elded, though not without great misgivings. The day
for her marriage with her new lover was fixed; but, at the last
moment, she relented. Her faithfulness and love for the heroic
galley-slave had never been shaken, and she resolved to remain
constant to him, to remain unmarried if need be, or to wait for his
liberation until death!

It is probable that her noble decision determined Fabre and Fabre's
friends to make a renewed effort for his liberation. At last, after
having been more than six years a galley-slave, he bethought him of a
method of obtaining at least a temporary liberty. He proposed--without
appealing to Saint-Florentin, who was the bitter enemy of the
Protestants--to get his case made known to the Duc de Choiseul,
Minister of Marine. This nobleman was a just man, and it had been in a
great measure through his influence that the judgment of Calas had
been reconsidered and reversed.

Fabre, while on the rowers' bench, had often met with a M. Johannot, a
French Protestant, settled at Frankfort-on-Maine, to whom he stated
his case. It may be mentioned that Huguenot refugees, on their visits
to France, often visited the Protestant prisoners at the galleys,
relieved their wants, and made intercession for them with the outside
world. It may also be incidentally mentioned that this M. Johannot was
the ancestor of two well-known painters and designers, Alfred and
Tony, who have been the illustrators of some of our finest artistic
works.

Johannot made the case of Fabre known to some French officers whom he
met at Frankfort, interested them greatly in his noble character and
self-sacrifice, and the result was that before long Fabre obtained,
directly from the Duc de Choiseul, leave of absence from the position
of galley-slave. The annoyance of Saint-Florentin, Minister of State,
was so well-known, that Fabre, on his liberation, was induced to
conceal himself. Nor could he yet marry his promised wife, as he had
not been discharged, but was only on leave of absence; and
Saint-Florentin obstinately refused to reverse the sentence that had
been pronounced against him.

In the meantime, Fabre's name was becoming celebrated. He had no idea,
while privately settled at Ganges as a silk stocking maker, that great
people in France were interesting themselves about his fate. The
Duchesse de Grammont, sister of the Duc de Choiseul, had heard about
him from her brother; and the Prince de Beauvau, governor of
Languedoc, the