an, who had already sunk upon a
seat.

"Why come yourself, in this state!" cried Toussaint, hastening to
support him.

"I could more easily come than write my news," replied Dessalines; "and
it is news that I would commit to no man's ear but your own."

"Shall I go?" asked Monsieur Pascal of Toussaint.

"No. Stay and hear. Tell us your tidings, Jacques."

"I am as well here as down in the south-west, or you would not have seen
me."

"You mean that all is lost there?"

"All is lost there."

"While the enemy is beguiling us with letters, and talk of truce!"
observed Toussaint to Pascal. "Where was your battle, Jacques? How can
all the west be lost?"

"The French have bought La Plume. They told him your cause was
desperate, and promised him honours and office in France. Get me cured,
and let me win a battle for you, and I have no doubt I can buy him back
again. Meantime--"

"Meantime, what has Domage done? Is he with me or La Plume? And is
Chaney safe?"

"Domage never received your instructions. La Plume carried them, and no
doubt, your aide-de-camp also, straight to the French. Chaney has not
been seen: he is traitor or prisoner."

"Then Cayes is not burned, nor Jeremie defended?"

"Neither the one nor the other. Both are lost; and so is
Port-au-Prince. My troops and I did our best at the Croix de Bosquets:
but what could we do in such a case? I am here, wounded within an inch
of my life; and they are in the fastnesses. You were a doctor once,
L'Ouverture. Set me up again; and I will gather my men from the
mountains, and prick these whites all across the peninsula into the
sea."

"I will be doctor, or nurse, or anything, to save you, Jacques."

"What if I have more bad news? Will you not hate me?"

"Lose no time, my friend. This is no hour for trifling."

"There is no room for trifling, my friend. I fear--I am not certain--
but I fear the east is lost."

"Is Clerveaux bought too?"

"Not bought. He is more of your sort than La Plume's. He is
incorruptible by money; but he likes the French, and he loves peace. He
would be a very brother to you, if he only loved liberty better than
either. As it is, he is thought to have delivered over the whole east,
from the Isabella to Cap Samana, without a blow."

"And my brother!"

"He has disappeared from the city. He did not yield; but he could do
nothing by himself, or with only his guard. He disappeared in the
night, and is thou