a long 
 glance of study. " It would afford me the great- 
 est happiness," he said, " to defend Mademoiselle 
 from Canardin. Who knows when the occasion 
 will occur ! " 
 
 After that, for the remainder of the day, De 
 Bonnefois remained the more silent and the more 
 intently watchful. It is true that when Charlieu 
 was reached, where they were to put up for the 
 night, he once more courteously begged the 
 ladies for the honor of their presence at table, 
 but again they pleaded the fatigue of the jour- 
 ney, with no more relief to themselves than to 
 him. 
 
 " Well, my dear ! " asked De Lavallais, still in 
 the ill-fitting livery of a major-domo, when he 
 had stowed away the ladies' belongings, and 
 found a minute to be alone with them. " Do you 
 really care to risk more of it? Have you tamed 
 the gentle duckling? We can stop it, you know, 
 whenever you say." 
 
 " Armand ! Kemember your word ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 261 
 
 " But, my dear ! The jest may be carried too 
 far ! Remember, yourself, who he is. And what 
 have you accomplished with him, pray? " 
 
 "Well," said C4cile, with her head thought- 
 fully on one side, hating to admit her poor suc- 
 cess, yet grasping for some justification. " He's 
 vain enough to want to make an impression on 
 us. You should have heard him spout about his 
 wretched trees and hills ! Ugh ! A hill is only 
 something laborious to walk up. But make no 
 mistake, Armand, he's thoroughly the gentleman. 
 I think we've touched him. Isn't it so, 
 Julie?" 
 
 Julie, looking out a window into the night, had 
 not heard. 
 
 " It is too much to expect, that he should yield 
 at the first attack, Armand. That is scarcely his 
 way." 
 
 " That is his way ! " De Lavallais agreed. "As 
 you will soon find! Come! Before anything 
 happens to startle you " 
 
 " Not a word more, Armand, dear. You for- 
 get that I have his ring to flash at him in case 
 of the worst. You yourself found it" Ce"cile 
 taunted him with a naughty smile " honored at 
 that ' bank ' of his, eh, my dear? It is here - 
 
 As she made that remark, Mademoiselle de
 
 262 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Grammont put her hand into her purse. She fin- 
 ished speaking before she finished her fumbling, 
 for the green jade trinket was gone. 
 
 On the following day, when they proceeded, 
 Cecile de Grammont noted another mysterious 
 change in Canardin. A shift further away from 
 her. He maintained an outward calm, it is true. 
 When he was not keeping the usual scrutiny on 
 the passing traffic, he seemed to be wholly occu- 
 pied with his thoughts, as before. Yet under all 
 this outward calm, Cecile detected a rising ex- 
 citement. A flush came into his cheeks, a lively 
 light to his eye, and he shifted constantly in his 
 seat. 
 
 "Ah ! " he once burst forth. " My muscles itch 
 for a stretching ! What a place " he pointed to 
 a rolling expanse of sward beside the way, where 
 a few sheep nibbled the dewy grass of early morn- 
 ing " what a spot for a tussle ! A good, pum- 
 meling one ! " 
 
 It was almost his sole comment of the day. 
 De Bonnefois's companion, or secretary, who, it 
 now struck the ladies, had said not a word this 
 while, caught something of his master's taci- 
 turnity, and expressed it in his own way. That 
 is, while he had said nothing with his tongue on 
 the journey, his eyes had been eloquent enough
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 263 
 
 in compliments to Mademoiselle Julie ! He now 
 forbore even those, and studied the traffic on the 
 road with as much interest as his chief. On the 
 whole, it must be admitted, the ladies' scheme for 
 bringing this arch sinner to repentance in the 
 bosom of good society prospered little that day. 
 
 And on the next day also, matters passed in 
 much the same fashion, except that now the sec- 
 retary's lively interest in their surroundings had 
 grown into a very visible excitement. Time and 
 again he attempted some sort of sign, or aside, to 
 the Comte, only to be hushed at once. 
 
 In the afternoon, however, De Bonnefois's 
 thoughts, whatever they were, appeared to have 
 come to some conclusion. He laid his tacitur- 
 nity aside and as suddenly launched into the 
 most extravagant gayety. If, earlier, the beau- 
 ties of Nature had engaged his fancy, how was it 
 now touched by the beauties of human nature 
 and to such greater satisfaction on the part of 
 Ce"cile de Grammont! 
 
 " I perceive, Mademoiselle," he said, so that 
 she started quickly, "there is no escape from 
 you ! " 
 
 " How so, Monsieur ! " she was eager enough 
 to catch him up. Julie, at this, also recalled her 
 eyes from their melancholy gaze out the window.
 
 264 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " You see " De Bonnefois was pointing to a 
 pretty spectacle in an orchard they passed. Un- 
 der a tree blushing with the buds of spring, a 
 young rustic and a girl had left off husbandry of 
 the soil and turned to much more engaging busi- 
 ness. " You see, like that tree, she is blushing at 
 the first words of love. That, at least, will be 
 your own thought. It does you credit. My own 
 idea is different and less creditable ! " 
 
 " And that is, Monsieur ? " 
 
 " There is no more peace in the world for that 
 young fellow ! " he laughed. " It is over for him ! 
 He is done for ! " 
 
 "Ah, Monsieur ! " C6cile brightened willingly 
 with him. This humor of his was more to her 
 liking. " You have recalled something ! I be- 
 lieve you remarked it yourself. There is the ar- 
 gument we have never tried on Monsieur Can- 
 ardin ! How stupid of us, Julie ! " Ce"cile 
 clapped her hands. 
 
 " That poor, neglected Canardin ! " De Bonne- 
 fois railed on. " Not a bullet in France can find 
 his heart. Yet if Canardin himself wears a 
 magic against the shaft you have had in your 
 hands all along, then he isn't a man not even a 
 beast, when the birds themselves twitter of noth- 
 ing but love ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 265 
 
 Any gentleman of passing qualities who speaks 
 however aimlessly of love to two bewitching 
 women is fairly certain of two willing listeners. 
 Under the circumstances, the Comte de Bonne- 
 fois, so-called, was certain of double the usual 
 measure of interest. 
 
 " If you plan a rehearsal upon me, Mesdemoi- 
 selles," said De Bonnefois, " I shall be more anx- 
 ious than ever to stretch my muscles especially 
 those of the legs! And it is five days more to 
 Paris ! " he mourned to himself. 
 
 " I should have said, Monsieur," C6cile put on 
 her most ravishing smile " that you were a man 
 totally indifferent to eyes." 
 
 " Mademoiselle," said De Bonnefois with a low 
 bow, " I have made that my business in life the 
 avoidance of eyes ! " The point of this brought 
 such a laugh from them all, even to a smile from 
 the secretary, that De Bonnefois was further en- 
 couraged. " You have remarked, Mademoiselle, 
 on my understanding of the celebrated Canardin. 
 Permit a confession. The sympathy springs 
 from something I have in common with that man. 
 He too fears only one danger in the world a 
 woman as pretty as yourselves, if there were 
 one!" 
 
 " I should say, Monsieur," Cecile flashed back,
 
 266 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " that your friend Canardin was not in the way 
 of being pursued by woman ! " And again this 
 man piqued her interest enormously. 
 
 " Well, Mademoiselle," he said, leaning far 
 back again, and with the old dreamy gaze 
 through the window, " from my own experience 
 I should say that is no great pleasure to Can- 
 ardin ! " 
 
 Somehow this promising spark had died down 
 again. Yet in a moment, touched perhaps by the 
 look of crushing disappointment he had brought 
 to Cecile's eyes, De Bonnefois revived it 
 again. 
 
 "Yet I own," he said, "the hangman will 
 need to hurry, when a lady like yourself disputes 
 his right to that miscreant ! " 
 
 She burst into tears. " Oh, Monsieur," she 
 cried, " you are so heartless ! " 
 
 " But I give you my word, Mademoiselle," he 
 fetched her back to good humor again, " I am not 
 for seeing Canardin hanged ! " They all laughed 
 at this. " You, Mademoiselle, are the heartless. 
 You want to see him married ! " 
 
 " If you please, Monsieur ! " Ce"cile protested, 
 through more laughter. " It is serious. I mean 
 it." She looked at her man with such eyes as 
 would have maddened poor Armand above ! And
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 267 
 
 seemed so bursting to flood out her full thought 
 in speech that De Bonnefois himself was soft- 
 ened. 
 
 " Mademoiselle," he said, " it is an honor to me, 
 as a man, to listen to such sentiments toward 
 your friend Canardin. It seems a pity " De 
 Bonnefois looked away through the window, in 
 the old sadness again " it seems a pity to crush 
 such utterly lovely hopes as yours. But save 
 yourself from the bitterness of failure," 
 
 " Failure, Monsieur? " Cecile gasped excitedly. 
 And the black eyes of Julie widened. 
 
 " Failure," he said. " I do not know your 
 friend Canardin. No one does. Perhaps not 
 even Canardin ! " 
 
 " Then who are you, or himself, to speak of 
 failure ! " Cecile interrupted. 
 
 " But I can think," De Bonnefois went on un- 
 heeding, " of at least two reasons for it." 
 
 " Oh, I suppose your Canardin dwells in a 
 realm above love ! " Cecile taunted. 
 
 " I am not so sure," said De Bonnefois slowly 
 with a long glance at Julie. 
 
 " Well, then ! The two reasons ! " 
 
 De Bonnefois turned his gaze to Ce"cile the 
 saddest eyes she had ever looked into. " Where, 
 Mademoiselle " she could barely hear him
 
 268 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " where is the woman to throw herself away on a 
 thief? What woman would? " 
 
 " Yes, Monsieur? " 
 
 " That is the first reason/' De Bonnefois was 
 saying. " What woman would? The second rea- 
 son is stronger. What woman should? " 
 
 There Julie did speak. " Because I will tell 
 you ! " she blazed, so that the others took atti- 
 tudes at what she said. " Canardin is not a 
 thief! He's a revolutionary! Armand himself 
 has said so." 
 
 Affrighted at her own rash outburst, Julie 
 buried her face against C4cile's shoulder, so that 
 that excellent lady looked in wide wonder from 
 De Bonnefois's averted eyes to the crimson 
 cheeks hiding beside her. And suddenly compre- 
 hended much. 
 
 C6cile decided that her light missionary ef- 
 fort for the improvement of Monsieur Canardin, 
 by means of the softening influence of woman, 
 had taken a markedly serious turn. That eve- 
 ning, at the end of their third day, the whole 
 course of her life took a turn beyond even the 
 serious. It passed the boundaries of the dra- 
 matic. De Bonnefois again had asked the ladies 
 to dinner, and before Ce"cile had recovered she 
 found that she had accepted.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THAT evening Canardin, as lie removed the 
 stains of travel in the privacy of his apart- 
 ments in the little hotel where they were to stay 
 for the night, hummed a little tune. If he had a 
 single apparent concern in the world, it was for 
 the excellence of the dinner which was soon to 
 be served. He felt of the napery, he railed at the 
 silver. The flowers he had ordered, it seemed, 
 would never suit him. 
 
 His secretary was not so calm as the superior. 
 He said nothing, but paced the floor, wringing 
 his hands, and saying more with his imploring 
 eyes than was possible in speech. 
 
 " Be calm, my dear Paul ! " Canardin assured 
 him in vain. 
 
 " But ! " the anguished fellow's gesture seemed 
 to say, " it is too late ! We must fly ! " 
 
 " I am not so sure ! " laughed Canardin. 
 
 With a despairing shrug, the slighter man, as 
 if forbidden to protest in spite of that protested 
 mutely. " Then you mean to surrender ! " 
 
 " Paul ! " was all that Canardin said, though
 
 270 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 he made the other quail before his glance. And 
 the host himself began pacing the floor, though 
 still humming the tune, as he waited for the 
 ladies' knock. 
 
 It came, as light as a feather, and they entered. 
 In the cheeks of both of them burned a fever of 
 excitement that heightened the brilliancy of their 
 coloring. The numerous boxes had disgorged 
 their contents by now, and Cecile had wrapped 
 her lighter beauty in a robe as satiny soft as 
 petals of pink. But if one were the rose, the 
 other was as foaming gold wine. Canardin to 
 drop all nonsense of De Bonnefois and call him 
 that now, for he was young and himself again, all 
 the delicate pencilings as of time removed from 
 his face and mustachios fairly reeled at sight of 
 the blazing girl, steeled as he was against shocks 
 and surprises. By all the subtle but potent arts 
 that conceal themselves even from those who 
 employ them, she willed to intoxicate and over- 
 whelm him. Her two black eyes, bubbling with 
 a native spirit now fired to a still deadlier es- 
 sence, seemed to have gathered to themselves all 
 the perils in Canardin's lifetime of light-hearted 
 scorning of peril. He stood there and took this 
 deadly wound to his untamable independence. 
 
 Himself bedight in claret, in the best efforts of
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 271 
 
 a Paris tailor, he hid his thrill at the sight of 
 them in a low bow, as he stepped aside, and then 
 closed the door after them. For a second or two 
 they stopped and surveyed each other. 
 
 Then with another slight inclination Canardin 
 said, in his smooth voice : " Welcome, Mademoi- 
 selle Cecile de Grammont, and Mademoiselle 
 Julie Lecoigneux ! " And at this abrupt descent 
 into the realities, Cecile could not prevent the 
 escape of a chirrup of gay satisfaction. 
 
 " This is your place, if you please " Canardin 
 indicated to Cecile her station at the right of a 
 small round table. " And yours " he held back, 
 for Julie, the chair at his left. " My friend " 
 he glanced about in surprise, for the young man 
 Paul had suddenly disappeared through the serv- 
 ants' door " has felt obliged to excuse himself. 
 I hope you are fond of Brittany oysters, 
 Mesdemoiselles? " Canardin went on smoothly, 
 accustomed to be disturbed by nothing. " They 
 were ordered expressly. I was not sure they 
 would reach us in time, but happily they did. 
 My courier must have hastened at tearing speed 
 to get them here. I know you will pardon a 
 little pride," he laughed, " in the excellence of 
 my organization." 
 
 for he addressed himself chiefly to her
 
 272 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 "was speechless in amazement at his easy trans- 
 formation. 
 
 " It is needless, of course, Mademoiselle," he 
 smiled to C6cile, " to introduce myself." With- 
 out the slightest affectation he wore the air of 
 a prince. " Of course I am Canardin. Canardin 
 the ogre. Canardin the cutthroat. Canardin the 
 outlaw." He paused and smiled at the shock this 
 information, now that it came, had really given 
 Ce*cile. " Perhaps the only surprise between us, 
 Mademoiselle, is that I should have known from 
 the beginning who you are. Before you boarded 
 the coach I knew you would do so," Canardin 
 laughed his low, infectious laugh. "Again, 
 Mademoiselle, the excellence of my organiza- 
 tion ! " He stole a sly glance at Julie, whose at- 
 tention to an oyster happened to be acute at that 
 stage. "What is more, Mademoiselle, long be- 
 fore you made it clear yourself, I knew the pur- 
 pose of your journey. And you made the venture 
 in spite of the risk of meeting Canardin! In 
 spite of the risk I might have brought if that 
 had been possible! Need I say how that alone 
 has touched me more than anything else you 
 have done and said? May I say that? " He at- 
 tacked an oyster on his own part, as a means of 
 concealing a twinge of shyness.
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 273 
 
 As Armand and Julie had been before her, 
 Mademoiselle de Grainmont was taken off her 
 feet by the easy dominance of this strange per- 
 sonality. 
 
 " I could easily have dropped you along the 
 way, Mademoiselle, wherever I pleased, as I 
 meant to do at one time. Certain embarrass- 
 ments appeared to lie ahead. For us all. I could, 
 myself, have got away to an easy escape from the 
 trap that has been set for me here." Both Julie 
 and Cecile dropped their forks and raised their 
 eyes at that quiet remark. " But Mademoiselle 
 Julie herself has done me the honor to call me 
 something a trifle better than the first outlaw of 
 France. After all, France bore me and gave 
 me certain duties as a gentleman, no, not 
 that ; as a Frenchman ! " Canardin laughed 
 easily. 
 
 Cecile and Julie, however, had not yet recov- 
 ered from his remark about a trap. 
 
 Canardin continued in the smooth, mellow 
 voice. " May I remind Mesdemoiselles of the oys- 
 ters? So! To return. I might have escaped, 
 but the strange part of it is, I seemed to have no 
 desire to escape ! I leave it to you, Mademoiselle 
 C4cile, what was one to do? It is not often that 
 men like myself are made over. Yet I was will-
 
 274 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 ing to have it happen to me this once. These 
 oysters are excellent, don't you find? " 
 
 Canardin swallowed another, with a very 
 marked relish. Cecile had yet to touch her first. 
 
 He talked cheerfully on. " I have no wish 
 to hurry you, Mesdemoiselles ; at the same 
 time one has not all eternity at one's disposal 
 here." 
 
 " I wonder if I understood you, Monsieur? " 
 Cecile faltered. " You speak of a trap? " 
 
 " No less. This place is surrounded. If you 
 were to venture to the window you would see the 
 dim figures of the nearer pickets. They are un- 
 der orders to the Due de Morbihan. The Due is 
 probably impatient to take me at last. It is a 
 shame that I have kept him waiting so long. 
 However, I am sure he would never consent to 
 spoil a lady's dinner." 
 
 Cecile had risen, without waiting to hear that 
 last grim jest. Able neither to move nor to 
 speak clearly, she faltered, " Monsieur ! I can't 
 understand ! Is it possible ! " She and Julie 
 asked each other a single anxious question with 
 their glances. " There was to be a guard, in- 
 deed for our common protection." 
 
 " The guard, Mademoiselle, I happen to know, 
 is for my own personal capture. Your friend,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 275 
 
 the Due de Morbihan, had no intention of miss- 
 ing me, with such a chance as this in his way! " 
 
 "But, Monsieur! It was expressly under- 
 stood Let me see for myself!" Ctecile 
 
 made a sign of steadying herself for a rush to 
 one of the windows. 
 
 Canardin motioned her back in her chair. " I 
 would say, Mademoiselle, that if orders are to 
 be given those men outside, the orders would be 
 more effective, not to say appropriate, if they 
 came from your friend, Monsieur Armand de 
 Lavallais. And by the way, I should despise 
 that gentleman if he were not at the door outside 
 with a dagger in each hand. Let us see." 
 
 In three strides of his light tread Canardin 
 was at the door. As he whisked it open the 
 sounds of retreating footsteps echoed down the 
 hall. Unmoved, Canardin closed the door. 
 
 "As we were saying," he resumed on taking 
 his seat at the table again, "two days ago I 
 might still have escaped this. There were signs 
 of warning along the way from the apparent 
 'peasants' in the fields. Perhaps you noticed? 
 And Morbihan's horseman came by, to make sure 
 of me." 
 
 " I saw you exchange signals, Monsieur." 
 " And you were not afraid? "
 
 276 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 " I was not afraid, Monsieur. You gave me no 
 reason." 
 
 " I shall be glad to remember that," said Can- 
 ardin. " That you put faith in me." He sat 
 back a little. " Strange," he observed dreamily, 
 " what trifles serve to give us a stake in each 
 others' lives! A single kind word, one pleasant 
 impression received from any one, and we are 
 that person's friend for life ! " 
 
 Julie was forgetting to eat. She sat open- 
 eyed and listened as C6cile also let her hand 
 fall idle by her plate, watching this man with a 
 feverish interest. "And you knew of this two 
 days ago? " her voice quivered as she asked. 
 
 " I knew then," Canardin fell upon a last oys- 
 ter, " of this at the end." 
 
 "Was there nothing to do but go on, Mon- 
 sieur? " 
 
 " Nothing else." 
 
 " But why, Monsieur? " C4cile might be in a 
 fright, but the elemental woman in her was bent 
 upon having some confession out of him. " Why 
 had you to go on? " 
 
 Canardin smiled his comprehension of her 
 womanly ruse. " That," he said, " would have 
 been to disappoint a lady. The soup should be 
 here in a moment," he provokingly warded her
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 277 
 
 off. "I fear" lie glanced at the scarcely 
 touched plates of both the ladies " you are be- 
 ing poorly entertained." 
 
 " Why had you to go on, Monsieur? " Ce"cile 
 persisted. " Having lost all faith in us." 
 
 For answer, Canardin turned his eyes upon the 
 lowered and blood-red face of Julie Lecoigneux. 
 
 " Lost faith in you? Indeed, Mademoiselle," 
 he turned to Cecile, " at first I did suspect you of 
 being a willing party to the plot. The bait to the 
 trap, shall I say? It was a cowardly thought. I 
 crave your forgiveness for it. For soon enough, 
 as I watched you, I was aware of my mistake. 
 Your purpose was so evident! so utterly sin- 
 cere because it was so hopeless. You had set out 
 to save me from Canardin." 
 
 Again Canardin laughed his low, musical 
 laugh. Those -who heard that disarming laugh 
 were apt to answer it, as CScile did, in spite of 
 herself. "Well," said Canardin, "my curiosity 
 was irresistible. I wanted to know what it would 
 be like to be saved from Canardin. My secretary 
 objected. But I felt obliged to go on." 
 
 "And see where my foolish purpose has car- 
 ried you ! " C4cile brought out. " After all your 
 goodness to Armand and me ! " 
 
 Canardin now laughed heartily at that. "I
 
 278 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 think, Mademoiselle de Grammont," he said, 
 " you have hit on the secret of my power such 
 as it is. It is true that I have had the misfor- 
 tune to offend a few persons ; but so many more 
 feel obliged to me, for some foolish reason." He 
 laid down his soup spoon, for C6cile had been 
 taken again with symptoms of flying to the 
 window. 
 
 " Do you suppose I mean to be the cause of 
 your death? Let me give a command ! " 
 
 Canardin laid an iron hand on her arm. " One 
 of those fools might shoot. And bad shots as 
 they are, you might be hit. Besides " again the 
 low laughter " I am fairly well able to take 
 care of myself. Please be seated. So ! It is not 
 often that a man of my calling may speak, with a 
 sweet woman. With your kind permission I 
 should like to make the most of- it. Besides, I 
 owe you an explanation. As to why your pretty 
 errand was doomed from the start. Why Can- 
 ardin is apt to remain Canardin. It is because 
 of this little reception at the end of it. I am not 
 so bitter as to suppose that your friend the Due 
 de Morbihan speaks for the whole of France, 
 Mademoiselle. I think, only, that he speaks for 
 a larger part of it than you do. You may want 
 to lead me repentant to the gate; but I'm hanged
 
 279 
 
 if I like the welcome Morbihan has ready 1 " 
 Canardin laughed again. 
 
 " We can see to Morbihan ! " CScile de Gram- 
 mont said decisively. 
 
 " I had it in mind," said Canardin drily, " to 
 suggest his reform to you." 
 
 Suddenly Canardin leaped to his feet, as the 
 two startled women drew back from him, and 
 paced the floor a raging lion. To Julie herself 
 this scorn was something new, from the inveter- 
 ate jester, the jaunty juggler of risks and dan- 
 gers. 
 
 "No!" he brought out. "How, after this, 
 Mademoiselle, can you ask me to make friends 
 with that ! " He pointed outside. " With the 
 thing I have fought all my life treachery, 
 cruelty, thin elegance, a cynical indifference to 
 suffering, the fortunate riding down the good! 
 Not even in death will I forgive it! Who have 
 been the robbers of France the Canardins? 
 Even in robbery, Mademoiselle, I have had to 
 confess myself a hopeless inferior ! " Canardin 
 laughed out the biting epigram. 
 
 Instantly he recalled himself, and stood before 
 Ce"cile. " A thousand pardons, Mademoiselle ! " 
 he said in a lower key. " This amusing situation 
 is no reproach upon you. And yet, you will ob-
 
 280 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 serve, you have not been able to prevent it. You 
 will not be able to stop it. ' After this/ I have 
 said. After this, the Bastille ! The rest is easily 
 imagined. Well " 
 
 He drew himself up; his hands grasped the 
 fall of lace at his breast; his head reared itself 
 haughtily; and though he smiled still, his eyes 
 blazed brightly. " Believe it or not, it is not my 
 life but my work that I hate to lay down. Even 
 your Canardin has his pride. They have called 
 me a thief, an outlaw, a rebel against society. 
 I am something more than that, Mademoiselle. 
 I am a revolt. All France is seething with the 
 forces that have made me. I am strong as I am 
 because I have a thousand Canardins behind me. 
 Let them send me to the galleys, if they will, 
 hang me, break me on the wheel to-morrow. 
 They will raise ten thousand Canardins to take 
 my place. Tell that to Morbihan, Mademoiselle, 
 when he thinks me disposed of." 
 
 While the two women watched him, speech- 
 less in their distress, yet spellbound, Canardin 
 stepped to the window and spoke the rest as if 
 to himself. "We live short lives, men of my 
 like. But cut it short or long, do we live to no 
 purpose, I wonder? Sometimes I look ahead. I 
 see, then, merit honored regardless of birth. I
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 281 
 
 see the very starved peasant in the fields given a 
 
 voice in his own government. I see No 
 
 matter. It still is far off. Perhaps we have 
 hastened it, nevertheless. Even I may have had 
 a part in its beginning. Or is that only my van- 
 ity? Pah! " 
 
 He whisked about in a new or rather in the 
 old mood, and approached Cecile. "What a 
 waste of your pretty efforts, Mademoiselle de 
 Grammont ! No sooner do I receive your pardon 
 than I am sent where pardon may come a little 
 
 harder. Your King However, if you think 
 
 it worth while, I confess I was I am on the 
 point of surrender. But would you mind if I 
 asked another to receive it? " 
 
 For the first time in many minutes Canardin 
 trusted himself to glance at Julie. They let 
 Cecile absorb the whole of what they exchanged 
 in that glance, those two. Then Canardin boldly 
 did more. More than any other he had ever per- 
 formed, this act called for his courage; but he 
 went to Julie and knelt before her, and raised 
 her hand and was about to kiss it, when 
 " Hark ! " he said, and stood to his feet. " Did 
 you hear it? " 
 
 Ce"cile, startled and aroused at last, had half 
 risen from her chair. Julie was wholly out of
 
 282 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 her own, when Canardin motioned them both to 
 be still. 
 
 From somewhere far away had come the crack 
 of a shot. 
 
 " Are are they beginning, Monsieur? " Ce"cile 
 whispered. 
 
 " Listen, if you please ! " Canardin com- 
 manded. 
 
 More clearly than the other, a second shot 
 rang out. Almost with the sound of it came a 
 cry from Julie, who frankly flung herself upon 
 him. But her anguish dashed itself against a 
 man abruptly changed, who now candidly 
 enough kissed her hands, escorted her back to 
 her place at the table, beckoned the astounded 
 C6cile likewise to her seat, and settled back in 
 his own with a contented sigh. 
 
 " As I have remarked more than once before, 
 Mesdemoiselles, I am a humbug. Let me remind 
 you of our dinner. I have, possibly, overdone 
 the fond adieux. The two shots they are a lit- 
 tle signal to me. Somewhat delayed. I began 
 
 to think it was never to be heard. You see " 
 
 Canardin leaned more comfortably back in his 
 chair. "We are not so badly off, after all. 
 It is true your friend Monsieur le Due has 
 his guard about us. Farther out, however,
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 283 
 
 my own men have been assembling. I rather 
 thought I could trust them to be in time. They 
 have had to hurry. But they never yet have 
 failed me. All the same, good ladies, I have 
 sometimes to apologize for those fellows of mine. 
 They are honest enough, but at times they are 
 inclined to be hasty. If you should care to re- 
 tire " 
 
 Before the spell of this man, Ce"cile de Gram- 
 mont had forgotten everything and was laughing 
 outright. She had long ago gone over to Can- 
 ardin. Julie, with more than a principle at 
 stake, was a little less at ease. As Canardin 
 signaled with a motion, they listened for a min- 
 ute. Not a sound was to be heard outside, but 
 so clearly was it the quietude of suspense that 
 Julie bit her lip, watched Canardin narrowly, 
 and laid hold of the table to steady herself. A 
 little more, and he would be gone, to take com- 
 mand and be in the thick of things. Already she 
 herself was calculating the distance to the door. 
 
 " So you see, Mademoiselle de Grammont," 
 said Canardin coolly, "there may be a capture to- 
 night, and a little accomplishment for you, in the 
 way of reform. I am sorry to inconvenience your 
 friend. All the same I feel entitled to a 
 word with him. Are you annoyed," he stopped
 
 284 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 himself quickly, "by what hangs over?" For 
 Cecile had taken to studying him thoughtfully. 
 
 " I am becoming a party to something serious, 
 Monsieur," she said. 
 
 " I believe I offered the opportunity of a re- 
 tirement," said Canardin. 
 
 " And I declined it." The haughty girl lifted 
 her head. " All the same, Monsieur, you are tak- 
 ing long strides. Do you see where they lead? " 
 
 " That is their own affair." 
 
 " It is my affair, Monsieur. I believe " 
 Ce"cile narrowed her eyes to a shrewdness, with a 
 smile beginning on her lips " you spoke of ca- 
 pitulation even if not to me? " 
 
 Canardin fell back from the first genuine de- 
 feat he had ever suffered. A broad smile gath- 
 ered on his face, too, as he saw himself trapped 
 in a new way. " That is true," he admitted. 
 
 " He passed his word ! " cried Julie Lecoig- 
 neux, before whom all things were clearing, ris- 
 ing excitedly. 
 
 " Otherwise " even Ce*cile rose and was stand- 
 ing over him " you are bringing on a small war. 
 And things will be beyond all hope of correction 
 then! Very well, Monsieur ! Your hand? " 
 
 Slowly Canardin was bringing himself to it. 
 But a shout had risen from one of the narrow
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 285 
 
 streets of the village. Sounds of scuffling be- 
 came general. Cries arose. Another shot rang 
 out, nearer at hand, then another, and then 
 scores and seeming hundreds. 
 
 Canardin leaped to his feet. "Mademoiselle, 
 can you forgive ? " he started to say, listen- 
 ing to the clatter meanwhile. 
 
 " Stop it ! " C6cile was crying. " You prom- 
 ised!" 
 
 There was no mistaking the character of the 
 " difference " in the village round. Hoarse cries, 
 sharp orders were heard. The shots had become 
 a fusillade. So were the curses and roars of rage. 
 The streets rang with the tumult. 
 
 " Get into the corners ! " Canardin com- 
 manded the women. " My men know the room. 
 But fool bullets may stray here." 
 
 On his way to a window he seized a sheaf of the 
 roses he had ordered for the table, and waved it 
 aloft in the candlelight, the signal arranged on 
 in case his men were to retreat to a rendezvous 
 elsewhere. The turmoil only deepened in volume. 
 In the hostelry itself hysteria was rife. Men 
 shouted, women shrieked, there was scurrying of 
 feet, overturning of chairs, the slamming of 
 doors. Some one raised the cry of " Canardin ! 
 It is Canardin ! Fly for your lives ! " Then sud-
 
 286 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 denly all in the house itself was still. The place 
 had emptied itself. 
 
 At the window he had flung open, though it 
 was now too late, Canardin did and said what he 
 could. " Leave off, my braves ! " he shouted, but 
 no one heard. " Stop, you ! It's a mistake ! 
 And a pity! You were making the sweetest 
 music I ever heard! But hold! The flat of 
 your blades, then! Only lay blows across 
 the broad of their breeches! By heavens, the 
 Due's beggars are actually fighting ! " Canardin 
 forgot himself far enough to laugh. " Go easy, 
 men ! They're running ! " 
 
 As was true, for Morbihan's retainers, out- 
 numbered, were not long in losing all stomach for 
 the mele"e. Every little while, some one of them, 
 with his fill of it, ran away, rubbing a head or 
 nursing a streaming nose. " You, there, Bri- 
 deau ! " Canardin kept shouting. " The butt 
 of your muskets will do. The babies are bawling 
 as it is. That one, there! Put a torch to his 
 coat-tail ! " He was succeeding in turning the 
 thing, so he thought, into a farce. And those 
 below willingly helped him. A roar of laughter 
 rose as the din of curses suddenly died. A tu- 
 mult of jeers broke out instead, as a screaming 
 minion of the Due de Morbihan tore away to the
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 287 
 
 river with the tail of his coat a flaming thing in 
 pursuit of him. " That's the way, my hearties ! " 
 Canardin encouraged. " Give them your warm- 
 est blessing, and let 'em go ! " And a whirl of 
 laughter swept down the street in front of the 
 inn, as the jeering pursuit set after the routed 
 troops. The action had been brief and promised 
 to be over in a minute more, when a piteous cry 
 arose in the hall outside the room they were in. 
 
 " Canardin ! Canardin ! " a small and an- 
 guished voice intoned. " What have you done 
 with Cecile? " 
 
 " Armand ! " that lady called back hastily, per- 
 haps to cut him off from making himself a fool. 
 " He has not even kissed my hand." 
 
 " Ah, Mademoiselle," said the breathless Can- 
 ardin, " pardon the oversight ! As for you, La- 
 vallais, do you hear? " he sent through the door. 
 " Drop your pistols. I will do the same. It is 
 on the honor of each of us." He laid his own on 
 the table and swung open the door. In rushed 
 De Lavaillais, staring madly about, a bruise 
 across his eye, a slit in his small-clothes. 
 
 " My poor fellow ! " Canardin welcomed him. 
 "I wondered! But this settles it! You alone 
 made that battle ! " 
 
 " There will be others to follow, my friend ! "
 
 288 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 the angry man snapped back. " This is one step 
 too far! Come, C6cile! While there is time! 
 They have taken Morbihan! The impudent 
 wretches are bringing him here to their chief ! " 
 
 Canardin started, then laughed. " I could 
 not forego it, Mademoiselle ! " he turned to C6- 
 cile, noticing as he did so, with something of a 
 shock, that Julie was gone. " Do you mind? " 
 
 " Morbihan will have something to say to 
 this ! " De Lavallais threatened. 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur ! " Ce"cile tried to face it out 
 for him, " if only you have not carried your jest 
 too far ! " 
 
 " Jest? " stormed De Lavallais. " Flouting the 
 army of France a jest? Come, Ce"cile, this is no 
 place for us ! " He took her arm. 
 
 And she took it away from him, with decision. 
 " Monsieur de Lavallais ! " she cried. " Where 
 is your bargain? Where is your protection to 
 this rendezvous? What value do you set on your 
 word? When I have Monsieur Canardin's 
 promise, I find yours worthless! Fly, if you 
 like!" 
 
 It seemed to Canardin time for him to set up 
 a diversion on his part. " Ah," he suddenly be- 
 thought himself, "I must pay off the come- 
 dians ! " And returning to the window, he drew
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 289 
 
 out a purse and began to scatter its contents to 
 the expectant and now cheering concourse below. 
 
 While he was so engaged, the tread of another 
 party sounded through the halls of the inn. 
 
 " That's they ! " said De Lavallais. " They're 
 escorting him ! A pretty price we shall have to 
 pay to Horbihan for this ! " 
 
 " Leave that man to me," said C6cile, white 
 with indignation, as Lavallais drew up in an at- 
 titude of deferential expectancy, prepared for 
 Morbihan's wrath. 
 
 " You will be good enough to leave him to me, 
 if you please, Mademoiselle," said Canardin.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 T TATLESS and coatless himself, and plenti- 
 * -* fully marked with the signs of a tussle, the 
 Due de Morbihan stepped through the door and 
 came to a halt. Almost nothing remained to him 
 unsullied except his dignity, and even that was 
 ruffled. His eyes blazed, his ebon mustachios 
 bristled, his chin was projected defiantly, he was 
 pale and quivering with rage, and the scars on 
 his cheek from a former encounter reddened into 
 a sinister grin. With a single lofty glance he 
 swept the room. For the faithful obeisance of 
 De Lavallais he had but a nod. For Canardin a 
 stare of all the concentrated rage and hatred in 
 his being. 
 
 " Fellow," he choked, " you may amuse your- 
 self now. But no one mistreats like this a peer 
 of France and gets off! You will pay for this 
 with your very bones ! " 
 
 " Tush, Morbihan ! " Canardin blurted, in a 
 healthy scorn of his own. "Always the Due! 
 Does the man in you never come forward? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 291 
 
 However, as Canardin surveyed the figure be- 
 fore him, something of his perverse prankishness 
 returned to him. 
 
 "You have something of a grievance, Morbi- 
 han ! I grant it ! Your wig is askew. Your face 
 is grimed. There's a slit in your cheek and an- 
 other in your breeches. I can't answer for a Due, 
 but a man will have satisfaction for that. Come, 
 what do you say ! Mademoiselle will retire ; and 
 let us settle our differences here, once and for 
 all. This is your moment, and whichever way it 
 goes, France will be able to yawn again. Un- 
 hand the gentleman," he commanded of the men 
 who had followed the Due. 
 
 Euefully they did so, a good deal puzzled at 
 the whim of their chief. 
 
 " Two of you be off for the rapiers in my 
 chest," was Canardin's next instruction. "His 
 excellency and myself require a quarter hour of 
 wholesome amusement. Morbihan," Canardin 
 addressed him directly, " you are full of spleen. 
 It is time a little of it was let out of you. I don't 
 mind the favor. Besides, I shall need a little oc- 
 cupation for my mind while talking to you. 
 Mademoiselle," he turned to where De Lavallais 
 and Ce"cile stood open-mouthed at these proceed- 
 ings, " you will please retire? "
 
 292 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Mademoiselle Ce"cile had no such, intentions. 
 
 " Surely you must see, Mademoiselle, this mo- 
 ment belongs to the Due and myself ! " 
 
 Ce"cile had gone deathly pale, but she stood her 
 ground. 
 
 " The presence of a lady will impose a cruel 
 restraint on a Due ! " Canardin pleaded. 
 " Whereas the argument should be full and free 
 between us ! " 
 
 Cecile shook her head. 
 
 " The discussion may run high ! We are apt 
 to forget ourselves ! It is long postponed ! " 
 
 If for no reason other than to withhold Can- 
 ardin from any step more rash or fatal than any 
 he had yet taken, she meant to remain, come 
 what might, to restrain him. Or stop it if it ran 
 to his danger. 
 
 " So be it," Canardin shrugged, and forbore to 
 say what he thought, "when he isn't drunk, 
 he's otherwise protected! After all these years 
 I must let Mm off." Aloud he ordered his 
 men, "Remove the table and chairs," and they 
 did so. 
 
 " Morbihan," said Canardin, " you observe the 
 fresh sand on the floor as if on purpose? " 
 
 The Due stared at him savagely. 
 
 " The lights meet with your approval? "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 293 
 
 The Due maintained his stare. 
 
 Canardin's two followers having returned with 
 a sheaf of swords, he laid them over his arm and 
 offered the Due his choice. " Such weapons are 
 not made for the fashionable mart, you'll find," 
 he recommended them. " The first is as good as 
 the last." 
 
 " This will do for a cur ! " The Due snatched 
 one at random. 
 
 Canardin tossed the lot to his man while he 
 divested himself of coat and waistcoat and rolled 
 up the sleeves of his shirt. He then coolly picked 
 among the lot of hilts offered him, not without 
 answering the wink of his confident retainer. 
 
 " I suppose," said Canardin languidly, bending 
 his choice of blades between his hands, "this 
 poor thing will have to be good enough for a Due. 
 Begone," he said to his men, and they dragged 
 themselves away as slowly as they dared. 
 
 With all his rage in his eye, the Due snapped 
 his figure into position, and eagerness mingled 
 with his anger. Known far and wide as the best 
 swordsman in France, he might laugh at fear. 
 And here was his chance to finish off at last this 
 pestiferous marauder after all these years of 
 the chase. With a play worthy of his best reputa- 
 tion he opened his attack.
 
 294 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Canardin parried, parried, everlastingly par- 
 ried, with his lips as much as his steel. 
 
 " Beally, Morbihan, this is decent of you ! " 
 So he kept up a running fire of remark, in time 
 to the sweeps of his blade. " To give me this op- 
 portunity of a chat. For seven years I have 
 trailed you across France. By the lord Jupiter, 
 how you can travel ! Only now have I caught up 
 with you." Here a lunge of the Due's warded 
 away with especial delicacy. " Yet I knew you 
 would some day allow me to even up that beating 
 you gave me at Clermont. You remember it, 
 Morbihan? " 
 
 The two men were footing it about like mad. 
 "Are you a dancing master?" The Due blew 
 the words between his grinding teeth. " Be done 
 with your tricks, clown ! Have at me ! " 
 
 His words had scarcely been spoken when the 
 answer came. The answer was from Canardin's 
 sword, not his lips. Quicker than the Due's eye 
 could drink it in, it was done. He felt his sword 
 lifted up like a feather, the blade pointing sky- 
 ward, the hilt across his heart, and locked there 
 by a wrist of steel where his own seemed of lead. 
 
 Thus Canardin held him for a second or two, 
 the flat of his own rapier curved rigidly against 
 his enemy's breast, while he said :
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 295 
 
 " My word, Morbihan, I hate to break in on 
 your devotions! That is probably a prayer for 
 me." Releasing the Due from this humiliating 
 predicament, he was back on his guard in a flash. 
 " In a moment I may show you another novelty 
 I've learned." 
 
 Now blindly infuriated, the Due lashed out in 
 good earnest. His sword sang as it cut the air, 
 and cut nothing more. 
 
 " I've long been curious, Morbihan, to see your 
 skill," Canardin set up his taunting patter again. 
 " I had heard of it. And good it is, Morbihan. 
 But wanting in finesse. Your friends have 
 spoiled it. They too easily give in to a Due. My 
 own skill has been gained against men." 
 
 It was plain to the nobleman that for all his 
 really considerable art, this man before him was 
 toying with his best efforts. Though the Breton 
 dignitary fought now like a fiend, Can- 
 ardin brushed aside his every lunge with the 
 strength of a smith and the ease of an orator's 
 gesture. 
 
 " Pie, fie, Morbihan! " he burst out at a later 
 stage, " are you really no better than this? And 
 your wind, Morbihan ! Perhaps singing is more 
 in your line? Truly, I'm quite disarmed. By 
 your condition if not by your art." And in the
 
 296 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 thick of it all, Canardin achieved a magnificent 
 yawn. 
 
 Speechless with fury, the Due replied to it 
 with a roar and a fresh access of energy. " Fight, 
 knave, fight ! " he found words at last. 
 
 " You really care to go on? " Canardin an- 
 swered him sweetly. " Don't put yourself out 
 on my account." 
 
 Now and then he flicked a fresh slit in Mor- 
 bihan's sleeve, in proof of a dexterity able to 
 finish the contest when it pleased. It served but 
 to heighten his adversary's madness. 
 
 " Leave off the play-acting ! " he roared. " My 
 taste runs to fighting ! " 
 
 Again Canardin's sword spoke for him. It 
 picked a neat gash across the whole front of 
 Morbihan's shirt. Thus far it was the first 
 serious stroke he had undertaken. C4cile could 
 not repress a light cry, so easily might Canardin's 
 blade have cut deeper. The real skill of it was 
 that it did not. 
 
 Morbihan let go an especially vicious lunge, 
 with all his might behind it. " My life or yours, 
 thief ! " he cried. " I give no favors and I ask 
 none back in this business ! " 
 
 " Very well, Due. Whatever we mince, it will 
 not be words ! "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 297 
 
 Perhaps Canardin had had his fill of taunting, 
 or had pushed it too far. Or, mayhap, he felt 
 that the old difference at Clermont had been 
 evened. It may be that the joy of contest got 
 into his veins. The artist in him may have risen 
 and called for the exercise of his powers. On 
 the score of manhood alone he owed something 
 of seriousness to his adversary. 
 
 Whatever it was, he left off the raillery and 
 became as deadly as he dared. With stroke after 
 stroke he nicked the enemy's body and pricked 
 the enemy's pride. When that too could not be 
 pressed farther in fairness, he slowed up and once 
 more broke into speech. 
 
 " Be reasonable, Morbihan. You came here 
 weary. I can't take advantage of that. Some 
 day, when you're fresh, I'll crave the favor of 
 another go. Now for a fitting period to this. 
 Let us see if we can find it," he added under his 
 breath. 
 
 And to the gasps of De Lavallais and Ce"cile 
 the combat did come to a close in the next few 
 seconds. In the most brilliant and daring of all 
 feats of the sword, one of the combatants delib- 
 erately caught a thrust from the other, caught 
 it with his sword. With incredible swiftness of 
 eye and deftness of timing, he let the other's steel
 
 298 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 slide almost hilt deep through, the fretted hilt of 
 his own blade. Then an iron wrist flew up, the 
 snap of steel was heard, and a broken blade lay 
 upon the floor. The iron wrist belonged to Can- 
 ardin, the broken blade to the Due. 
 
 For an instant the Due held up the stump of 
 his sword, trying to realize what had happened. 
 From the stump of steel he looked into the mock- 
 ing smile of Canardin. It was too much. With 
 a roar like one of his Breton bulls, the poor man, 
 as broken as his weapon, raised the stump in his 
 hand and made a rush for Canardin. 
 
 Again Ce"cile let forth a cry, that tapered off 
 into an exclamation of surprise and wonder. 
 This time there was the snap of a bone, and the 
 Due de Morbihan lay sprawling on the floor with 
 a broken wrist. 
 
 " Morbihan ! " Canardin spoke down to him, 
 now panting himself, for he was enraged at last. 
 " I would say the nobleman forgot himself ! " 
 
 Slowly the fallen and bitterly humbled man on 
 the floor gathered himself into a sitting posture 
 and glared up. 
 
 "You will observe, Morbihan," Canardin 
 quickly cooled to his inveterate good nature 
 again, " I carefully spared the right one. One 
 of these days, if you live carefully, you will want
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 299 
 
 to shake hands with ine. I won't have it at pres- 
 ent." 
 
 The Due ignored this thrust and feelingly fin- 
 gered his injury. It was too hard for his like- 
 impossible to acknowledge the situation. 
 
 " Ho, men ! " Canardin was calling to his men. 
 "A chair for this excellent man! And a soft 
 one ! " 
 
 The chair was brought by two men plainly 
 astonished and not a little disgusted to find both 
 fighters alive. The further attentions of Can- 
 ardin the Due none too courteously declined, but 
 he suffered De Lavallais to steady him into the 
 seat. 
 
 Canardin, one hand employing his rapier as a 
 cane, the other now twirling his moustache, stood 
 watching them, humming a little tune to his 
 thoughts. 
 
 While they looked to see what he would do 
 next, the old baffling smile returned, and he 
 stepped toward Cecile, fumbling in his pockets 
 mysteriously. When he drew forth his hand it 
 contained the familiar ring of green jade, which 
 he offered her with an embarrassed bow. De 
 Lavallais started at sight of it, but with an 
 " Oh ! " of gathering comprehension, C6cile took 
 it
 
 300 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 "Mademoiselle," said Canardin, "I felt it 
 proper to relieve you of that during our journey 
 before I quite understood. It may have little 
 value longer since your demand for my sur- 
 render. Yet perhaps, as a souvenir " 
 
 " It shall be priceless ! " 
 
 " It cannot be that, Mademoiselle," he an- 
 swered humbly, " until I have told you that I 
 am ashamed of my vanity here. Perhaps, if you 
 knew of what is epitomized in this moment, you 
 might find it in your heart to forgive me. The 
 truth is, I begin to be bored by this sorry busi- 
 ness of mine. You have made me feel like a 
 mountebank. Before I am guilty of further fol- 
 lies " he held out the hilt of his rapier toward 
 her, as Cecile flashed such a smile at De Laval- 
 lais as husbands come to know "will you not 
 deprive me of this ! " 
 
 In short, the tableau would have come to a 
 pretty conclusion but for a slight diversion. 
 
 "Where is he?" a great voice boomed, and 
 three startled persons turned toward a sudden 
 apparition at the door. The resplendent figure 
 of Trevours and twenty of his soldiers stood be- 
 fore them. 
 
 The astounded Lavallais was the logical person 
 first to find words. "He? Why, there "
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 301 
 
 He looked about, finally toward the open window 
 whence, a little while before, Canardin had 
 tossed out the purse of coins. 
 
 Neatly and sweetly he had let himself down 
 the adjacent waterspout into the night.
 
 CHAPTEB XIX 
 
 ASHAKP feminine cry, between a pair of 
 angry masculine exclamations, burst from 
 the window above as Canardin touched the 
 ground below. He looked up in time to see Ce"cile 
 de Grammont perform a useful service for him. 
 By reaching the window first, she completely 
 filled it in looking out. 
 
 " He's gone ! " she pronounced, with what 
 seemed like satisfaction to Canardin. She then 
 performed another service for him. By turning 
 sharply away from the window she bumped into 
 the crowding figures of Lavallais and Trevours. 
 A hasty pardon, and both their heads were look- 
 ing out. 
 
 They looked in time to see Canardin's white 
 shirt flying into the bushes that marked the 
 boundary line of the inn property. While Can- 
 ardin, in a dark undergarment, hugging the wall, 
 backed and sidled round a corner and bumped 
 into a waiting man, whose arms instantly en- 
 circled him. 
 
 " Hush, Monsieur ! " quick lips whispered, be-
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 303 
 
 fore Canardin had time to choke them. " Not a 
 sound ; not a whisper ! Come with me. Give me 
 your hand." 
 
 "Julie!" 
 
 "Ibegjoul Hush!" 
 
 In the inky blackness a slim hand felt for his 
 arm, slid along his sleeve till it caught the tips of 
 his fingers. It drew him, and he followed, like a 
 blind man. Over the soft turf of the inn yard, 
 in the rear of the structure, he let himself be led 
 in the utter dark and the stillness that the watch- 
 ers themselves maintained in order to hear him. 
 To shadows deeper still, if that were possible, 
 they slipped over the sod, step by step, scarcely 
 daring to breathe. Bound an ell of the inn the 
 guide came to a halt, and Canardin obediently 
 did likewise. How long they stood so Canardin 
 was too absorbed to guess. Long enough, at all 
 events, for him to lift a tiny hand and imprint 
 upon it a noiseless kiss. A pressure returned 
 the greeting. 
 
 At last two lips reached up to his ear. " Hun- 
 dreds of them ! " came not so much a whisper as 
 a breathing. " A cordon round the house ! Not 
 thirty paces away ! Trevours's men. He's been 
 given this last chance to redeem himself. And is 
 savage as a wild boar. Wait ! "
 
 304 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 Another period of absolute stillness, another 
 kiss of the hand, another returning pressure. 
 The silence itself told its story. The watchers 
 were waiting for him to move. Already Canardin 
 knew they must have found his empty shirt. 
 Within the inn, he knew, Trevours, after not too 
 much bragging and bluster, would be bustling 
 instead. 
 
 At length, with her free hand feeling along the 
 wall, Julie led on a dozen paces, and there groped 
 about for something. Next Canardin felt him- 
 self pulled down a short flight of stairs, step by 
 step. A latch was opened softly. The door it- 
 self he could but imagine being opened for him, 
 and closed behind him. 
 
 " Ah ! " came a whisper now, not merely a 
 breathing. From the odor of the place, because 
 there was nothing to see, Canardin knew they 
 were in a cellar passage. " Wait till I get some 
 breath ! " he heard her whisper. Perhaps a third 
 kiss of her hand helped somewhat to that end, for 
 Canardin's guide now led along this passage 
 toward the interior of the house. Soon he heard 
 the click of another latch. A door opened softly, 
 and through it issued the dim glow of a bed of 
 dying coals on a grill. In the light of them, the 
 lady dropped Canardin's hand, but hers was soon
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 305 
 
 imprisoned again, for now Canardin caught it. 
 She closed the door as he entered the room and 
 took the swift habitual inventory of his surround- 
 ings, noting the four windows tightly barred by 
 shutters, the shining cutlery and utensils, the 
 legs of mutton depending from the beams, and 
 all the appurtenances of a tavern scullery. This 
 precaution of a moment finished, Canardin very 
 naturally turned to his guide and savior. 
 
 Already she had hopped upon the table and 
 was smiling triumphantly down upon him. Per- 
 haps she was aware, even at such a time, of the 
 picture she made, with her head cocked at a 
 saucy angle, as Canardin promptly took inven- 
 tory of that scene also. 
 
 " Oh, thank heaven ! " she closed her eyes and 
 breathed, " I could help this much ! " 
 
 When she opened them Canardin saw they 
 were wet. The next moment they flashed more 
 fire than the flickering coals on the hearth. 
 " We've only a minute to rest. What next, you 
 must decide. They'll search every hole and cor- 
 ner. In the end they must find us here. If we 
 stay. The beastly cowards ! Who gave Trevours 
 
 the sense to get here, with all his men ! 
 
 Ce"cile knew what she was saying. They mean 
 to make war on you now, Canardin. That weak-
 
 ling, Armand! He should have foreseen this! 
 No, / should have foreseen it ! " 
 
 " Tut, child. This was bound to come sooner 
 or later." 
 
 "No, they would never have caught up with 
 you but for this but for me ! If only we could 
 hide until Ce"cile has time to intercede ! She has 
 power in Paris. And with your promise, you 
 know, maybe " 
 
 " That does nicely enough for me." Canardin 
 laughed his low laugh. " But do you suppose, 
 my dear, I can let those poor fellows of mine be 
 caught and hanged, one by one? Some of them 
 to-night. Without even a trial! They'll be 
 hunted like dogs ! " 
 
 " But in a week Ce"cile can have you pardoned ! 
 And then you can get them all off, too ! " 
 
 "A week? Months! If ever! And if even 
 one of those poor fellows is caught, I am respon- 
 sible." 
 
 " What is there you can do? " 
 
 " Join them, of course. Save them. Disperse 
 them for their own good. A last word with you, 
 Julie. I've wanted that. It's why I am here, 
 when my place is out there. My duty as a man 
 is out there ! " 
 
 "Listen!"
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 307 
 
 On the floor over their heads they heard the 
 stealthy tramp of feet. The search through the 
 inn had begun. Outside hundreds were prob- 
 ably beating every rod of ground. 
 
 " Where can we go? " Julie writhed, rather 
 than turned about in her place, searching the 
 half-lit room for a cupboard, for a haven of any 
 sort, that was not there. "Hide you I must! 
 In a few minutes more they will be down here. 
 They're sure to find the way ! " 
 
 " In a few minutes more you shall go up and 
 save them the trouble. This has gone too far." 
 
 " And you shall " 
 
 " Step out." 
 
 " Very well, Monsieur Canardin ! " Julie 
 snapped out the words. " But listen to this. 
 Where you go, I go with you now ! " 
 
 Canardin laughed for joy of her. But not 
 long did he laugh. The heavy black cloak about 
 her had fallen apart from the throat, and dis- 
 closed her in the costume of a boy, with velvet 
 jerkin and breeches, and boots to the knees. Un- 
 conscious of this, or else utterly confident before 
 this man, her head was tossed back, her face 
 blazing with what her lips themselves seemed 
 ready to hurl into his apparent stupidity. It 
 was no time to talk. But he happened not to be
 
 308 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 stupid, and read what was there. It was not 
 simply a foolishly determined girl before him, 
 but a woman with that claim upon him which it 
 is not in any man, whatever his extremity, to 
 ignore. 
 
 " Where you go, I go with you," he was hear- 
 ing. 
 
 He stepped before her and rested his hands on 
 the table at her side. 
 
 " Flout me ! " she said, doing her best to be the 
 saucy Julie of old. "You have only a minute 
 left to do it. Go on. Laugh ! " But her head 
 drooped forward in time to meet the hands that 
 lightly pressed it to his shoulder. 
 
 " Julie, dear, it's only a minute for me. The 
 last minute left me, the only one worth living ! 
 It's strange! And yet I'm glad. You're saved 
 from tossing away that sweet self of yours on 
 me! Do you remember, I told you, once, that a 
 man had lived if a woman so much as gave him 
 a kindly thought? Well " 
 
 Up came the curly head with a toss. Two 
 burning eyes looked him over. Two cheeks 
 swept near, till he felt the heat of them. Two 
 lips placed themselves squarely before him, and 
 said it all, in three words : " Here I am ! " Her 
 hands came up to his shoulders. " Take me !
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 309 
 
 Keep me ! " Her head fell forward. " Where is 
 your courage, Canardin!" She kissed him. 
 And quickly buried her face in her cloak. " You 
 don't know how," came the smothered words 
 from there. " I'm so glad. It will be so won- 
 derful to teach you ! " 
 
 There she pushed him from her and might have 
 been Canardin himself for quickness of thinking 
 and resource. 
 
 " Now then ! Your plans, this instant ! You 
 see a way out, of course! For yourself. But 
 now your troubles begin. You've me to think 
 of!" 
 
 "Listen, Julie!" 
 
 Outside, at that very corner, came noise of fly- 
 ing feet, yells, the scream of a man in fear for his 
 life, and his pleadings. 
 
 " Don't, don't ! Let me off, and I'll tell ! I'm 
 not the one ! I know where he went ! I'll show 
 you ! Let me off, and I'll show you ! I swear I 
 will ! " A hand probably clapped itself over the 
 weakening lips, or windpipe. The cries died in a 
 gurgle, the footsteps faded away. 
 
 " Poor devils ! " said Canardin. " That's how 
 it will go with them ! To the nearest tree with 
 them ! " 
 
 Till the last thump of footsteps died away on
 
 310 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 the turf they listened. Then Julie stepped quiv- 
 ering down from her perch not, either, in the 
 quiver of fear. Otherwise than in mere physical 
 presence she was distinctly with Canardin now. 
 " They dare to do that? " she blazed. " I'll fight 
 that myself! I'll be your lieutenant! I'll get 
 you others ! Hundreds of them ! " 
 
 " Hush, please ! " Canardin warned. 
 
 Another party of searchers could be heard out- 
 side, feeling at the barred shutters. Again Julie 
 and Canardin listened without breathing. Fi- 
 nally the party moved away. 
 
 " They'll have better luck by daylight," said 
 Canardin grimly. Suddenly he turned to the 
 girl and spoke rapidly. " The time has come. 
 It is hard. Your defiance is adorable. But this 
 is serious. While there is time, go back to C4- 
 cile. Adieu, Julie." He held out his hand. 
 " For now." 
 
 She drew herself up, for answer. 
 
 " I command it. I implore it, then ! Another 
 time " 
 
 " I do not budge," she cut him short. And 
 came to him and grasped his arms. " See here ! 
 You're not going to toss away that life of yours, 
 either! Bun from this treacherous crew? Be 
 hounded forever by such? My Canardin? We'll
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 311 
 
 go straight to Paris and beat them on their own 
 ground ! Now, think how it's to be done ! You 
 supply the wits. C6cile and I will find the 
 rest!" 
 
 It was a brave speech instantly recanted by 
 the speaker. " No, no ! My own ! " She was in 
 his arms, in a tremble. "Do you hear them? 
 They are too many for you. We must save you 
 from that ! You must let us owe you that ! I'll 
 go to Cecile. If she takes her stand with me 
 beside you, we'll see how they dare touch you ! " 
 
 A low laugh interrupted them. Julie turned. 
 A door behind her had opened. A figure stood 
 in the opening, a black silhouette against the 
 light of a lantern in the hands of another 
 figure behind him, with other searchers visible 
 in the rear. In a blind impulse to do some- 
 thing, Julie leaped toward the table and 
 hurled an iron skillet. It crashed with a 
 clang against the wall above the intruder's 
 head. And of a sudden Julie Lecoigneux 
 acquired the cunning of Canardin's outlaw 
 world, as if she had herself been bred in it. One 
 clang had taught her. As fast as she could, she 
 created others. Half a dozen basins stood handy 
 on the table. As if madly and blindly in fear, 
 she flung them all. Canardin, she had noticed
 
 312 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 instantly out of the corner of her eye, had van- 
 ished. Wherever he was, whatever his move- 
 ments, they needed the cover of noise. She made 
 it for him. 
 
 " Stop, stop ! " she recognized the voice of Ar- 
 mand de Lavallais, as he frantically dodged one 
 last pail she tossed at his head. " Be quiet, you 
 numbskull ! " The party came in with their lan- 
 terns, CScile the last. " Have you seen him? 
 Was he here? " 
 
 " Who? " asked Julie, in as deep a voice as she 
 could muster. 
 
 " Canardin," said Lavallais. 
 
 "And Mademoiselle Lecoigneux with him, 
 most likely," Ce"cile added, uselessly enough. 
 For the frightened young boy, as they supposed 
 him to be till the astonished party examined his 
 fallen body with their lanterns, had waited only 
 long enough to hear a reassuring pebble dropped 
 down the chimney, and then had fainted.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 '"pHAT night, it is only true to say, marked 
 * the end of Canardin once and for all. The 
 correctness of this is in no way affected by the 
 few swift facts that followed. In half an hour 
 strange hands had only partly revived the wilted 
 Julie and borne her up the stair from the scul- 
 lery. At the top of the flight, however, she came 
 to herself with great despatch, at the sound of 
 high words on the floor still above. Forgetful 
 of a costume apt to stir remark, she tore from 
 the arms of the doctors who bore her and flew to 
 the point where four familiar voices were shout- 
 ing at once. 
 
 In the room where Canardin had but lately 
 entertained Ce"cile and herself, Trevours was 
 holding court for the guilty who lived, and an 
 inquest over the celebrated quarry he regarded 
 as already as good as dead. Still nursing his 
 broken wrist, Morbihan sat with a contented grin 
 and abetted him. 
 
 The Governor of Paris, assured of his dignities
 
 314 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 again, declaimed magnificently. "As for that 
 monster Canardin, he dies at the nearest post, 
 the moment I've got him. But as for you, Mon- 
 sieur de Lavallais " a thick finger shot out at 
 the mortified Armand " what shall you have to 
 say, to your friends, to your judge, to your King, 
 to France, when I have stated the charges against 
 you! Not laxity in office alone! A procureur- 
 general of France, the recipient of a thousand 
 stolen pistoles, from the notorious Canardin 
 himself ! And you, Mademoiselle de Grammont, 
 conniving at his escape! Yet you complain be- 
 cause I have had to arrest you ! " 
 
 In a word, Trevours was enjoying life. Crim- 
 son with indignation, bursting with fury, a thou- 
 sand blistering replies on her lips, Ce"cile was 
 helpless against the blast of sound. 
 
 The sound ceased with some suddenness, nev- 
 ertheless. At the precise moment when Trevours 
 cut himself short in the middle of a word, 
 shocked by the sight of Julie Lecoigneux at the 
 open door, a closed one to the rear of him was 
 violently slammed. The jar of it fixed the atten- 
 tion of all five of them on the figure of Canardin, 
 just emerged from his private chamber, in re- 
 splendent dress again, and quite unarmed. 
 
 " Permit me, ladies and gentlemen," he quietly
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 315 
 
 spoke into their startled silence. "HI mistake 
 not, one of us here is on the point of making an 
 ass of himself. I hope I am not too late to pre- 
 vent the scandal. Certain other apologies are due. 
 I have had a weakness for amusement. When 
 that comes to the point of annoyance to my 
 friends, the thing has been overdone. The farce 
 has been over-played. After his excursion to 
 Versailles " Canardin turned to Trevours 
 " the Governor of Paris will be the first to agree 
 with me. But a moment ago " he came up to 
 C4cile " I committed the very worst of my 
 crimes. I forgot my parole to a lady. Is it too 
 late to make amends? " 
 
 " It isn't true ! " a cry cut him short, and in all 
 her boyish garb Julie Lecoigneux threw herself 
 into the scene. "It's only his jest! He's giv- 
 ing himself up to save his men from this 
 
 The rest she expressed in action. Altogether she 
 filled Trevours's thick skull to bursting with 
 novel emotions as she flung herself upon him 
 with flying and vengeful fingers. 
 
 What, however, were two mere women against 
 three officials of France, not to think of the con- 
 siderable army brought there by Trevours? Now 
 that he had obligingly placed himself in their 
 hands, they forthwith arrested Canardin, and
 
 316 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 that very night haled their prize to Paris and 
 into the Bastille. 
 
 In vain Canardin himself protested on one 
 point. In vain he raised the condition that, in 
 return for saving them further years of the chase, 
 they owed him the favor of amnesty for his will- 
 ing followers. The Governor of Paris refused 
 to waive his prerogative of hanging whom he 
 pleased, as the law directed. Finding himself so 
 strongly backed by military logic, De Lavallais 
 himself concurred in this. Thus was achieved 
 the end of Canardin. 
 
 Yet while there is about military argument 
 that logic and immediacy which delights the 
 masculine mind, there is about feminine illogic a 
 dogged pertinacity which men may well wait long 
 to ridicule. A lady who loves becomes a power 
 that it is well to respect, and Cecile de Gram- 
 mont herself was a power without the aid of any 
 such emotion as that which fired the bosom of 
 Julie Lecoigneux. Kings cannot withstand them. 
 Not even Louis the Great could hold out against 
 this pair. 
 
 It is said that when His Majesty finally had 
 brought from the Bastille into his august pres- 
 ence at Versailles a certain Monsieur Eugene de 
 Bonnefois, he looked long into the proud eyes of
 
 THE GALLANT ROGUE 317 
 
 the man who stood before him, and said then, 
 simply, perhaps because the two spirits under- 
 stood something of each other : 
 
 " You-u rascal ! " 
 
 It is also said that, after His Majesty had lis- 
 tened to the most exhaustive representations in 
 the interest of Monsieur de Bonnefois on the part 
 of the granddaughter of that one-time pillar of 
 the realm, the Marechal de Grammont, the argu- 
 ment which after all had disposed the King to 
 clemency came from another advocate, and was 
 exceedingly brief. 
 
 A certain young lady dight Julie Lecoigneux 
 was also summoned to Versailles to speak a word 
 for Monsieur de Bonnefois. They say that, hear- 
 ing her last of all, the King asked, wearily : 
 
 " Why do you ask this man's life? " 
 
 And she answered, " Because I love him, Sire " 
 which is reported to have settled the matter, as 
 was proper. 
 
 It is this, perhaps, which accounts for certain 
 scandalous rumors that soon affixed themselves 
 forever to the name of Monsieur de Bonnefois. 
 These have it that so soon as his visit to the 
 chateau of Mademoiselle Cecile de Grammont, 
 whither he had taken his bride on their way to 
 assume by appointment the Governorship of Lor-
 
 318 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 raine, even then lie had come completely under 
 the thumb of his spirited wife. They say it was 
 utterly beyond belief, the power she exerted over 
 him. 
 
 If, for instance, he thieved from her so much 
 as a kiss, and she wanted the property instantly 
 restored to her, she had only to cock on one side 
 her mass of black ringlets and say to him sternly : 
 
 "Canardin! " 
 
 THE END
 
 318 THE GALLANT ROGUE 
 
 raine, even then lie had come completely under 
 the thumb of his spirited wife. They say it was 
 utterly beyond belief, the power she exerted over 
 him. 
 
 If, for instance, he thieved from her so much 
 as a kiss, and she wanted the property instantly 
 restored to her, she had only to cock on one side 
 her mass of black ringlets and say to him sternly : 
 
 "Canardin! " 
 
 THE END
 
 03S,
 
 A splendid novel of life in the open, of blood-stirring adventure, 
 
 and of a brave man inspired by the love of a splendid woman, 
 
 winning out against long odds. 
 
 THE STRENGTH OF 
 THE PINES 
 
 By EDISON MARSHALL 
 
 With frontispiece by W. Herbert Dunton. 
 12 mo. Cloth. 
 
 An Oregon mountain feud supplies the theme of Mr. Marshall's 
 new novel, in which he displays his intimate knowledge of the 
 great out-of-doors and the denizens of the forest with the same 
 sure touch which made "The Voice of the Pack" one of the most 
 noteworthy of last year's books. Here again a man of mountain 
 stock, educated in the cities, naturally takes up the ways of 
 the men of the wilderness when he is projected into its life by 
 his desire to solve a mystery of his boyhood. Bruce Duncan's 
 return to Trail's End renews the feud in which his father had 
 been killed, in which Bruce and his childhood playmate, Linda, 
 are menaced by the evil Turner clan, with the forces of the wilder- 
 ness an impartial and important factor. "The Killer," master of 
 the pine forests, an enormous, fearless grizzly, the last of 
 his race in these windswept mountain ranges, dominates more 
 than one scene between the fighting humans whom he hates and 
 hunts. "The Strength of the Pines" is a splendid novel of life 
 in the open, of blood-stirring adventure and of a brave man, 
 inspired by the love of a splendid woman, winning out against 
 long odds. 
 
 LITTLE, BROWN & CO., PUBLISHERS 
 
 34 BEACON STREET, BOSTON
 
 11 lUfill I 
 
 3 1158 "0021 7 2236 
 
 A 000 040 392 3