y, was lashed to a chair. Between two
ruffianly looking men, who held her firmly, stood a woman.

There were perhaps two dozen other men in the room, unkempt, savage,
brutal, armed with all sorts of nondescript weapons from ancient
pistols to fowling pieces, clubs and scythes. They were all in a state
of great excitement, shouting and gesturing madly.

The woman standing between the two soldiers was in the full light. So
soon as he caught sight of her Marteau recognized her. It was Laure
d'Aumenier. She had grown taller and more beautiful than when he had
seen her last as a young girl. She had been handled roughly, her
clothes were torn, her hair partially unbound. Her captors held her
with an iron grasp upon her arms, but she did not flinch or murmur.
She held herself as erect and looked as imperious as if she had been on
a throne.

CHAPTER VI

MARTEAU BARGAINS FOR THE WOMAN

The sight of her predicament filled the young Frenchman with rage and
horror. Drawing his pistol, he strode into the room. What he intended
to do, or how he intended to do it was not clear even to him. There
stood the woman he loved in the clutch of wretches whose very touch was
pollution. He must help her. All duties and intentions gave way to
that determination.

A dead silence fell over the room as he entered and the people caught
sight of him. He stood staring at the occupants and they returned his
stare in good measure. Finally the biggest ruffian, who seemed to be
the leader, found his voice and burst out with a savage oath:

"Another Russian! Well, the more the merrier."

He raised a huge horse pistol as he spoke. His words were greeted with
jeers and yells from the band. With a flash of inspiration Marteau,
realizing into what he had been led, dropped his own weapon and
instantly threw up his hands.

"I am French, messieurs," he cried loudly as the pistol clattered on
the floor at his feet.

"What are you doing in that uniform, then?" roared the leader.

Marteau tore open the heavy green coat, disclosing beneath it his
French uniform. He had a second to make up his mind how to answer that
pertinent question. He was quite in the dark as to the meaning of the
mysterious situation. He opened his mouth and spoke.

"It is quite simple," he began, "I am----"

What should he say? What was he? Were these men for the Emperor or
for the king, or were they common blackguards for themselves? The
latter was