, considering
the position to which you aspire in my family, that you should for an
instant stand in the way of any wish which I may express. If you have
grasped the true principles of liberty, and if you are privileged to be
one of the small band who have never despaired of the republic, to whom
is it that you owe it?'

'Yes, yes, Charles; I acknowledge what you say,' the young man answered,
with much agitation. 'I am sure that I should be the last to oppose any
wish which you might express, but in this case I fear lest your
tenderness of heart may be leading you astray. By all means ask him any
questions that you like; but it seems to me that there can be only one
end to the matter.'

So I thought also; for, with the full secret of these desperate men in
my possession, what hope was there that they would ever suffer me to
leave the hut alive? And yet, so sweet is human life, and so dear a
respite, be it ever so short a one, that when that murderous hand was
taken from my chin I heard a sudden chiming of little bells, and the
lamp blazed up into a strange fantastic blur. It was but for a moment,
and then my mind was clear again, and I was looking up at the strange
gaunt face of my examiner.

'Whence have you come?' he asked.

'From England.'

'But you are French?'

'Yes.'

'When did you arrive?'

'To-night.'

'How?'

'In a lugger from Dover.'

'The fellow is speaking the truth,' growled Toussac. 'Yes, I'll say
that for him, that he is speaking the truth. We saw the lugger, and
someone was landed from it just after the boat that brought me over
pushed off.'

I remembered that boat, which had been the first thing which I had seen
upon the coast of France. How little I had thought what it would mean
to me!

And now my advocate began asking questions--vague, useless questions--in
a slow, hesitating fashion which set Toussac grumbling. This
cross-examination appeared to me to be a useless farce; and yet there
was a certain eagerness and intensity in my questioner's manner which
gave me the assurance that he had some end in view. Was it merely that
he wished to gain time? Time for what? And then, suddenly, with that
quick perception which comes upon those whose nerves are strained by an
extremity of danger, I became convinced that he really was awaiting
something--that he was tense with expectation. I read it upon his drawn
face, upon his sidelong head with his ear scooped into his hand, abov