is had come to
an end. The difficulty now was, to see Mimi at all. It is true there
was no lack of friendliness on the part of the commandant, or of his
good lady; but then he was only one among many, who all were received
with the same genial welcome by this genial and polished pair. The
chivalry of Louisbourg crowded to do homage to the beautiful
stranger, and the position of Claude did not seem to be at all more
favorable than that of the youngest cadet in the service.

His obscurity now troubled Claude greatly. He found himself quite
insignificant in Louisbourg. If he had possessed the smallest
military rank, he would have been of more consequence. He thought of
coming out in his true name, as the Count de Montresor, but was
deterred by the thought of the troubles into which he had already
fallen by the discovery of his name. How much of that arrest was due
to the ill will of Cazeneau, and how much to the actual dangers
besetting him as a Montresor, he could not know. He saw plainly
enough that the declaration of his name and rank might lead to a new
arrest at the hands of this commandant, in which case escape could
hardly be thought of. He saw that it was better far for him to be
insignificant, yet free, than to be the highest personage in
Louisbourg, and liable to be flung into a dungeon. His ignorance of
French affairs, and of the actual history of his family, made him
cautious; so that he resolved not to mention the truth about himself
to any one. Under all these circumstances, Claude saw no other
resource but to endure as best he could the unpleasantness of his
personal situation, and live in the hope that in the course of time
some change might take place by which he could be brought into closer
connection with Mimi.

Fortunately for him, an opportunity of seeing Mimi occurred before he
had gone too deep down into despondency. He went up one day to the
citadel, about a week after he had come to Louisbourg. Mimi was at
the window, and as he came she saw him, and ran to the door. Her face
was radiant with smiles.

"O, I am so glad," she said, "that you have come! I did so want to
see you, to ask you about something!"

"I never see you alone now," said Claude, sadly, holding her hand as
though unwilling to relinquish it.

"No," said Mimi, with a slight flush, gently withdrawing her hand, "I
am never alone, and there are so many callers; but M. Florian has
gone out, taking the madame, on an affair of some i