s still rising. Pierre, who was watching it, cried:

"Louis, we must look out! The water is up to the window!"

That warning snatched us from our spell of despair. I was once more
myself. Shrugging my shoulders, I said:

"Money is nothing. As long as we are all saved, there need be no
regrets. We shall have to work again--that is all!"

"Yes, yes; you are right, father," said Jacques, feverishly. "And we run
no danger--the walls are good and strong. We must get up on the roof."

That was the only refuge left us. The water, which had mounted the
stairs step by step, was already coming through the door. We rushed
to the attic in a group, holding close to each other. Cyprien had
disappeared. I called him, and I saw him return from the next room,
his face working with emotion. Then, as I remarked the absence of the
servants, for whom I was waiting, he gave me a strange look, then said,
in a suppressed voice:

"Dead! The corner of the shed under their room caved in."

The poor girls must have gone to fetch their savings from their trunks.
I told him to say nothing about it. A cold shiver had passed over me. It
was Death entering the house.

When we went up, in our turn, we did not even think of putting out the
lights. The cards remained spread upon the table. There was already a
foot of water in the room.

III.

Fortunately, the roof was vast and sloped gently. We reached it through
a lid-like window, above which was a sort of platform. It was there that
we took refuge. The women seated themselves. The men went over the tiles
to reconnoitre. From my post against the dormer window through which we
had climbed, I examined the four points of the horizon.

"Help cannot fail to arrive," I said, bravely. "The people of Saintin
have boats; they will come this way. Look over there! Isn't that a
lantern on the water?"

But no one answered me. Pierre had lighted his pipe, and he was smoking
so furiously that, at each puff, he spit out pieces of the stem. Jacques
and Cyprien looked into the distance, with drawn faces; while Gaspard,
clenching his fists, continued to walk about, seeking an issue. At our
feet the women, silent and shivering, hid their faces to shut out the
sight. Yet Rose raised her head, glanced about her and demanded:

"And the servants? Where are they? Why, aren't they here?"

I avoided answering. She then questioned me, her eyes on mine.

"Where are the servants?"

I turned away, unable to li