he saw, that provided he could get his hands disentangled from the cords that bound them, there would be little difficulty in undoing the chains which fettered his limbs. After great exertion, he contrived to roll along the rough floor, till he reached the spot where this apparatus lay; he made repeated attempts to get himself raised in an upright posture, but as frequently failed; at last, he succeeded in placing the cords with which he was bound, on the blade of a scythe, and after several efforts, they were snapped asunder, and with a grateful heart, he found himself with his hands free. He now experienced no difficulty in undoing his fetters, and soon found himself once more at liberty, and ready for the daring attempt. His first object was to collect together the strongest of the cart ropes, which hung on the walls around him; these he tied together; with the use of the ladder, he ascended to the roof, and, crawling along the rafters, gained the desired loophole. There was just room, and no more, to allow him to creep through the narrow aperture; his clothes were torn, and his face and hands scarred; and, to add to his consternation, his foot loosened one of the tiles, which rattled down with a loud noise, and falling in a hundred splinters on the ground below, would have started any man from sleep, whose senses, an unusual quantity of liquor had not

steeped in forgetfulness. Discovery appeared now to be inevitable:-" I am lost! I am ruined!" said the poor boy to himself, as he remained with his body half through the place of escape, and hesitating whether he ought to abandon the attempt, and, returning to his bed of straw, await the sad fate which threatened him. But he was well aware that should he now return, it would be impossible to conceal in the morning, his attempt at escape the loosened cords would betray him, and fearfully augment his tortures. Lifting up his heart, therefore, in silent prayer to God, he resolved to persevere, and fixing the ropes round one of the strongest of the rafters, he gradually lowered himself, till, at last, he reached the ground, and found himself breathing once more the free air of heaven!

But, although his attempt escaped the observation of his sentinel, there was another silent observer of his movements, whose presence at such a place, he little dreamed of. He had no sooner planted his feet on the ground, than he heard a voice issuing from a small window immediately adjoining. The sound at first overwhelmed him with fear, but its tones he had no difficulty in instantly recognizing: "Herbert Vinçon! Herbert Vinçon!" was uttered in a low suppressed voice.

"Is it thou, holy Father, who now speaks?" whispered Herbert in reply.

"It is, it is," answered the voice; "I came here for thy succour, but thy courage has dispensed with my services."

"But," said Herbert, "a beloved friend lies within these walls, a captive, and the victim of coming tortures."

"Leave thy captive friend to me," was the reply; "see to thine own safety,-farewell, farewell; tarry here no longer: every moment may be detection, and death."

Herbert plunged into the adjoining forest, and by break of day, was far beyond the reach of his

oppressors.

CHAPTER VI.

"Tis not the whole of life, to live;
Nor all of death, to die.

MONTGOMERY.

THE dawn of morning found the sentinel at the place of Herbert's confinement, still wrapt in slumber.

"Thou art taking thy post full easy, thou sluggard," exclaimed the leader of the guard, as he stood at the side of Alart Besson,-"thy life is the forfeit justly due for thy neglect of duty: it is well that bolt and bar, fetter and manacle, have this night secured the heretics, else thy head should have been exacted as the penalty of thy remiss

"Ha!" exclaimed the soldier, springing on his legs, and recommencing at once, the pace that had been intermitted for full five hours, "if every sentinel in France and Savoy, were as true to his post as I am,"

"Then the prisoners of war," interrupted the officer, "would have good reason to congratulate themselves on their facilities of escape."

"Thou doest me injustice," responded the other; "five minutes have been the extent of my indulgence, and thou mayest see, from the tottering condition of my frame, my sunken eyes, the difficulty with which these fatigued arms can bear even the weight of this musket"

"That thou hast drowned thy senses with thy last night's potations, and that, to bring thee right, thy blood should be made to circulate with some strokes of the lash; or, better still," (looking to the rope by which Herbert effected his escape) "here would be a befitting halter for thy neck:But, how comes this!" continued he, changing the tone of his voice; "there has been some strange work here, last night: I heard neither rain nor tempest that could have scattered these tiles; come, thou reckless villain," suspecting that all was not right, "let us see how thy charge looks this morning, and if he be ready for his evening funeral pile."

The bolt was removed, and the superior, with the rest of the guard, entered the dungeon. They found all in silence; the fragments of the rope that bound the captive's hands, were scattered on the floor; his fetters were lying by themselves among the straw of the couch; the ladder was still standing against the wall, and pointed to the aperture above, as the secret of his escape.