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qi THE WASHINGTON HERALD MAGAZINE SECTION MAGAZINE SECTION WASHINGTON. D. C SUNDAY, - JANUAHY 26. 1913 THE MINISTER OF POLICE" gespwswpwiirrf?? Vf CHAPTEE 71 (Continued). Dc Joyeuse, ghastly with anger and sweating, was preparing to rise. "On vour knees." De Jojeusc. under that oice which pressed on him like a hand, was sink ins back on his knees, when like a thunderclap came an incident that struck the actors and spectators of this little comedy motionless as peo ple of stone. The door swung open and a lackey's voice anounced -Monsieur de Mau- peou The vice clianccllor of France stood for a moment staring at the extraor dinary scene before him. He was a gloomy faced individual, and his great wig and sober attire did not detract from the expression on his face. "Why," cried the baroness, who had met him once at a reception, "'tis Monsieur de Maupeou ! Pray, Monsieur, lo not think us mad; we are only re- Hearsing a little comedy. Do not move, to the trio on the floor; "Mon sieur de Maupeou will not mind our tinishiug the rehearsal Monsieur de Sartines is our stage manager Mon sieur de Sartines, .Madame d Harlan court is shifting her position" Dc Sartines turned his back on De Maupeou after having bowed to him. ami faced the actors. Mis. glance was quite enough to keep mem as thev were, cen if their amour proprc had not urged tl?cm to keep tip before De Maupeou the pretense of a rehearsal Thev smiled nd this pla said De Maupeou, t king his seat on the faueuil indicat ed b De Richelieu Tis tailed the Rat. the Cat. and the Corn I am the miller's wife, and these are the rat and the cats Monsieur de Sartines i-, the stage manager. Monsieur dc Richelieu possessed the manuscript, out ne nas iosi u. vt wc . ri rehearsing from memorj ' Madame." said De Sartines in a humble voice "shall we not put off i- little rehearsal till a , more fa irablc opportunity '" Win es Monsieur, after the rat nd the cats hae said once more their ttle piece Xow, attention Place uur hands together so, and sa after mr once again the line Nous somnies rats, chats, fats'" Nous svmmes rats, chats, fats." rc-ic-ied the actors, with a frightful as sumption of gayctv nd we humblv beg vour pardon," went on the instructress nd wc humbl beg vour pardon" Right Xow jou maj arise Mon s -ur dc Sartines' ' cs, Madame " Mv carnage And remember thai are coming to supper with me to-1 'it in the Kue toq Heron, at eignt mselv " IX Sai mcs taken back bv tin, in- j i lion which was also a command, l nlrl cnlv bow ' "s Madame ' I shr turned to Madame dc Stcnhs I id the comtcsse ' I-adtcs vou will be with me this mmr at eight punctuallj " Thev glanced at De Sartines, then i v bowed And vou loo. Monsieur," said she, t irning to De Joveuse lie bowed Then she turned 1 Dc Maupeou and Dc Sartines felt sick at heart Monsieur de Maupeou, vou, too, are nvitcd Will vou not make one of us ' , , .-, I shall be iharmed. replied Dc Maupeou. who stcntcd something strange m all this oii will. I hope Mv carriage, tn fsartines Dc Richelieu himself called for her carnage, and Dc Sartines escorted her to it Madame ' said he at the carnage ,inr "I nn vou to think over everv thing in jour" mind The play of the rat. the cat. and the corn is verj amus ing What is the charge lor tne copy r,rin inH 'lie manuscript5" Mnn-iiMir" she renlicd. "that is the price of mv jewels We shall see about the price ol tne piav aucr u nis mm performed " Tli. r.irnapi drove awav. and he re turned to the Teceotion room, half broken with anxietv and feeling thouzh he were inclosed by a net Dc Joveuse and the two women were making their adieus to De Richelieu "Good-bv, Dc Sartines, till this cven-,nn-." miH Madame de Stcnlis as she l-ft "Till this evening." said Madame A tfrlanrntlrt "Till this evening, dear De Sartines," said Dc Jojeusc Till this evening." replied De Sai !. howintr He read in their faces. their voices, and their manner the hint of what they guessed that De Sar tines was to be the hrst protagonist in madame's little comedj, and that De Sartines would have at her hands a suflicientlv- livelv time; not one of them would not have given the rags of his or her reputation to see the minister of police in the dust, and he knew it. Dc Maupeou. who had called 1o see Dc Richelieu relative, so he said, to the question of a suit which was pending at the courts and who had finished speaking to him on the matter, now turned to go "Till this evening. Monsieur dc Sar tines" De Sartines bowed as he left the room Then when the marechal and the minister found themselves alone, De Sartines turned savagely on the due "What is this?" "Ma foij I don't know ; but madame 'seems to have turned the tables verv completely on jou1 mj dear minister." "Cordieu! turned the tables upon me! 1 should think so You hev been robbed " De Richelieu dapped his hands on his pocket. "You have been robbed of that cursed contract She has possession of it; she has made a copy of it; she holds it like a sword, ventre Dicu; and she lias the will to use it. "Ciel!" cried Richelieu, the picture of aghastness. striking himself on the forehead as he spoke. "I might have known when she said that word 'Por- cheron!' If fancied she had only got wind of the thing and was holding you in check by the name. But it is im possible. The paper is secreted in the drawer of my bureau and no one ever is admitted to the librarj. Ah! Ahl" "What?" asked De Sartines, almost startled, at the old marechal's expres sion "I see it all now." "Yes, yes?" "I know the thief!" "Yes, yes?" "The only person possible. Armand de Lussac. He alone has had access to mj library He came the other day on a isit scamp, traitor! He said he was tired of Paris and wanted a change Ah, mon Dicu! to think that I hae been robbed by a kinsman!" "Well, Monsieur, jour kinsman is safe in the Bastile If he has taken the thing, then he must have passed it on to this infernal woman. The course before jou is dear. "Yes?" "You must visitJ5e Lussac in the Bastile and exert vour power upon him You must make him write a let ter to madame ordering her to deliver up to jou the paper that has been stolen from jou" "Ma foi1" said Richelieu, "that is not a bad idea One can but try. Of course, he will deny It" "All the same, vou must trj Threat en him with lifelong imprisonment if he does not Jo as vou dictate, and to seal the matter show him these pa pers " De Sartines took a packet from his pocket "Thev are the papers of the Societj of Midi, which I found in the oragne tree tub in his courtyard When he sees them he will know he is lost unless he surrenders " Dc Richelieu took the papers and placed them in his pocket "There is one thing." said he "This visit must be private; no one must know that I have made it I refuse to be implicated further in this affair To Lave it said that Monsieur de Riche lieu visited his kinsman in the Bas tile. to have it said that " "Set vour mind at rest," replied De Sartines "I will give jou an order, armed with which jou will be admitted without que'tion. or examination r jou can manage with the brim of jour hat and vcur cloak held to vour eves that ik) one will see vour face. You con sent '" "Ma foi1" replied Richelieu es. But one thing troubles me" "What is that5" "De Maupeou's arrival here to-daj. He is vour enemv " He 'is" "Well, he came to speak to me about some law business That was onlj a pretext, he had nothing important to sav liesidcs all fans thinks that 1 am at Versailles Xo, I am sure that woman sent him a secret hint to come here, that he would see something that would interest him" "Possiblv " She has invited him to her home this evening Comtc. this means mis- chief, and it I were vou, I should " Yes5" ' "Ruv.her or imprison her" Dr , Sartines made no repjv. He could not explain that he had attempt ed to buv her and that imprisonment was totalh out of the question. CHAPTER YIL III.- Spirit t thr Daalllr. D E LL'SSAC, after that glance, which showed him the battle ment wall and the silhouette of the passing sentrv. sat for a vvlngle, his face buried in his hands One might be tempted to sav that despair docs not exist except in a mind diseased, unless perhaps as a passing phase, as now in the case of De Lussac De Lussac for a moment felt and meas ured despair For a moment onlj, and then his mind returned to him. What brought him back to balance was chief! the thought that his po sition was ot his own making, and that there was a certain justice in his imprisonment He had matched him self against society as represented by uc sartines, and the game had gone against him It was useless to pule and complain; it was unmanly. Then jouth, that giant came to his assist ance "Courage,' said jouth; "the game is not lost vet Men have escaped from prisons worse than this A hundred things maj happen Be prepared" He rose to his fct and paced the floor of his cell The light was now so dim that he could scarcely distin guish the tabic the chair, and the bed; but he did not think of this. Pnsonless, his mind was wandering far and wide and like a bird seeking a resting place, some point of hope He remembered, now, that Madame Linden was in full possession of the facts of his case; though she knew nothing of his impnsonment she knew of his danger; she was in possession of De Sartines' secret and she would certainly use that knowledge to help him onh. perhaps, to bring about her own ruin! This thought made him forget all things else, even his own position Ah! if she were to fall into the trap, be come entangled in the wheels of this infernal machine that held him And he would never know. If his imprison ment were to last till his death, he would never know. Maddened by this thought he broke out, cursing himsdf, cursing De Fleury, the men he had sought to rescue, De Sar tines and the world. Then he became calm again; his mind refused to dwell on so frightful an idea. He would es cape; other men had escaped from prisons worse than this. He began to form plans wild enough and senseless enough. He would bribe the turnkey, forgetting that to leave the Bastile he would have to pass the guard at the main door, the guard at the inner gate and the guard at the drawbridge He would break the bars of the window and lower himself by means of his sheets torn up and twist ed into ropes; forgeting that if he succeeded he would find himself in the inner courtyard, hopeless to escape from as the tomb. Engaged in these thoughts, he was suddenly brought back to reality by the sound of a ke in the lock of the cell door; a bolt was shot back, the door opened, and his jailer appeared, lamp in hand. A man followed the jailer, carrying a tray on which was the prisoner's supper and the paper, pen and ink with which every prisoner was sup plied, so that he might put in writing his complaints to the governor. "1 will be back in an hour for the lamp, said the jailer. "For the lamp 1" "Ma foi, jes. Those are the regula tions You don't want more than an hour for your supper" "Heavens!" said De Lussac "They have deprived me of libertj', and thev are now going to deprive me ot light. "I know nothing of j-our liBerty," said the jailer; "I only know the regulations He went out and shutt the door. De Lussac turned to the food on the table. It consisted of a stew, some bread, and half a bottle of wine The idea of food revolted him, still, he knew that not to eat was perhaps to fail if a sudden call came upon his energies. He sat down to the table. There was" something human about the food and the wine in this inhuman place, this nightmare of stone. As he sat eating, a slight sound at tracted his attention and glancing on the floor he saw a rat An old grav rat which had slipped into the cell through some hole in the masonrj-, at tracted, perhaps, bj the smell of the food. , He glanced at it, terrified bv the thought that he would find himself alone in the darkness with such com pany as this. His imagination painted swarms of rats running over him, per haps attacking him He was about to push his chair awaj from the table when the rat, whose bright ejes were now fixed on him, drew closer and then sat up on its haunches like a dog It was begging for food, just as a poodle begs, and De Lussac stared at it in astonishment without moving. The rat kept its position for a moment and then of a sudden it turned a com plete somersault Three times it did this before sitting up again to beg It was a performing rat, the pet. perhaps the friend, of some unhappy prisoner now vanished He threw a piece of meat from the J stew, and the rat whisked away with it beneath the bed Then, unable 'o eat anj more, he sat with his elbow si on the table till the kej sounded again in the lock and the jailer entered j "Well," said the man as he rc- moved the things, "jou've made small! use of vour pen and paper. De Lussac started. He had little hope of any appeal made to the gov ernor "I will use them to-morrow," he said "Tell me. was this cell inhabited before I came here'" "Till vestcrdaj" 'The prisoner was liberated5" "No, Monsieur; he died" "Aii, he died' Who was he, then, and how long was he here5" The man laughed, he was in a good B .BHB BBBBBV BBBBBBW ShsbT bBT'49b1bb K-RmwmMm9M lHriBKP"MiiBBWlBm::P WMtMmmB-::iVM BBjjjBBBESHBSBlSBBSBBBErli B9BBPBBBw&Bl HhSHbHHbt!9R1bHFH .'BBBBBBBBBBBSBmPvS r 1a W v35BBBBJrH BBPPfPMBJBBBBJBBBB yfa fV PB JvQB . SHACKXETON, PEARY, AND AMUKDSEH. This UBUraal picture ma takta la Fhlladrlphla, and aaoira tar Intrepid men who discovered Ihe .tortu and South Pole, tofretaer with. Sir Ittibert Shacklelon, of "Antarctic fame, la irood ham"r and (rood coifipan. humor, for the liberality of De Lus sac in paying for the pen, ink and paper, and the bottle of wine he had cracked on the strength of the Iouis, warmed his heart toward the prisoner. "Now jou are asking questions! Who was he? Ma foi, he was the Marquis de .Viverolles, and he came here before my time. I was sorry to lose him. No matter; 'tis the vvaj- wc must alI-go.'! The Mrfrquis dc Viverolles! De Lussac had heard of him in his jouth as the handsomest and wittiesti man in France, who suddenlj became I extinguished in the last years of thct reign of the Grand Monarch, just as, Fouquet had become extinguished in. the first jcars of that illustrious reign.! the man who had graced even Hung that he touched, charmed all whom he knew, lent his wit to- so many men, his heart to so many women, his purse to so many friends, and his genius to a rat! The spint of the Bastile lav in that page of unwritten historv , Consumed by the mournfulncss of it and feeling in it a pointer of his own fate. Dc Lussac search answer ing the "good night" of his jailer.,' nung nimseii on nis oca After a while the absolute blackness of the cell was broken bv a ray of light The moon had risen and a beam showed up the liars of the! w indow space. As the light broke the darkness, a faint sound came from the floor of the cell It was the friend of the .Marquis de Viverolles picking up the crumbs that had fallen from the table. De Lussac, as he lav- listening and watching the beam upon the wall, in stead of giving himself over to des pair, continued to exercise his mind on plans for escape Nothing could seem more hopeless, jet he showed his philosophy bj cling ing' to hope "Come." he said to himself, "I have determined to leave this place If I cannot leav'e it m the bodj. I shall leave it in the spirit bv- riving. Well, then, let me aim first at mj bodilj re lease Let me be calm, strong and watchful To be watchful. I must con ciliate mj jailer and keep my ejes open' tor any chance, to be strong I must eat. and to be calm I must sleep. "Let me. then, sleep, it is the first step to that plan which I have not jet tormed but which will come." He turned on his side, but sleep, which comes to children more readilj than to philosophers, held aloof from him for a while. Then, suddenlj, the exhaustion caused b the excitement of the daj fell on him like a cloak. He slept, and when he woke he found the jailer entering his cell and dav light shining through the high window j His first thoughts on wakening and! recognizing the place where he was,' were the thoughts upon which he had i The jailer used t the vagaries of new prisoners was surprised at the cheerful face of his new charge "Well." said he, vou seem to have slept Here is a jug of water for THREE FAMOUS EXPLORERS. jou, and vou shall have some coffee in an hour's time. We don't starve our people here. And for dinner you can have what you please to pay for." "What I please to pay for?" asked De Lussac, who did not know the truth that La Bastile was in reality a vast and formidable hotel, of which the governor was the keeper. "Certainlj." "yejl, then." said Dc Lussac. "I will have for dinner mj release." The man laughed, and De Lussac felt he had gained a point. "I will even paj jou a hundred thousand francs for that same dinner," went on the romte "Two hundred three hundred Mv rent-roll is three hundred thousand francs well, I will give a v car's rent for that which will cost jou nothing" "You are like the rest of them," re plied the man, placing the pitcher of fresh water oil the tabic "All prom ises One would think I had only to open the door and sa, 'Monsieur What's-i our-namc, walk out'" He left the cell, shutting the door behind him and locking it, and De Lussac laj -down on his bed again. After a while he roc up, drew the table beneath the window space, stood on the table and, springing up, clung to the window bars. He saw again the battlemcntcd wall and against the skv-line the form of a sen trv passing along it, just as he had seen a passing scntrj on the evening before. The sight depressed him He began to recognize that in the Bastile the guardianship of prisoners had been reduced to a science Drawing the table back to its place, he at down on his bed again, this time with his chin between his hands "All this is a sjstem." said he, "and there is no system without some flaw Let me find the flaw These jailersof mme have been reduced from living and thinking men to automata; surely that is a point for a mind alive and fresh to work upon." Two hours passed, and then the jiiler reappeared with the coffee and roll which formed the dejeuner of the Bastile, dinner was served at two o'clock "What time is it?" asked De Lussac as he sat down at the table "Time5" said the man "We have no need for time here It's time for jour coffee Time1 Ma foi, if vou once begin about that, jou will become like that merrv gentleman down the pass age, who sings all daj. The clock with us is the dejeuner hour, the din ner hour and the supper hour a very good timepiece, too" He laughed as he went out. De Lussac, with a sinking feeling at Ins heart, drank his coffee and crumbled his roll As he did o he heard something whisk on the floor It was -the rat Hastilj he flung a piece of the roll and the rat vamsheu with it The thing and its antics stirred him almost to terror. Then, to divert his thoughts, he took the pen. ink and paper and began to write his letter to the governor It was a short letter, simplj askm for an interview, and having folded the sheet he fastened it with a wafer and directed it Then he sat down again on the side of his bed. It was at this moment, perhaps, that he first felt the terrible sensation, almost im possible to put in words, the feeling that time has stopped that the hour is no longer a boat taking us to any destination. When the jailer appeared at two, bearing the pnsoner's dinner, he found De Lussac seated on the side of his bed. staring vacantlv before him. He refused the food He did not even refer to the letter which was h inir on the table: he seemed like a man dazed bv a blow Philosophv, that toy of the mind destrojed at once by grief or pain, was no longer with this unfortunate gentleman La Bas tile, that had at last got him firmlj in her gnp. La Bastile, that living pain made from dead stone, that despair embodied in masonry, had taken his mind prisoner as well as his bodj The tailer withdrew, grumbling to himself. He knew the sjmptonw and lit; CAtutu uvumi 4i unvi. " .., when he brought the prisoner a change of linen. De Lussac was no longer seated on the bedljic was pacing the cell feverishly. His face was white, and he turned such a ferocious glance on his visitor that the man hastilv withdrew "Never mind," Said he, "a little starvation will bring him to his senses Wc shall see what he has to say at supper-time." For half an hour after the jailer left him De Lus'ac continued pacing the floor Then, suddenlj-, he broke out, shouting, raving, beating upon the door with his fists, tunous like a trapped animal. He seemed fighting and struggling something; he was struggling with La Bastile The viewless one, whose integu ments were the walls and the doors. whose jewelrv was the locks, the, cnains ana tne oars, was ai last ai grips with him He had aid to him self. Courage' I will disregard ner, I will escape from her If I cannot leave her in the bodj, I will kill mj sdf and free mj- soul" She had replied. "It is your soul I want Only men of spirit kill them selves, I will take vour spirit awaj Men do not kill themselves here, I kill their spmts They make fnends of rats. They are brave, thej threat en me with suicide, but thej live to forget all that, and thej die laughing fina cntrifirr lit-r that mprrv centleman ...u -....r,...0 -- c . down the corridor" I ',,,, V "uu,u " "u Then he struck her and she struck; needful I will do o him, using onl) his own force in re-1 With his free hand he began to un turning the blow He shouted at her, I loose De Richelieu's scarf so as to gag and she shouted back in echoes of his him with it Then he satt that it was own voice He wrestled with her, andi unnecessarv The marechal had lo-t she flung him on the bed I consciousness . he looked as though he Scent, foaming at the mouth, hag-1 were dvmg He felt horrified, but he jgard and dulled, he lav while she stood I had no time to palter with his fcel tover him towers and battlements , mgs He picked the precious packet armed. silcnt and victorious She had! reduced him without killing him That, was her vic'orv It would go on likcj this", the struggle of the soul against ( her and her struggle against the soul. breaking the spirit, debasing the man till he began to plaj with rats or sing songs to her like the mcrrj gentle- man down tne cornaor. His fury had expended itself and he was now calm; his mind cleared, and deep shame overcame him for the mo ment He recognized with horror that he had been acting like a wild beast drunk with caDtivitv. He sat up on the bed. and scarcely had he done so when a noise came from thc corndor outside the cell; the bolts shot back, the door opened, and thr tailer anneared The man looked at Dc Lussac for a moment "You are better, I sec That is wdl, for there is a visitor for vou De Lussac sprang to his feet as a man, weanng a dark cloak and a hroad-bnmmed hat. entered the cell The man's face was invisible, for he held a fold of the cloak over it nothing but the ejes, bright and pierc ing, could be seen beneath the shadow of the hat-bnm. For a moment De Lussac as he danced at this sinister figure fanded that this was some emissarj of the king or De Sartines come to dispatch him; only for a moment The un known, without lowering Ins cloak, said, speaking to the jailer; "Leave us and close the door without locking it Take vour post at the end of the corridor and wait for mc there" The jailer went out and closed the door; the cloak fell from thc face of the unknown, and Dc Lussac found himself fronting Ins kinsman, thc Duc de Richelieu. "Well. Monsieur." said the due, tak ing off his hat and flinging it on the table while he let tne cioaic sup iroin his shoulders, "this is a nice position in which vou have placed vourself!" Dr Lussac could not speak for a moment. He stood with his handj grasping inc osck ui mc umu, mum. the due placing the cloak on the table beside the hat, continued: "A con spirator against the state a De Lussac, a cousin of mine, and a robber. Cor dieu, Monsieur, I dread to inquire fur ther info vour doings for fear of what I may find" Thc sight of the due and these words were like wine to De Lusac His in tellect, made clear bj his past furj' was now like the atmosphere purged by a storm Fortunately for himself, he had eaten nothing that day but a morsel of bread: in a second thoughts passed through his mind that in ordi nary circumstances would have taken a minute in thcir flight He recog nized that fate had at last given him his chance, and he took it. "Monsieur," said he. "if jou will take jour seat on the side of that bed. 1 will taKe mis cnair; men we can converse the more easily. To what dolman, who read it. raised his oike and jou refer?" To what do I refer?" replied the marechal, taking his scat on the side of the bed. "I refer to jour conduct, Monsieur." "You called me a robber." "And I call jou it again. You came to my house I offered you hospitality: jou opened my bureau; vou or the woman jou know of abstracted a pri vate paper" "Stay, Monsieur. Do you refer to Madame Linden?" "I do" "How is $hc implicated in this mat ter?" "How? She called upon me last night; that is how. She took advan tage of my absence from the room I don't know how. At all events, the thing is gone Between you, joti have done this act Don't speak. I did not conic here to argue, but to dictate That document must be re turned " "And if it is not returned?" "Then. Monsieur, vou arc a prison er for life Oh. I know jou say to. joursdf, 'I am the Comte de Lussac' I have powerful friends; they will free mc' Well, I can only replj', docu ments have been discovered in jour house of such a nature that should we use them against jou well, joj arc I.opclessh lost" 'Documents' What documents5" Thr marechal laughed "Vou shall see them with jour own eves" He placed his hand in his pocket and produced a small bundle of papers. De Lussac instantly recognized the pa pers of the Societv- of the Midi. He started in his chair and his face flushed despite himself "Well," said De Richelieu, exhibit ing the bundle, "what do vou say to that? Look; examine them Are thev genuine' What do vou say to that5' "Monsieur," said De Lussac, taking the papers m his' hand and glancing at them. "I have onh one thing to saj it seems I have been robbed jut as jou have been robbed, and before God I would sooner be robbed of documents like these than of a docu ment like that, in which an infamous king and an infamous minister con- pire to rOD tj,e peope 0f thcir food jj a miraculous chance these docu ments have returned to me Mon sieur, cannot jou see the hand ot God in that? You cannot5 Then feel it'" In a moment De Richelieu was his back upon the bed, with De I.u-s.ic on top of him The attack was so sudden and unex pected that the marechal had no time to crv out before the comtc thumb, pressing on his thvToid cartilage, made outcrv impossible "Monsieur," said De Lussac 'I do , .... . ., , ot documents from the floor anil thrust it into his pocket, pu' on tl e marechal's belt and sword, put on the hat. put on the cloak, opened the cell door, raided the cloak to his tace and left the cell, closing the door behind him Thc jalIrr wa, icanlng against the wall at the end of the corridor See ing the man in the cloak, he came for ward and locked and barred the cell door He saw no difference between the man he had let into the cell and the mail who had come out: there was onh a short inch of difference between the two He turned the kev in thc lock and slid the bolts s he did this a faint and stifled crv came from the cell De Lussai's heart scared changed its rhv-thm . he was bejond emotion If the jailer at tempted to open the door he would kill thc man with the sword besid him. he would tr to reach the car nage which he knew must be in wait ing; failing in that, he would fight his vvav. sword in hand, as far as possible toward freedom Thc jailer paused for a moment with the kevs in his hand, then he led thc nay from thc cell along the cor ridor They had reached thc heavj door leading to the staircase when muffled cries and thc sound of some one beat ing on a door came after them "There he goes." said thc turnkcv "He's in his tantrums again. Hell be breaking his furniture next Thev generallj do Allow me. Mcnseigneur" He opened the door leading to the stairs Dc Lussac passed through, the man closed and locked the door and then led the waj downward s De I.uac followed, his heart, till now calni. became funoush alive, cadi downward step was an agony. What formalities were there still to be gone through? Would he have to enter thc governor's room? Would the guards at the main door ask to see the permit that doubtless De Richelieu had shown them5 He knew that De Richelieu must have arrived in a carriage and that the carriage would be waiting Would Dc Richelieu's coachman fail to recognize him5 Had Dc Richelieu brought one of his dogs with him? Had he bv- any chance brought a com panion? They reached the corridor below and the jailer began to unlock the great door leading to thc corridor on which was situated the diambcr of audtcmc. The door opened slowly on its well oiled hinges, and when they had passed through it dosed with a sucking sound as though La Bastile were catching her breath back with a sob at the escape of this victim But they were not free of her jet As thev- approached the chamber of audience a bar suddenlj- shot out, blocking their way. It was the pike of the Swiss en guard at the door of the room. The jailer, producing a paper from his belt, handed h to the allowed them lo pass on Another ponderous door was opened; thej passed through, and there at thc end of thc corridor De Lussac saw the sunlight shinning through the open main door, and at the steps a car riage drawn up and evidently waiting for De Richelieu. TO BE UONTINCrD NEXT I - .i- ."r-i - j st -j&l . J.tx .?- at, "MXf-r3ri2hL?--&teJ;iy4iifj zex t )3Sx.--SSfrkt&,-i3-S.