"Then be ready at midnight. We will go together. It will not do to go earlier. Then the doctor will be asleep. Every one else will be asleep, and we can go away unobserved. M. Bourdon will be sorry that he did not let me go. I promised to come back." And Francois's eyes sparkled with honest indignation. Ben's heart beat high with hope. "You will come to my room at midnight?" he said. "Yes, monsieur." "I will be ready." "One thing, monsieur. Do not have your shoes on. You can carry them in your hand. We must not make any noise when we are going down stairs, or we may be caught." "That is well thought of, Francois. Depend upon me. I will be ready." It will easily be supposed that Ben did not go to bed. He sat waiting patiently hour after hour till, as midnight struck, his door was softly opened, and Francois appeared. "Now," said the attendant, "follow me, and make no noise." Ben, in his stocking feet, followed the attendant down stairs. Producing a large key, Francois opened the outside door, then closed it softly, and they stood outside under a star-lit sky. CHAPTER XXVIII. BEN'S FLIGHT. As good luck would have it, Ben and Francois departed without being observed. On emerging from the asylum they at first ran, after putting on their shoes, but when a quarter of a mile had been traversed they dropped into a walk. "Well, we got away safely," said Ben. "Yes; the doctor was asleep. We shall not be missed till morning." "And then it shall be my fault if I am caught. Where is your home, Francois?" "Five miles away." "Yes, but is it on my way?" "Where would monsieur go?" "To Paris." "To Paris!" ejaculated Francois, with wonderment. "That is a great way off, is it not?" "Yes, I think it must be a thousand miles away." "But monsieur is a boy; he cannot walk so far." "No," answered Ben, laughing. "I don't propose to. Is there any railroad station near your house?" "Yes, monsieur; only five minutes off." "That will do very well." "And has monsieur money enough?" "Not to go all the way to Paris, but half-way there, perhaps." "And is not monsieur afraid he will starve--without money?" "I think I can get along," said Ben, slowly, for it dawned upon him that it would not be a very pleasant thing to be penniless in a foreign country. "I will give back half the money monsieur has given me," said Francois, in a friendly tone. "No, Francois; you will need it all. I am not afraid." After a walk of an hour and a half the two pedestrians reached a small village set among the hills. Francois began to walk faster, and to look more eager. "Does monsieur see that cottage?" he said. Ben's eyes rested on an humble cottage just out of the village. "Yes." "It is mine. Will monsieur come with me?" "Yes, I will go to see if your little girl is alive." Soon they were at the door. There was a light burning in the main room. A plain, neat woman opened the door.