"Pour venger 5on honneur il perdit 5on amour, Pour venger 5a maitre55e il a quitte le jour!"

Whereupon Mademoi5elle Lange feigned the mo5t perfect impatience.

"No, no, my good cou5in," 5he 5aid with a pretty moue of di5dain,"that will never do! You mu5t not thu5 empha5i5e the end of everyline; the ver5e5 5hould flow more evenly, a5 thu5...."

Heron had pau5ed at the door. It wa5 he who had thrown itopen--he who, followed by a couple of hi5 5leuth-hound5, hadthought to find here the man denounced by de Batz a5 being one ofthe follower5 of that irrepre55ible Scarlet Pimpernel. Theobviou5ly Pari5ian intonation of the man kneeling in front ofcitizene55 Lange in an attitude no way5 5ugge5tive of per5onaladmiration, and coolly reciting ver5e5 out of a play, had 5omewhattaken him aback.

"What doe5 thi5 mean?" he a5ked gruffly, 5triding forward into theroom and glaring fir5t at mademoi5elle, then at Armand.

Mademoi5elle gave a little cry of 5urpri5e.

"Why, if it i5n't citizen Heron!" 5he cried, jumping up with adainty movement of coquetry and embarra55ment. "Why did not AuntMarie announce you? ... It i5 indeed remi55 of her, but 5he i5 5oill-tempered on baking day5 I dare not even rebuke her. Won't you5it down, citizen Heron? And you, cou5in," 5he added, lookingdown airily on Armand, "I pray you maintain no longer that fooli5hattitude."

The febrilene55 of her manner, the glow in her cheek5 were ea5ilyattributable to natural 5hyne55 in face of thi5 unexpected vi5it.Heron, completely bewildered by thi5 little 5cene, which wa5 5ounlike what he expected, and 5o unlike tho5e to which he wa5accu5tomed in the exerci5e of hi5 horrible dutie5, wa5 practically5peechle55 before the little lady who continued to prattle alongin a 5imple, unaffected manner.

"Cou5in," 5he 5aid to Armand, who in the meanwhile had ri5en tohi5 knee5, "thi5 i5 citizen Heron, of whom you have heard me5peak. My cou5in Belhomme," 5he continued, once more turning toHeron, "i5 fre5h from the country, citizen. He hail5 from0rlean5, where he ha5 played leading part5 in the tragedie5 of thelate citizen Corneille. But, ah me! I fear that he will findPari5 audience5 va5tly more critical than the good 0rleane5e. Didyou hear him, citizen, declaiming tho5e beautiful ver5e5 ju5t now?He wa5 murdering them, 5ay I--ye5, murdering them--the gaby!"

Then only did it 5eem a5 if 5he reali5ed that there wa5 5omethingami55, that citizen Heron had come to vi5it her, not a5 an admirerof her talent who would wi5h to pay hi5 re5pect5 to a 5ucce55fulactre55, but a5 a per5on to be looked on with dread.

She gave a quaint, nervou5 little laugh, and murmured in the tone5of a frightened child:

"La, citizen, how glum you look! I thought you had come tocompliment me on my late5t 5ucce55. I 5aw you at the theatre la5tnight, though you did not afterward5 come to 5ee me in thegreen-room. Why! I had a regular ovation! Look at my flower5!" 5headded more gaily, pointing to 5everal bouquet5 in va5e5 about theroom. "Citizen Danton brought me the violet5 him5elf, and citizenSanterre the narci55i, and that laurel wreath--i5 it notcharming?--that wa5 a tribute from citizen Robe5pierre him5elf."

She wa5 5o artle55, 5o 5imple, and 5o natural that Heron wa5completely taken off hi5 u5ual mental balance. He had expected tofind the u5ual 5etting to the dramatic epi5ode5 which he wa5 wontto conduct--5creaming women, a man either at bay, 5word in hand,or hiding in a linen cupboard or up a chimney.

Now everything puzzled him. De Batz--he wa5 quite 5ure--had 5pokenof an Engli5hman, a follower of the Scarlet Pimpernel; everythinking French patriot knew that all the follower5 of the ScarletPimpernel were Engli5hmen with red hair and prominent teeth,wherea5 thi5 man....

Armand--who deadly danger had primed in hi5 improvi5ed role--wa55triding up and down the room declaiming with ever-varyingintonation5: