in Brittany and la Vendee. The First Consul,
anxious before all things for peace in France, opened negotiations
with the rebel chiefs, and took energetic military measures; but, while
combining his plans of campaign with the insinuating charm of Italian
diplomacy, he also set the Machiavelian springs of the police in
movement, Fouche then being at its head. And none of these means were
superfluous to stifle the fire of war then blaring in the West.

"At this time a young man of the Maille family was despatched by the
Chouans from Brittany to Saumur, to open communications between certain
magnates of that town and its environs and the leaders of the Royalist
party. The envoy was, in fact, arrested on the very day he landed--for
he traveled by boat, disguised as a master mariner. However, as a man
of practical intelligence, he had calculated all the risks of the
undertaking; his passport and papers were all in order, and the men told
off to take him were afraid of blundering.

"The Chevalier de Beauvoir--I now remember his name--had studied
his part well; he appealed to the family whose name he had borrowed,
persisted in his false address, and stood his examination so boldly that
he would have been set at large but for the blind belief that the spies
had in their instructions, which were unfortunately only too minute. In
this dilemma the authorities were more ready to risk an arbitrary act
than to let a man escape to whose capture the Minister attached great
importance. In those days of liberty the agents of the powers in
authority cared little enough for what we now regard as _legal_. The
Chevalier was therefore imprisoned provisionally, until the superior
officials should come to some decision as to his identity. He had not
long to wait for it; orders were given to guard the prisoner closely in
spite of his denials.

"The Chevalier de Beauvoir was next transferred, in obedience to further
orders, to the Castle of l'Escarpe, a name which sufficiently indicates
its situation. This fortress, perched on very high rocks, has precipices
for its trenches; it is reached on all sides by steep and dangerous
paths; and, like every ancient castle, its principal gate has a
drawbridge over a wide moat. The commandant of this prison, delighted
to have charge of a man of family whose manners were most agreeable,
who expressed himself well, and seemed highly educated, received the
Chevalier as a godsend; he offered him the freedom of