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Show J iWK IHTLIIWWNAL PRLSS ASSOCIATION. Of PCRHI35IOH CF ' flAND. MSNALLY & CO. . CIIAITKU V. (CoNTiNtmn). BI6k, over whoso half-conscious hend this sword-play wns lllcketlng, saw only that nu argument wnn going on! which side was which, nnd why, he could not understand, and so resolved to speak with caution If lie had to speak at all. Camilla felt that the colonel was pressing her closely, nnd tried to dls-nblo dls-nblo him by a stralgbter thrust. "I don't suppose you nre a blind follower fol-lower even of Lord Oliiinoicnn," she said to Dick J "you probably do not wish tne dtnperor relensed?" "It would not benefit htm If I did," ho replied; "but I um sorry for blm If lie suffers as they sny." This was worse than ever for Dick, and the colonel wns prompt to sebe tho opportunity. "He does Indeed suffer," he said. "It Is our rfieatest grief, for Mndamo de Montnut Is entirely devoted to him." "My devotion," retorted Camilla, almost al-most Indignantly, "Is natural enough: but tho loyalty that binds me can havo no hold upon an HiiKtlshman." "There are moro kinds of loyulty than one," returned her Imperturbable antagonist, an-tagonist, "I, for instance, nm loyal to the emperor, not only ns a Frenchman, but een more strongly from my loyalty to you, who havo made his cause your own; mid this, or something like It, may concelvnbly be tho case with others." oth-ers." Camilla looked unutterable scorn. "Cnpt. Kstcourt." she said, turning to him with a. bow full of graceful mock-cry mock-cry nt her own question, "will you, as n kindness to me, enrry the emperor off from St, Helena?" Dick wns relieved nt her apparent return re-turn to a lighter mood, "I can hardly undertake to go so far mself," he re-pllfd re-pllfd touching; "you had better commission com-mission my friend Johnstone, the smuggler, smug-gler, to do It for you." "Ooodl" exclaimed the colonel, Joining Join-ing In tho laugh with the loud tone of one who wishes to emphnslia a Jest "Capital advice, Camilla, nnd you can't do better than follow It." She did not for the moment grasp his Intention In saying this, nnd made no reply beyond a distrustful glance. Dick, meantime, had been looking nt his watch, and now held out his hand. "I nm afraid," he said, "that I must bo going home; I have trespassed too lonK upon your kindness, nnd tho doctor said I must be in by sunset." "One moment," said Camilla, hoping to gain nn Instant's privacy In which to give him some kind of warning. "Stay a moment; Col de Montnut will order the carriage for jou." "It Is at the door," replied the colonel, and he bowed Dick out before him, nnd followed him downstairs. Camilla heard the front door close and the carriage drive nwny. A long silence followed. The colonel lint! evidently evi-dently cone to the length of accompanying accom-panying Dick to his own lodging. Tho mlrchlef might be done by this time, and here she sat powerless to prevent It. She fretted under the thought nt first, and her Indignation chafed her In the nbsence of nn object upon which to spend Itself; hut nt last It seemed to have worn Itself out for n time, and she fell Into n quieter mood. All tho same she started guiltily when tho door opened almost without a sound. There stood the colonel, like some wily emissary of evil, following up his calculated opportunity nt tho most deadly moment of weakness. He appeared to have entirely forgotten forgot-ten his lato struggle with her. In his hand was nn open letter, which he held up to her view. "I have Just heard," bo said, "from Carnae, who has received u letter from St. Helena." She held out her hand for It. "You nre tired," he Bald; "I will read it to you. Ho prepared, for It Is far from pleasant hearing;" and, he began nt once: Thp letter or, nt any rate, his reading read-ing of It rnn ns follows: " 'My Dear M. do Montnut: A packet dispatched from St. Helena nt the end of January contains the following mel-nncholy mel-nncholy Intelligence in tho cipher of Gen. Hitrund: Tho emperor, huving suffered severely In heultli from want of active occupation, on Jan. 22 resumed re-sumed his riding exercise, after nn In-tcrmlston In-tcrmlston of two years. Tho effect of this violent change of habit was unhappily un-happily tho rcverMs of beneficial, and ho has been more or less prostrate for n week past.' " The colonel looked at Camilla, and went on moro slowly: " 'His majesty hns becoma subject to fjts of profound depression, which nro tho despair of his physicians, lie bitterly bit-terly declares himself deserted nnd betrayed, be-trayed, nnd his repi ouches nre terrible to hear. Ho talks openly of committing commit-ting his Inst wishes to paper." " In her agitation at this news Camilla forgot overythlng else. "Oh, no!" she cried, clasping her hands as though to entreat tho cnM fates. "We shall bo In tlmo; wo must, we must'" "We must!" he echoed Kloomlly; "they expect us on tho 5th of May." "And when do we start?" "Ileforo th beginning of April: wo hnvo hardly moro than a week left in which to gather our forces for this llnnl attempt." . Sho was silent, and seemed unwilling to venturo further Into the region of detail. "The vessel is all but ready." continued con-tinued ha colonel; "a mixul ctcw cun bn coll cted In u day or two at Deal or Itamsgate.1' lie paused, as If expecting a -question from her; but she was still rllent,and he went on again. ,,TrK i ant iTTfl n. -id. "For the money I nm relying on you." She nodded,. "As to the rest," he snld, eyeing her cautiously, "our friends hnvo failed us, as you know." She looked straight nt him, and her face took n passive expression, ns If In expectation of a blow. "This is our Inst chnnce," ho said; "tho emperor'H supiemc and only hope. No consideration must weigh with us ngnlnst his life nnd liberty." Sho drew her bienth quickly; he saw thnt be must give her more time yet." "This man Johnstone," he snld. "will, I I hope, consent to work the nubmnrlne I boat for us. I will search him out to-I to-I morrow, nnd make terms with htm my- self If possible." Sho was relieved to find thnt so far this was nil, and assented reluctantly, hoiilng ngnlnst hope to ilnd her further, suspicions unfounded. Hut tho colonel went on relentlessly. "There remains only between us mid success, between the emperor nnd safety, safe-ty, this one dllllculty of discovering a suitable captain for our ship." "You have time to go to France for that youiself, she said In desperation "Hverythlng must be dared, ns you said only Just now." He shook his head. "Daring of that kind is useless here," he snld. "No Frenchman can servo our purpose." Sho feigned nstnnlMimcnt nt this. "My dear Camilla," he s.ild, "you mis-Judge mis-Judge our friend In thinking him so ran-enroiM. ran-enroiM. Ho has foucht, ns ho told us, chiefly against Danes and American-), nnd hns no cauBe to bear mallco to the I-Jrench." "I wns not thinking of tho French," she returned, "but of the emperor, who incited both Denmark nnd America to war, nnd thereby made himself the enemy en-emy of nil true Kngllshmen." "Surely not quite nil," said the colonel; col-onel; "the opposition havo often, both In parliament and out of It, pleaded with the Kovcrnment for his relense. Lord Glamorgan," he continued, looking look-ing at Hstcourt, "Lord Glamorgan, for Instnuce, Is a member of that party, and yet In every way a true Englishman." English-man." "No," he continued, "I have considered consid-ered this part of the question long nnd thoroughly, for It Is that upon which nil the rest depends. These are the two necessary qualifications for our captain. cap-tain. First, he must not only be a good ally. In the sense of being a bold and competent seaman, but ho must be bound to us by n tfe stronger than that of mere pecuniary Interest." "Yes," she Interrupted, quickly, "he must act from patriotism, too; and therefore, he can be no other than u Frenchman." He shook his hend agnln, with the same gentle regretfulness. "Where will you Unci such a RelMm-mohttlng RelMm-mohttlng patriotism nt a moment's notice, no-tice, and among thoso to whom our Ideas are strange?" he nsked. "Do you forget that even the Inner circle of our confederates hns failed us?" She trembled In silence. "No," resumed tho colonel, "he must be nu Englishman, and one upon whom we can exert an Irresistible moral force. Hut that Is not enough," he added, quickly, and she almost breathed again. "The second qualification Is this he must lw a man known favorably to the nuthoiltles here In England, or nt the least to those at St. Helena. Otherwise Other-wise hu would be unable to obtain leave to anchor, and he could not face those naval police without fear of suspicion, We should be searched," nnd here his voice fell to a low, clc-nr tone, "searched nnd seized, or driven from tho coast, and the emperor must die a brokenhearted broken-hearted exile." Camilla burled her face In her hands. The colonel looked down upon her with a fnlnt smile of self-congrntulatlon. "Very well, then," ho snld, "for tho present wo will discuss tho question no further. I will do my best to secure Johnstone, nnd I leave you to think the other nintter over by yourself; It Is qulto possible that you may be nblo , to discover among your English friends some one nn olllcer, perhaps who will nt your jiersuaslon. If for no other reason, rea-son, help us to save the emperor and France." She did not move or speak; when nt lust she looked up ho was pone. Hut every woid that ho had spoken, and every tone of his subtly modulated voice, pnssed through her brain over and over again with a paralyzing clenr-ness; clenr-ness; and she sat on, as If under somo horrible spell. At the end of hnlf nn hour she was still there, her mind wenrled out with vnlnly beating against the constraint of this hateful necessity, like n bird buffeting buf-feting Itself to death against tho bars of a trnp. She was roused by tho crackling of paper beneath her hand, nnd looking down found that she had been clenching clench-ing a letter 111 her unconscious grnsp. A start of surprise followed ns she recognized rec-ognized the appeal ance of tho paper. It was Dick's application to the admiralty. ad-miralty. The ofllelal to whom the colonel col-onel hnd piesented It Jind glanced nt Its contents and handed It back with an off-hnnd statement thnt It was too late, another man having been nlready appointed ap-pointed to tho Favorite. The colonel hnd nceoidlngly brought It back to Dick, ami In the confusion which followed fol-lowed the latter's suddi-n attack of Illness Ill-ness It had fallen unpercelved behind a cushion of the sofa upon which Camilla Ca-milla was now sitting. Anxious to free herself fiom tho tolls without n moment's delay, she roso and went down to look for her biother-ln-law. She found blm In the study, busy among hlH panels; be looked up to greet her with nn Indulgent smile, ns If to iSHurc her that he felt for her prtst struggle, nnd was ready to receive her submission graciously, Sho saw II, 'and anger choked the wurdn lillher throat. ' "WtH.if,. lie asked, "nnd neon whom liaB ;;oijr pJiotco fallen?" "There U no choice," she nnsweredl "I havo no friend capable of an act of treason," Ho saw that he had been ovcr-conll-dent, nnd was ready on tho Instant to meet her with fresh pntlcnce. "Treason?" ho snld, quietly; "It Is no treason to undo the work o- treachery." "What do you mean?" "Tho English nation, or rather their government, betrayed tho emperor's voluntnry trust In them, nnd, as I have Jienrd you malntnln with truth a hundred hun-dred times, fnlthlessly made a prisoner of him after he hnd accepted their protection pro-tection ns n guest." She laughed scornfully to see him using still the methods of on hour ngo. He little suspected how trenchant n weapon chance had put Into hor hand since then. ''it M true," she cried, "nnd their treachery nuist be undone; but It can not be by Cnpt. Estcourt'a hand." He.rnlsed his eyebrows. "I did nat mention Cnpt. Hstcourt." "No, but you thought of him. and of him only. It Is a proof Of how llttlo you know or undeistnnd his character." He saw the change of her position, nnd wns yet once moro ready for her upon her own giound. "Oh, as for that," he snld, "men nro all alike In one respect. When they nro In love they are deaf to every other call; a woman may lead them where sho will." "Not friends llko mine," she answered an-swered proudly: "not a man like this;" "Capt. Estcourt Is as honornble-n man ns most," he replied, "but I undertako to sny that his devotion to you, coupled with a clenr explanation of the caio from me, would ensure his adherence to our cnuse." "Never!" she cried. "Your cunning fnllactcs may blind weak women, or men whose Intellect Is keener than their sense of honor, but you could not even tempt him for n moment!" "Will you wager on It?" nsked tho colonel with a mocking smllo of security. "My life Is not my own," she cried, "but I would stake my fortune on his answer." "Done," said the colonel: "I nccept." She saw the trap now, but scorned ro-trent. ro-trent. "Try It!" she cried, with passionate defiance in her voice. "Try It, and learn with shame what duty means to n strong henrtl" CIIAPTEn VI. a. OL. DD MONTAUT rCv1 Bnw no rnoro of his S w7 Ji sister-in-law that vM $& evpnln,r- ( CMVWVT n t,le following I i ' 'AviVjI day ho was up ear- wKS?g&y ly nnd breakfasted )-&7 nlone In his room, rJttfhft, occupying himself (' Ji)l at tno samo tlme jlhwy with the details of f) a toilet which was Intended to make him unrecognizable to those who or- dlnnrlly knew him, and ncceptnble to those with whom ho hnd to deal. His identity wns thus concealed without with-out nny loss of personal dignity, such ns Is usually Involved In n disguise, nnd yet could be resumed without dllllculty and almost nt n moment's notice. He g.ie a final glance at the general effect, ef-fect, completed It by tho addition of a low-peaked cap of weather-beaten appearance, ap-pearance, and turned from the glass well satisfied. He took with him a small sum of money und no nrms; what difficulties he might meet he hardly knew yet, but nt nny rate they would not be of a kind to yield to force. Tho closed carriage In which he left the house set him down at tho entrance of tho narrow streets beyond tho houses of parliament, and Immediately disappeared disap-peared In the direction In which It had come. Ho quickly made his way to the river side and hnlled n waterman to take htm over to thp other bank. When the boat was rather more than half way across, however, he appeared to change his mind, nnd asked whether ho could bo taken as far as the Tower. The waterman assented readily, gavo n single stroke with tho left hand, and In a moment tho current wns sweeping them rapidly down toward the bridge. It was n bright, keen morning, and tho boatman wns In a cheerful mood and Inclined to be talkative, as Is the custom In his trade; but he got little response or nttcntlon from his fare, who was pondering his next move, nnd had not yet come to the stngo when conversation conver-sation would be of use to him. (TO 1IB CONTlNUKD.) |