etrayed herself to the archers who set a ladder against the wall, which
the lady instantly threw down. The captain then levelled his pistol at
her, and bade his men put up the ladder again.

[Illustration: The archers set a ladder against the wall, which the lady
instantly threw down.]

'I will shoot you if you do not surrender,' he said, and as she was sure
he meant it, she gave herself up.

When all was quiet in the abbey, the archers mounted their horses and
rode to Pontoise, and under their protection Angelique and her nuns
walked back to Maubuisson at ten o'clock that night, escorted by the
people of Pontoise, and lighted by a hundred and fifty torches borne by
the archers. For six months a guard of fifty remained there, but when
madame d'Estrees was at last captured and sent back for life to the
Convent of the Penitents, at the request of Angelique they returned to
their quarters, and she was left to manage the nuns herself.

The last year of her residence at Maubuisson was, if possible, more
unpleasant than the rest had been, for the title of abbess was given to
a lady of high birth whose views were far more worldly than those of
Angelique. She was very angry at the presence of the thirty poor nuns
who had been added to the community, and declared she would turn them
out. So Angelique begged them to come with her to Port Royal, small
though her abbey was, and had them taken there in a number of carriages
sent by madame Arnauld.

* * * * *

After this Angelique, or some of the nuns chosen by her, was often sent
to reform other convents, and very hard work it was. She had, besides,
her own cares at Port Royal, for the abbey, always unhealthy, was made
worse by overcrowding and underfeeding, and the income and the
dormitories which had been held sufficient for sixteen now had to do for
eighty. A low fever broke out, of which many died, and soon it became
clear that the rest would follow if they did not leave. At length, at
the entreaty of her mother, Angelique applied for permission to move
into Paris, where madame Arnauld had taken a house for them.

It is not easy, of course, even in a big town, to find a ready-made
building large enough to hold so many people, and, though Angelique
added a sleeping-gallery, the refectory or dining-room was so small that
the nuns had to dine in parties of four. Her father was dead, and she
does not seem to have thought of consulting any of her