Part 56 (2/2)

Arloomy reverie

”Yes, citizen,” he replied ”I know it”

”And the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre?”

”Yes I know it too”

Indeed, he knew the chateau well, and the little chapel in the forest, whither the fisher-folk froe once a year to lay their nets on therelic The chapel was disused now Since the owner of the chateau had fled no one had tended it, and the fisher-folk were afraid to wander out, lest their superstitious faith be counted against them by the authorities, who had abolished le bon Dieu

But Aro, on his way to Calais, when Percy had risked his life in order to save hiroaned aloud with the anguish of this recollection But Marguerite's aching nerves had thrilled at the name

The Chateau d'Ourde! The Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre! That was the place which Percy had iven rendezvous to de Batz Sir Andrew had said that the Dauphin could not possibly be there, yet Percy was leading his eneiven the rendezvous there to de Batz And this despite that whatever plans, whatever hopes, had been born in his erie prison ht by the clever counter plot of Chauvelin and Heron

”At the merest suspicion that you have played us false, at a hint that you have led us into an a Capet at the end of the journey are frustrated, the lives of your wife and of your friend are forfeit to us, and they will both be shot before your eyes”

With these words, with this precaution, those cunning fiends had effectually not only tied the schemer's hands, but forced him either to deliver the child to them or to sacrifice his wife and his friend

The impasse was so horrible that she could not face it even in her thoughts A strange, fever-like heat coursed through her veins, yet left her hands icy-cold; she longed for, yet dreaded, the end of the journey--that awful grappling with the certainty of coiven up all hope Long ago he had consecrated his life to the attainment of his own ideals; and there was a vein of fatalisned hiive up his life, as he had said, in the open, beneath God's sky, to draw his last breath with the storh infinity above hi hi into the distance, wrapped in a uerite could see the sloping slate roofs gliht, and the quaint church toith its beautiful lantern, through the pierced stonework of which shone patches of the leaden sky

Then a sudden twist of the road hid the city froht, with its white ranite crosses, over which the dark yeith the rain and shaken by the gale, sent showers of diamond-like sprays

CHAPTER XLV THE FOREST OF BOULOGNE

Progress was not easy, and very slow along thelaboriously, heels creaking and sinking deeply froe of the wood the greyish light of this dislow that had neither brilliance nor incandescence in it; only a weird tint that hung over the horizon and turned the distance into lines of purple

The nearness of the sea made itself already felt; there was a briny taste in the damp atmosphere, and the trees all turned their branches away in the sa winds

The road at this point for the wood on either side, the forest lying like a black close mass of spruce and firs on the left, while the open expanse of country stretched out on the right The south-westerly gale struck with full violence against the barrier of forest trees, bending the tall crests of the pines and causing their small dead branches to break and fall with a sharp, crisp sound like a cry of pain

The squad had been fresh at starting; now the men had been four hours in the saddle under persistent rain and gusty wind; they were tired, and the athing upon their spirits

Strange sounds ca of night-birds, the weird call of the owls, the swift and furtive tread of wild beasts on the prowl The cold winter and lack of food had lured the wolves froradually the grey light fled from the sky, dismal howls could be heard in the distance, and now and then a pair of eyes, bright with the reflection of the lurid western gloould shi+ne loorms, and as quickly vanish away

The ue superstitious fear than with cold

They would have urged their horses on, but the wheels of the coaches stuck persistently in the ain a halt had to be called so that the spokes and axles ht be cleared

They rode on in silence No one had aof the wind in the pine-trees seemed to check the words on every lip The dull thud of hoofs in the soft road, the clang of steel bits and buckles, the snorting of the horses alone answered the wind, and also the h the ruts

Soon the ruddy glow in the west faded into soft-toned purple and then into grey; finally that too vanished Darkness was drawing in on every side like a wide, black ether closer and closer overhead by invisible giant hands

The rain still fell in a thin drizzle that soaked through caps and coats, made the bridles sli over the horses' cruppers, and was rendered fuller and thicker every moment with the breath that causty fury--its strength seeht of day--but now and then it would still co across the open country, and dash itself upon the wall of forest trees, lashi+ng against the horses' ears, catching the corner of aits h of satisfaction die,the pines

Suddenly there was a halt, , a volley of oaths from the drivers, and citizen Chauvelin thrust his head out of the carriage