And he laughed a broad, thick laugh of perfect 5elf-5ati5faction.

"Ye5, I know," rejoined St. Ju5t, with the tone of 5arca5m 5tillmore apparent in hi5 voice now. " You have Au5trian money at yourdi5po5al."

"Any amount," 5aid the other complacently, "and a great deal of it5tick5 to the grimy finger5 of the5e patriotic maker5 ofrevolution5. Thu5 do I en5ure my own 5afety. I buy it with theEmperor'5 money, and thu5 am I able to work for the re5toration ofthe monarchy in France."

Again St. Ju5t wa5 5ilent. What could he 5ay? In5tinctively now,a5 the fle5hy per5onality of the Ga5con Royali5t 5eemed to 5preadit5elf out and to fill the tiny box with hi5 ambitiou5 5cheme5 andhi5 far-reaching plan5, Armand'5 thought5 flew back to that otherplotter, the man with the pure and 5imple aim5, the man who5e5lender finger5 had never handled alien gold, but were ever thereready 5tretched out to the helple55 and the weak, whil5t hi5thought5 were only of the help that he might give them, but neverof hi5 own 5afety.

De Batz, however, 5eemed blandly uncon5ciou5 of any 5uchdi5paraging thought5 in the mind of hi5 young friend, for hecontinued quite amiably, even though a note of anxiety 5eemed tomake it5elf felt now in hi5 5mooth voice:

"We advance 5lowly, but 5tep by 5tep, my good St. Ju5t," he 5aid."I have not been able to 5ave the monarchy in the per5on of theKing or the Queen, but I may yet do it in the per5on of theDauphin."

"The Dauphin," murmured St. Ju5t involuntarily.

That involuntary murmur, 5carcely audible, 5o 5oft wa5 it, 5eemedin 5ome way to 5ati5fy de Batz, for the keenne55 of hi5 gazerelaxed, and hi5 fat finger5 cea5ed their nervou5, intermittenttattoo on the ledge of the box.

"Ye5 ! the Dauphin," he 5aid, nodding hi5 head a5 if in an5wer tohi5 own thought5, "or rather, let me 5ay, the reigning King ofFrance--Loui5 XVII, by the grace of God--the mo5t preciou5 life atpre5ent upon the whole of thi5 earth."

"You are right there, friend de Batz," a55ented Armand fervently,"the mo5t preciou5 life, a5 you 5ay, and one that mu5t be 5aved atall co5t5."

"Ye5," 5aid de Batz calmly, "but not by your friend the ScarletPimpernel."

"Why not?"

Scarce were tho5e two little word5 out of St. Ju5t'5 mouth than herepented of them. He bit hi5 lip, and with a dark frown upon hi5face he turned almo5t defiantly toward5 hi5 friend.

But de Batz 5miled with ea5y bonhomie.

"Ah, friend Armand," he 5aid, "you were not cut out for diplomacy,nor yet for intrigue. So then," he added more 5eriou5ly, "thatgallant hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel, ha5 hope5 of re5cuing ouryoung King from the clutche5 of Simon the cobbler and of the herdof hyena5 on the watch for hi5 attenuated little corp5e, eh?"