, advancing towards the light, no other than Afra herself. It
was no wonder that he sat upright in his chair, his pale face paler than
usual. In another moment, however, he blushed to the temples on hearing
a suppressed laugh from some one who stood behind Afra, and who said,
after some vain attempts to speak for laughing--

"M. Pascal takes us for ghosts."

"By no means, Mademoiselle Revel. Ghosts do not wrap themselves in
shawls from the night air, I believe; nor come in at the door when the
shorter way is through the wall; or take a seat when asked, as I hope
you will do." And he placed chairs as he spoke.

"We might have frightened you delightfully if we could have looked half
as ghost-like as you did, the first moment you saw us. Perhaps it was
the lamp--"

"Hush! Euphrosyne," said Afra. "You speak too loud, and waste time.
Remember what we came for. Monsieur Pascal," she said, in a low voice,
leaning towards him over the table, and refusing to sit down, "how is
L'Ouverture guarded?"

"Not at all, I believe. Why?"

The girls made a gesture of terror. Both said eagerly--

"He is in great danger; indeed, indeed he is."

"Where are the soldiers?" asked Euphrosyne. "Do send for them directly:
and ask him to lock himself up in the safest place till they come."

"Tell me what you mean, and then--"

"I think he is in danger, now the white rulers are gone, from the people
of my colour," said Afra: "and I fear, this very night."

"Do you mean that they intend to murder him?"

"Perhaps so. Perhaps to seize him, and send him to Rigaud;--and that
will be only a slower murder."

"But how--"

"I will tell you. Euphrosyne and I sat rather late behind the
jalousies, in the dark, to see the people bring in flowers and fruit
from the country for the morning. I saw many mulattoes in the walk; but
none of them had fruit or flowers. I watched them. I know their ways,
their countenances, and their gestures. I saw they were gloomy and
angry; and I found out that it is with L'Ouverture. They were plotting
mischief, I am certain."

"But why so suddenly?--why to-night?"

"So we thought at first; and we went to rest, intending to tell
L'Ouverture to-morrow. But the more we thought and talked about it, the
more uneasy we grew. We were afraid to go to sleep without telling some
one in this wing; so we stole along the corridors in the dark, and saw
that there was a light in this library, and ventured to