Suddenly it occurred to Canolles that it might be that the enemy proposed to make their way into the fort by the underground passage he had explored. It seemed highly improbable, for in that case they would have been unlikely to give him warning; but he resolved none the less to guard the passage. He ordered a barrel of powder to be prepared with a slow-match, selected the bravest man among his sergeants, rolled the barrel down upon the last step of the subterranean staircase, lighted a torch, and placed it in the sergeant's hand. Two other men were stationed near him. "If more than six men appear in this passage," he said to the sergeant, "call upon them to withdraw; if they refuse, set fire to the match and give the barrel a roll; as the passage slopes down, it will burst in the midst of them." The sergeant took the torch; the two soldiers stood motionless behind him, in its reddish glare, with the barrel of powder at their feet. Canolles ascended the stairs with his mind at rest, in that direction at least; but as he stepped into his room he saw Nanon, who had seen him come down from the ramparts and return indoors, and had followed him in quest of news. She stared in open-mouthed dismay, at this yawning orifice of which she had no knowledge. "Oh! _mon Dieu!_" said she, "what is that door?" "The door of the passage through which you are to fly, dear Nanon." "You promised me that you wouldn't require me to leave you except in case you were attacked." "And I renew my promise." "Everything about the island seems to be quiet, my dear." "Everything seems quiet within, too, does it not? And yet there are a barrel of powder, a man, and a torch within twenty feet of us. If the man should put the torch to the powder, in one second not one stone would be left upon another in the whole fort. That is how quiet everything is, Nanon." The color fled from the young woman's cheeks. "Oh! you make me shudder!" she cried. "Nanon, call your women," said Canolles, "and bid them come hither with all your packages, and your footman with your money. Perhaps I am mistaken, perhaps nothing will happen to-night; but never mind, let us be ready." "Qui vive?" cried the sergeant's voice in the underground passage. Another voice replied, but in a friendly tone. "Hark," said Canolles, "they have come for you." "There is no attack as yet, dear heart; all is quiet. Let me stay with you; they will not come." As Nanon ceased to speak, the cry of "Qui vive?" rang out thrice in the inner court-yard, and the third time it was followed by the report of a musket. Canolles darted to the window, and threw it open. "To arms!" cried the sentinel, "to arms!" Canolles saw a black, moving mass in one corner; it was the enemy pouring forth in floods from a low, arched doorway opening into a cellar used as a wood-house, to which there was no doubt some secret issue. "There they are!" cried Canolles; "hurry! there they are!"