treatment he had met with.

"You will repent this outrage," he burst out, at last.

"I think not, sir," O'Neil said, quietly. "At any rate, we are
quite ready to take our chance of that. In order that you may feel
at ease with us, I have no hesitation in telling you who we are.
We are the three French officers who, as no doubt you have heard,
yesterday escaped from Newgate, and we are anxious to get out of
the country as soon as possible. It will be also a guarantee to
you that we have no designs on either your pockets or your
person."

Angry as he still was, it was evident, by the expression of the
treasurer's face, that the information was a relief to him, for
indeed he had supposed that he had been carried off by political
enemies, and was very uncertain as to what would befall him.

"What is it that you require, then?" he asked, after a pause.

"Merely this, sir. That you will give us an order, upon an agent
through whom you communicate with France, to take us across the
channel immediately."

"Well, gentlemen," Godolphin said, more calmly, "I must say your
coolness surprises me. Your escape yesterday was, of course,
reported to us; and the manner in which you obtained that rope, by
which you descended, is a mystery that the jail authorities are
wholly unable to solve.

"If you obtain the order you desire, will you give me your word of
honour that it shall be used in a manner in no way hostile to the
interests of this country, but solely, as you say, for the purpose
of conveying you across the channel?"

"That promise we give willingly. We must ask you to pledge your
honour, as a gentleman, that the order you give us will be a
genuine one--a matter that we cannot ascertain until we arrive at
the address given. We are willing to play fairly with you, sir,
but if you do not do the same, we shall certainly return to
London, though in some different guise, and, if so, I warn you
that no guards will save you from our vengeance."

"You need not threaten, sir," Lord Godolphin said calmly. "I will
give you the order, to the person to whom such communications are
addressed, and it shall be couched in the same words as usual."

Desmond placed a sheet of paper, pen, and ink before him. He,
dating it from the Treasury, wrote:

To John Dawkins, Mariner, High Street, Rye. Urgent.

On the receipt of this, you will at once convey the bearer, and
three persons with him, and land them in some convenient spot in
Franc