aydreaming as usual, when
the door was opened, and the turnkey requested me to finish dressing
and follow him.

"What is it now?" I inquired anxiously.

"An order to attend the Council Chamber, monsieur."

"Am I to receive my freedom?"

"I cannot tell, but there are no soldiers below, which is not a bad
sign."

I knew my way by now, and followed my gaoler briskly down the staircase
to the chamber. The four councillors were there, standing together,
and near them was Conde himself.

"Well, M. de Lalande, did you expect to see me again?" he asked.

"I hoped to do so, your Highness."

"Then you do not fear my discoveries? Well, I have inquired into your
story, and am inclined to believe you spoke the truth. For one thing,
M. Peleton has disappeared."

"Then he has received a warning, your Highness."

"That is possible, as he may know too much. Still, without his
evidence I cannot probe to the bottom of this affair. Now I am going
to make you a proposal. If I set you at liberty, will you find this M.
Peleton and bring him to me? His arrest is necessary, you understand,
in order to clear your own character."

"Then I shall be the more anxious to discover him, your Highness."

"Very well; and remember, it must be done without noise or fuss, by
yourself and your friends. If my fresh suspicions are correct, he has
powerful patrons whom I have no desire to ruffle for the present. So
it must be your private affair, and you take all the risks."

"I will do that willingly."

"So I expected," said he, laughing, and at once directed the weazened
councillor to make out my paper of discharge. Having fulfilled certain
formalities, I was escorted beyond the five gates and set at liberty.

It was strange what an unfamiliar aspect the streets of the city at
first bore. I stood for a time perplexed by the change from the gloomy
Bastille, bewildered by the noise of the traffic, and scarcely knowing
which direction to take. Wandering on aimlessly, I at length found
myself on the Quai Henry IV., and, keeping steadily along past the
Hotel de Ville, reached the head of the Pont Neuf. Turning off here, I
was soon in the familiar net-work of streets near the Palais Royal, and
presently entered the Rue des Catonnes.

My landlord, who would hardly have raised an eyebrow in the midst of an
earthquake, made no comment on my long absence, but, merely observing
that monsieur would perhaps like something to eat, disappear