were red and bloodshot as those of the tiger who has tasted
blood.

With a rare presence of mind, and without dropping his precious bundle,
Rene darted, not under the house, but into it through the main
entrance. Running through the long hall, which was still shrouded in
complete darkness, he sprang out of an open window at its rear end. As
he did so he heard his pursuers enter the house and begin an eager
search of its rooms, at the same time calling others of their comrades
to their assistance.

Breathlessly creeping beneath the building, Rene reached the
underground passage in safety, and deposited within it the papers for
which he had dared so much. After drawing the slab of bark carefully
over the entrance above his head, he removed all the books and papers
to the very middle of the tunnel, where they nearly blocked the narrow
way and rendered it impassable. With the other things, he had brought
away a small iron box, banded and locked, and this he took especial
pains to effectually conceal.

While he was thus working like a mole beneath the ground, the baffled
Spaniards above his head were becoming more and more enraged and
perplexed. Their thorough search of the building into which they had
seen their would-be victim enter, but which no one had seen him leave,
failed to discover not only him, but any traces of the great pile of
books and papers which they had collected for the purpose of burning.

Finally they became convinced that the building contained some secret
chamber that they were unable to detect, and by order of Menendez
himself it was set on fire and burned to the ground. Thus the
Spaniards felt sure that they had destroyed not only the books and
papers, but the unknown enemy who had so daringly risked his life to
recover and save them. At the same time they were greatly astonished
that he should have quietly permitted the fire to destroy him without
making an effort to escape, or allowing a single cry of pain or anguish
to betray his presence. After much consideration of the matter they
finally concluded that so many of the Huguenots had suffered martyrdom
at the stake that they had all learned to endure the torture of burning
in silence.

When Rene had finished storing the books and papers as carefully as the
circumstances would permit, he at last found time to consider his own
safety. Going to the end of the tunnel, and peering cautiously out to
make sure that he was not observed, he