The Noyades
When left alone Harry blew out the other candles, but left that
in the lantern burning, and threw himself down on the locker and
thought over every detail of the work for the next day. As he had
said, the great danger was of Virginie struggling and being too
frightened to follow his instructions. Certainly he could fasten a
rope round her, but even then it might be difficult to manage her.
The next danger was, that other persons might cling to the hatchway.
Harry felt the long knife which was concealed in his breast.
"God grant I may not have to use it!" he said. "But, if it must be,
I shall not hesitate. They would simply destroy us without saving
themselves, that is certain; therefore, I am justified in defending
the girls, as I would against any other enemy."
He knelt down and prayed for some time. Then he replaced the piece
they had cut out from the hatch, and fixed the beams beneath it,
and then lay down again. He was worn out by the excitement of the
day, and in spite of his anxiety about the morrow he presently fell
off to sleep.
It was long before he woke. When he did so, he looked through one
of the auger-holes into the hold and saw the light streaming down
the open hatchway, and could tell that the sun was already up.
He ate the food which Marthe had put into his pocket just as he
was starting; saw that the bundles of corks were ready at hand, and
the ropes attached to them so placed that they could be fastened on
in an instant. Then there was nothing to do but to wait. The time
passed slowly. Presently he heard the sound of drums and bugles, and
knew that the troops were taking up their positions on the quays.
At last--it seemed many hours to him--he heard the splash of oars,
and presently a slight shock as a boat ran alongside the lugger.
Then there were voices, and the sound of feet above as persons
mounted on to the deck. There was a scraping noise by the lugger's
side, and immediately afterwards another bump as the second boat
took the place of the first.
This, as far as Harry could hear, did not leave the lugger. There
was a great hum of talking on deck, principally in women's voices,
and frequently persons stepped on the hatch, and Harry congratulated
himself that the beams gave a solid support to it.
Half an hour passed, as well as Harry could judge, then the boom
of a cannon was heard, and immediately two men leapt down into the
hold, knocked the six plugs out of their place, and climbed up on
deck again. There was again the scraping noise, and Harry knew the
boat had pushed off this time for good. He watched as if fascinated
the six jets of water for a minute or two. Then, saying to himself,
"It is time," he knocked the beams from their ledges, allowed
the square of wood to fall, lifted the hatch, and pushed it off
its combing, and then clambered on to the deck with the corks and
ropes. There were some fifty persons on board, for the most part
women and children, but with two or three men among them. They were
gathered near the stern, and were apparently watching the scene
ashore with astonishment. He hurried aft, having no fear that at
this distance from the shore his figure would be recognized from
the rest, and, if it were, it mattered not. Two or three turned
round as the supposed sailor came aft, exclaiming:
"What does this mean? Why are we put here on board these white
ships? What are they going to do with us?"
"Alas, ladies," he said, "they have put you here to die; they have
bored holes in the ships' bottoms, and in a few minutes they will
sink. It is a wholesale execution."
As he began to speak one of the ladies in the stern pushed her way
through the rest.
"Oh, Harry, is it you!" she exclaimed as he finished. "Is it true,
are we to die together?"
"We are in God's hands, Jeanne, but there is hope yet. Bring Virginie
forward with me."
At Harry's first words a panic had seized all around; one or two
ran to the hatchway and looked down into the hold, and screamed
out that the water was rushing in; then some cried to the distant
crowd to send to save them; others ran up and down as if demented;
while some threw themselves on their knees. But the panic soon
passed away; all had for weeks looked death in the face, and though
the unexpected form in which it appeared had for the moment shaken
them, they soon recovered. Mothers clasped their daughters to their
breasts for a last farewell, and then all with bowed heads kneeled
and listened in silence to an old man who began to pray aloud.
Jeanne, without another word, had taken Virginie's hands and
accompanied Harry forward to the fore part of the deck.
"Jeanne, I am going to try to save you and Virginie, but everything
depends upon your being cool and brave. I need not urge you, because
I am sure of you. Virginie, will you try to be so for Jeanne's sake
and your own? If you do not we must all die together."
"What are we to do, Harry?" Jeanne said steadily, while Virginie
clung to her sister sobbing bitterly.
"Fasten this bundle of corks between Virginie's shoulders high
up-yes, there."
While Jeanne was doing this, Harry fastened a rope to a ring in the
side of the hatch, then he tied the corks on to Jeanne's shoulders,
and adjusted the third bundle to his own. "Now, Jeanne," he said,
"I will tell you what we are going to do. You see this hatch; when
the vessel sinks it will float, and we must float on our backs with
our faces underneath it so that it will hide us from the sight of
the wretches on shore; and even if they put out in boats to kill
any who may be swimming or clinging to spars, they will not suspect
that there is anyone under this. We may not succeed; an accident
may betray us, but there is a possibility. At anyrate, dear, we
shall live or die together."
"I am content," Jeanne said quietly.
"You know, Jeanne," Harry said, putting his hands on the girl's
shoulders, "that I love you; I should never have told you so until
I got you home if it hadn't been for this; but though I have never
said it, you know I love you."
"I know, Harry, and I love you too with all my heart; so much that
I can feel almost happy that we are going to die together. We are
affianced now, dear, come what will." And she lifted her face to
his.
He gave her one long kiss, then there was a crash. Impatient at
the length of time the vessels were in sinking, those ashore had
opened fire with cannons upon them, and the shot had struck the
lugger just above the water.
With a little cry Virginie fell senseless on the deck.
"That's the best thing that could have happened," Harry said as
Jeanne stooped over her sister. "Lie down on the deck, dear, or
you may be struck; they are firing with muskets now. I am going to
lie down too," he said in answer to her look, "but I shall first
twist this cord round Virginie so as to keep her arms by her side,
otherwise when the water touches her she may come to her senses
and struggle. That's all right."
Then he lay down on the deck between the girls with his head against
the hatch, and holding the rope.
"Put your head on my shoulder, Jeanne, and I will put my arm round
you; I will hold Virginie the same way the other side. Hold tight
by me for a moment as we sink, I may have to use my arms to get
the hatch over our faces. Do not breathe while you are under the
water, for we shall, no doubt, go down with the lugger, although
I shall try to keep you afloat; when you are under the hatch you
will find you will float with your mouth well out of the water,
and will be able to breathe, the corks will keep you up."
"I understand, Harry; now let us pray until the time comes."
Shot after shot struck the lugger, then Harry felt her give a sudden
lurch. There was a wild cry and the next moment she went down stern
first. She was so nearly even with the water when she sank, that
there was less downward suck than Harry had expected, and striking
out with his feet his head was soon above the surface. The cord
had kept the hatch within a couple of feet of him, and with some
difficulty, owing to the buoyancy of the corks, he thrust himself
and the girls under it. The tarpaulin was old and rotten, and the
light penetrated in several places, and Harry could see that, in
the position in which they were lying, the faces of both girls were
above the water.
It was useless to speak for their ears were submerged; but a slight
motion from Jeanne responded to a pressure of his arm, and he knew
that she was sensible although she had not made the slightest motion
from the moment the vessel sank. Virginie had not, as he feared
would be the case, recovered her senses with the shock of the
immersion, but lay insensible on his shoulder. He could see by the
movement of Jeanne's lips that she was praying, and he too thanked
God that He had given success to the plan so far, and prayed for
protection to the end.
With every minute that passed, his hopes rose; everything had
answered beyond his expectation. The other victims had apparently
not even noticed what he was doing, and therefore had not, as he
feared might be the case, interfered with his preparations, nor
had any of them striven to gain a hold on the hatchway. The sinking
of the vessels, and the tearing up of the water by the shot, would
render the surface disturbed and broken, and decrease the chances
of the floating hatch attracting attention. After ten minutes had
passed he felt certain that they must be below the point where the
troops were assembled.
The tide was running out strong, for the time for the massacre had
been fixed at an hour which would ensure the bodies being swept down
to sea. Half an hour would, he thought, take them past the bend,
where their friends would be waiting for them. The time seemed
endless, for although Harry felt the coldness of the water but little
for himself, he knew that it must be trying indeed for Jeanne. As
far as he could see her face it was as white as her sister's; but
he had hold of one of her hands now, and knew that she was still
conscious.
At last he heard the sound of oars. It might not be one of the
friendly boats; but the probability was that it was one or other
of them. Had they seen any other fisherman's boat near the point
they would have rowed high up so as to intercept the hatch before
it reached the stranger. Harry could not hear voices; for although
the water had conveyed the sound of the oars a considerable distance,
he could hear no sound in the air.
The oars came nearer and nearer, and by the quickness with which
the strokes followed each other he knew that two boats were at
hand. Then the hatch was suddenly lifted, and as Harry raised his
head above water there was a loud cheer, and he saw Adolphe and
Pierre, one on each side, stretch out their arms to him. The girls
were first lifted into Pierre's boat, for Jeanne was as incapable
of movement as her sister, then Harry was dragged in, the rough
sailors shaking his hand and patting him on the shoulder, while
the tears ran down their cheeks.
"Give them some hot brandy and water," were his first words. Pierre
had a kettle boiling. A glass of hot liquor was placed to Jeanne's
lips.
At first she could not swallow, but after a few drops had passed
her lips she was able to take a sip, and would then have stopped,
but Harry insisted upon her drinking the whole contents of the
glass.
"You must do as you are told, Jeanne," he said in her ear. "You
belong to me now, you know. It can do you no harm chilled as you
are, and may save you from illness."
In the meantime Pierre had poured several spoonfuls of nearly neat
brandy between Virginie's lips. Adolphe, and one of the men with
him, had changed over into Pierre's boat, and were rowing lustily
down the river.
As soon as Jeanne was able to sit up she began to chafe one of
Virginie's hands, while Harry took the other.
"Take off her shoes, Pierre, and soak a swab with the hot water
and put it to her feet."
But with all these efforts it was not until they were close to
Pierre's village that Virginie opened her eyes. When they arrived
at the little causeway the two girls were wrapped up in the peasants
cloaks which Pierre had brought with him. Jeanne took Harry's arm,
while Adolphe lifted Virginie and carried her up. Henriette was
standing at the door as Jeanne staggered in with Harry.
"That is right, mademoiselle. Thank God who has brought you straight
through the danger. Now, do not stop a moment, but come in here
and get into bed, it is all ready for you. The blankets have been
before the fire until the moment you landed; they will soon give
you warmth. Hurry in, mademoiselle; I will undress your sister.
And do you, Monsieur Sandwith, hurry up to the loft and get on dry
clothes."
Harry soon rejoined the party in the kitchen. The strong glass of
hot spirits he had drunk had sent the blood quickly through his
veins, and he felt in a glow of warmth.
"Now," he said, "my friends, I can thank you all for the aid you
have given us. It is to you we owe our lives, for without your aid
I never should have succeeded."
"Say nothing about it, monsieur. We are happy to have saved such a
brave young man, and to have rescued two victims from those monsters."
"Do you think there is any danger of anyone here taking the news
of our landing to the town?" Harry asked. "They must have seen us
come up to the cottage."
"There is no fear," Pierre said confidently. "There is not a man
or woman here who would not tear the _scelerats_ to pieces if they
had the chance. Have they not spoiled our market by killing all
our best customers? And now how are we to earn our living, I should
like to know? Why, not even the poorest beggar in Nantes would buy
fish out of the river for months after this. No, you need have no
fear of them. They may guess who you are, but it is no business of
theirs, and they will hold their tongues."
"At anyrate, Pierre, you had better distribute a few crowns among
them, to help them live till the fishing is good again."
"That I will do, monsieur. It is quite safe; but it is as well to
make it even safer."
In half an hour Pierre's wife came in from the inner room, and said
that both girls were sound asleep.
"Now, Adolphe, it only remains for you to arrange with your captain
for our passage."
"That I will do this afternoon," Adolphe said confidently. "Consider
it as good as done."
After Adolphe had started for the town, Harry was persuaded by
Pierre to lie down for a bit; but he soon gave up the idea of going
to sleep. His brain was in a whirl from the events of the last
twenty-four hours, and above all he felt so brimming over with
happiness that the girls had been saved that he soon found it
impossible to lie still. He therefore went down again and joined
Pierre, who was doing some repairs to his boat.
"It is no use my trying to sleep, Pierre. I am too delighted that
everything has turned out right. I want to break out into shouting
and singing."
"I can understand, monsieur. Yes, yes. After great trouble great
joy. I know it myself. I was once adrift in a boat for three weeks.
I was on a voyage to Guadaloupe when we were blown in a hurricane
on a 'key,' as they call the low sandy islands out there. It was
in fact no more than a sand-bank. More than half of those on board
were drowned; but eight of us got ashore, and we managed to haul
up a woman with her child of two years old in her arms.
"We thought at first the mother was dead, but she came round.
The ship went to pieces and we saved nothing. The currents swept
everything away but a boat, which had been thrown up beyond the reach
of the waves. For two days we had no food or water, and suffered
terribly, for the sun had shone down straight on our heads, and we
envied those who had died at once. The woman set us a good example.
She spent her time tending her child and praying to God; and we
sailors, who are rough, you know--but who know that God protects
us, and never go for a long voyage without going to the chapel and
paying for a mass for our safety--we prayed too, and the third
morning there were three turtles asleep on the shore. We turned them
over on their backs, and there was meat for us for a long time.
"We killed one and drank the blood, and ate our first meal raw.
Then we cut up the rest of the flesh and hung it up in the sun to
dry. That very night we saw the clouds banking up, and knew it
was going to rain.
"'Now,' our mate said, 'if we had but a barrel we could catch water
and start in our boat, but without that the water will last only a
day or two; for if we kill all the turtles and fill their shells,
it will evaporate in a day under this hot sun, and it may be weeks
before there is rain again, and we might as well have died at once.
"'For shame,' the woman said. 'You are doubting the good God again,
after he has saved your life and has sent you food and is now going
to send you water. Do you think he has done all this for nothing?
There must be some way out of the difficulty if we could but think
of it.'
"She sat looking at the turtle for two or three minutes, and then
said:
"'It is easy. Why have you not thought of it? See there. Cut off
one of their heads, and then you can get your arm in, if you take
the biggest. Then cut out all the meat and bones piece by piece,
and there is a great bottle which will hold gallons.'
"We shouted for joy, for it was as she had said, though I am sure
none of us would ever have thought of it if God had not given her
the idea. We soon set to work and got the shell ready. The rain
storm came quickly. We had turned the boat over, the oars had been
washed away, but the mast and sail were lashed to the thwarts. We
made a little hollow in the sand and stretched out the sail, and by
the time this was done and the men were ready with the turtle-shell
the rain came. When it rains in those parts it comes down in
bucketfuls, and we soon had enough in the sail to drink our fill
and to fill up the turtle-shell to the top.
"The next morning we got the boat afloat, put the other turtle
in, with our stock of dried flesh and our shell of water, and set
sail. But our luck seemed gone. We lay for days scarce moving
through the water, with the sail hanging idle and the sun blazing
down upon us. We had not been careful enough of the water at first,
making sure that in three or four days we should sight land, and
when after three days we put ourselves on short rations, there was
scarce a gallon of water left.
"It was a week after that before we saw a sail. Two of the men had
jumped overboard raving mad, the rest were lying well-nigh senseless
in the bottom of the boat. Only the woman was sitting up, holding
her child in her arms. She was very weak, too; but she had never
complained, never doubted for a moment. Her eyes went from the
child's face over the sea to look for the help she felt would come,
and back again, and at last she said quite quiet and natural:
"'There is the ship. I knew it must come to-day, for my child could
not live through another night.'
"We thought she was dreaming or off her head. But one of us made
a shift to stand up and look, and when he screamed out 'A sail! A
sail!' two of us who were strong enough looked out also. There she
was and sailing, as we could soon see, on a line as directly for
us as if they had our bearings, and had been sent to fetch us.
"It was not until evening that she came up, though she was bringing
a light breeze along with her. And when we were lifted on to her
deck, and had water held to our lips, and knew that we were safe,
we felt, I expect, much the same as you do now, monsieur, that it
was the good God himself who had assuredly saved us from death.
That was my last voyage, for Henriette was waiting for me at home,
and I had promised her that after we had gone to church together I
would go no more to distant countries, but would settle down here
as a fisherman."
"That was a narrow escape indeed, Pierre," Harry said as he worked
away with the tar brush. "That idea of the turtle was a splendid
one, and you may well say that God put it into the woman's head,
for without it you could never have lived till the ship found you."
In the meantime Henriette had made her rounds to the cottage to see
what remarks had been made as to the coming of her visitors. She
saw that everyone had guessed that the girls who had been picked
up by Pierre were victims of the massacre, but no one supposed that
it was the result of intention.
"Ah, Mere Gounard, but your good man was fortunate to-day," one
of the women said. "My man did not go out. We heard what was doing
at Nantes, and he had not the heart to go; besides, who would buy
fish caught to-day? If he had thought of it he would have gone too,
and perhaps he would have picked up somebody, as you have done.
Poor things, what an escape for them!"
"It is wonderful that they have come round," Henriette said. "It
was lucky my husband had some brandy in the boat. He thought for a
time he would never bring the youngest round. They are only young
girls. What harm could they have done that those monsters at Nantes
should try to murder them? There is no fear, I hope, that any in
the village will say a word about it."
"What!" the woman said indignantly. "Do you think that anyone
here would betray a comrade to the Reds? Why, we would tear him to
pieces."
"No, no," Henriette said; "I never thought for a moment that anyone
would do it intentionally; but the boys might let slip a word
carelessly which might bring them down upon us."
"We will take care of that," the woman said. "Make your mind easy.
Not a soul outside the village will ever know of it."
"And," Henriette added, "one of them has some money hidden upon her,
and she told me just before I came out, when I was saying that the
village would have a bad time now the fishing was spoiled--that
as she hoped to cross to England in a few days, and would have
no need of the money, for it seems that she can get plenty over
there, she will give five crowns to each house in the village as
a thank-offering."
"Well, that is not to be despised," the woman said. "We shall have
a hard time of it for a bit, and that will carry us on through it.
You are sure she can spare it; because we would rather starve than
take it if she cannot."
Henriette assured her that her visitor said she could afford it
well.
"Well, then, it's a lucky day for the village, Mere Gounard, that
your husband picked them up."
"Well, I will go back now," Henriette said. "Will you go round the
village and tell the others about silencing the children? I must
get some broth ready by the time these poor creatures wake."
The next morning Jeanne appeared at breakfast in her dress as
a fish-girl, but few words were spoken between her and Harry, for
the fisherman and his wife were present.
"How is Virginie?" he asked.
"She's better, but she is weak and languid, so I told her she must
stop in bed for to-day. Do not look anxious. I have no doubt that
she will be well enough to be up to-morrow. She has been sleeping
ever since she went to bed yesterday, and when she woke she had
a basin of broth. I think by to-morrow she will be well enough to
get up. But it will be some time before she is herself again. It
is a terrible strain for her to have gone through, but she was very
brave all the time we were in prison. She had such confidence in
you, she felt sure that you would manage somehow to rescue us."
After breakfast Jeanne strolled down with Harry to the river-side.
"I feel strange with you, Harry," she said. "Before you seemed
almost like a brother, and now it is so different."
"Yes; but happier?" Harry asked gently.
"Oh, so much happier, Harry! But there is one thing I want to tell
you. It might seem strange to you that I should tell you I loved you
on my own account without your speaking to the head of the family."
"But there was no time for that, Jeanne," Harry said smiling.
"No," Jeanne said simply. "I suppose it would have been the same
anyhow; but I want to tell you, Harry, that in the first letter
which she sent me when she was in prison, Marie told me, that as
she might not see me again, she thought it right I should know that
our father and mother had told her that night we left home that
they thought I cared for you. You didn't think so, did you, Harry?"
she broke off with a vivid blush. "You did not think I cared for
you before you cared for me?"
"No, indeed, Jeanne," he said earnestly. "It never entered my mind.
You see, dear, up to the beginning of that time I only felt as a
boy, and in England lads of eighteen or nineteen seldom think about
such things at all. It was only afterwards, when somehow the danger
and the anxiety seemed to make a man of me, when I saw how brave
and thoughtful and unselfish you were, that I knew I loved you, and
felt that if you could some day love me, I should be the happiest
fellow alive. Before that I thought of you as a dear little girl
who inclined to make rather too much of me because of that dog
business. And did you really care for me then?"
"I never thought of it in that way, Harry, any more than you did,
but I know now that my mother was right, and that I loved you all
along without knowing it. My dear father and mother told Marie
that they thought I was fond of you, and that, if at any time you
should get fond of me too and ask for my hand, they gave their
approval beforehand, for they were sure that you would make me
happy.
"So they told Marie and Ernest, who, if ill came to them, would be
the heads of the family, that I had their consent to marry you. It
makes me happy to know this, Harry."
"I am very glad, too, dear," Harry said earnestly.
"It is very satisfactory for you, and it is very pleasant to me to
know that they were ready to trust you to me. Ah!" he said suddenly,
"that was what was in the letter. I wondered a little at the time,
for somehow after that, Jeanne, you were a little different with
me. I thought at first I might somehow have offended you. But I did
not think that long," he went on, as Jeanne uttered an indignant
exclamation, "because if anything offended you, you always spoke
out frankly. Still I wondered over it for some time, and certainly
I was never near guessing the truth."
"I could not help being a little different," Jeanne said shyly. "I
had never thought of it before, and though I am sure it made me
happy, I could not feel quite the same with you, especially as I
knew that you never thought of me like that."
"But you thought of me so afterwards, Jeanne?"
"Sometimes just for a moment, but I tried not to think of it,
Harry. We were so strangely placed, and it made it easier for you
to be a brother, and I felt sure you would not speak till we were
safely in England, and I was in Ernest's care. But," she said
with a little laugh, "you were nearly speaking that evening in the
cottage when you felt so despairing."
"Very nearly, Jeanne; I did so want comfort."
And so they talked happily together for an hour.
"I wonder Pierre does not come down to his boat," Harry said at
last. "There were several more things wanting doing to it. Why,
there he is calling. Surely it can never be dinner-time; but that's
what he says. It doesn't seem an hour since breakfast."
Jeanne hurried on into the hut.
"Why, Pierre," Harry said to the fisherman, who was waiting outside
for him, "I thought you were going on with your boat."
"So I was, monsieur, but Henriette told me I should be in the way."
"In the way, Pierre!" Harry repeated in surprise.
"Ah, monsieur," Pierre said with a twinkle in his eye, "you have
been deceiving us. My wife saw it in a moment when the young lady
came to breakfast.
"'Brother!' she said to me when you went out; 'don't tell me!
Monsieur is the young lady's lover. Brother and sister don't look
at each other like that. Why, one could see it with half an eye.'
"Your wife is right, Pierre; mademoiselle is my fiance. I am really
an Englishman. She and her sister had their old nurse with them,
till the latter died some three weeks since; but I have always been
called their brother, because it made it easier for her."
"Quite right, monsieur; but my wife and I are glad to see that it
is otherwise, and that, after all you have risked for that pretty
creature, you are going to be happy together. My wife was not
surprised. Women are sharper than men in these matters, and she
said to me, when she heard what you were going to do to save them,
'I would wager, Pierre, that one of these mesdemoiselles is not
monsieur's sister. Men will do a great deal for their sister, but
I never heard of a man throwing away his life as he is going to do
on the mere chance of saving one.'"
"I should have done just the same had it been one of my sisters,"
Harry said a little indignantly.
"Perhaps you would, monsieur, I do not say no," the fisherman said,
shaking his head; "but brothers do not often do so."
A stop was put to the conversation by Henriette putting her head
outside the door and demanding angrily what they were stopping
talking there for when the fish was getting cold.
In the evening Adolphe and his wife came in.
"Ah, mademoiselle," the woman said as she embraced Jeanne with tears
in her eyes, "how thankful I am to see you again! I never thought
I should do so. My heart almost stopped beating yesterday when
I heard the guns. I and my little one were on our knees praying
to the good God for the dear lady who had saved her life. Adolphe
had spoken hopefully, but it hardly seemed to me that it could be,
and when he brought back the news that he had left you all safely
here, I could hardly believe it was true."
"And I must thank you also, mademoiselle," Adolphe said, "for saving
the life of my little one. I never expected to see her alive again,
and when the lugger made fast to the wharf I was afraid to go home,
and I hung about till Marthe had heard we were in and came down
to me with Julie in her arms, looking almost herself again. Ah,
mademoiselle, you cannot tell how glad I was when she told me that
there was a way of paying some part of my debt to you."
"You have been able to pay more than your debt," Jeanne said gently;
"if I saved one life you have helped to save three."
"No, we shall be only quits, mademoiselle, for what would Marthe's
life and mine be worth if the child had died?
"There are fresh notices stuck up," he went on, "warning all
masters of ships, fishermen, and others, against taking passengers
on board, and saying that the penalty of assisting the enemies of
France to escape from justice is death."
"That is rather serious," Harry said.
"It is nothing," Adolphe replied confidently. "After yesterday's
work there is not a sailor or fisherman in the port but would do all
he could to help people to escape from the hands of the butchers,
and once on board, it will help you. You may be sure the sailors
will do their best to run away if they can, or to hide any on
board, should they be overhauled, now they know that they will be
guillotined if anyone is found. However, our captain has made the
agreement, and he is a man of his word; besides, he hates the Reds.
I have been helping ship the casks to-day, and we have stowed them
so as to leave space into which your sisters can crawl and the
entrance be stopped up with casks, if we should be overhauled. As
for you, monsieur, you will pass anywhere as one of the crew, and
we have arranged that one of the men shall at the last moment stay
behind, so that the number will be right, and you will answer to
his name. We have thought matters over, you see, and I can tell
you that the captain does it more because he hates the Reds than
for the money. The day before, he would give me no answer. He said
he thought the risk was too great; but when I saw him last night he
was a different man altogether. His face was as white as a sheet,
and his eyes seemed on fire, and he said, 'I will take your friends,
Adolphe. I would take them without a penny. I should never sleep
again if, owing to me, they fell into the hands of these monsters.'
So you see he is in it heart and soul."
After half an hour's talk Adolphe and Marthe took their leave. Both
refused the reward which Harry had promised, but Harry insisted,
and at last Jeanne said:
"You can refuse for yourselves, but you will make me unhappy if
you do not take it. Put it by for Julie; it will help swell her dot
when she marries, and will set her husband up in a good fishing-boat
if she takes to a sailor."
So it was arranged, and Adolphe and his wife went off invoking
blessings on the heads of the fugitives. At daybreak the party took
their places in the boat with the fishermen. Virginie was still
weak, but was able to walk with Harry's help. Half an hour later
a lugger was seen coming down with the wind and tide. She carried
a small white flag flying on the mizzen.
"That is her," the fisherman said; "that is the signal."
He rowed out into the middle of the river. In a few minutes the
lugger came dashing along, her course took her within a few feet
of the boat, a rope was thrown, and in an instant the boat was
tearing through the water alongside her. Half a dozen hands were
stretched out, the girls and Harry sprang on board, the rope was
cast off, and the fisherman, with a cheery "God speed you," put
out his oars again and rowed to shore.