rough, with the one I carried. He backed away, hesitating, for
he had seen my hat and gown. But I made after him with all the
fury I felt, and soon had him in action. He was tired, I have no
doubt; anyway, I whirled his sabre and broke his hold, whipping it
to the ground. That was the last we saw of him, for he made off in
the dark faster than I could follow. The trouble was all over,
save the wound of the corporal, which was not as bad as I thought.
He was up, and one of them, a surgeon, was putting stitches in his
upper arm. Others were tying four men together with rope. Their
weapons were lying in a little heap near by. One of the British
was saying that Sir Charles Gravleigh had sent for them to ride
after the coach.

"Jerushy Jane Pepper!" said the man D'ri. "Never see no sech
wil'cat uv a woman es thet air."

I looked down at my gown; I felt of my hat, now hanging over one
ear. Sure enough, I was a woman.

"Who be ye, I 'd like t' know?" said the man D'ri.

"Ramon Bell--a Yankee soldier of the rank of captain," I said,
stripping off my gown. "But, I beg of you, don't tell the ladies I
was ever a woman."

"Judas Priest!" said D'ri, as he flung his well arm around me.

XXIII

I felt foolish for a moment. I had careful plans for Mme. St.
Jovite. She would have vanished utterly on our return; so, I
fancy, none would have been the wiser. But in that brief sally I
had killed the madame; she could serve me no more. I have been
careful in my account of this matter to tell all just as it
happened, to put upon it neither more nor less of romantic color
than we saw. Had I the skill and license of a novelist, I could
have made much of my little mystery; but there are many now living
who remember all these things, and then, I am a soldier, and too
old for a new business. So I make as much of them as there was and
no more.

In private theatricals, an evening at the Harbor, I had won
applause with the rig, wig, and dialect of my trip to Wrentham
Square. So, when I proposed a plan to my friend the general,
urging the peril of a raw hand with a trust of so much importance,
he had no doubt of my ability.

I borrowed a long coat, having put off my dress, and, when all was
ready, went with a lantern to get the ladies. Louise recognized me
first.

"Grace au ciel! le capitaine!" said she, running to meet me.

I dropped my lantern as we came face to face, and have ever been
glad of that little a