their hearts.

Spies surrounded the houses of all the generals, dukes, and princes of
the empire, and it was only in disguise and by the greatest dexterity
that they could evade the vigilance of the police.

The Duchess of St. Leu was at last also compelled to yield to the urgent
entreaties of her friends, and seek an asylum during these days of
uncertainty and danger. She quitted her dwelling in disguise, and,
penetrating through the army of spies who lay in wait around the house
and in the street in which she resided, she happily succeeded in
reaching the hiding-place prepared for her by a faithful servant of her
mother. She had already confided her children to another servant who had
remained true to her in her time of trouble.

The Duke of Otranto, now once more the faithful Fouche of the empire,
was also to have been arrested, but he managed to effect his escape.
General Lavalette--who was aware that the dwelling of the Duchess of St.
Leu was no longer watched by the police, who had discovered that the
duchess was no longer there--Lavalette took advantage of this
circumstance, and concealed himself in her dwelling, and M. de Dandre,
the chief of police, who had vainly endeavored to catch the so-called
conspirators, exclaimed in anguish: "It is impossible to find any one;
it has been so much noised about that these Bonapartists were to be
arrested, that they are now all hidden away."

Like a bombshell the news suddenly burst upon the anxious and doubting
capital: "The emperor has been received by the people in Grenoble with
exultation, and the troops that were to have been led against him have,
together with their chieftain, Charles de Labedoyere, gone over to the
emperor. The gates of the city were thrown open, and the people advanced
to meet him with shouts of welcome and applause; and now Napoleon stood
no longer at the head of a little body of troops, but at the head of a
small army that was increasing with every hour."

The government still endeavored, through its officials and through the
public press, to make the Parisians disbelieve this intelligence.

But the government had lost faith in itself. It heard the old, the hated
cry, "Vive l'empereur!" resounding through the air; it heard the
fluttering of the victorious battle-flags of Marengo, Arcola, Jena, and
Austerlitz! The Emperor Napoleon was still the conquering hero, who
swayed destiny and compelled it to declare for him.

A perfect frenzy of dis