is hands with the price of blood might deliver
up a fugitive from fear."

They were passing through the principal street, and they were struck
with the mournful aspect of the place--the little city which was
ordinarily so bustling and gay--fear and consternation evidently reigned
there. The shops were closed; the shutters of the houses had not been
opened. A lugubrious silence pervaded the town. One might have supposed
that there was general mourning, and that each family had lost one of
its members.

The manner of the few persons seen upon the thoroughfare was anxious and
singular. They hurried on, casting suspicious glances on every side.

Two or three who were acquaintances of the Baron d'Escorval averted
their heads, on seeing his carriage, to avoid the necessity of bowing.

The abbe and Maurice found an explanation of this evident terror on
reaching the hotel to which they had ordered the coachman to take them.

They had designated the Hotel de France, where the baron always stopped
when he visited Montaignac, and whose proprietor was none other than
Laugeron, that friend of Lacheneur, who had been the first to warn him
of the arrival of the Duc de Sairmeuse.

This worthy man, on hearing what guests had arrived, went to the
court-yard to meet them, with his white cap in his hand.

On such a day politeness was heroism. Was he connected with the
conspiracy? It has always been supposed so.

He invited Maurice and the abbe to take some refreshments in a way that
made them understand he was anxious to speak with them, and he
conducted them to a retired room where he knew they would be secure from
observation.

Thanks to one of the Duc de Sairmeuse's valets de chambre who frequented
the house, the host knew as much as the authorities; he knew even more,
since he had also received information from the rebels who had escaped
capture.

From him the abbe and Maurice received their first positive information.

In the first place, nothing had been heard of Lacheneur, or of his son
Jean; thus far they had escaped the most rigorous pursuit.

In the second place, there were, at this moment, two hundred prisoners
in the citadel, and among them the Baron d'Escorval and Chanlouineau.

And lastly, since morning there had been at least sixty arrests in
Montaignac.

It was generally supposed that these arrests were the work of some
traitor, and all the inhabitants were trembling with fear.

But M. Laugeron knew the re