"Resistance here! Attention over there!"

Her father's safety was a guarantee of her own acquiescence. Struggling,
fighting was useless! the abominable thief must be left to do his work
in peace.

It did not take long. A minute or two later he too had stepped out of
the carriage. He ordered one of his followers to hold the lanthorn and
then quietly took up his stand beside the open door.

"Now, ladies, an you desire it," he said calmly, "you may continue your
journey. Your coachman and your men are close here, on the road,
securely bound. M. de St. Genis is not far off--straight up the
road--you cannot miss him. We leave you free to loosen their bonds. To
horse, my men!" he added in a loud, commanding voice. "Le Bossu, hold my
horse a moment! and you ladies, I pray you accept my humble apologies
that I do not stop to see you safely installed."

As in a dream Crystal heard the bustle incident on a number of men
getting to horse: in the gloom she saw vague forms moving about
hurriedly, she heard the champing of bits, the clatter of stirrup and
bridle. The masked man was the last to move. After he had given the
order to mount he stood for nearly a minute by the carriage door,
exactly facing Crystal, not five paces away.

His companion had put the lanthorn down on the step, and by its light
she could see him distinctly: a mysterious, masked figure who, with
wanton infamy, had placed the satisfaction of his dishonesty and of his
greed athwart the destiny of the King of France.

Crystal knew that through the peep-holes of his mask, the man's eyes
were fixed intently upon her and the knowledge caused a blush of
mortification and of shame to flood her cheeks and throat. At that
moment she would gladly have given her life for the power to turn the
tables upon that abominable rogue, to filch from him that precious
treasure which she had hoped to deposit at the feet of the King for the
ultimate success of his cause: and she would have given much for the
power to tear off that concealing mask, so that for the rest of her life
she might be able to visualise that face which she would always
execrate.

Something of what she felt and thought must have been apparent in her
expressive eyes, for presently it seemed to her as if beneath the narrow
curtain that concealed the lower part of the man's face there hovered
the shadow of a smile.

The next moment he had the audacity slightly to raise his hat and to
make her a bow befor