ry; murder, and, if possible, still more atrocious deeds were hinted
at; and it was remarked that many young children of both sexes suddenly
disappeared, and were never afterwards heard of. One or two had been
traced to the castle of Champtoce, and had never been seen to leave it;
but no one dared to accuse openly so powerful a man as the Marechal de
Rays. Whenever the subject of the lost children was mentioned in his
presence, he manifested the greatest astonishment at the mystery which
involved their fate, and indignation against those who might be guilty of
kidnapping them. Still the world was not wholly deceived; his name became
as formidable to young children as that of the devouring ogre in fairy
tales, and they were taught to go miles round, rather than pass under the
turrets of Champtoce.

In the course of a few years, the reckless extravagance of the marshal
drained him of all his funds, and he was obliged to put up some of his
estates for sale. The Duke of Brittany entered into a treaty with him for
the valuable seignory of Ingrande; but the heirs of Gilles implored the
interference of Charles VII. to stay the sale. Charles immediately issued
an edict, which was confirmed by the provincial Parliament of Brittany,
forbidding him to alienate his paternal estates. Gilles had no alternative
but to submit. He had nothing to support his extravagance but his
allowance as a marshal of France, which did not cover the one-tenth of his
expenses. A man of his habits and character could not retrench his
wasteful expenditure, and live reasonably; he could not dismiss without a
pang his horsemen, his jesters, his morris-dancers, his choristers, and
his parasites, or confine his hospitality to those who really needed it.
Notwithstanding his diminished resources, he resolved to live as he had
lived before, and turn alchymist, that he might make gold out of iron, and
be still the wealthiest and most magnificent among the nobles of Brittany.

In pursuance of this determination, he sent to Paris, Italy, Germany, and
Spain, inviting all the adepts in the science to visit him at Champtoce.
The messengers he despatched on this mission were two of his most needy
and unprincipled dependants, Gilles de Sille and Roger de Bricqueville.
The latter, the obsequious panderer to his most secret and abominable
pleasures, he had entrusted with the education of his motherless daughter,
a child but five years of age, with permission that he might