barriere_, where the dignified official stood, in the calm repose of
his station, as if daring us to transgress his frontier. Already had he
stepped forward with his accustomed question. The words, 'Messieurs,
je vous demande,' had just escaped his lips, when he had barely time
to spring into his den as the furious leaders tore past, the pavement
crashing beneath their hoofs, and shouts of laughter mingling with the
uproar.

[Illustration: 3-132]

Having driven for a league or so at a slow pace, to breathe our cattle,
we turned homewards, rejoicing in the success of our scheme, which had
fully satisfied our expectations. What was our chagrin, however, as
we neared the _barriere_, to discover that a strong force of mounted
gendarmes stopped the way, their drawn sabres giving us plainly to
understand the fate that awaited our horses if we persisted in our plan!
What was to be done? To force a passage under the circumstances was only
to give an opportunity to the gendarmerie they were long anxious for, to
cut our whole equipage in pieces. To yield was the only alternative; but
what an alternative!--to be laughed at by the whole town on the very day
of our victory!

'I have it!' said O'Grady, who sat on the box beside the driver--'I have
it, lads! Pull up when they tell you, and do as they direct.'

With some difficulty the four dashing nags were reined in as we came up
to the _barriere_; and the commissaire, bursting with passion, appeared
at the door of the lodge, and directed us to get down.

'Your passports will avail little on the present occasion,' said he
insolently, as we produced our papers. 'Your carriage and horses
are confiscated. St. Omer has now privilege as a fortified town. The
fortresses of France enforce a penalty of forty thousand francs----'

A burst of laughter from the bystanders at our rueful faces prevented us
hearing the remainder of the explanation. Meanwhile, to our horror
and disgust, some half-dozen gendarmes, with their long caps and heavy
boots, were crawling up the sides of the drag, and taking their seats
upon the top. Some crept into the interior, and showed their grinning
faces at the windows; others mounted into the rumble; and two more
aspiring spirits ascended to the box, by one of whom O'Grady was rudely
ordered to get down, a summons enforced by the commissaire himself in
a tone of considerable insolence. O'Grady's face for a minute or two
seemed working with a secret impulse of