days she had the air of keeping a secret to herself, which roused my
curiosity, and made me recall my poor mother's dying words to myself.
That set me thinking of Kilgorman and the strange mystery that hung
there; and that set me on to think of Knockowen, and his honour and my
lady and Miss Kit; and so by the time I had reached my shabby kennel in
the Rue Saint Antoine, I was fairly miserable and ready to feel very
lonely and friendless.

However, I was not left much time to mope, for in the night the street
was up with a rumour that a "federalist" deputy, who was known to be in
the pay of Pitt, the English minister, had been traced to some hiding-
place near, and that a strict house-to-house search was being made by
the soldiers for him.

"_A bas les mouchards! a bas Pitt! a bas les etrangers! Vive la
guillotine_!" shrieked the mob.

Whereat I deemed it prudent to join them and shriek too, rather than
await the visit of the soldiers. Not, thought I, that any one would do
me the honour of mistaking me for an agent of Mr Pitt; but there was no
knowing what craze the Paris mob was not ready for, or on what slight
pretext an innocent man might not be sent to the scaffold.

So I sneaked quietly down the stairs, where, alas! I found I had fallen
from the frying-pan into the fire.

A file of soldiers was ready for me, and received me with open arms.

"Your name, your business, your destination," demanded they.

"Citizen soldiers, my name is Gallagher; I am a stranger in Paris in
search of occupation."

"Enough. You are arrested. Stand aside!"

"But, citizen--"

A stroke with the flat of the soldier's sword silenced me, and I gave
myself up for lost. But as a prisoner of the Revolution I should at
least not be lonely, and on the guillotine itself I should have company.

The soldiers were too intent on watching for further fugitives to do
more than keep me in sight of their loaded pistols. That was bad
enough, however, and would have sufficed to land me in the Conciergerie,
had not an alarm of fire, followed by volumes of smoke, just then
proceeded from a house opposite that in which the fugitive deputy was
supposed to be hidden. A rush took place for the spot and the loud
sounding of the tocsin down the street, and in the midst of the
confusion I dived between the legs of my captors, upsetting the one who
covered me with his pistol, so that the weapon went off harmlessly over
my head, and next moment I wa