Part 21 (1/2)

Percy had not coht to face without news of Jeanne So, of course, had detained Percy; perhaps he had been unable to get definite information about Jeanne; perhaps the information which he had obtained was too terrible to communicate

If only Sir Andrew Ffoulkes had been there, and Armand had had some one to talk to, perhaps then he would have found sufficient strength of h his nerves were on the rack

Darkness closed in around him, and with the darkness came the full return of the phantoms that had assailed him in the house of the Square du Roule when first he had heard of Jeanne's arrest The open place facing the gate had transforh post that held a flickering oil laht of the laleaht

And Armand saw hi--they were all pressing round hi caps and tricolour flags, also pitchforks and scythes

He had seen such a crowd four years ago rushi+ng towards the Bastille

Now they were all asseuillotine

Suddenly a distant rattle caught his subconscious ear: the rattle of wheels on rough cobble-stones I the ”Ca ira!” and others screamed:

”Les aristos! a la lanterne! a mort! a mort! les aristos!”

He saw it all quite plainly, for the darkness had vanished, and the vision was more vivid than even reality could have been The rattle of wheels grew louder, and presently the cart debouched on the open place

Men and women sat huddled up in the cart; but in the midst of them a woman stood, and her eyes were fixed upon Arown, and a white kerchief was folded across her bosom Her brown hair fell in loose soft curls all round her head She looked exactly like the exquisite cauerite used to wear Her hands were tied with cords behind her back, but between her fingers she held a small bunch of violets

Armand saw it all It was, of course, a vision, and he knew that it was one, but he believed that the vision was prophetic No thought of the chief whom he had sworn to trust and to obey cas of his fevered fancy He saw Jeanne, and only Jeanne, standing on the tuuillotine Sir Andreas not there, and Percy had not coe had come to hiot his pros which the leader had entreated him to remember--his duty to the others, his loyalty, his obedience Jeanne had first claim on him It were the act of a coward to reer

Now he bla quitted Paris Even Percyquite so readily Maybe the coth of his love for Jeanne

A hundred conjectures flashed through his brain; a hundred plans presented themselves to his mind It was not for Percy, who did not know her, to save Jeanne or to guard her That task was Arladly die beside her if he failed to rescue her fro A tower clock inside the city struck the hour of six, and still no sign of Percy

Armand, his certificate of safety in his hand, walked boldly up to the gate

The guard challenged hi moment when the card was taken frouard-rooeant in coood order, and Ar down his face, did certainly not look like an aristocrat in disguise It was never very difficult to enter the great city; if one wished to put one's head in the lion's mouth, one elcoht fit to close his jaws

Armand, after five minutes of tense anxiety, was allowed to cross the barrier, but his certificate of safety was detained He would have to get another from the Committee of General Security before he would be allowed to leave Paris again

The lion had thought fit to close his jaws

CHAPTER XVI THE WEARY SEARCH

Blakeney was not at his lodgings when Ar, nor did he return, whilst the young man haunted the precincts of St

Ger the quays hours and hours at a stretch, until he nearly dropped under the portico of a house, and realised that if he loitered longer he ht lose consciousness completely, and be unable on the ed his weary footsteps back to his own lodgings on the heights of Montmartre He had not found Percy, he had no news of Jeanne; it seemed as if hell itself could hold no worse tortures than this intolerable suspense

He threw himself down on the narrow palliasse and, tired nature asserting herself, at last fell into a heavy, dreamless torpor, like the sleep of a drunkard, deep but without the beneficent aid of rest

It was broad daylight when he awoke The pale light of a dari of limb but resolute ofJeanne's whereabouts; but where a mere friend had failed a lover was h clothes which he had worn yesterday were the only ones he had