"Gentlemen," said Von Apsberg, "the time of action will be fixed by Count Monte-Leone at a meeting to take place January 25th, 1820, in the masonic lodge of _The Friends of Truth_. Until then let each one individually contribute to do all he can towards the reconstruction of our new edifice from the ruins of the old." "I take charge of the army," said General A----, "the regiments in garrison at Befort are ours, and the others will follow their example." "I take charge of the colleges," said professor C----. The lawyer B---- said, "We have many friends in the bar." Count Ch---- said, "And in the chamber of peers." The banker F---- added, "There will be no scarcity of money." The last who spoke was the merchant Ober, who said, "The influence of trade is on our side." Von Apsberg said, "We will not meet again till the twenty-fifth of January, 1820. The supreme _vente_, composed of the Count, Rovero, the Viscount, and myself, will communicate only with the five central _ventas_ of Paris, the representative of which you are. Be active, then, in the _ventas_ which depend on you, members of which are ignorant of your identity. Make yourself known to but one member of each venta, and communicate with Count Monte-Leone only in that brilliant society to which the high position of him and of yourselves gives access, and where the government will least suspect the existence of treason. Confide the rolls of our ventas, and of our new associates to him alone, for it is his duty to deposit them among our archives. Now, brethren of right and duty, confide alone in Monte-Leone, the soul of honor and of prudence. To all others, silence or death." "Silence or death," repeated his seven associates, and their voices sounded like the chorus of a solemn hymn.... A few minutes after the room was deserted. The Carbonari had gone, and Matheus returned to his laboratory. The door of the library was then opened gently, and two men were seen concealed behind the secret panel. They were H----, the chief of the political police, and the bear-hunter, the brigand of the Loire, or Stenio Salvatori. "I have them," said M. H----. "Not yet," said Stenio, "but thanks to our associate, Count Monte-Leone, by whose aid I have brought you hither...." The door was shut without noise.... The next day, when he awoke, Pignana found the key of the room in his pocket. BOOK II. PART II.--I. CLOUDS IN THE HORIZON.