rt for Newfoundland, and the captain is a servant of mine; if the air
on shore becomes too bad, we will embark, set sail, and vogue la
galeres; come, Pontcalec, forget your old witch and come with us."

"No, no," said Pontcalec, "I will not rush on my fate; reflect, my
friends; we are the chiefs, and we should set a strange example by
flying before we even know if a real danger exists. There is no proof
against us. La Jonquiere is incorruptible; Gaston is intrepid; our
letters from him say that all will soon be over; perhaps, at this very
moment, France may be delivered and the regent dead. What would be
thought of us if, at such a time, we had taken flight? the example of
our desertion would ruin everything here. Consider it well; I do not
command you as a chief, but I counsel you as a friend; you are not
obliged to obey, for I free you from your oath, but in your place I
would not go. We have given an example of devotion; the worst that can
happen to us is to give that of martyrdom; but this will not, I hope, be
the case. If we are arrested, the Breton parliament will judge us. Of
what is it composed?--of our friends and accomplices. We are safer in a
prison of which they hold the key, than on a vessel at the mercy of the
winds; besides, before the parliament has assembled, all Bretagne will
be in arms; tried, we are absolved; absolved, we are triumphant!"

"He is right," said Talhouet; "my uncle, my brothers, all my family are
compromised with me. I shall save myself with them, or die with him."

"My dear Talhouet," said Montlouis, "all this is very fine; but I have a
worse opinion of this affair than you have. If we are in the hands of
any one, it is Dubois, who is not a gentleman, and hates those who are.
I do not like these people who belong to no class--who are neither
nobles, soldiers, nor priests. I like better a true gentleman, a
soldier, or a monk: at least they are all supported by the authority of
their profession. However, I appeal, as we generally do, to the
majority; but I confess, that if it be for flight, I shall fly most
willingly."

"And I," said Du Couedic; "Montesquieu may be better informed than we
suppose; and if it be Dubois who holds us in his clutches, we shall have
some difficulty in freeing ourselves."

"And I repeat, we must remain," said Pontcalec; "the duty of a general
is to remain at the head of his soldiers; the duty of the chief of a
conspiracy is to die at the head of the plot."