rap
for me."

At that instant a shrill cry of an owl which appeared to have perched on
the chimney top vibrated in the air like a warning.

"What does that mean?" said Mademoiselle de Verneuil. "Our journey
together will not begin under favorable auspices. Do owls in these woods
screech by daylight?" she added, with a surprised gesture.

"Sometimes," said the young man, coolly. "Mademoiselle," he continued,
"we may bring you ill-luck; you are thinking of that, I am sure. We had
better not travel together."

These words were said with a calmness and reserve which puzzled
Mademoiselle de Verneuil.

"Monsieur," she replied, with truly aristocratic insolence, "I am far
from wishing to compel you. Pray let us keep the little liberty the
Republic leaves us. If Madame were alone, I should insist--"

The heavy step of a soldier was heard in the passage, and the Commandant
Hulot presently appeared in the doorway with a frowning brow.

"Come here, colonel," said Mademoiselle de Verneuil, smiling and
pointing to a chair beside her. "Let us talk over the affairs of State.
But what is the matter with you? Are there Chouans here?"

The commandant stood speechless on catching sight of the young man, at
whom he looked with peculiar attention.

"Mamma, will you take some more hare? Mademoiselle, you are not eating,"
said the sailor to Francine, seeming busy with the guests.

But Hulot's astonishment and Mademoiselle de Verneuil's close
observation had something too dangerously serious about them to be
ignored.

"What is it, citizen?" said the young man, abruptly; "do you know me?"

"Perhaps I do," replied the Republican.

"You are right; I remember you at the School."

"I never went to any school," said the soldier, roughly. "What school do
you mean?"

"The Polytechnique."

"Ha, ha, those barracks where they expect to make soldiers in
dormitories," said the veteran, whose aversion for officers trained in
that nursery was insurmountable. "To what arm do you belong?"

"I am in the navy."

"Ha!" cried Hulot, smiling vindictively, "how many of your
fellow-students are in the navy? Don't you know," he added in a serious
tone, "that none but the artillery and the engineers graduate from
there?"

The young man was not disconcerted.

"An exception was made in my favor, on account of the name I bear," he
answered. "We are all naval men in our family."

"What is the name of your family, citizen?" asked Hulot.

"Du Gu