t the close, he said, in a low tone, like the murmur of distant
thunder, "what I have told you, is true,--true, as that we stand on
this solid ground,--true, as that sky that bends above us. This book
says it. It is, therefore, eternal truth. I have it impressed upon my
mind, that a judgment, a swift, tremendous judgment, is about to
descend upon this people on account of their sins. I cannot shake off
this impression, and, under its power, I warn you to prepare your
souls to meet some dreadful calamity.

"I know not how it will come,--in what shape, with what power. But I
feel that death is near. It seems to me that I see many before me, who
will soon be beyond the bounds of time. I feel constrained to say this
to you. I beg you prepare to meet your God".

When he ceased, a visible shudder ran through the multitude. They rose
slowly and wended their way homeward, many with blanched faces, and
even the hardiest with a vague sense of some startling event
impending.

CHAPTER XIV.

JOHN AND CAESAR.

At four o'clock in the afternoon on the following day Mrs. Dubois sat
in the Madonna room. Her fingers were employed upon a bit of exquisite
embroidery, over which she bent with a contracted brow, as if her mind
was filled with anxious thought.

Adele, robed in a French silk of delicate blue, her rich, dark hair
looped up in massive braids, sat listlessly, poring over a volume of
old French romance.

Suddenly rising, she threw it hastily aside, exclaiming as she went
towards an open window, "O! this interminable drought! It makes me
feel so miserable and restless. Does it not oppress you, _ma chere
mere?_"

Mrs. Dubois started suddenly, as Adele spoke.

"Ah! yes. It is very wearisome", she replied.

"_Ma mere_, I have disturbed you. Of what were you thinking when I
spoke?"

"Thinking of the chateau de Rossillon and its inmates. It is very long
since we have had news of them. I am much troubled about the dear
friends. It would be like rain on the parched ground, could I once
more hear my uncle's voice. The good, kind old man!"

"Never fear, _ma mere_. You shall hear it. I have a plan that will
soon take us all to Picardy. You smile, but do I not accomplish my
little schemes? Do not ask me, please, how I shall do it. The
expedition is not wholly matured".

"Not wholly matured, indeed!" said Mrs. Dubois, with an incredulous
smile.

"Nevertheless, it will take place, _ma mere_. But not this week. In
the