ustom his eyes to
the dim light, began groping about until he caught hold of Tom's leg.
Tom, dreadfully frightened, cried out in English, "Oh, dear; he's got
me!"

"Come down, messieurs, come down!" exclaimed the sergeant. "Oh, Madame
La Roche, you would have deceived me."

Rayner and his companions were compelled to descend. He truly felt more
for his kind hostess and her daughters than he did for himself. They
might be heavily fined, if not more severely punished. He and his
companions had only to look forward to a prison, from which they might
escape.

With the exception of Le Duc they were all soon collected in the room
below. He had managed by some means to escape detection. They were
allowed but a short time to take leave of Madame La Roche and her
daughters. The sergeant having received no orders respecting the
ladies, and satisfied at having secured his prisoners, seemed disposed
to allow the former to remain unmolested. They looked very melancholy,
however. The young ladies, as they shook hands, burst into tears. In
vain Madame La Roche begged that their guests might be allowed to
partake of some refreshment before commencing their journey. The
sergeant would not hear of it. He had caught the spies, and he intended
to keep them. If he allowed them to remain, some trick might be played,
and they might make their escape.

He at once, therefore, ordered his men to lead his prisoners to the
courtyard of the house.

"Hands off; I won't be manacled by a French jackanapes," cried Brown,
turning round as one of the men seized his arm. "We are five to seven,
mayn't we knock the fellows over, sir? We could do it easily enough,
and get off before they came to themselves again."

"I'll join you with all my heart," said Jack, "though I can't fight as
well as I could before my ribs were stove in."

"I'll tackle one of the fellows if I may take the smallest," said Tom,
though he looked rather pale at the thought of the impending struggle.

"What do you advise, Rayner?" asked Oliver.

"I can advise no violence," said Rayner. "We may succeed in mastering
the Frenchmen, but if we did, the kind old lady here and her daughters
would certainly suffer in consequence. We must submit with a good
grace, and we may possibly afterwards have an opportunity of making our
escape without fighting."

Though the Frenchmen did not understand what was said, they evidently,
from the looks of the seamen, suspected the