ed
here a few days ago. He was at the convent of St. Saturnine when the
donation of this abbey was made to your son and his band. He must,
undoubtedly, have run ahead to warn the abbess, and she, accordingly,
made her preparations of defence against the warriors who came to
dispossess her."

"The Jew was in a great hurry to arrive here after his departure from
the convent of St. Saturnine, where he took me from," replied Septimine.
"We were only three slaves and he packed us on his light wagon that was
drawn by two horses. He must have arrived here two or three days ahead
of the troop of the seigneur Berthoald, who must have been delayed on
his march by his large baggage."

"So that the Jew must have notified Meroflede in advance, and must also
have revealed to her the secret of the alleged Frankish chief being of
the Gallic race," observed Bonaik. "Hence the terrible vengeance of the
abbess, who must have had your son cast into that subterranean prison,
expecting to expose him to certain death. The thing now is how to save
him, and to protect ourselves from the vengeance of Meroflede. To remain
here after your son's escape would be to expose these poor apprentices
and Septimine to death."

"Oh, good father! What shall we do?" put in Septimine, joining her
hands. "No one can penetrate into the building under which the seigneur
Berthoald is imprisoned."

"Call him Amael, my child," said Rosen-Aer bitterly. "The name of
Berthoald constantly reminds me of a shame that I would forget."

"To extricate Amael out of the cavern is not an impossible feat," said
the old goldsmith, raising his head. "I have just been thinking it over.
We have a fair chance of success."

"But, good father," asked Rosen-Aer, "what about the iron bars at the
window of this workshop, and those at the air-hole of the cave in which
my son is confined? And then that large and deep moat? What obstacles!"

"These are not the most difficult obstacles to surmount. Suppose night
has set in and Amael is with us, free. What then?"

"Leave the abbey," said Septimine; "escape ... we shall all flee--"

"And how, my child? Do you forget that with nightfall the gate of the
jetty is locked? A watchman is there on guard. But, even if we cleared
the gate, the inundation covers the road. It will take two or three days
for the waters to withdraw. Until then this abbey will remain surrounded
by water like an island."

"Master Bonaik," said one of the young app