sne? No; this is a war despatch from the
minister. You must set out in two hours. I thought you said you were
prepared."

"Hem! there has been a mistake here," said I, endeavoring to remember
how far I might have committed myself by any unguarded expression.

"All my fault, Captain Burke," said he, frankly. "I should have been
more explicit at first. But I really thought from something--I forget
precisely what now--that you knew of the movement on the frontier, and
were, in fact, prepared for your orders. Heaven knows how far our
mystification might have gone on; for when you spoke of Duchesne--the
ex-captain of the Imperial Guard, I suppose--

"Yes! what of him?"

"Why, it so chanced that he was closeted with the minister this morning,
and only left five minutes before your orders were made out. But come,
neither of us can well spare more time. This is your despatch for the
commandant of the troops at Mayence, to whom you will report verbally on
the equipment of the smaller bodies of men visited _en route_. I shall
give you my note, which, though hurriedly written, will assist your
memory. Above all things, get speedily on the road, and reach Mayence
by Wednesday. Half an hour's speed in times like these is worth a whole
year in one's way to promotion. And so, now, good-by!"

I stood for several minutes after he left the room so confused and
astonished, that had not the huge envelope, with its great seal of
office, confirmed the fact, I could have believed the whole a mere trick
of my imagination.

The jingle of the postilion's equipment in the court beneath now
informed me that a Government _caleche_ stood awaiting me, and I
speedily began my preparations for the road.

One thought filled my mind to the exclusion of all others. It was
Duchesne's influence on which my fortune now rested. The last few words
he uttered as I left the _salon_ were ringing in my ears, and here was
their explanation. This rapid journey was planned by him to remove me
from Paris, where possibly he supposed my knowledge of him might be
inconvenient, and where in my absence his designs might be prosecuted
with more success. Happy as I felt to think that a personal _rencontre_
was not to occur between us, my self-love was deeply wounded at the
thought of how much I was in this man's power, and how arbitrarily he
decided on the whole question of my destiny. If my pride were gratified
on the one hand by my having excited the chevalier's ve