" said another voice as we entered the doorway.

This time I saw the speaker--a vicious-looking woman, who stood with her
friend across the road and pointed our way with her finger.

"So," thought I, as Miss Kit and I carried our fainting burden up the
stairs, "we have at least one friend and one enemy in Paris."

Not a word did my little mistress and I exchange as we laid my lady on
the bed, and took breath after our toilsome ascent. She tried to smile
as I left her to the task of restoration, and retired to my kitchen to
prepare our scanty breakfast.

While thus occupied I was startled by a tap at the window, followed by a
head which I recognised as that of the road-mender I had lately seen.
He must have crawled along the parapet which connected the houses in our
block, or else have been waiting where he was till he could find me
alone.

His cap was slouched over his eyes, and his face was as grimy as the
roads he mended. His finger was raised eagerly to his lips as he
beckoned to me to open the sash.

An instinct of self-preservation impelled me to obey. He clambered in
and shut the window behind him. Then, turning to face me, I encountered
a double shock. The lameness had gone; the figure was erect; the face,
in spite of its grime, was youthful and handsome! That was the first
shock. The second was even greater. For I suddenly recognised in the
form that stood before me my old acquaintance, Captain Lestrange
himself.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

THE COURTYARD OF THE CONCIERGERIE.

"Hush!" said Captain Lestrange, before I could utter a word. "The
ladies are not safe here; they are marked down by the spies. They must
escape at once."

"My lady is still in a faint," said I.

"Faint or no, she must come. Tell them I am here."

He spoke as a soldier with authority; and a pang of jealousy smote me as
I looked at his handsome presence in spite of its disguise.

I went to my lady's room and announced him. She lay half stupified,
with her eyes open, her bosom heaving, and a choking sob in her throat.
Miss Kit kneeled at the bedside and held her hand.

Both were too numb and dazed to express much amazement at the news I
brought; and when Captain Lestrange followed me in, no breath was wasted
on empty greetings.

"I lodge in an attic six houses away. If you could only get on to the
roof," said he, "you would reach it easily."

"We are not far from the roof already," said I, pointing to a corner of