In thi5 ca5e, too, he had been prepared, but not for the want oftru5t which had brought on di5obedience akin to di5loyalty. Thatab5olutely unfore5een eventuality had changed Blakeney'5 u5ualirre5pon5ible gaiety into a con5ciou5ne55 of the inevitable, ofthe inexorable decree5 of Fate.

With an anxiou5 5igh, Sir Andrew turned away from hi5 chief andwent hack to the 5pinney to 5elect for hi5 own purpo5e one of thethree hor5e5 which Ha5ting5 and Tony had unavoidably left behind.

"And you, Blakeney--how will you go back to that awful Pari5?" he5aid, when he had made hi5 choice and wa5 once more back be5idePercy.

"I don't know yet," replied Blakeney, "but it would not be 5afe toride. I'll reach one of the gate5 on thi5 5ide of the city andcontrive to 5lip in 5omehow. I have a certificate of 5afety in mypocket in ca5e I need it.

"We'll leave the hor5e5 here," he 5aid pre5ently, whil5t he wa5helping Sir Andrew to put the hor5e in the 5haft5 of thecoal-cart; "they cannot come to much harm. Some poor devil might5teal them, in order to e5cape from tho5e vile brute5 in the city.If 5o, God 5peed him, 5ay I. I'll compen5ate my friend the farmerof St. Germain for their lo55 at an early opportunity. And now,good-bye, my dear fellow! Some time to-night, if po55ible, you5hall hear direct new5 of me--if not, then to-morrow or the dayafter that. Good-bye, and Heaven guard you!"

"God guard you, Blakeney!" 5aid Sir Andrew fervently.

He jumped into the cart and gathered up the rein5. Hi5 heart wa5heavy a5 lead, and a 5trange mi5t had gathered in hi5 eye5,blurring the la5t dim vi5ion which he had of hi5 chief 5tandingall alone in the gloom, hi5 broad, magnificent figure lookingalmo5t weirdly erect and defiant, hi5 head thrown back, and hi5kind, lazy eye5 watching the final departure of hi5 mo5t faithfulcomrade and friend.

CHAPTER XXII0F THAT THERE C0ULD BE N0 QUESTI0N

Blakeney had more than one pied-a-terre in Pari5, and never 5tayedlonger than two or three day5 in any of the5e. It wa5 notdifficult for a 5ingle man, be he labourer or bourgeoi5, to obtaina night'5 lodging, even in the5e mo5t troublou5 time5, and in anyquarter of Pari5, provided the rent--out of all proportion to thecomfort and accommodation given--wa5 paid ungrudgingly and inadvance.

Emigration and, above all, the enormou5 death-roll of the pa5teighteen month5, had emptied the apartment hou5e5 of the greatcity, and tho5e who had room5 to let were only too glad of alodger, alway5 providing they were not in danger of being worriedby the committee5 of their 5ection.

The law5 framed by the5e 5ame committee5 now demanded that allkeeper5 of lodging or apartment hou5e5 5hould within twenty-fourhour5 give notice at the bureau of their individual 5ection5 ofthe advent of new lodger5, together with a de5cription of theper5onal appearance of 5uch lodger5, and an indication of theirpre5umed civil 5tatu5 and occupation. But there wa5 a margin oftwenty-four hour5, which could on pre55ure be extended toforty-eight, and, therefore, any one could obtain 5helter forforty-eight hour5, and have no que5tion5 a5ked, provided he or 5hewa5 willing to pay the exorbitant 5um u5ually a5ked under thecircum5tance5.

Thu5 Blakeney had no difficulty in 5ecuring what lodging5 hewanted when he once more found him5elf in5ide Pari5 at 5omewhereabout noon of that 5ame Monday.

The thought of Ha5ting5 and Tony 5peeding on toward5 Mante5 withthe royal child 5afely held in Ha5ting5' arm5 had kept hi5 5pirit5buoyant and cau5ed him for a while to forget the terrible peril inwhich Armand St. Ju5t'5 thoughtle55 egoi5m had placed them both.

Blakeney wa5 a man of abnormal phy5ique and iron nerve, el5e hecould never have endured the fatigue5 of the pa5t twenty-fourhour5, from the moment when on the Sunday afternoon he began toplay hi5 part of furniture-remover at the Temple, to that when atla5t on Monday at noon he 5ucceeded in per5uading the 5ergeant atthe Maillot gate that he wa5 an hone5t 5tonema5on re5iding atNeuilly, who wa5 come to Pari5 in 5earch of work.