"No; but I have never forgotten her, and I am convinced that if she is living she has not forgotten her brother. Ah! when I think of all this, I hate more than ever the oppressors of France, who have opened a road to the throne over dead bodies!"
"But why are you troubled with these thoughts to-day?"
"I will tell you. My sister's name was Francine, but we called her Cinette, and this evening a girl was carried away by violence from the Veau Sauté."
"And that Aubé has such a good face!"
"Oh! he was not concerned in this villainy. The crime was committed by a man who has more than once crossed our path—the Vicomte de Talizac!"
"Oh! what a family that is!" cried Gudel. "It was his lacquey, or his father's, who denounced us to-night!"
"This is not all. The truth is, Gudel—you will probably think me mad—but I am convinced that the girl who was carried off—the one called Cinette—"
"You mean that you believe her to be your—"
"I can't reason," interrupted Fanfar. "It is the name of my little sister, and the conviction is unalterable that this girl is my sister. And now I can do nothing for her, and she in such deadly peril!" He stopped short. "Gudel," he exclaimed, "you have never seen me shrink from danger?"
"Not I."