e morning had been. The young
ladies possessed no other accomplishment than that of playing the guitar
and dancing. They read when they could get books, but these were mostly
French novels, certainly not of an improving character.

Rayner and Oliver could not help comparing them with Mary Crofton, and
the comparison was greatly to her advantage.

The next day, Francois, who had been out to market returned with a
troubled countenance. He hurried in to his mistress, who soon
afterwards came into the room where her daughters and the young officers
were seated.

"I am sorry to say that the authorities have heard of your being in the
neighbourhood, and have sent the gendarmes to search for you!" she
exclaimed, in an anxious tone. "I did not wish to drive you away, and
am willing to try and conceal you. At present, no one knows you are in
the house. You may remain in a loft between the ceiling of this room
and the roof, where you are not likely to be found; but the place is
low, and will, I fear, be hot in the daytime, and far from pleasant.
Francois might manage to conduct you to a hut in the woods at no great
distance from this, to which we could send you food; but there is the
risk of the person who goes being seen, and your retreat being
discovered."

"We are very sorry to cause you so much trouble, madame," said Rayner.
"It will, I think, be safest to leave this place to-night, and to try
and make our way, as we intended, into Spanish territory."

"Ah! but the distance is long--fully twenty leagues," answered Madame La
Roche. "You would be recognised as strangers, and probably detained by
the mayor of a large village you must pass through."

"But we must take care and not pass through any village," said Rayner.
"We will try to make our way along bypaths. What we should be most
thankful for is a trustworthy guide. Perhaps our good friend Francois
here will find one for us."

"That I will try to do," said the old mulatto. "It is not, however,
very easy, as few of them know much of the country to the east."

"But how was it discovered that these English officers and their men
were in the country?" asked Mademoiselle Sophie, the eldest of the young
ladies, turning to Francois.

"It appears that yesterday morning there was found on the beach the dead
body of a seaman, who was supposed from his appearance and dress to be
English, while the marks of numerous feet were perceived on the sand,
some going to th