ard.

"I doubted whether it was you, captain, for Brenon had only spoken
to us of two; and when I saw three of you, I thought that you must
belong to one of the boats higher up. There are two or three of
them, a bit farther on."

"I did not know, myself, until half an hour ago. This is my friend
Monsieur Desailles, who is in the same danger from these butchers
of the Convention as I am. First pass this box down, and then we
will follow it."

They gathered in the little cabin. It was but some seven feet long.

"It will be close work, captain," Rouget said.

"It will do very well," Jean said cheerfully. "There is room for
two of us to sleep on the lockers, and one on the floor. You have
got the small boat behind you, I see."

"She is there," the man said, "and a good boat she is. We bought
her from two fishermen, who had come down from Saint Florent. She
is very well for up there, but she is scarce fit for fishing far
below Nantes."

"I am glad that she did not belong to this place," Martin said.
"The fishermen might have been surprised to see two strange men in
a boat they knew; but so many have come down here, from the towns
above, that we shall excite no attention. Now, the first thing to
do is to get up sail, and drop down two miles past the town; then
you can go about your fishing as usual. Only one of us will show
upon deck at a time.

"Now, as to the matter on which we are here. Brenon told you that
it was a dangerous business for which you would be required?"

"He told us that it was to hide two gentlemen whom the committee of
public safety would be glad to get hold of; and I knew, of course,
that to do such a thing was dangerous, but we did not like it any
the worse for that. All honest men are horrified at the way these
commissioners from Paris are carrying things on, and would be glad
enough to aid in getting anyone out of their hands."

"But the danger is greater, in our case, than ordinary," Jean went
on. "You heard that my father had been imprisoned?"

"We heard it, captain, and savage it made us, as you may guess.
Everyone spoke well of him and, being your father, of course we
felt it all the more."

"But that is not all, lads. A party of their cavalry went to my
chateau in my absence, burnt it down, and brought my wife here a
prisoner. Now, it is absolutely certain that they will both of them
be condemned, for they have a personal enemy on the committee of
public safety, and they will be m