r that may be, she and I are your debtors
for life."

"Indeed, Monsieur Kennedy," the girl said, "I pray you to believe
that I am more grateful to you than words can express."

"I pray you to say no more about it, mademoiselle. I deem it a
most fortunate circumstance, that I was able to come to your
assistance, and especially so, when I found that the lady I had
rescued was one whose disappearance had made so great a stir; but
I should have been glad to render such service to one in the
poorest condition."

"My daughter said that you asked her no questions, Monsieur
Kennedy, and you therefore are, I suppose, in ignorance of the
name of her abductor?"

"Altogether."

"It was the Vicomte de Tulle, one who stands very high in the regard
of the king, and who is one of the most extravagant and dissipated,
even of the courtiers here. For some time, it has been reported that
he had nigh ruined himself by his lavish expenditure, and doubtless
he thought to reestablish his finances by this bold stroke.

"His plans were well laid. He waited until I had gone to Paris on
business that would keep me there for a day or two. A messenger
arrived with a letter, purporting to be from me, saying that I
wished my daughter to join me at once, and had sent a carriage to
take her to me. Anne is young, and, suspecting no harm, at once
threw on a mantle and hood, and entered the carriage. It was broad
daylight, and there was nothing to disquiet her until, on
approaching the town, the carriage turned off the main road. This
struck her as strange, and she was just about to ask the question
where she was being taken, when the carriage stopped in a lonely
spot, the door was opened, and a man stepped in.

"Before she had even time to recognize him, he threw a thick cloak
over her head. She struggled in vain to free herself, but he held
her fast. Again and again, she tried to cry out, but her mouth was
muffled by the wrapping. She had heard the blinds of the carriage
drawn, and finding that her struggles to free herself were vain,
and receiving no answer to her supplications to be released, she
remained quiet until the carriage stopped. Then she was lifted
out, and carried into the house where you found her.

"The wrapping was removed, and the man who had taken it off, and,
who by his attire, was a gentleman in the service of some noble,
said, 'Do not be alarmed, mademoiselle. No harm is intended to
you. My master is grieved to be obliged