Two lads ran up from below.

“Run to the wine shops on the quay, fetch the crew.  Just whisper in their ears.  Say I am casting off, that no man must wait to say goodbye to his wife, and that each down in five minutes will have as many louis, and that in ten I sail, if with only half the crew.  Run!  Run!”

The two boys set off at full speed.

“I fear ten minutes will be impossible, Maitre Perrot; but all that can be done, shall.  Is ten absolutely necessary?”

“Twenty may do, Maitre Nicolay; but if we are not off by that time, we shall not be able to go at all.”

“You are pursued?”

“Yes.  In half an hour at latest a troop of soldiers will be here after us.”

Maitre Nicolay looked at the sky.

“There is wind enough when we once get well beyond the town; but unless we get a good start they will overtake us in boats.  Is it a state affair, Maitre Perrot?  For I own to you I don’t like running my head against the state.”

“I will tell you frankly, captain.  I am the Marquis de Pignerolles.  This is my daughter.  The king wants her to marry a man she does not like, and I am running away with her, to save her from being shut up in a convent till she agrees.”

“And this one?” Maitre Nicolay said, pointing to Rupert.

“That is the gentleman whom both I and my daughter like better than the king’s choice.”

“That is all right,” Maitre Nicolay said.  “There is no hanging matter in that.  But look, sir; if you should be late, and they come up with us in boats, or warn the forts at the entrance, mind, we cannot fight; you must send us all below, with your swords and pistols, you see, and batten us down, so that we shan’t be responsible, else I could never show my face in a French port again.

“Ah!  Here come four of the men; yes, and two more after them.  That is good.

“Now,” he said, when the men came up, “not a question, not a word.  There is money, but it has to be earned.  Now set to work.  Loosen the sails, and get all ready for casting off.”

In a quarter of an hour from the moment the party had reached the Belle Jeanne eight men had arrived, and although these were but half her crew, the captain, who had been throwing himself heart and soul in the work, declared that he would wait for no more.  The last rope was thrown off, and the lugger dropped out into the stream.

It was running rapidly out; and as the wind caught the sails, the Belle Jeanne began to move, standing down towards the sea.

During the time the lugger had been prepared for sea the passengers had remained below, so as not to attract the attention of the little crowd of sailors whom the sudden departure had assembled on the quay.  But they now came up on deck.  Scarcely were they in the middle of the stream, and the sails had fairly gathered way on her, when Rupert exclaimed, “There they are!” as a party of horseman rode down on to the quay, now nearly a quarter of a mile away.