fore the sun rose. I had the outline of a plan in my head, but I saw that I could not carry it out without the help of my colonel. He would trust me. For my purpose I required two or three hundred horsemen. He would know that it was not for a wildgoose chase.

The fall of Entrevaux had made it necessary for the French to give up a great deal of ground. The nearest French posts were thirty miles away.

My dress was that of any peasant of those parts on either side of the frontier, and I could talk a little Italian as well as French and Provençal. I found no difficulty at first. I followed the frontier on the Italian side, keeping, however, well away from it until I was near the Var; then I hid there till night came on.

1

Avoiding watch fires, and crawling in the grass past the line of sentries, I reached the Var, and crawled into and out of it with the greatest care, for a French sentry was just as likely to shoot as an Imperialist; and so, passing safely through both lines, I was in France.

I hastened to Antibes, and reached it before the Porte du Port was open.

To my immense relief I found my colonel there, and then, for the first time, I felt that we might succeed.

I told him what had happened to me since we parted. Of course he knew of the fall of Entrevaux. But he did not

people were

know that its goaded to madness and past the fear of death.

Then I unfolded my plan to him, and asked for his help. I knew that I should not ask in vain. He promised all that I required, and I trusted him as a hound trusts his nose.

In a few hours' time I took leave of him as he said"Till Christmas, then, at 6 o'clock."

Nothing happened on my journey back, and I found myself once more in safety in my uncle's house.

In a few days the carts with logs and fagots and charcoal again entered Entrevaux, and I with them.

Again I went to Louis's shop. This time I told him of the success of my visit to Antibes, and that the day was Christmas Day.

There were not more than two months to make preparations in. I told Louis that the next time the carts came I should leave them, and that he must hide me in his house.

Hiding was not so difficult as may appear. The citizens were absolutely true to each other, and Louis's house was unlikely to be searched unless some traitor gave me away. Naturally I only went out at night. The Germans thought that our spirit was broken, and only posted sentinels round the castle. The tramp of the night patrol could be heard half a mile off.

My uncle and the other inhabitants of Castelet, like every

one else for miles round Entrevaux, hated and loathed the Germans, who treated Italians very little better than French. I took my uncle into my confidence; and although I did not tell any one else what my plan was, they must have suspected that some enterprise was on foot. They were grateful to me for the help I had been able to give them, and we all shared a dangerous secret, so I could trust them.

The assistance that I wanted from my uncle was that on Christmas Day he should let the wood-carts be at the castle at 5 o'clock, and be with them himself, and on some pretext -mending a trace, say-stop outside. He would hear a shot or shots fired. He then was to go forward with his load, and the trace was to break when the first cart was under the portcullis. He and his men were then to run for their lives out of the town, and find their way home.

He promised me that he would do exactly as I wished, and repeated the part that I wanted him to play more than once, till we were both clear that we understood each other perfectly.

Soon after I went, as before, into the town, and took up my lodging at Louis's house. The day-time I spent in the roof, which was approached by a trap-door from the first floor. At night I was practically free.

The Germans had searched the town for arms, but a few

were left. Louis let it be known that a list was being made of these and of their owners. There were half a dozen guns and pistols, and nearly a score of cross-bows. For some reason my English bow had been left in my father's house when he was murdered. There were also about a score of pikes.

The list also included axes, heavy hammers, scythe-blades, daggers, and knives that could be used as daggers.

The men who owned the scythes were shown how to fit them on to staves to make a sort of pike, and the men with cross-bows were to make as many arrows as they could, secretly.

There were very few daggers, but no lack of knives. These were all kept sharp.

Lastly, every woman from fourteen to sixty was to prepare a sand-bag.

While these lists were being completed and orders given, I was not idle. I made some arrows for my bow. I procured fifty yards of light strong twine, and a few hundred of light strong rope, with part of which I made a rope-ladder.

Thirty picked men were placed directly under me: one man had a musket; the rest were armed with pikes and axes.

The mayor was an old soldier; the best-armed half of the remaining men were given to his charge.

The curé, who had also seen service when a young man, had

The castle rose from rocks inaccessible on all sides except at one point, remote from the town. Here, however, the rock could be scaled by a good climber to the foot of the wall.

To prevent the possibility of a lodgment being made at this point, a small gallery jutted out from the top of the wall above it, with loop - holes through its floor, so that any assailant climbing the rock could be shot down at leisure.

Naturally the leaders had the plan fully explained to them. The rest were only told to be ready to obey them at a moment's notice, and meanwhile to keep all preparation secret, and to go on with their daily life as usual.

When all was ready some evil chance might cause the whole scheme to be discovered, which meant not only failure but a horrible massacre. If all went well, then a desperate struggle, with the odds heavily against us, was the prospect.

At last Christmas Day came round. The garrison celebrated all feasts with gluttony and drunkenness amongst the halfstarved people. There was also a great supper at the castle, the hour of which was six o'clock.

At five exactly Louis had to be at the castle to shave the Governor, and upon that the whole plan was built.

When darkness came on many of the garrison were in the town more or less drunk. The

Louis, the back of whose house was built against the town wall, lowered me to the ground outside as soon as it was dark, and by luck, or owing to the confusion, no one saw us. At parting we gripped each other's hands. We knew the parting was for ever. Then I hurried off to the point where the rock could be climbed, and there met my men.

I took my bow and some arrows and the twine, and scaled the rock to the foot of the wall, and and tied the twine to an arrow.

There was light enough by the stars to see the gallery above me, and one of the loopholes, which were towards its outer edge.

I pressed myself against the foot of the wall to give the twine a better chance of falling clear, and shot the arrow at the opening.

At the first attempt it passed through, and fell well clear of the wall with the arrow attached.

My men fetched the arrow, and fastened the other end of the twine to the rope. They then pulled the rope up to and through the loop-hole and down to the foot of the rocks outside. We then hauled the ladder up to the top of the wall.

One by one we mounted the ladder. Our stockings were outside our boots. No word was spoken. We were careful that our arms should not jingle. The twang of my bow-string

We had intended to stay where we were till our signal was given, but the castle yard was dark and silent, and we still had a few minutes to spare. We brought the ladder over the wall and descended on the inside.

The governor's lodging was in a blaze of light, and there was bright light coming from the room we had especially to watch.

There was also shouting, singing, and light in the guardroom; but we saw no sentries posted inside the castle.

We flattened ourselves against the wall in the shadow, and soon the castle clock struck five. Then the waiting seemed intolerable. At last, from a window in the governor's lodging, we heard a scream and then a shout, and immediately an arm was thrust from the window, waving a cloth, part white and part crimson; and we knew it was Louis's arm waving a towel drenched with the Governor's blood. At the same moment our gun fired.

At once, in the town outside, it was as though the lid had been lifted from hell. The outburst of sound was compact of fury, terror, and agony.

Six of us rushed to the governor's lodging on the desperate chance of saving Louis. The rest made for the tower where the wood was stored, and set fire to it.

We six met no opposition. The surprise was complete. We

cut down every one we met on the stairs, and found the room we sought open.

There was the governor. His body had slipped from a chair, and his throat was cut from ear to ear. By the window Louis lay dead. He had been brained from behind by an

axe.

stopped just under the portcullis. The gate-guard had let the portcullis fall, and so it was caught by the cart, and the cart by it, and a passage left that could not be readily closed.

This passage we seized, and the gate, and not a moment too soon.

More than half the garrison were in the castle. One of their officers got them into some sort of order, and they at once attacked the gate. Could they close it they were safe. They would soon be relieved, and our destruction would follow.

Our only chance of safety lay in keeping the gate open.

The mayor brought his party to our aid. Half his men joined us; the other half faced towards the town to prevent the Germans outside from joining in the fray.