ognized the officer. He
had no pistol, but his fingers went to his belt and with the quickness
of light itself he hurled a knife straight at Marteau. The woman with
equal speed caught the man's arm and disturbed his aim. Her movement
was purely instinctive. According to his own words she had even more
to fear from Marteau than from this ruffian. The young officer
instantly dropped to his knees and as he did so presented his pistol
and fired. The knife whistled harmlessly over his head and buried
itself in the wood paneling of the door. The bullet sped straight to
its mark. The unfortunate blackguard collapsed on the floor at the
feet of the girl, who screamed and shrank back shuddering.

"Now, mademoiselle," said the young man, advancing into the room, "I
have the happiness to inform you that you are free."

CHAPTER VII

A RESCUE AND A SIEGE

The woman stared at him in wild amazement. That she was free
temporarily at least, could not be gainsaid. Her captors had not seen
fit to bind her and she now stood absolutely untouched by anyone. The
shooting, the fighting, had confused her. She had only seen Marteau as
an accomplice and friend of her assailants, she had no clew to his
apparent change of heart. She did not know whether she had merely
exchanged masters or what had happened. Smiling ironically at her
bewilderment, which he somehow resented in his heart, Marteau proceeded
to further explanation.

"You are free, mademoiselle," he repeated emphatically, bowing before
her.

"But I thought----"

"Did you think that I could be allied with such cowardly thieves and
vagabonds as those?"

"But you said----"

"It was simply a ruse. Could you imagine that one of my family, that
I, should fail in respect and devotion to one of yours, to you? I
determined to free you the instant I saw you."

"And will you not complete your good work?" broke out the man tied to
the chair in harsh and foreign but sufficiently comprehensible French,
"by straightway releasing me, young sir?"

"But who is this?"

"This is Sir Gervaise Yeovil," answered Mademoiselle Laure, "my
attorney, an English officer-of-the-law, of Lord Castlereagh's suite,
who came with me from Chatillon to get certain papers and----"

"Why all this bother and explanation?" burst out Sir Gervaise. "Tell
him to cut these lashes and release me from this cursed bondage," he
added in English.

"That is quite another matter, sir," said Marte