measures at once so that the
Gars may not escape us."

"Is he at your house?" he asked, in a tone which showed his amazement.

"Not yet," she replied; "but give me a safe man and I will send him to
you when the marquis comes."

"That's a mistake," said Corentin; "a soldier will alarm him, but a boy,
and I can find one, will not."

"Commandant," said Mademoiselle de Verneuil, "thanks to this fog which
you are cursing, you can surround my house. Put soldiers everywhere.
Place a guard in the church to command the esplanade on which the
windows of my salon open. Post men on the Promenade; for though the
windows of my bedroom are twenty feet above the ground, despair does
sometimes give a man the power to jump even greater distances safely.
Listen to what I say. I shall probably send this gentleman out of the
door of my house; therefore see that only brave men are there to meet
him; for," she added, with a sigh, "no one denies him courage; he will
assuredly defend himself."

"Gudin!" called the commandant. "Listen, my lad," he continued in a low
voice when the young man joined him, "this devil of a girl is betraying
the Gars to us--I am sure I don't know why, but that's no matter. Take
ten men and place yourself so as to hold the cul-de-sac in which the
house stands; be careful that no one sees either you or your men."

"Yes, commandant, I know the ground."

"Very good," said Hulot. "I'll send Beau-Pied to let you know when
to play your sabres. Try to meet the marquis yourself, and if you can
manage to kill him, so that I sha'n't have to shoot him judicially, you
shall be a lieutenant in a fortnight or my name's not Hulot."

Gudin departed with a dozen soldiers.

"Do you know what you have done?" said Corentin to Mademoiselle de
Verneuil, in a low voice.

She made no answer, but looked with a sort of satisfaction at the
men who were starting, under command of the sub-lieutenant, for the
Promenade, while others, following the next orders given by Hulot, were
to post themselves in the shadows of the church of Saint-Leonard.

"There are houses adjoining mine," she said; "you had better surround
them all. Don't lay up regrets by neglecting a single precaution."

"She is mad," thought Hulot.

"Was I not a prophet?" asked Corentin in his ear. "As for the boy
I shall send with her, he is the little gars with a bloody foot;
therefore--"

He did not finish his sentence, for Mademoiselle de Verneuil by a sudden
movem