he was from Bordeaux, where he had
been to see his parents, and get cured of a sabre cut.

As he passed through the town of Blois, Rupert suddenly came upon a
group of horsemen. Saluting as he passed--for in those days in
France no one of inferior rank passed one of the upper classes
without uncovering--he went steadily on.

"That is a proper looking fellow," one of the party said, looking
after him.

"By our Lady," exclaimed another, "I believe I have seen that head
and shoulders before. Yes, I feel sure.

"Gentlemen, we have made a prize. Unless I am greatly mistaken,
this is the villainous Englishman who it is believed aided that
malapert young lady to escape."

In another moment Rupert was surrounded. His hat was knocked off;
and the Duc de Carolan, for it was he, exclaimed in delight:

"I thought that I could not be mistaken. It is himself."

Rupert attempted no resistance, for alone and on foot it would have
been hopeless.

The governor of the royal castle of Blois was one of the party, and
Rupert found himself in another ten minutes standing, with guards
on each side of him, before a table in the governor's room, with
the governor and the Duc de Carolan sitting as judges before him.

"I have nothing to say," Rupert said, quietly. "I escaped from
Lille because I had been, as I deemed it, unworthily treated in
Paris. I had withdrawn my parole, and was therefore free to escape
if I could. I did escape, but finding the frontier swarmed with
French troops, I thought it safer to make for central France, where
a wayfarer would not be looked upon as suspiciously as in the
north. Here I am. I decline to answer any further questions.

"As to the lady of whom you question me, I rejoice to find, by the
drift of your questions, that she has withdrawn herself from the
persecution which she suffered, and has escaped being forced into
marriage with a man she once described in my hearing as an ape in
the costume of the day."

"And that is all you will say, prisoner?" the governor asked, while
the Duc de Carolan gave an exclamation of fury.

"That is all, sir; and I would urge, that as an English officer I
am entitled to fair and honourable treatment; for although I might
have been shot in the act of trying to escape from prison, it is
the rule that an escaping prisoner caught afterwards, as I am,
should have fair treatment, although his imprisonment should be
stricter and more secure than before.

"As to the oth