how it echoed from the Haut-du-Cap!" cried Afra. "I wonder what
the cultivators understood by it. See! my father's barge! There is
fighting there, surely."

As Hedouville and his suite approached the wharf, the Governor's barge,
which had lain at a little distance from the shore, began to press in,
among the crowd of other boats, at a signal from one of the trompettes.
The other boats, which were taking in terrified women and children,
resisted this movement, and refused, at such a moment, its usual
precedence to the Governor's barge. There was a hustling, a struggling,
a shrieking, an uproar, so loud as to reach the ears and understandings
of the insurgents. The word spread that the Commissary was escaping
them. They broke through their opponents, and began a rush to the
wharves. Not a few shots were now fired; but the young ladies scarcely
heeded them in the excitement of this decisive moment.

"Oh, they will seize him! They will tear him in pieces!" cried Afra.

"He cannot--no, he never can get away!" exclaimed Euphrosyne.

"And he gave me the sweetest smile as he was going out!" said the
weeping gouvernante.

"There! Bravo! Bravo!" cried Monsieur Pascal; and Pierre echoed
"Bravo!"

"What is it? What is it?" cried the girls.

"He is safe! He and his party--they are all safe! Not in the barge--
that is upset. You see those two green boats, now pulling off. They
are there. They leaped into those boats just in time."

"Oh, look, look! what dreadful confusion!" cried Euphrosyne, covering
her eyes with her hands.

"It is not so sure that they are safe yet," observed Pierre. "See how
the blacks are pouring into the water!"

"And carrying the ladies and children with them, I fear," said Monsieur
Pascal, gazing anxiously through his glass.

In fact, the negroes had no idea of giving up the pursuit because they
had reached the water. Hundreds plunged in; and their heads were seen
bobbing about all the surface of the bay. The rowers, however, pulled
well, and presently left the greater number behind, to find satisfaction
in the coolness of the element.

"There is no great harm done," said Monsieur Pascal, still gazing
through his glass. "They have picked up two ladies and three children;
and none seem to be missing."

"It is well that you and Monsieur were not there, Euphrosyne," observed
Afra.

Euphrosyne shuddered, and Pierre looked all amazement at the absurdity
of such an idea.

"No