l
acquainted with the city, it would have been impossible for us to find
our way; as it was, I had great difficulty in doing so. More than once
I feared that I had taken a wrong turning; and had I once become
bewildered in that dark night, we might have wandered about till
daylight without reaching the house. The porter, knowing that we were
from home, was on the watch for us; he opened the instant we rapped at
the door. He was a Protestant, and thoroughly trustworthy. He cast an
inquiring glance at Aveline's pale face. My looks, too, probably showed
that something terrible had occurred. I asked if the rest of the party
had returned, and was greatly alarmed to find that they had not. A
stranger, he told me, was with Master Clough.

"Shall I wait a few minutes, and see whether they will arrive, before we
give the sad information to the factor?" I said to Aveline. She
thought we had better go in at once, as no time was to be lost, if
possible, in saving our friends from being carried off to prison. I
dreaded lest some of them might have been among those killed or wounded
by the cruel fire of the Spaniards. Aveline at once agreed to accompany
me into the sitting-room, where Master Clough and his visitor then were.
The porter assured us that he was an Englishman, and we supposed that
there would be no danger in describing what had happened in his
presence. I had always considered the factor a very strong-minded man;
but when I told him that the meeting had been surprised by the Spanish
musketeers, he was almost overcome.

"And my wife!" he exclaimed; "where is she?--why did she not accompany
you?"

I explained that Madam Clough was seated at some little distance from
me, and that had I waited to assist her in escaping, we should all, to a
certainty, have been captured together. "Mistress Radford and I were
seated close to the secret door, with which I was fortunately
acquainted, or we most certainly should not have escaped," I said.

As I spoke, the stranger started and cast an inquiring glance at
Aveline. Till then I had not remarked his appearance, but the movement
he made induced me to examine his countenance more closely, and I then
recognised the captain of the _Falcon_.

"Radford!" he exclaimed, starting up and walking towards Aveline. "Is
this young lady's name Radford?"

"Yes, sir," said Aveline, lifting her eyes from the ground and looking
at him. "It was the name of my father--though, alas!