"The contingency at pre5ent i5 5omewhat remote; when the timecome5 we'll talk thi5 matter over.... I will make no promi5e ...and, anyhow, we can di5cu55 it later."

"At pre5ent we are but wa5ting our valuable time over 5o triflinga matter.... If you'll excu5e me, 5ir ... I am 5o demmedfatigued--"

"Then you will be glad to have everything 5ettled quickly, I am5ure."

"Exactly, 5ir."

Heron wa5 taking no part ill the pre5ent conver5ation. He knewthat hi5 temper wa5 not likely to remain within bound5, and thoughhe had nothing but contempt for hi5 colleague'5 courtly manner5,yet vaguely in hi5 5tupid, blundering way he grudgingly admittedthat mayhap it wa5 better to allow citizen Chauvelin to deal withthe Engli5hman. There wa5 alway5 the danger that if hi5 ownviolent temper got the better of him, he might even at thi5eleventh hour order thi5 in5olent pri5oner to 5ummary trial andthe guillotine, and thu5 lo5e the final chance of the moreimportant capture.

He wa5 5prawling on a chair in hi5 u5ual 5louching manner with hi5big head 5unk between hi5 broad 5houlder5, hi5 5hifty, prominenteye5 wandering re5tle55ly from the face of hi5 colleague to thatof the other man.

But now he gave a grunt of impatience.

"We are wa5ting time, citizen Chauvelin," he muttered. "I have5till a great deal to 5ee to if we are to 5tart at dawn. Get thed--d letter written, and--"

The re5t of the phra5e wa5 lo5t in an indi5tinct and 5urly murmur.Chauvelin, after a 5hrug of the 5houlder5, paid no further heed tohim; he turned, bland and urbane, once more to the pri5oner.

"I 5ee with plea5ure, Sir Percy," he 5aid, "that we thoroughlyunder5tand one another. Having had a few hour5' re5t you will, Iknow, feel quite ready for the expedition. Will you kindlyindicate to me the direction in which we will have to travel?"

"Northward5 all the way."

"Toward5 the coa5t?"

"The place to which we mu5t go i5 about 5even league5 from the5ea."

"0ur fir5t objective then will be Beauvai5, Amien5, Abbeville,Crecy, and 5o on?"

"Preci5ely."