“I suppose our danger is not over, captain?” the marquis asked.

“No, we have the forts at the mouth of the river to pass, but we shall be there before it is light.  They will send off a horseman when they get back to the town, but they will not be there for some time, and the wind is rising fast.  I hope we shall be through before they get news of what has taken place.  In any case, at the speed we shall be going through the water in another hour or two, no rowboat could stop us.”

“I think, Captain Nicolay, it would be as well for you to keep only as many men as you absolutely want on deck, so that you can say we only allowed two or three up, and kept watch over you with loaded pistols.”

“It would be better, perhaps,” Maitre Nicolay said.  “There is sure to be a nice row about it, and it is always as well to have as few lies as possible to tell.

“Perhaps mademoiselle will like to go below.  My cabin is ready for her, and I have told the boy to get supper for us all.”

The captain’s prediction about the rising wind was correct, and in another hour the Belle Jeanne was tearing down the river at a rate of speed which, had the road from Nantes to the forts been no longer than that by water, would have rendered the chance of any horseman arriving before it slight indeed; but the river was winding, and although they calculated that they had gained an hour and a half start, Captain Nicolay acknowledged that it would be a close thing.  Long ere the forts were reached Adele was fast asleep below, while her father and Rupert paced the deck anxiously.

The night was not a dark one.  The moon shone out at times bright and clear between the hurrying clouds.

“There are the forts,” Maitre Nicolay said.  “The prospect is hopeful, for I do not see a light.”

The hands were all ordered below as they neared the forts, Maitre Nicolay himself taking the helm.

All was dark and silent as they approached, and as La Belle Jeanne swept past them like a shadow, and all was still, a sigh of relief burst from the marquis and Rupert.  Five minutes later the wind brought down the sound of a drum, a rocket soared into the air, and a minute or two later lights appeared in every embrasure of the forts on both sides.

“It has been a near thing,” the marquis said; “we have only won by five minutes.”

Three minutes later came a flash, followed by the roar of a gun, and almost at the same moment a shot struck the water, fifty yards ahead of them on their beam.

“We are nearly a mile away already,” the captain said.  “It is fifty to one against their crippling us by this light, though they may knock some holes in our sails, and perhaps splinter our timbers a little.

“Ah!  Just what I thought, here come the chasse marees,” and he pointed to two vessels which had lain close under the shadow of the forts, and which were now hoisting sail.