ves, never deprived of the clothes she wore, and allowed to
appropriate a few of the toilette necessaries that were quite
incomprehensible to those around her.

She learnt the names for bread, chestnuts, dates, milk, and water, and
these were never denied to her; and her little ingenuities in nursery
games won the goodwill of the women and children around her, though
others used to come and make ugly faces at her, and cry out at her as an
unclean thing. The Abbe was allowed to wander about at will, and keep
his Hours, with Estelle to make the responses, and sometimes Hebert. He
was the only one that might visit the other two captives; Lanty was kept
hard at work over the crop of chestnuts that the clan had come down from
their mountains to gather in; and poor Victorine, who was consumed by a
low fever, and almost too weak to move, lay all day in the dreary and
dirty hut, expecting, but dreading death.

Some days later there was great excitement, shouting, and rage. It
proved that the Bey of Constantina had sent to demand the party,
threatening to send an armed force to compel their surrender; but, alas!
the hope of a return to comparative civilisation was instantly quashed,
for the sheyk showed himself furious. He and Eyoub stood brandishing
their scimitars, and with eyes flashing like a panther's in the dark,
declaring that they were free, no subjects of the Dey nor the Bey either;
and that they would shed the blood of every one of the captives rather
than yield them to the dogs and sons of dogs at Constantina.

This embassy only increased the jealousy with which the prisoners were
guarded. None of them were allowed to stir without a man with a halbert,
and they had the greatest difficulty in entrusting a third letter to the
Moor in command of the party. Indeed, it was only managed by Estelle's
coaxing of the little Abou Daoud, who was growing devoted to her, and
would do anything for the reward of hearing her sing life _Malbrook s'en
va-t'-n guerre_.

It might have been in consequence of this threat of the Bey, much as they
affected to despise it, that the Cabeleyzes prepared to return to the
heights of Mount Araz, whence they had only descended during the autumn
to find fresh pasture for their cattle, and to collect dates and
chestnuts from the forest.

'Alas!' said Hubert, 'this is worse than ever. As long as we were near
the sea, I had hope, but now all trace of us will be lost, even if the
Consul shoul