ut did not have to bother about the boat while it was at anchor.
The French officials were the ones who made arrangements with the
harbor authorities. He merely had to be the justification for the flag,
a captain of a neutral country, whose presence certified to the
nationality of the vessel. Only on the sea did he recover command,
every one becoming obedient to those on the bridge.

He wandered through Marseilles as at other times, passing the first
hours of the evening on the terraces of the _Cannebiere_.

An old Marseillaise, captain of a merchant steamer, used to chat with
him before returning to his office. One afternoon, while Ferragut was
absent-mindedly glancing at a certain Paris daily that his friend was
carrying, his attention was suddenly attracted by a name printed at the
head of a short article. Surprise made him turn pale while at the same
time something contracted within his breast. Again he spelled out the
name, fearing that he had been under an hallucination. Doubt was
impossible: it was very clear,--_Freya Talberg_. He took the paper from
his comrade's hand, disguising his impatience by an assumption of
curiosity.

"What is the war news to-day?..."

And while the old sailor was giving him the news, he read feverishly
the few lines grouped beneath that name.

He was bewildered. The heading told little to one ignorant of the
preceding facts to which the periodical alluded. These lines were
simply voicing a protest against the government for not having made the
famous Freya Talberg pay the penalty to which she had been sentenced.
The paragraph terminated with mention of the beauty and elegance of the
delinquent as though to these qualities might be attributed the delay
in punishment.

Ferragut put forth all his efforts to give his voice a tone of
indifference.

"Who is this individual?" he said, pointing to the heading of the
article.

His companion had some difficulty in recalling her. So many things were
happening because of the war....

"She is a _boche_, a spy, sentenced to death.... It appears that she
did a great deal of work here and in other ports, sending word to the
German submarines about the departure of our transports.... They
arrested her in Paris two months ago when she was returning from
Brest."

His friend said this with a certain indifference. These spies were so
numerous!... The newspapers were constantly publishing notices of their
shooting:--two lines, no more, as thoug