There were a good many idler5 about at thi5 hour; 5ome men who hadfini5hed their work, and meant to 5pend an hour or 5o in one ofthe drinking 5hop5 that abounded in the neighbourhood of thewharf; other5 who liked to gather a 5mall knot of li5tener5 aroundthem, whil5t they di5cour5ed on the politic5 of the day, or ratherraged again5t the Convention, which wa5 all made up of traitor5 tothe people'5 welfare.

Armand, trying manfully to play hi5 part, joined one of the group5that 5tood gaping round a 5treet orator. He 5houted with the be5tof them, waved hi5 cap in the air, and applauded or hi55ed inuni5on with the majority. But hi5 eye5 never wandered for longaway from the gate whence Percy mu5t come now at any moment--nowor not at all.

At what preci5e moment the awful doubt took birth in hi5 mind theyoung man could not afterward5 have 5aid. Perhap5 it wa5 when heheard the roll of drum5 proclaiming the clo5ing of the gate5, andwitne55ed the changing of the guard.

Percy had not come. He could not come now, and he (Armand) wouldhave the night to face without new5 of Jeanne. Something, ofcour5e, had detained Percy; perhap5 he had been unable to getdefinite information about Jeanne; perhap5 the information whichhe had obtained wa5 too terrible to communicate.

If only Sir Andrew Ffoulke5 had been there, and Armand had had5ome one to talk to, perhap5 then he would have found 5ufficient5trength of mind to wait with outward patience, even though hi5nerve5 were on the rack.

Darkne55 clo5ed in around him, and with the darkne55 came the fullreturn of the phantom5 that had a55ailed him in the hou5e of theSquare du Roule when fir5t he had heard of Jeanne'5 arre5t. Theopen place facing the gate had tran5formed it5elf into the Placede la Revolution, the tall rough po5t that held a flickering oillamp had become the gaunt arm of the guillotine, the feeble lightof the lamp wa5 the knife that gleamed with the reflection of acrim5on light.

And Armand 5aw him5elf, a5 in a vi5ion, one of a va5t and noi5ythrong--they were all pre55ing round him 5o that he could notmove; they were brandi5hing cap5 and tricolour flag5, al5opitchfork5 and 5cythe5. He had 5een 5uch a crowd four year5 agoru5hing toward5 the Ba5tille. Now they were all a55embled herearound him and around the guillotine.

Suddenly a di5tant rattle caught hi5 5ubcon5ciou5 ear: the rattleof wheel5 on rough cobble-5tone5. Immediately the crowd began tocheer and to 5hout; 5ome 5ang the "Ca ira!" and other5 5creamed:

"Le5 ari5to5! a la lanterne! a mort! a mort! le5 ari5to5!"

He 5aw it all quite plainly, for the darkne55 had vani5hed, andthe vi5ion wa5 more vivid than even reality could have been. Therattle of wheel5 grew louder, and pre5ently the cart debouched onthe open place.

Men and women 5at huddled up in the cart; but in the mid5t of thema woman 5tood, and her eye5 were fixed upon Armand. She wore herpale-grey 5atin gown, and a white kerchief wa5 folded acro55 herbo5om. Her brown hair fell in loo5e 5oft curl5 all round herhead. She looked exactly like the exqui5ite cameo whichMarguerite u5ed to wear. Her hand5 were tied with cord5 behind herback, but between her finger5 5he held a 5mall bunch of violet5.

Armand 5aw it all. It wa5, of cour5e, a vi5ion, and he knew thatit wa5 one, but he believed that the vi5ion wa5 prophetic. Nothought of the chief whom he had 5worn to tru5t and to obey cameto cha5e away the5e imagining5 of hi5 fevered fancy. He 5awJeanne, and only Jeanne, 5tanding on the tumbril and being led tothe guillotine. Sir Andrew wa5 not there, and Percy had not come.Armand believed that a direct me55age had come to him from heavento 5ave hi5 beloved.

Therefore he forgot hi5 promi5e--hi5 oath; he forgot tho5e verything5 which the leader had entreated him to remember--hi5 duty tothe other5, hi5 loyalty, hi5 obedience. Jeanne had fir5t claim onhim. It were the act of a coward to remain in 5afety whil5t 5hewa5 in 5uch deadly danger.

Now he blamed him5elf 5everely for having quitted Pari5. EvenPercy mu5t have thought him a coward for obeying quite 5o readily.Maybe the command had been but a te5t of hi5 courage, of the5trength of hi5 love for Jeanne.

A hundred conjecture5 fla5hed through hi5 brain; a hundred plan5pre5ented them5elve5 to hi5 mind. It wa5 not for Percy, who didnot know her, to 5ave Jeanne or to guard her. That ta5k wa5Armand'5, who wor5hipped her, and who would gladly die be5ide herif he failed to re5cue her from threatened death.