said. God grant it may be so. Who has been appointed procureur-du-roi in Grenoble, do you think? Vaudrecourt! the biggest fool and the biggest scoundrel, too. He would be glad to break up the Club Violette, but he shall not. Once he sang the Little Corporal's praises, now he licks the hand of the Bourbons. He is a chien hargneu. But no matter, we shall continue to toast Corporal Violette and one day we shall see.

5 Mars, 1815.

Votre beau-pere affectionné,

HENRI,

66 Ah," "said M. de Vaudrecourt, placing the letter on his desk," as it is directed to M. Pasquin, the signer is, I fancy, M. Henri Jodelle."

"Monsieur, you have rendered me a service," said the procureur-du-roi. "I have been trying to get hold of some of the members of the Club Violette. Thanks to you, they shall not escape me now."

"I can tell you all about them, Monsieur," replied Deteau.

"Tres-bien, you shall do so, but in my carriage. We will pay a visit to M. Henri Jodelle. If, as he says, I am a snappish cur'—le diable! he shall feel my teeth."

The procureur-du-roi ordered his carriage, and when it came there was a gendarme on the box beside the coachman. M. de Vaudrecourt and Deteau entered. "Tell him to drive to the Cafe Jodelle, Place Grénette," said the procureur-du-roi to the gendarme.

Gaspard had gone to the Trois Dauphins that morning, and this is how he came to go there. After breakfast Henri had said, "Gaspard, go to the Trois Dauphins and find out if Philippe has come back from Vizille." So Gaspard set out, and as the morn

ing was bright he felt happy and occasionally looked in the shop-windows as he went along. At the same time that the carriage containing M. de Vaudrecourt and Deteau reached the Cafe Jodelle, Gaspard reached the Trois Dauphins, where a moment later the diligence from Vizille came rattling up to the door and Philippe Courteau jumped out. His arrival occasioned the wildest excitement and demonstrations of joy on the part of La Barre, who probably felt that the responsibility of the Trois Dauphins was too much for him alone, or why should he have made such an ado? As for Gaspard he set off for the Cafe Jodelle as fast as his legs could carry him. Probably he was in such a hurry because he thought he had wasted time on the way thither.

"The little Gaspard is a swift runner," said dame Bovard as she saw him speeding down the Rue Montorge.

Ah! swift indeed! Run, little Gaspard! There are some at the Cafe Jodelle whose safety is in danger. There are some at the Cafe Jodelle who need you and your message. Run, little Gaspard, run!

M. de Vaudrecourt and Deteau entered the Cafe Jodelle with the gendarme. They passed to Henri's sitting-room and knocked.

Come in," said Henri,

and they entered. Marie sat near the window sewing, the little Josephine was playing on the floor and Henri writing at the table. He looked up in surprise when he saw the procureur-du-roi, and then rising he leaned on his crutch and said briskly, "Well, sir?"

"M. Henri Jodelle, I believe," said Vaudrecourt. "Of course," said Henri, "you know me well enough. What do you want?"

Henri had been looking intently at the procureur

du-roi, but Marie had been looking elsewhere, and before M. de Vaudrecourt could answer she cried out, "Father! father! it is Jean Deteau!"

"Le diable!" cried Henri," so it is."

"I am flattered to think that Madame Pasquin remembers me," said Deteau, bowing. Ugh! what a bow, and what a sneering accent on the words "Madame Pasquin."

"So Rosbif de rat d'égout! (you skunk!) you've come back, have you?" roared Henri. "They must have damn-fool cannon-balls in Spain since they knock over honest men and leave curs like you."

"You shall pay for that," snarled Deteau, advancing.

66

Stop!" cried M. de Vaudrecourt, "stand back! This is my affair."

The gendarme had meanwhile closed the door, and little Josephine was regarding him with wondering

eyes.

"M. Jodelle," said the procureur-du-roi in a bantering tone, "I have reason to believe that you are not satisfied with the blessings showered upon you by the Government of His Majesty. And more, that you have in Grenoble talked in an outrageous manner regarding His Majesty's representatives. And in short, sir, you have conspired and are conspiring with the agents of the Usurper. Of this I have proof." "What proof?" cried Henri.

"Mon Dieu! I am not fool enough to give it you now. It shall be seen at the proper time."

66

And how did you get it?" demanded Henri fiercely.

"No matter how I got it. Let it suffice that I have it."

"Well, what if you have!" cried Henri. "I have never conspired. No letter of mine can prove it."

"Do you mean to say that you don't belong to the Club Violette, and that you don't drink to Caporal Violette, which is only another name for Usurper?"

the

"Yes," said Henri, “I belong and we drink to him. We've fought under him and we wish him well. There's no conspiracy in that. My God! if you are going to arrest people for that, you will have to arrest three-fourths of France."

"Indeed," said the procureur-du-roi.

see."

66

"We shall

"Ah!" cried Marie, coming forward, "he has never conspired. Believe me he has never conspired. He has fought for the Emperor, and my Pierre is with him, and he writes to him and wishes the Emperor well. Oh! surely, surely, that cannot be wrong."

"Get out of the way," said the procureur-du-roi, sternly. "Now mark me, Henri Jodelle. You've reviled me long enough. I'm a 'snappish cur,' am I? You shall feel my teeth. I'lick the hand of the Bourbons,' do I? You shall feel the weight of their hand. I am procureur-du-roi in Grenoble, and by the King's name I'll have you tried for abetting the Usurper, and if we catch you, as we shall, you'll hang on a gallows in Grenoble forty feet high."

And then something happened, for the door burst open, and Gaspard, his big brown eyes blazing with excitement, sprang into the room and cried with all his little might: "What do you think? Napoleon has landed in France! He is on the march to Paris!"

CHAPTER XXX

The Eagle With The Tricolor

The imperial ensign, which full high advanced,
Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind.

—Milton, Paradise Lost.

THE procureur-du-roi turned pale, Marie uttered a joyful cry, and Henri Jodelle stood erect and tossed his head.

"You lie!" cried Jean Deteau, striding toward Gaspard.

"Chiche!" cried Gaspard, "no I don't. The diligence brought the news this morning. He's coming and everybody is coming with him."

There was no doubt that something was up now, for they heard shouts in the street, and through the window they saw a company of the 7th of the Line marching toward the Place Grenette.

M. de Vaudrecourt had grown terribly nervous. He had other matters to think of now beside revenge on Henri Jodelle. "I don't believe a word of it!" he exclaimed, but his face showed he lied. "Deteau, come with me to the Hotel de Ville." And the procureur-du-roi rushed to his carriage, followed by Deteau and the bewildered gendarme. "To the Hotel de Ville, a toute bride!" cried M. de Vaudrecourt, and they went at a gallop, but as they left the Place Grenette they heard ominous shouts of "Vive l'Empereur!"