purlieus of
the Marais and the Temple. Above the houses peered the square tower of
St. Jacques de la Boucherie, and in the weird half light the river
droned along to our right. A grey, creeping mist was slowly covering
the faubourgs and the Ile de la Cite. Through this, as it quivered
onwards, one saw a limitless sea of roofs; and sharp and clear, for
they were still in light, stood out the lofty campaniles of Ste.
Chapelle and St. Severin. But what caught the eye and arrested the
glance was that which rose from the very heart of the great city; for
there, looming vast and immense, the stately pile of Notre Dame brooded
over Paris.

Mademoiselle shivered on my arm. "Oh, monsieur, these streets, these
houses, this immense city, they oppress me like a very spirit of evil!"

"Courage!" I answered. "In two hours we will have left the spirit of
evil behind."

And she sighed to herself as we pressed forward. We had passed the
Vallee de Misere and the Gloriette, and had now come to the fish
market. It was here, amidst the raucous cries of buyers and sellers,
that the crowd forced us to stop for a little. I drew my companion
into the shadow of a booth, and as I did so I heard a fragment of talk
between two men a little to one side of us.

"You think it will be successful?"

"Not one will escape. They are like rats in a trap."

The speaker laughed, and I would have sworn I knew the voice.

Mademoiselle had heard too, and her eyes were shining like stars.

"Do you hear that?" she whispered quickly. "Quick! Let us hasten!"

I held her back for a little, until the two had passed before us. As
the light from the booth fell on them I saw that I was right--the last
speaker was Camus, but the other man I knew not.

"Now, across!" I said, as the two were lost in the crowd, and with that
I hurried mademoiselle to the other side of the road.

"Monsieur," she said, "these men were talking of us, of my people, I
mean--I feel sure of it--and we are too late."

"Not yet!" And I tried to reassure her, but my heart was full of
misgiving. In its wonderful way her woman's instinct had warned her,
and I, knowing what I did know, feared the worst despite all my
assurances to her to the contrary.

It was night when we reached the Rue des Mathurins, for the way was
long. Narrow and dark, the street wound before us. On one side the
upper storeys of the houses were white with moonlight; but the opposite
side was in sha