hat day. He opened the next few papers mechanically, but
steadied himself upon Robespierre asking him a question. For a time
he worked on; but his brain was swimming, and he was on the point
of saying that he felt strangely unwell, and must ask to be excused
his work for that day, when he heard a ring at the bell, and a
moment later Lebat entered the room.

"I have just come from the tribunal, citizen," he said, "and have
seen the list for to-morrow. I have come to you, as I know you are
just, and abhor the shedding of innocent blood. There is among the
number a young girl, who is wholly innocent. I know her well, for
she comes from my province, and her father's chateau was within a
few miles of Dijon. Although her father was a furious aristocrat,
her heart was always with the people. She was good to the poor, and
was beloved by all the tenants on the estate. It is not just that
she should die for the sins of her parents. Moreover, henceforth,
if pardoned, she will be no longer an aristocrat. I respond for
her; for she has promised to marry me, the delegate of Burgundy
to the Commune. The young woman is the daughter of the man called
the Marquis de St. Caux, who met his deserved fate on the 2d of
September."

"You are willing to respond for her, citizen?" Robespierre said.

"I am. The fact that she will be my wife is surely a guarantee?"

"It is," Robespierre said. "What you tell me convinces me that I
can without damage to the cause of the people grant your request.
I am the more glad to do so since my secretary has also prayed
for her life. But though he rendered me the greatest service, and
I owe to him a debt of gratitude, I was obliged to refuse; for
to grant his request would have been to allow private feeling to
interfere with the justice of the people; but now it is different.
You tell me that, except by birth, she is no aristocrat; that she
has long been a friend of the people, and that she is going to be
your wife; on these grounds I can with a good conscience grant her
release."

Lebat had looked with astonishment at Harry as Robespierre spoke.

"Thank you, citizen," he said to Robespierre. "It is an act of justice
which I relied upon from your well-known character. I promise you
that your clemency will not be misplaced, and that she will become a
worthy citizen. May I ask," he said, "how it is that your secretary,
whose face seems familiar to me, is interested in this young woman
also?"

"It is si