city, Barbara felt it would be a weight lifted from her mind, for she
really was not very happy at sharing in an enterprise which, even to
her inexperience, seemed more fitted for some desperado than a sane
English girl.

Having begun, however, she felt she must go through with it to the best
of her ability, and undertook to write to Neuilly, to arrange with the
widower's son, and to bribe the bath-boy to give the girl the only
cubicle with a window. As a matter of fact, Barbara would have rather
sent the girl to Mademoiselle Vire's, but the latter was so frail that
the excitement might be injurious to her, and it was hardly fair to
introduce such a whirlwind into her haven of peace.

She had an opportunity of speaking to Jean that very day, for he had
offered to give her some lessons in photography, and she was going to
have her first one in the afternoon. The boy was quite delighted with
the thought of having something "to break the monotony of existence,"
and declared that it was an honour to share in any plan for the secure
of the oppressed.

"We will inclose her in the photographic cupboard, mademoiselle," he
said eagerly, "so that none can see her. Oh, we will manage well, I
assure you."

Barbara sighed, fearing she was doing almost as mean a thing as Marie,
and was very doubtful as to what her mother and Aunt Anne would say
when they heard of the adventure.

"I shall go to the look-out station and blow away these mysteries," she
said to herself, when the photography lesson was over; and the very
sight and smell of the sea made her feel better. The steamer from
Dinard had just unloaded its passengers, and was steaming hurriedly
back again with a fresh load, when among those who had landed she
noticed one that seemed not altogether strange to her. She drew
nearer, and was sure of it, and the visitor turning round at the same
moment, the recognition was mutual. It was the "American Pretender."

"I was just going to ask where Mademoiselle Loire lived," he said
gaily, "with the intent of calling upon you. How obliging of you to be
here when the steamboat arrived."

Barbara laughed.

"I often come here to look across at dear St. Malo, and get the breeze
from the sea," she explained. "Besides, I like watching the ferries,
they are so fussy--and the people in them too, sometimes. But how did
you get here?"

"Not having met any more rash and runaway damsels whom I had to escort
back to Dol, I succeede