by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XIV
The Noyades
When left alone Harry blew out the other candles, but left thatin the lantern burning, and threw himself down on the locker andthought over every detail of the work for the next day. As he hadsaid, the great danger was of Virginie struggling and being toofrightened to follow his instructions. Certainly he could fasten arope 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 savingthemselves, that is certain; therefore, I am justified in defendingthe girls, as I would against any other enemy."
He knelt down and prayed for some time. Then he replaced the piecethey 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 theday, and in spite of his anxiety about the morrow he presently felloff to sleep.
It was long before he woke. When he did so, he looked through oneof the auger-holes into the hold and saw the light streaming downthe open hatchway, and could tell that the sun was already up.
He ate the food which Marthe had put into his pocket just as hewas starting; saw that the bundles of corks were ready at hand, andthe ropes attached to them so placed that they could be fastened onin an instant. Then there was nothing to do but to wait. The timepassed slowly. Presently he heard the sound of drums and bugles, andknew 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 personsmounted on to the deck. There was a scraping noise by the lugger'sside, and immediately afterwards another bump as the second boattook the place of the first.
This, as far as Harry could hear, did not leave the lugger. Therewas a great hum of talking on deck, principally in women's voices,and frequently persons stepped on the hatch, and Harry congratulatedhimself that the beams gave a solid support to it.
Half an hour passed, as well as Harry could judge, then the boomof a cannon was heard, and immediately two men leapt down into thehold, knocked the six plugs out of their place, and climbed up ondeck again. There was again the scraping noise, and Harry knew theboat had pushed off this time for good. He watched as if fascinatedthe six jets of water for a minute or two. Then, saying to himself,"It is time," he knocked the beams from their ledges, allowedthe square of wood to fall, lifted the hatch, and pushed it offits combing, and then clambered on to the deck with the corks andropes. There were some fifty persons on board, for the most partwomen and children, but with two or three men among them. They weregathered near the stern, and were apparently watching the sceneashore with astonishment. He hurried aft, having no fear that atthis distance from the shore his figure would be recognized fromthe rest, and, if it were, it mattered not. Two or three turnedround as the supposed sailor came aft, exclaiming:
"What does this mean? Why are we put here on board these whiteships? What are they going to do with us?"
"Alas, ladies," he said, "they have put you here to die; they havebored holes in the ships' bottoms, and in a few minutes they willsink. It is a wholesale execution."
As he began to speak one of the ladies in the stern pushed her waythrough 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 Virginieforward with me."
At Harry's first words a panic had seized all around; one or tworan to the hatchway and looked down into the hold, and screamedout that the water was rushing in; then some cried to the distantcrowd to send to save them; others ran up and down as if demented;while some threw themselves on their knees. But the panic soonpassed away; all had for weeks looked death in the face, and thoughthe unexpected form in which it appeared had for the moment shakenthem, they soon recovered. Mothers clasped their daughters to theirbreasts for a last farewell, and then all with bowed heads kneeledand listened in silence to an old man who began to pray aloud.
Jeanne, without another word, had taken Virginie's hands andaccompanied Harry forward to the fore part of the deck.
"Jeanne, I am going to try to save you and Virginie, but everythingdepends upon your being cool and brave. I need not urge you, becauseI am sure of you. Virginie, will you try to be so for Jeanne's sakeand your own? If you do not we must all die together."
"What are we to do, Harry?" Jeanne said steadily, while Virginieclung to her sister sobbing bitterly.
"Fasten this bundle of corks between Virginie's shoulders highup-yes, there."
While Jeanne was doing this, Harry fastened a rope to a ring in theside 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; whenthe vessel sinks it will float, and we must float on our backs withour faces underneath it so that it will hide us from the sight ofthe wretches on shore; and even if they put out in boats to killany who may be swimming or clinging to spars, they will not suspectthat there is anyone under this. We may not succeed; an accidentmay betray us, but there is a possibility. At anyrate, dear, weshall live or die together."
"I am content," Jeanne said quietly.
"You know, Jeanne," Harry said, putting his hands on the girl'sshoulders, "that I love you; I should never have told you so untilI got you home if it hadn't been for this; but though I have neversaid it, you know I love you."
"I know, Harry, and I love you too with all my heart; so much thatI can feel almost happy that we are going to die together. We areaffianced now, dear, come what will." And she lifted her face tohis.
He gave her one long kiss, then there was a crash. Impatient atthe length of time the vessels were in sinking, those ashore hadopened fire with cannons upon them, and the shot had struck thelugger 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 asJeanne stooped over her sister. "Lie down on the deck, dear, oryou may be struck; they are firing with muskets now. I am going tolie down too," he said in answer to her look, "but I shall firsttwist this cord round Virginie so as to keep her arms by her side,otherwise when the water touches her she may come to her sensesand struggle. That's all right."
Then he lay down on the deck between the girls with his head againstthe hatch, and holding the rope.
"Put your head on my shoulder, Jeanne, and I will put my arm roundyou; I will hold Virginie the same way the other side. Hold tightby me for a moment as we sink, I may have to use my arms to getthe hatch over our faces. Do not breathe while you are under thewater, for we shall, no doubt, go down with the lugger, althoughI shall try to keep you afloat; when you are under the hatch youwill 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 suddenlurch. There was a wild cry and the next moment she went down sternfirst. She was so nearly even with the water when she sank, thatthere was less downward suck than Harry had expected, and strikingout with his feet his head was soon above the surface. The cordhad kept the hatch within a couple of feet of him, and with somedifficulty, owing to the buoyancy of the corks, he thrust himselfand the girls under it. The tarpaulin was old and rotten, and thelight penetrated in several places, and Harry could see that, inthe position in which they were lying, the faces of both girls wereabove the water.
It was useless to speak for their ears were submerged; but a slightmotion from Jeanne responded to a pressure of his arm, and he knewthat she was sensible although she had not made the slightest motionfrom the moment the
vessel sank. Virginie had not, as he fearedwould be the case, recovered her senses with the shock of theimmersion, but lay insensible on his shoulder. He could see by themovement of Jeanne's lips that she was praying, and he too thankedGod that He had given success to the plan so far, and prayed forprotection to the end.
With every minute that passed, his hopes rose; everything hadanswered beyond his expectation. The other victims had apparentlynot even noticed what he was doing, and therefore had not, as hefeared might be the case, interfered with his preparations, norhad any of them striven to gain a hold on the hatchway. The sinkingof the vessels, and the tearing up of the water by the shot, wouldrender the surface disturbed and broken, and decrease the chancesof the floating hatch attracting attention. After ten minutes hadpassed he felt certain that they must be below the point where thetroops were assembled.
The tide was running out strong, for the time for the massacre hadbeen fixed at an hour which would ensure the bodies being swept downto sea. Half an hour would, he thought, take them past the bend,where their friends would be waiting for them. The time seemedendless, for although Harry felt the coldness of the water but littlefor himself, he knew that it must be trying indeed for Jeanne. Asfar as he could see her face it was as white as her sister's; buthe had hold of one of her hands now, and knew that she was stillconscious.
At last he heard the sound of oars. It might not be one of thefriendly boats; but the probability was that it was one or otherof them. Had they seen any other fisherman's boat near the pointthey would have rowed high up so as to intercept the hatch beforeit reached the stranger. Harry could not hear voices; for althoughthe 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 whichthe strokes followed each other he knew that two boats were athand. Then the hatch was suddenly lifted, and as Harry raised hishead above water there was a loud cheer, and he saw Adolphe andPierre, one on each side, stretch out their arms to him. The girlswere first lifted into Pierre's boat, for Jeanne was as incapableof movement as her sister, then Harry was dragged in, the roughsailors shaking his hand and patting him on the shoulder, whilethe tears ran down their cheeks.
"Give them some hot brandy and water," were his first words. Pierrehad a kettle boiling. A glass of hot liquor was placed to Jeanne'slips.
At first she could not swallow, but after a few drops had passedher lips she was able to take a sip, and would then have stopped,but Harry insisted upon her drinking the whole contents of theglass.
"You must do as you are told, Jeanne," he said in her ear. "Youbelong to me now, you know. It can do you no harm chilled as youare, and may save you from illness."
In the meantime Pierre had poured several spoonfuls of nearly neatbrandy between Virginie's lips. Adolphe, and one of the men withhim, had changed over into Pierre's boat, and were rowing lustilydown the river.
As soon as Jeanne was able to sit up she began to chafe one ofVirginie's hands, while Harry took the other.
"Take off her shoes, Pierre, and soak a swab with the hot waterand put it to her feet."
But with all these efforts it was not until they were close toPierre's village that Virginie opened her eyes. When they arrivedat the little causeway the two girls were wrapped up in the peasantscloaks which Pierre had brought with him. Jeanne took Harry's arm,while Adolphe lifted Virginie and carried her up. Henriette wasstanding at the door as Jeanne staggered in with Harry.
"That is right, mademoiselle. Thank God who has brought you straightthrough the danger. Now, do not stop a moment, but come in hereand get into bed, it is all ready for you. The blankets have beenbefore the fire until the moment you landed; they will soon giveyou warmth. Hurry in, mademoiselle; I will undress your sister.And do you, Monsieur Sandwith, hurry up to the loft and get on dryclothes."
Harry soon rejoined the party in the kitchen. The strong glass ofhot spirits he had drunk had sent the blood quickly through hisveins, and he felt in a glow of warmth.
"Now," he said, "my friends, I can thank you all for the aid youhave given us. It is to you we owe our lives, for without your aidI never should have succeeded."
"Say nothing about it, monsieur. We are happy to have saved such abrave young man, and to have rescued two victims from those monsters."
"Do you think there is any danger of anyone here taking the newsof our landing to the town?" Harry asked. "They must have seen uscome up to the cottage."
"There is no fear," Pierre said confidently. "There is not a manor woman here who would not tear the _scelerats_ to pieces if theyhad the chance. Have they not spoiled our market by killing allour best customers? And now how are we to earn our living, I shouldlike to know? Why, not even the poorest beggar in Nantes would buyfish out of the river for months after this. No, you need have nofear of them. They may guess who you are, but it is no business oftheirs, and they will hold their tongues."
"At anyrate, Pierre, you had better distribute a few crowns amongthem, to help them live till the fishing is good again."
"That I will do, monsieur. It is quite safe; but it is as well tomake it even safer."
In half an hour Pierre's wife came in from the inner room, and saidthat both girls were sound asleep.
"Now, Adolphe, it only remains for you to arrange with your captainfor our passage."
"That I will do this afternoon," Adolphe said confidently. "Considerit as good as done."
After Adolphe had started for the town, Harry was persuaded byPierre to lie down for a bit; but he soon gave up the idea of goingto sleep. His brain was in a whirl from the events of the lasttwenty-four hours, and above all he felt so brimming over withhappiness that the girls had been saved that he soon found itimpossible to lie still. He therefore went down again and joinedPierre, who was doing some repairs to his boat.
"It is no use my trying to sleep, Pierre. I am too delighted thateverything has turned out right. I want to break out into shoutingand singing."
"I can understand, monsieur. Yes, yes. After great trouble greatjoy. 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 hurricaneon a 'key,' as they call the low sandy islands out there. It wasin fact no more than a sand-bank. More than half of those on boardwere drowned; but eight of us got ashore, and we managed to haulup 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 swepteverything away but a boat, which had been thrown up beyond the reachof the waves. For two days we had no food or water, and sufferedterribly, for the sun had shone down straight on our heads, and weenvied 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 wesailors, who are rough, you know--but who know that God protectsus, and never go for a long voyage without going to the chapel andpaying for a mass for our safety--we prayed too, and the thirdmorning there were three turtles asleep on the shore. We turned themover 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 todry. That very night we saw the clouds banking up, and knew itwas going to rain.
"'Now,' our mate said, 'if we had but a barrel we could catch waterand start in our boat, but without that the water will last only aday 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 weeksbefore 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 goingto 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 thinkof it.'
"She sat looking at the turtle for two or three minutes, and thensaid:
"
'It is easy. Why have you not thought of it? See there. Cut offone of their heads, and then you can get your arm in, if you takethe 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 surenone of us would ever have thought of it if God had not given herthe idea. We soon set to work and got the shell ready. The rainstorm came quickly. We had turned the boat over, the oars had beenwashed away, but the mast and sail were lashed to the thwarts. Wemade a little hollow in the sand and stretched out the sail, and bythe time this was done and the men were ready with the turtle-shellthe rain came. When it rains in those parts it comes down inbucketfuls, and we soon had enough in the sail to drink our filland to fill up the turtle-shell to the top.
"The next morning we got the boat afloat, put the other turtlein, with our stock of dried flesh and our shell of water, and setsail. But our luck seemed gone. We lay for days scarce movingthrough the water, with the sail hanging idle and the sun blazingdown 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, andwhen after three days we put ourselves on short rations, there wasscarce a gallon of water left.
"It was a week after that before we saw a sail. Two of the men hadjumped overboard raving mad, the rest were lying well-nigh senselessin the bottom of the boat. Only the woman was sitting up, holdingher child in her arms. She was very weak, too; but she had nevercomplained, never doubted for a moment. Her eyes went from thechild'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 couldnot live through another night.'
"We thought she was dreaming or off her head. But one of us madea shift to stand up and look, and when he screamed out 'A sail! Asail!' two of us who were strong enough looked out also. There shewas and sailing, as we could soon see, on a line as directly forus 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 bringinga light breeze along with her. And when we were lifted on to herdeck, 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 itwas 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 Iwould go no more to distant countries, but would settle down hereas a fisherman."
"That was a narrow escape indeed, Pierre," Harry said as he workedaway with the tar brush. "That idea of the turtle was a splendidone, 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 seewhat remarks had been made as to the coming of her visitors. Shesaw that everyone had guessed that the girls who had been pickedup by Pierre were victims of the massacre, but no one supposed thatit was the result of intention.
"Ah, Mere Gounard, but your good man was fortunate to-day," oneof the women said. "My man did not go out. We heard what was doingat Nantes, and he had not the heart to go; besides, who would buyfish 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. "Itwas lucky my husband had some brandy in the boat. He thought for atime he would never bring the youngest round. They are only younggirls. What harm could they have done that those monsters at Nantesshould try to murder them? There is no fear, I hope, that any inthe village will say a word about it."
"What!" the woman said indignantly. "Do you think that anyonehere would betray a comrade to the Reds? Why, we would tear him topieces."
"No, no," Henriette said; "I never thought for a moment that anyonewould do it intentionally; but the boys might let slip a wordcarelessly 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 thevillage would have a bad time now the fishing was spoiled--thatas she hoped to cross to England in a few days, and would haveno need of the money, for it seems that she can get plenty overthere, she will give five crowns to each house in the village asa thank-offering."
"Well, that is not to be despised," the woman said. "We shall havea 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 thantake it if she cannot."
Henriette assured her that her visitor said she could afford itwell.
"Well, then, it's a lucky day for the village, Mere Gounard, thatyour husband picked them up."
"Well, I will go back now," Henriette said. "Will you go round thevillage and tell the others about silencing the children? I mustget some broth ready by the time these poor creatures wake."
The next morning Jeanne appeared at breakfast in her dress asa fish-girl, but few words were spoken between her and Harry, forthe 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 muststop in bed for to-day. Do not look anxious. I have no doubt thatshe will be well enough to be up to-morrow. She has been sleepingever since she went to bed yesterday, and when she woke she hada basin of broth. I think by to-morrow she will be well enough toget up. But it will be some time before she is herself again. Itis a terrible strain for her to have gone through, but she was verybrave all the time we were in prison. She had such confidence inyou, 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 seemedalmost 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 tellyou. It might seem strange to you that I should tell you I loved youon 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 sameanyhow; but I want to tell you, Harry, that in the first letterwhich she sent me when she was in prison, Marie told me, that asshe might not see me again, she thought it right I should know thatour father and mother had told her that night we left home thatthey 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 foryou 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 aboy, and in England lads of eighteen or nineteen seldom think aboutsuch things at all. It was only afterwards, when somehow the dangerand the anxiety seemed to make a man of me, when I saw how braveand thoughtful and unselfish you were, that I knew I loved you, andfelt that if you could some day love me, I should be the happiestfellow alive. Before that I thought of you as a dear little girlwho inclined to make rather too much of me because of that dogbusiness. 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 allalong without knowing it. My dear father and mother told Mariethat they thought I was fond of you, and that, if at any time youshould get fond of me too and ask for my hand, they gave theirapproval beforehand, for they were sure that you would make mehappy.
"So they told Marie and Ernest, who, if ill came to them, would bethe heads of the family, that I had their consent to marry you. Itmakes 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 toknow 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 withme. I thought at first I might somehow have offended you. But I didnot think that long," he went on, as Jeanne uttered an indignantexclamation, "because if anything offended you, you always spokeout frankly. Still I wondered over it for some time, and certainlyI was never near guessing the truth."
"I could not help being a little different," Jeanne said shyly. "Ihad never thought of it before, and though I am sure it made mehappy, I could not feel quite the same with you, especially as Iknew 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 youto be a brother, and I felt sure you would not speak till we weresafely in England, and I was in Ernest's care. But," she saidwith a little laugh, "you were nearly speaking that evening in thecottage 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 atlast. "There were several more things wanting doing to it. Why,there he is calling. Surely it can never be dinner-time; but that'swhat 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 outsidefor 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 havebeen deceiving us. My wife saw it in a moment when the young ladycame 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 lookat each other like that. Why, one could see it with half an eye.'
"Your wife is right, Pierre; mademoiselle is my fiance. I am reallyan Englishman. She and her sister had their old nurse with them,till the latter died some three weeks since; but I have always beencalled their brother, because it made it easier for her."
"Quite right, monsieur; but my wife and I are glad to see that itis otherwise, and that, after all you have risked for that prettycreature, you are going to be happy together. My wife was notsurprised. Women are sharper than men in these matters, and shesaid to me, when she heard what you were going to do to save them,'I would wager, Pierre, that one of these mesdemoiselles is notmonsieur's sister. Men will do a great deal for their sister, butI never heard of a man throwing away his life as he is going to doon 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 headoutside the door and demanding angrily what they were stoppingtalking 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 tearsin her eyes, "how thankful I am to see you again! I never thoughtI should do so. My heart almost stopped beating yesterday whenI heard the guns. I and my little one were on our knees prayingto the good God for the dear lady who had saved her life. Adolphehad 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 safelyhere, I could hardly believe it was true."
"And I must thank you also, mademoiselle," Adolphe said, "for savingthe 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 downto me with Julie in her arms, looking almost herself again. Ah,mademoiselle, you cannot tell how glad I was when she told me thatthere 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'slife and mine be worth if the child had died?
"There are fresh notices stuck up," he went on, "warning allmasters of ships, fishermen, and others, against taking passengerson board, and saying that the penalty of assisting the enemies ofFrance to escape from justice is death."
"That is rather serious," Harry said.
"It is nothing," Adolphe replied confidently. "After yesterday'swork there is not a sailor or fisherman in the port but would do allhe 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 sailorswill do their best to run away if they can, or to hide any onboard, should they be overhauled, now they know that they will beguillotined if anyone is found. However, our captain has made theagreement, 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 themso as to leave space into which your sisters can crawl and theentrance be stopped up with casks, if we should be overhauled. Asfor you, monsieur, you will pass anywhere as one of the crew, andwe have arranged that one of the men shall at the last moment staybehind, so that the number will be right, and you will answer tohis name. We have thought matters over, you see, and I can tellyou that the captain does it more because he hates the Reds thanfor the money. The day before, he would give me no answer. He saidhe thought the risk was too great; but when I saw him last night hewas 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 sleepagain 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. Bothrefused 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 ifyou do not take it. Put it by for Julie; it will help swell her dotwhen she marries, and will set her husband up in a good fishing-boatif she takes to a sailor."
So it was arranged, and Adolphe and his wife went off invokingblessings on the heads of the fugitives. At daybreak the party tooktheir places in the boat with the fishermen. Virginie was stillweak, but was able to walk with Harry's help. Half an hour latera lugger was seen coming down with the wind and tide. She carrieda 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 thelugger came dashing along, her course took her within a few feetof the boat, a rope was thrown, and in an instant the boat wastearing through the water alongside her. Half a dozen hands werestretched out, the girls and Harry sprang on board, the rope wascast off, and the fisherman, with a cheery "God speed you," putout his oars again and rowed to shore.