to fierce conflict and
bloodshed. Since his sovereign's death he had bent all the energies of his
mind to contrive the escape of the queen, and he had so far succeeded that
he had enlisted in her cause two men whose posts enabled them to give must
effectual resistance: Michonis, who, like Toulan, was one of the
commissioners of the Council; and Cortey, a captain of the National Guard,
whose company was one of those most frequently on duty at the Temple. It
seemed as if all that was necessary to be done was to select a night for
the escape when the chief outlets of the Temple should be guarded by
Cortey's men; and De Batz, who was at home in every thing that required
manoeuvre or contrivance, had provided dresses to disguise the persons of
the whole family while in the Temple, and passports and conveyances to
secure their escape the moment they were outside the gates. Every thing
seemed to promise success, when at the last moment secret intelligence
that some plan or other was in agitation was conveyed to the Council. It
was not sufficient to enable them to know whom they were to guard against
or to arrest, but it was enough to lead them to send down to the Temple
another commissioner whose turn of duty did not require his presence
there, but whose ferocious surliness of temper pointed him out as one not
easily to be either tricked or overborne. He was a cobbler, named Simon,
the very same to whose cruel superintendence the little king was presently
intrusted.

He came down the very evening that every thing was arranged for the escape
of the hapless family. De Batz saw that all was over if he staid, and
hesitated for a moment whether he should blow out his brains, and try to
accomplish the queen's deliverance by force; but a little reflection
showed him that the noise of fire-arms would bring up a crowd of enemies
beyond his ability to overpower, and it soon appeared that it would tax
all his resources to secure his own escape. He achieved that, hoping still
to find some other opportunity of being useful to his royal mistress; but
none offered. The Assembly did him the honor to set a price on his head;
and at last he thought himself fortunate in being able to save himself.
Those who had co-operated with him had worse fortune. Those in authority
had no proofs on which to condemn them; but in those days suspicion was a
sufficient death-warrant. Michonis and Cortey were suspected, and in the
course of the next year a belief