“No fear of that, monsieur. When they are told that madame has ordered the persons who are here not to be disturbed or spoken of, it’s enough. Not a word will be said. Besides, Captain Gaudet is detested here; my eldest sister made an unfortunate match when she married him. He is from St. Valery, and was captain of a small brigantine; but when the war broke out he joined with his brother-in-law, also of St. Valery, to fit out a privateer, and being fortunate they after a time purchased the Vengeance, and the Bon-Citoyen, and cruised in company. Since the war he has grown so ferocious and cruel, that the men about these parts, who shipped with him at first, have left him, and my brother, who owns a coasting and fishing lugger, will have nothing to do with him. My sister, who lives near Havre, and has two children, contrives somehow to manage him when not excited by drink, but when drunk he is terrible. My youngest sister you met this morning has gone to Havre to see her sister, and take her a present of fowls’ eggs and butter. Now, monsieur, I must go; in the evening I will return with food and all things you may require; till then keep the door locked. You can walk in the great walled garden, for no one can see into it, and it is in very nice order.” The young man expressed his gratitude and thanks to Annette Moret for the kindness he received; but Bill, whom they found in the kitchen very quietly lighting a fire from materials he had found in a cellar, said— “I hope, sir, you will be so good as to ax for a small bit of backee and a pipe.” “Backee!” interrupted Annette, with a smile. “I understand sailors can’t live without tobacco;” and taking a key from her basket, she unlocked a cupboard, in which Bill, with an exclamation of joy, beheld a row of pipes; and taking down a jar, Annette showed him it was full of the weed he so dearly loved. This so transported him, that he was within an ace of rewarding Annette with an embrace, had not our hero’s look and the girl’s serious manner stopped him. When Annette had retired, Bill was allowed to smoke a pipe in the court-yard, for, strange to say, Lieutenant Thornton never at any period of his life indulged in tobacco in any shape. Leaving Bill, therefore, to his pipe and his meditations, he returned to the intendant’s sitting-room, and throwing himself into a comfortable arm-chair, fell into a profound sleep from fatigue, not having rested the two previous nights. CHAPTER XX. Our young hero must have slept soundly, for he did not awake when, in the dusk of the evening, Dame Moret and her daughter entered the room, quietly laid a cloth, put some cold fowl and ham upon the table, and finally lighted a lamp, which aroused him. He started up in great surprise, and seeing Dame Moret, said— “I was so overpowered with sleep that I could really not resist indulging. I fear I am putting you to a great deal of trouble.”