m following out my instructions, but I am
convinced that Citizen Latour is acting for your good."

They rode on in silence again, the beating hoofs of the horses the only
sound in the night.

The dawn had not come when Mercier drew rein where two roads forked.

"We will go quietly, monsieur, in case there is danger. There is a house
here we must visit, a wayside inn."

Barrington let his horse walk but made no answer, and it was evident, by
Seth's movement in his saddle, that he was prepared for attack.

A mean house, not a light showing from any window, stood by the
roadside. Mercier dismounted and bid his companions do the same. Having
tied the horses to a rail he knocked at the closed door, and Seth
touched his master to warn him and draw his attention to the fact that
the knock was peculiar and had a signal in it. The door was opened by a
man, his figure outlined against the dim light coming from a room
beyond.

"Welcome. I expected you an hour ago," he said.

The voice was familiar, and they followed him down a narrow passage
into the lighted room at the back. It was not Latour but Jacques
Sabatier.

"Welcome, Monsieur Barrington; we meet in strange places."

"And what is the purpose this time?"

"Your safety," answered Sabatier. "When we first met I never supposed I
should have been employed so often in your affairs, ay, and have risked
my head on your behalf, too."

"You seem to forget that you have tricked me."

"Has it not turned out for the best?" said Sabatier.

"I will answer that question when I know for what purpose I have been
brought to this place to-night."

"Truly, it's a poor hostelry to welcome any man to, especially officers
of the Convention," laughed Sabatier.

"I go no farther until I know where I go and the purpose."

"We go toward Bordeaux and the sea; the purpose, to put you on board
some vessel which shall carry you in safety to America."

Barrington moved swiftly to the door and set his back against it.

"So Latour has tricked me once more. He will be rid of me so that a
defenseless woman may be altogether in his power. I return to Paris at
once. The odds are equal, and you have papers which I must have. They
may be useful to me."

There was the sharp clatter of steel as Barrington and Seth drew their
sabres. Then a door, which neither of them had noticed, on the other
side of the room, opened, and a man stood on the threshold.

"The odds are with us, Monsieur Barrin