more. I am not a fool. There will be no need of carefulness. Sabatier,
to-morrow you must find out what Citizen Bruslart does. His movements
may be interesting."

"And this man Barrington?"

"Leave him to me," answered Latour.

No man knew better when to wait and when to act than Raymond Latour, and
few men had a keener perception of possibilities, of chances which were
worth taking, of risks it was unwise to run. He appreciated his own
power and influence to the very turn of a hair in the balance, and
although to his companions he might exaggerate or underrate that
influence to suit the occasion, he never made the fatal mistake of
deceiving himself in the matter. Under ordinary circumstances, had his
interest been aroused in a prisoner, he would have gone openly to those
in authority and put the case before them, with every confidence not
only of being listened to, but of getting his request granted. He had a
strong following and was too powerful to offend. But for such a prisoner
as Mademoiselle St. Clair, he knew that he dare not plead. The strongest
man in Paris would be howled down by the mob if he attempted to procure
her acquittal. She was closely connected with the best hated families of
France, she stood not for herself but for what she represented, and the
mob had assisted at no capture that pleased it more. This knowledge had
for a moment robbed Latour of his nerve and courage. Strong man and
self-contained as he was, he had not been able to control himself and
hide his fear from Jacques Sabatier; yet now, as he passed quickly
through the streets in the direction of the Abbaye prison, his step was
firm, his face resolute, his course of action determined upon.

For an hour he talked with two friends of his who were in charge of this
prison of the Abbaye, laughed and rejoiced with them at the arrest of
such an important emigre that day; and then, at their prophecy that she
would not be long in their keeping, that the tribunal would see to it
that she went speedily upon her last journey to the Place de la
Revolution, Latour ventured a protest--the first move in his scheme. It
was so definite a protest that his companions were astonished.

"What! Does a woman appeal to you? Are you losing your hatred for
aristocrats?"

"The woman appeals to me in a curious way," Latour answered. "After all,
what is she? A little fish out of a great shoal. I would net in the
shoal. It is not difficult with this little fish