galley-slaves got loose at the taking of that port by the English, this man made himself notorious after the evacuation, by his bloodthirsty revenge upon all aristocrats; got himself into favour with the infamous Feron and the younger Robespierre, rose into power under the elder, and then on his fall, as I before said, disappeared. This man, I suspect, was the robber of your treasure, for he was known to possess a large sum of money immediately after regaining his emancipation; he and the rest of the liberated slaves committed horrid massacres and robberies.” “Very likely indeed,” remarked Lieutenant Thornton; “in fact, there is no other way of accounting for the loss of the contents of the casket. Fortunately, Madame de Coulancourt has been able to replace the papers; had she failed, the loss would have been serious. I was going to ask you, Monsieur Plessis, why Mademoiselle de Tourville leaves France and seeks a home in England? that is, if my question is not indiscreet.” “Not at all, monsieur; far from it. It is a very natural inquiry, as you will most likely be her companion on the journey. This young lady,” continued Jean Plessis, “is of good family, as I before said. She is an orphan, and I do not believe she has a relative in all France besides Madame de Coulancourt.” “Then she is a connection of the late Duke de Coulancourt—as madame is an Englishwoman.” “Such is the case. Unfortunately, she is not only left without relatives or friends, but actually without fortune of any kind. She has a horror of France, from what she witnessed and suffered, and she ardently longs to reach England, where she intends to exert her great musical talents for her support.” “Good God!” exclaimed Lieutenant Thornton, looking with an expression of extreme astonishment into the face of the intendant. “Mademoiselle de Tourville, so young, so beautiful, so pure, and so amiable, thrown upon the heartless world of London!” “Nay, nay,” interrupted Monsieur Plessis, laying his hand, with a smile, upon the lieutenant’s arm, “I say also, God forbid! Do not suppose for an instant, that the generous and noble-minded Madame de Coulancourt would permit such a course of life to her young and interesting relative. No, no, she will not; but it is now late; to-morrow I expect an important letter from madame, which will finally determine our future movements. When I receive the letter, you shall be made fully acquainted with everything.” CHAPTER XXIII. The Onyx corvette was commanded by Captain Patrick O’Loughlin. Charles Pole, our hero’s comrade on board the Victory, was second lieutenant, he having had the good fortune to get appointed, through the interest of his uncle, who commanded the Colossus, seventy-four, rejoicing in his heart at having the warm-hearted and gallant O’Loughlin as a commander. “Ah! Charley, my boy!” said the commander of the corvette, “if we had only Sir Oscar with us.”