e been able to render you this service,
mademoiselle. It was most providential that I happened to come
along the road, and heard your screams and cries for aid; and I
determined to see if any foul business was being carried on here.
What made you call out?"

"I had let myself down from the window, by knotting the bedclothes
together. I was blindfolded, when they carried me in here, and did
not know that the walls were so high all round, but had hoped to
find some gate by which I might escape. There were only the great
gates, and these were locked; and I was trying to draw the bolts
when two of the men suddenly rushed out. I suppose the old woman
came up here, and found the room empty. It was then that I
screamed for help, but they dragged me in, in spite of my
struggles, and one said I might scream as much as I liked, for
there was not a house within hearing, and no one would be passing
anywhere near.

"When he said that, I quite gave up hope. I had believed that I
was in some lonely house, in the suburbs of the city, and I little
thought that my cries could not be heard.

"But where are the men who guarded me?"

"Four of them are dead, mademoiselle, and the other securely
bound. Now, if you will tell me who you are, and where your
friends live, I and my soldier servant will escort you to them."

"My name is Anne de Pointdexter."

Desmond was scarcely surprised, for the care which had been taken
in choosing so lonely a spot for her concealment, and the fact
that an officer and four men should be placed there to guard her,
showed that she must have been regarded as a prisoner of
importance.

"Then I am glad, indeed, to have been the means of rescuing you.
All Paris has been talking of your disappearance, for the past ten
days. The question is, what would you wish done? It is too far to
take you to Versailles tonight, and too late to obtain means of
conveyance."

"There is a carriage in the stables behind the house, and there
are some horses. I cannot say how many, but at night I have heard
them stamping. I suppose the carriage was left here so that they
could remove me to some other place, in case suspicion should fall
upon this house. How many are there of you, monsieur?"

"Only myself, and the trooper you see at the door."

"And did you two fight with five men, and kill four of them!" she
exclaimed, in surprise. "How brave of you, monsieur, and how good
to run such risk, for a person of whom you knew not