k till you have found it; I will remain here."

"I go, monseigneur."

"And if, in your researches, you discover that the house is
picturesque--you know how I admire Flemish interiors, Aurilly."

"Yes, monseigneur."

"Well! call me."

"Immediately, monseigneur; be easy."

Aurilly rose, and, with a step light as a bird, went up the staircase.
In five minutes he returned to his master.

"Well?" asked he.

"Well, monseigneur, if I may believe appearances, the house is
devilishly picturesque."

"How so?"

"Peste! monseigneur; because one cannot get in to look."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that it is guarded by a dragon."

"What foolish joke is this?"

"Oh! monseigneur, it is unluckily not a foolish joke, but a sad truth.
The treasure is on the first floor, in a room in which I can see light
through the door."

"Well?"

"Well! before this door lies a man, wrapped in a gray cloak."

"Oh, oh! M. du Bouchage puts a gendarme at the door of his mistress."

"It is not a gendarme, monseigneur, but some attendant of the lady's or
of the count's."--"What kind of a man?"

"Monseigneur, it was impossible to see his face; but I could perfectly
see a large Flemish knife in his belt, and his hand, on it."

"It is amusing; go and waken the fellow."

"Oh, no, monseigneur."

"Why not?"

"Why, without counting the knife, I do not wish to amuse myself with
making a mortal enemy of MM. de Joyeuse, who stand so well at court. If
you had been king of this country, it might have passed; but now you
must be gracious, above all with those who saved you, and Joyeuse did
save you. They will say so, whether you do or not."--"You are right,
Aurilly, and yet--and yet--"

"I understand. Your highness has not seen a woman's face for fifteen
mortal days. I do not speak of the kind of animals who live here; they
are males and females, but do not deserve to be called men and women."

"I must see this lady, Aurilly."

"Well, monseigneur, you may see her; but not through the door."

"So be it; then I will see her through the window."

"Ah! that is a good idea, and I will go and look for a ladder for you."

Aurilly glided into the courtyard, and under a shed found what he
wanted. He maneuvered it among horses and men so skillfully as to wake
no one, and placed it in the street against the outer wall. It was
necessary to be a prince, and sovereignly disdainful of vulgar scruples,
to dare, in the presence of the sentinel, wh