intrenched himself behind the confidence which the princes had shown in him from the very first days of the revolution.  He stated that he was expecting a regular commission from them.  Whereupon Le Chevalier, seizing the advantage, called him an “agent of the English,” and placing his pistols on the table “invited him to blow out his brains immediately.”  They both grew calmer, however, and explained their plans.  Le Chevalier knew most of the Norman Chouans, either from having fought by their side, or from having made their acquaintance in the various prisons in Caen or Evreux, wherein he had been confined.  He therefore undertook the enrollment and management of the army, the command of which he would assign to two men who were devoted to him.  The name of one is not published; they say he was an ex-chief of Staff to Charette.  The other was famous through the whole revolt of the Chouans under the pseudonym of General Antonio; his real name was Allain, and he had been working with Le Chevalier since the year IX.  The latter was sure also of the cooperation of his friend M. de Grimont, manager of the stud at Argentan, who would furnish the prince’s army with the necessary cavalry; besides which he offered to go to Paris for the “great event,” and took upon himself with the assistance of certain accomplices “to secure the imperial treasury.”  D’Ache, for his part, was to go to England to fetch the King, and was to preside over the disembarkation and lead the Russo-Swedish army through insurgent Normandy to the gates of the capital.

Their work thus assigned, the two men parted allies, but not friends.  D’Ache was offended at Le Chevalier’s pretensions; the latter returning to Mme. Acquet, did not disguise the fact that, in his opinion, d’Ache was nothing but a common intriguer and an agent of England.

There still remained the question of money which, for the moment, took precedence of all others.  They had agreed that it was necessary to pillage the coffers of the state whilst waiting the arrival of subsidies from England, but neither d’Ache nor Le Chevalier expressed himself openly; each wished to leave the responsibility of the theft to the other.  Later, they both obstinately rejected it, Le Chevalier affirming that d’Ache had ordered the stopping of public conveyances in the King’s name, while d’Ache disowned Le Chevalier, accusing him of having brought the cause into disrepute by employing such means.  The dispute is of little interest.  The money was lacking, and not only were the royal coffers empty, but what was of more immediate importance, Le Chevalier and his friends were without resources.  In consequence of leading a wild life and sacrificing himself for his party, he had spent his entire fortune, and was overwhelmed with debts.  The lawyer Vanier, who was entrusted with the management of his business affairs, lost his head at the avalanche of bills, protests and notes of hand which poured into his office,