ched the calvary they turned towards it,
bowed, crossed themselves, and the lad rang a little silver bell. Then
the two passed on, the lad still ringing. When they were out of sight
the sound of the bell came softly, softly up the road, while the bell in
the church tower still called to prayer.

The words the priest chanted seemed to ring through the air after he had
gone.

"God have mercy upon the passing soul!
God have mercy upon the passing soul!
Hear the prayer of the sinner, O Lord;
Listen to the voice of those that mourn;
Have mercy upon the sinner, O Lord!"

When Ferrol turned to Sophie again, both her hands were clasping the
calvary, and she had dropped her head upon them.

"I must go," he said. She did not move.

Again he spoke to her; but she did not lift her head. Presently,
however, as he stood watching her, she moved away from the calvary, and,
with her back still turned to him, stepped out into the road and hurried
on towards her home, never once turning her head.

He stood looking after her for a moment, then turned and, sitting on
a log behind the shrubbery, he tore a few pieces of paper out of a
note-book and began writing. He wrote swiftly for about twenty minutes
or more, then, arising, he moved on towards the village, where crowds
had gathered--excited, fearful, tumultuous; for the British soldiers had
just entered the place.

Ferrol seemed almost oblivious of the threatening crowd, which once
or twice jostled him more than was accidental. He came into the
post-office, got an envelope, put his letter inside it, stamped it,
addressed it to Christine, and dropped it into the letter-box.

CHAPTER XX

An hour later he stood among a few companies of British soldiers in
front of the massive stone store-house of the Lavilettes' abandoned
farmhouse, with its thick shuttered windows and its solid oak doors. It
was too late to attempt the fugitive's escape, save by strategy. Over
half an hour Nic had kept them at bay. He had made loopholes in the
shutters and the door, and from these he fired upon his assailants.
Already he had wounded five and killed two.

Men had been sent for timber to batter down the door and windows.
Meanwhile, the troops stood at a respectful distance, out of the range
of Nic's firing, awaiting developments.

Ferrol consulted with the officers, advising a truce and parley,
offering himself as mediator to induce Nic to surrender.