"Probably not, madame, because you have no idea what extremely cruel things it can say," I returned, for enthusiasm is a bad beginning for argument. "But suppose I were willing. I have only my sword to depend upon, and you know how much that is worth nowadays! If I turned it into a spit, I could not even provide a capon to roast upon it. But long before we came to that pass we would infallibly be captured or starved, for a woman cannot put up with the hardships of such a venture. I had some months of it in Scotland after the Forty-five, and I know what it means. To lodge a la belle etoile, and to dine with Duke Humphrey, as we English put it, may be the highest romance, but I assure you the quarters are draughty in the one, and the table bare with the other." As I spake her face brightened, and by the time I made an end she took both my hands and said, determinedly: "Then, mon ami, you shall go alone. I will have everything in readiness, and I do it for you with all my heart--the more so that your refusal makes it better worth the doing," she added, with an attempt at a laugh, and then turned and ran off, that she might not discover her feelings further. It was a surprising outcome, and much as I regretted the seemingly ungracious part I was forced to play, I could not but rejoice at the opportunity offered of escaping from English hands, particularly those of such regiments as Lee's, Lascelles's, or Warburton's, my old opponents in Scotland. There was no difficulty in carrying out the simple plan, for, in providing the boat and the men, Madame Prevost had overcome the one obstacle. Hostilities would be suspended, vigilance would be relaxed, and if the capitulation were not signed before nightfall, it would be an easy matter to gain the harbour, and under cover of the night to pass the enemy's batteries and make some unguarded point on the coast beyond their lines before day. It fell out much as we had anticipated. M. de Drucour demanded the same terms as those extended to the English at Port Mahon, in Minorca. These were refused, and he resolved, with our unanimous consent, to abide by the assault. But Prevost was at work, and so artfully did he play on our commandant that by eleven o'clock the same night, July 25, 1758, the terms of the harsh capitulation were accepted. At midnight, the capitulation being signed, I passed out by the Brouillon Bastion, found the men with their shallop in readiness, and, stepping in, said, in answer to their query: "All the papers are signed; the English enter in the morning." "'Dieu seul devine les sots,'" quoted old Gourdeau, sadly. "Shove off!" Part II MARGARET'S STORY _"Le coeur mene ou il va."_ -- Old Proverb. CHAPTER XII WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BAIE DES CHALEURS