ut you are wrong, you are quite wrong. No police spy
would dare to make such an arrest without a special order. If they have
no warrant for searching, they will soon get one as soon as they are
sure you are here. But at present you have vanished into the bowels of
the earth. They can see that your father knows nothing of you; they have
no reason to think that I am any wiser."

So passed those weary days, those long, mysterious nights at Les
Chouettes.

Outside, with great care to keep themselves out of sight, Simon's
scratch band searched the woods and lanes. Simon was mystified, as well
as furious. He hardly dared return and report to his employer, who
supposed that Angelot had been conveyed safely off to the mock prison
where he meant to have him kept for a few weeks; then, when the affair
of the marriage was arranged, to let him escape from it. Simon was
himself too well known in the neighbourhood to make any enquiries; but
one of his men found out at Lancilly that the family supposed young Ange
to have been carried off to Paris, whither his father had followed him.
Martin Joubard, the only witness of the arrest, had made the most of his
story. He did not know the police officer by sight, but Monsieur Ange
had seemed to do so. This had made them all think that the order for the
arrest had come from Sonnay. But no! And as to any escape, this man was
assured that the young gentleman had not been seen by any one but Martin
Joubard, since he left his father's vineyard in the twilight of that
fatal evening.

At Les Chouettes all went on outwardly in its usual fashion. Monsieur
Joseph strolled out with his gun, directed the beginnings of his
vintage; his servants, trustworthy indeed, showed no sign of any special
watchfulness; Mademoiselle Henriette ordered the dogs about and sang her
songs as usual. If Monsieur Joseph was grave and preoccupied, no wonder;
every one knew he loved his nephew. But Simon, in truth, had met his
match. He was almost convinced that no fugitive from justice, real or
pretended, was hidden in or about Monsieur Joseph's habitation; and he
gradually made his cordon wider, still watching the house, but keeping
his men in cover by day, and searching the woods by night with less
exact caution. His only satisfaction was being aware of two visits paid
to Les Chouettes by the Baron d'Ombre, who came over the moor in the
evening and slept there. The mission to England was as yet beyond police
dreams, at