As the mason predicted, it soon restored her to consciousness. For a moment, she gazed shrinkingly around her, and extending her hand to De Mortier, murmured, "my father"—

"Is here, my dear child, to bless thee," exclaimed the feeble old man, as tottering into the cell he cast himself upon the couch beside her.

Motioning to those around to withdraw, De Mortier and Francois left the father and daughter for a few moments together, though but a short time could be allowed them for tears and gratulations. The men grew impatient of delay and soon wished to be moving.

"Time presses, Duc," exclaimed Francois, "we must move. These brave fellows and a few more I can trust will attend you beyond the barriers, and then I alone am enough to take care of you. "Tis better now to go as prisoners."

Picking their way, under the guidance of Francois, among the corses which strewed the gateway, they emerged from their hated prison with an escort of about twenty well-armed stalwart men.

Beyond the barriers, they took their way among straggling buildings, and soon entered the yard of a dilapidated house. Here Francois whispered a few words to the mason, who advanced to De Mortier, extending his hand.

"We must trust you now to Francois, Citizenwith his aid and that of this good sabre, you must defend yourself. The maiden's cheek is too fair to be dabbled with blood, and that old man has lived too long to die by the headsman. One word of advice from a plain man, drop the Duc,' for times are coming, when the man with the shortest name will keep his head longest on his shoulders. If you ever happen to need a strong arm and a willing heart, call upon Jacques Briere--and now, farewell."

Grasping successively the hard hands extended to him, he would have divided among them his purse, but the movement was restrained by the remonstrance of Jacques.

"Keep it, Duc, we would not be worse than the King, and rob you of the little he has left you. We shall all soon revel in the gold to which we have been so long strangers. Once more, farewell."

Slowly they wound their way through the crowds which thronged the Rue du Faubourg, St. Antoine, almost unnoticed among the human stream that Placing his fingers to his mouth, Francois gave flowed around them. Now and then, some huge me- a short deep whistle, in answer to which a boy chanic, whose blood-bespattered hands and clothes brought out four horses ready caparisoned for a bespoke his part in the deeds of violence which had journey. Mounting these, the party followed for a been committed, would bend a searching glance short distance the road to Versailles, and then galupon the cortége as it passed along, but none in-loped off at full speed across the country. terrupted their journey, until passing the present

Place du Trône they encountered a large body of In a small room, in one of the hotels upon Quai the rabble somewhat intoxicated, and singing by du Megessiere, lay upon an ottoman a richly atturns snatches of the Marseilles hymn and obscene tired stranger. His swarthy skin had been dyed ballads. Crossing their path, so as to obstruct their progress, a huge butted-browed operative demanded whence they came and whither they went. "Bah! Jean," shouted Francois, "just a bird or two we have taken from their cages in the Bastile.

You are wanted at the Hotel de Ville." Aye, Francois, you would gain the gold alone, would you, but you must share it with my. brave citizens here our pockets are empty, and our throats dry."

"Gold, indeed," was the reply; "think you our needy King would leave the people's champions gold, when he takes their liberties.. 'Twas our cause placed him in the Bastile, and our hands must keep him from their clutches. The day he falls into our oppressors hands he dies."

"Then we will help you to defend him," exclaimed the grim leader in changed mood, "though we have to cut our way through ten thousand of our Swiss butchers."

"I told you that other work called you," was the answer; "I and mine are all that he will need. Get to the Hotel de Ville as soon as you can.”

Falling back, they made room for the cortège to pass on, Vive la Nation ringing fearfully their parting salutation.

by the suns of distant lands, and the stars and orders, scattered about his dress, betokened him an officer high in rank. The uniform was not, however, that of the French army, but savored more of the heavier style of the Austrian.

"Again in Paris," muttered De Mortier," and why? what fatality drags me along? I, I, who had almost sworn never to enter this scene of carnage, far more revolting than the slaughter of a battlefield, am again drawn hither by an impulse I feel myself unable to resist. Europe has offered me a refuge, and the sovereigns of other lands welcome me to their courts, and load me with favors. Men call me brave and skilful in the battle-field, and royalty has lavished upon me its blandest smiles. But their greetings fall coldly upon my heart, and nowhere has it known a home. The tented field, with its wild revelry and stern discipline,-the rush of battle--the mad pleasure of the resistless charge--the cannon peal-the fierce onset, and the whelmed foeman-the clarion note of victory-all, all have a charm, but an hour, 'tis gone, and the heart longs for the calmer and holier pleasures of a quiet home. Home!-France is no longer a home; and yet, torn, dismembered, mad as she is, I cannot but love her.

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"Now, what is she?-Even as dark presentiment, then the sullen roll of the muffled drum announced foreshadowing things to come, taught me to pro- to the affrighted people, that the dark tragedy of phesy, is she now. The stone has been cast too the day was about to be enacted. far, and the flame that was to be lighted upon the Now, for their murderous work," he muttered. altar of liberty, has been kindled into the funeral "The bloodhounds begin the banquet in which to pyre of law, religion, order and reason; and now, glut their brutal appetites to satiety. I will look the mob steps forward to grasp a power which they upon this, the dark beginning of a reign of terror, can wield but for their own ruin and that of their and then, farewell to Paris-perhaps for ever. But country. I have seen much that was dreadful, but I must dash aside these emblems, wherewith fonever till now imaged out, in my own mind, the reign favor has decked me, and mingle with the mad license of a people whose calmest acts are the herd, undistinguished from the lowest and vilest." unbridled excesses of a Jacquerie. All, all that Donning a plain citizen's dress, he concealed about holds man to man, knitting them into a nation, is his person some trusty weapons and left the hotel. broken asunder-every tie riven-every sense of Strange was the appearance of Paris on that right, order, or propriety blunted, till 'tis extinct-eventful day. Every precaution had been taken, every social, legal, and moral principle subverted; lest the fitful mood of Parisian caprice should in the overthrow of rights, human and divine, they change, and the king be snatched from the clutches base the gory monument which shall stand the shud- of his butchers, even while on the way to execudering wonder of unborn nations upon the headless tion. Along the almost deserted streets, scoured corse of a sovereign. France, France, France! patrols of horse, clattering over the pavements, how blindly you hurl yourself over the precipice of and driving from the path, along which the cortége destruction-how, like the suicide, you whet the was to pass, the pallid and alarmed citizens. Few knife, which your own hand will apply to your were to be seen. Here and there a face was visithroat-how heedlessly you mix what might have ble, peering from an half open window, but most of been order into jarring and discordant chaos-a these, as well as the doors, were closed. Upon chaos, which, unless the grasping hand of foreign every bridge-at the barrieres and crossings were power dismembers and snatches as its own, can pieces of artillery and their grim gunners standing never be resolved into primeval order, till one, with lighted matches. More than once was the mightier than the spirits which guide you now, dark scowling eye of some patrol leader bent upon grasp the helm of state, and upon the fragmentary De Mortier, but it was met by a glance, so calm wrecks of government erect the throne of a despot. and yet so unquailing, that hardy indeed had been "Ye have looked upon the stars and stripes, which the man who had dared to drive him from the path so lately reared them beyond the seas, and vainly as he had seen done to some who, like himself, dreamed that you too could be free-free! no-you had disobeyed the order to leave the street clear. never can be free. Either you must groan beneath Such were the precautions taken to execute a senthe yoke of a tyrant, or you place upon yourselves tence trumpeted forth as the darling desire of the the ten thousand times more galling slavery-the public will. despotism of a mob. Bravely would many have guided you aright, but you shook off their guardian hand; and, led by the unhallowed promptings of your own passions, have destroyed your country and yourselves. But even now, 'tis recoiling upon your heads. To-day your king perishes upon the scaffold, and ere the gore has clotted upon his ensanguined body, those whom you have raised to trample upon you will drench your streets in the blood of your best and bravest.

“And Anne! where-where is she now ?-long, long have I dwelt upon her image and often sought ber. She may be the tenant of a dungeon-perhaps a grave. God grant, that with her gray haired sire, she may have sought in some other land that peace which she would vainly search for in France. And yet, the sea which separated her from the ill-starred land of her birth, might place a barrier between us, that might exist forever." And bowing his head, the sad young noble remained long wrapped in his own sad thoughts.

The boom of a gun broke upon the ear, echoing and rumbling through the lanes and streets, and

VOL. X-8

On came the gloomy procession. First, were the massy cannon, followed by a portion of that legion of Sans Culottes who, at the instance of that arch fiend, Robespierre, had been enlisted from the vilest and lowest dregs of a Parisian populace to act as body guard to the royal victim. Then, amid the staunchest and most reckless troops of Black Henriot's horsemen, was the chariot contain. ing the ill-fated sovereign. Before him sat two ruffians in the garb of gens d'armes, whose plenitude of arms and sinister looks gave good evidence of their obedience to the command not to let the prisoner escape alive. Louis was pale and his lip slightly quivered, though he sought to conceal his agitation by a broken and hurried conversation with the good Abbé Edgeworth, who sat by his side. Behind the troop, was the other moiety of the legion, who were, in their turn, followed by a pack of heavy guns, bringing up the rear. This main column was flanked by alternate horse patrols and light artillery.

Slowly they moved on to the Place de Revolution, in the centre of which stood a large scaffold,

draped with black serge, from the midst of which |ceived a blow from behind, which felled him sensethe guillotine darkly reared itself. As they reached less to the earth. the place of execution, the huge mass of soldiery, which the policy of his murderers had placed around the guillotine, opened itself for, and closed upon the carriage, while the legion ranged itself around the infantry already assembled. Without the line of these, the horsemen and artillery were stationed, the muzzles of the guns pointing outward, in order to keep at a greater distance the populace which had now began to assemble.

At the foot of the scaffold, Louis conversed, for a few moments, with the Abbé, and then mounting the scaffold proceeded, with great composure, to divest himself of his coat and neck-cloth. Walking, with a nervous, rapid stride, to the left extremity of the platform, he looked, for a moment, upon the armed multitude around him and exclaimed, Francois, Je meurs innocent; Je pardonne a mes ennemis; Je desire que ma mort soit"

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"Thy list is no small one, Payan. Thou art no wavering friend of Revolution, and goest to thy work right merrily—well, well—every head of the suspect lopped from the shoulders of the owner strengthens the republic; and the cause of the dear innocent people is all that I have at heart." "My list is long, Maximilian, but each one is an enemy of the republic, or of thine."

"Mind, Payan, mind-I have no enemies; I would harm none; 'tis stern necessity that sends the victim to the glaive, and my heart bleeds that it must be my hand which seals their fate. Ah, 'tis a sad and painful task to preserve the liberties of a people."

"Sad, indeed," interrupted the silvery tones of Cauthorn, "and no wonder it brings a pang to the feeling heart of one so tuned to nature's softest

"This must not be," muttered Robespierre, "they sympathies. But it must be done, and though we may yet relent." weep over our fate, must bow to the mandate of necessity."

Santerre waved his arm-Louis' last words were drowned in the roll of drums, and in a moment he was laid upon the platform-his neck was upon the mark-a gun-the string was touched-the glaive fell, and a headless trunk and trunkless head were all that remained of Louis.

Sick at heart, De Mortier turned from the revolting spectacle, and wound his way among the less frequented streets. Passing the Barriere de la Madeleine, he turned into Rue de Caumartin, when a female shriek attracted his attention to a carriage, around which were gathered a dozen desperate looking ruffians. The driver lay mangled and bleeding upon the ground, and one, more brutal than the rest, had dragged a young and lovely girl from the carriage.

Instinctively he rushed to her rescue, and snatching her from his grasp, with his clenched fist felled the ruffian to the earth.

"My father-Oh, Charles, save my father, they will murder him," but before the words had died upon his lips, her person was sprinkled with her father's brains.

Drawing the short Austrian sabre, he had concealed beneath his coat, De Mortier prepared to attempt their retreat. Hard was he pressed, and more than one fell beneath his sabre. One and another had attacked him, and received either death or wounds, and he had, in the end, made good his retreat, had he not been incumbered with the now inanimate body of Anne.

"Sad," growled Payan, "the cursed hypocrites. They call me bloodthirsty, while they cloak their own passion for destruction under the flimsy garb of national philanthropy and the plea of necessity."

But

"And you too, Cauthorn, and the brave St. Just would leave no one as stumbling blocks in the nation's way toward freedom and happiness. beware that you destroy not the innocent with the guilty, better that the criminal should escape than that one innocent hair be touched."

"Diable," exclaimed St. Just, "better ten innocent be put out of the way, than one guilty, aye, even one suspect escape."

"Swear not, Citizen," responded Robespierre. "I regret that thy morality is so corrupt. Let not the innocent be harmed, but the guilty and the suspect, the same by the way, must die. France requires the sacrifice."

"Have you no names to add, Citizen, before you sign the lists. I suppose your love of your kind will make you chary, lest you sacrifice some witless innocent."

"A few, only a few," answered this wholesale butcher, " and I would that I might spare them; but the good of the republic does not permit, and hastily writing some half a dozen names upon the list, he threw the papers back to Payan, and with a wave of his hand broke up the council."

'Very well," continued De Mortier, “and now, if there is any thing which a fiend like yourself holds sacred, may I beg to know what it is?" Robespierre looked for some moments doubtfully

public."

better. Had he been sober, he had sent stauncher conveyance and escort he may desire. And now hands to snatch her from her father and bear her you will please give me your passport for myself hither. A single one, placed upon the box, had and suite, and a general order to all persons in the put the fair one in my arms, before she knew mis-country, to extend to me all aid or assistance I may chief was brewing. But the beast must attempt, require, under pain of death." by force, what had been better done by stratagem, and his ruffians were hardly a match for that young sprig of nobility, De Mortier. Nobility, faugh! how I hate the name. We must make short work of him. True, his father saved me from starvation- at his querist and then slowly uttered, "The Rebut-but-but-the republic demands his death. Our agents will soon have him in their toils, and then 'tis easy to trump up some charge against him. He shall die. And she? now, that resistance has put her out of my grasp, to cheat the dear people I must convict her of treason, and send her to feed the guillotine. Well, this time to-morrow, she will be among the dead, and I shall soon find some one to console me for her loss. I do not want you, Jean, you can retire," he continued, as a row of book-shelves behind him revolved on a pivot, and a light step was heard in the apartment.

"Tis not Jean, Citizen," responded a full, manly voice, "but one whose presence you may relish still less."

Turning his head, Robespierre beheld the long light barrel of a pistol within two inches of his face. He made a motion as if about to rise, but checked himself as the stranger continued

"Move not, Robespierre, you are in my power; a motion, a breath drawn too loud and you are a dead man-nay, glance not from that bell to the door. The sound of that bell, could easily be drowned in the pistol shot which would hurl you into eternity, and he who mounts guard at your door is not your jacobin sentry. His cup has been drugged, and he lies snoring in one corner of the hall, while a better man holds post over the closet of the butcher of France. Rouse yourself and do my bidding; and recollect, that one step too far, or one word uttered in too loud a key, and MaximiLan Robespierre has signed his last death-warrant." "Would you murder me ?" he exclaimed. "Who are you, and what is your purpose?"

"I am that De Mortier, whose death you so coolly determined on but just now. I shall do you no harm if you do my bidding, if not, I shall do the world the service of sending you out of it." "What will you," he stammered; "any thing, every thing that you require I will do, but oh spare me! I am not fit to die."

"Coward!" answered his companion. "I will spare your dog's life; but here, take this pen and write," and De Mortier pushed a rolling table to him.

"Write-write-write what?"

"As I dictate. The keeper of the Prison du Chatelet will please deliver to the bearer Anne De Reilley-write on sir, why do you stop?--now,

"The Republic!" retorted his tormentor--"there thou liest, yet here, swear by thy God, the republic and thy life, that what has, and will pass between us, be never mentioned nor recalled to memory."

Robespierre took the oath, but the savage lighting of his eye warned De Mortier that little dependence was to be placed upon his promise, when the power of breaking it was placed in his hands.

You

"And now, most worthy Citizen, as your memory is not always the best imaginable, I have brought with me a security for your silence. will do me the favor to open your mouth-don't be afraid, I shall not cut your tongue out."

Drawing some strong leather straps from his pocket, he passed one across the open month of the prisoner, buckling it tightly behind his head and fastening it to the high back of his chair. Securing his hands and feet with the others, he drew from underneath his coat a large package, having a long cord pendant from one end; this package he fastened to the feet of Robespierre, connecting the cord with the thongs which confined the hands and head, in such manner that the slightest motion would tighten it considerably.

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And now, my good friend, I must bid you good morning, but before I do so, permit me to inform you, that you have for your footstool a canister of the best English gun-powder, which a very slight strain of that cord will render so lively as to send you dancing through the roof of the house—a very indecorous caper indeed to be cut by so grave a state dignitary as yourself."

The prisoner turned a look of impotent agony upon his tormentor, who, after carefully bolting all the doors of the apartment, struck a single tap upon the bell and departed by the same avenue through which he entered.

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Yes, and a passport and order that will not under sentence of death, and afford him whatever only secure us from molestation, but give us relays

of horses, or guards, wherever and whenever we over a canister of gun-powder, which a motion need them." would have ignited. He is worthy of her."

"Then four hours start, and I defy even Black And, unless her countenance belies her, she Henriot to catch us; but, even then, they must be deserved no meaner lord," answered Josephine, old hands at the bellows to match the sharp fel-" he who would wear should win.” lows I have waiting for us."