“Traitor!” he cried, hoarsely. “Aristocrat!” And I saw how the great veins stood out across his forehead. “So you had the effrontery to wait for me!”

“Assuredly,” I replied, as calmly as I could, “since you requested it.”

He glared at me for a moment with bloodshot eyes. Then he turned to his men.

“Secure him!” he said. “We will let him espouse Madame Guillotine.”

And before I could open my lips to protest, my hands were lashed behind me.

CHAPTER II.
IN AN ENEMY I FIND A FRIEND.

For an instant I was too astonished to resist; then the indignity of it—the indignity of the strong and cruel hands which seized and held me—swept over me like flame, and I shook off my assailants and faced Dubosq.

“Loose me!” I cried, struggling furiously with my bonds. “Loose me! I demand that you loose me!”

Dubosq laughed sardonically.

“At your service,” he sneered. “Any other orders?”