girls on
some straw in the bottom of the cart, proceeded on the journey.

They met with no adventure whatever on the journey to Nantes, which
was performed in ten days. The weather was bitterly cold. Although
it was now well on in March the snow lay deep on the ground; but
the girls were well wrapped up, and the cart was filled with straw,
which helped to keep them warm. Harry walked for the most part by
the side of the horse's head, for they could only proceed at foot-pace;
but he sometimes climbed up and took the reins, the better to chat
with the girls and keep up their spirits. There was no occasion for
this in the case of Jeanne, but Virginie often gave way and cried
bitterly, and the old nurse suffered greatly from the cold in spite
of her warm wraps.

On arriving at Nantes Harry proceeded first to the Maine, and on
producing Robespierre's document received a permit to lodge in the
town. He then looked for apartments in the neighbourhood of the
river, and when he had obtained them disposed of the horse and cart.
The statement that he was Robespierre's secretary at once secured
for him much attention from the authorities, and he was invited to
become a member of the Revolutionary Committee during his stay in
the town, in order that he might see for himself with what zeal
the instructions received from Paris for the extermination of the
Royalists were being carried out.

This offer he accepted, as it would enable him to obtain information
of all that was going on. Had it not been for this he would gladly
have declined the honour, for his feelings were daily harrowed by
arrests and massacres which he was powerless to prevent, for he
did not venture to raise his voice on the side of mercy, for had he
done so, it would have been certain to excite suspicion. He found
that, horrible as were the atrocities committed in Paris, they
were even surpassed by those which were enacted in the provinces,
and that in Nantes in particular a terrible persecution was raging
under the direction of Carrier, who had been sent down from Paris
as commissioner from the Commune there.

Harry's next object was to make the acquaintance of some of the
fishermen, and to find out what vessels were engaged in smuggling
goods across to England; for it was in one of these alone that he
could hope to cross the Channel. This, however, he found much more
difficult than he had expected.

The terror was universal. The news of the execution of t