am
heartily sick of this butchers' work. I feel that, at any moment, I
may be denounced."

"Then why on earth do you stay here, Jules? Why don't you come and
throw in your lot with us?"

"I should have laughed at the idea, a year ago," he said; "for at
that time, although I objected strongly to the doings in Paris, I
yet believed that much good would come of the changes. Now I know
that nothing has come of them but murder and misery, and the
madness increases rather than diminishes. Hopeless as I own your
struggle seems, to me, I would at least rather be killed in battle
than executed here; but I would rather still get to England, if I
could. As you know, I can play the violin well, and might be able
to support myself, by its aid, if nothing else turned up."

"If you are thinking of going, Desailles, I will give you a letter
to my father-in-law, at Poole. I hear that my mother and sister
have escaped, and they have doubtless gone there, so you will not
find yourself friendless.

"And now for the purpose that has brought me here. I had no idea,
until I arrived, that these wretches had imprisoned my father; who
is the last man to interfere in politics, and has, I am sure, never
uttered a word of enmity against the Convention. I came to
endeavour to rescue my wife who, as no doubt you have heard, has
been seized and carried off in my absence, and my house laid in
ashes. I suppose she has been brought here."

"Yes, I am aware of it," Jules said. "The party of horse who did it
were specially sent from here. Of course you were the principal
object of the expedition, but the officer was ordered to bring her,
too--in the first place as your wife, in the second as an
Englishwoman and therefore, of course, an enemy of France. You were
denounced to the club; and as you were known to be one of the
gentlemen who had joined the insurrection, and were fighting with
Cathelineau and others, I knew that it would be useless to raise a
voice on your behalf; having the satisfaction of feeling sure that
you would be away from home when they got there, and hoping that
your wife would receive notice of their coming, before they entered
the house."

"Has she been brought here yet?"

"Yes, she arrived three days ago. She is in the old city prison,
where your father is also confined."

"So far that is fortunate," Jean said.

"Now, how about my father? I should have thought that Jacques'
influence would have been sufficient to prote