Part 19 (1/2)

Skipper Bill made his way to a quiet cafe of his acquaintance; and Josiah vanished in the fog to lie hidden with a shi+p upon his youth and air and accent and well-tailored dress to avert suspicion--went boldly to the Hotel Joinville and sat down to dinner The dinner was good; he enjoyed it, and was presently delighting in the roood to be true How glad he was he had come! To be here--in the French Islands of Miquelon--to have captured a schooner--to have a prisoner in the cabin--to be about to run off with the _Heavenly Ho seriously He chuckled--and chuckled--and chuckled again

Presently he walked abroad; and in the quaint streets and old custos of the present and of the neorld as we know it in this day, he found that which soon lifted hihty deeds for honour and a lady Soft voices in the streets, forendarabled roofs, barred s, low doorways, the clatter of sabots, the pendant street lights, the rus, seen in a mist, were all of the days when bold ventures were made--of those days when a brave ht, if it had been wrongfully wrested from him It was a rare dream--and not broken until he turned into the Quai de la Ronciere

As he rounded the corner he was almost knocked from his feet by a burly fellow in a Basque cap as breathless with haste

”Monsieur--if he will pardon--it was not----” this fellow sta past toward the Cafe d'Espoir, appearing everywhere fro with the speed of deep excite, scuffling, shouting

”What has happened?” Archie asked in French

”An Aendarme, monsieur A ter-rible fellow! Oh, fear-r-rful!”

”And hat----”

”He was a ter-rible fellow, endarmes have been on the lookout for hiht, endarmes to bind him--five, monsieur Poor Louis Arnot! He is dead--killed,of an American with his fist They are to take theto warn Deschaeon cell If monsieur will but excuse me, I will----”

He was off; so Archie joined the crowd at the door of the cafe, which was that place to which Skipper Bill had repaired to hide He hung on the outskirts of the crowd, unable to push his way further The wrath of these folk was so noisy that he could catch no word of ent on within He devoutly hoped that Skipper Bill had kept to his hiding-place despite the suspicious sounds in the cafe Then he wormed his way to the door and entered Athe squir to the claabble--rang the fighting English of Bill o' Burnt Bay

It was no Aendarmes had taken, and he was now so seriously involved, apparently, that his worst enemies could wish him no deeper in the uarded with draords, fearing, probably, that somewhere he had a creild fellows at his back to ht of It did not enter the boy's head He was overcorief and terror He withdrew into a shadow until they had carried Skipper Bill out with a crowd yelping at his heels Then, white and shaking, he went to a group in the corner where Louis Arnot, the gendarme, was stretched out on the floor

Archie touched the surgeon on the shoulder ”Is he dead?” the boy asked, in French, his voice tre

”No, monsieur; he is alive”

”Will he live?”

”To be sure, monsieur!”

”Is there any doubt about it?” asked Archie

”Doubt?” exclaieon ”With _my_ skill, monsieur? It is impossible--he _cannot_ die! He will be restored in three days

I--_I_--I will accoht Archie

The boy went gravely home to bed; and as he lay down the adventure seemed less romantic than it had

CHAPTER XVIII

_In Which Archie Inspects an Opera Bouffe Dungeon Jail, Where He Makes the Acquaintance of Dust, Dry Rot and Deschamps In Which, Also, Skipper Bill o' Burnt Bay Is Advised to Howl Until His Throat Cracks_

In theArchie went as a tourist to the jail where Bill o'

Burnt Bay was confined The as blowing fresh from the west and pro wind for the outward bound craft; but Archie Arer any interest in the wind or in the _Heavenly Home_ He was interested in captives and cells To his astonishned chiefly with the idea of io