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An Introduction to Programming
Using Visual Basic®
Tenth Edition

David I. Schneider

University of Maryland

Boston Columbus Hoboken Indianapolis New York San Francisco

Amsterdam Cape Town Dubai London Madrid Milan Munich Paris
Montreal Toronto Delhi Mexico City São Paulo Sydney Hong Kong
Seoul Singapore Taipei Tokyo
Vice President, Editorial Director, ECS: Marcia Horton

Executive Editor: Tracy Johnson

Editorial Assistant: Kristy Alaura

Vice President of Marketing: Christy Lesko

Director of Field Marketing: Tim Galligan

Product Marketing Manager: Bram Van Kempen

Field Marketing Manager: Demetrius Hall

Marketing Assistant: Jon Bryant

Director of Product Management: Erin Gregg

Team Lead, Program and Project Management: Scott Disanno

Program Manager: Carole Snyder

Senior Specialist, Program Planning and Support: Maura Zaldivar-Garcia

Cover Designer: Marta Samsel, Black Horse Designs

Manager, Rights and Permissions: Ben Ferrini

Project Manager, Rights and Permissions: Tamara Efsen, Aptara

Inventory Manager: Ann Lam

Cover Image: Justine Beckett/Alamy Stock Photo

Media Project Manager: Leslie Sumrall

Composition: SPi Global

Project Manager: Shylaja Gattupalli, SPi Global

Printer/Binder: Courier/Kendallville

Cover and Insert Printer: Phoenix Color/Hagerstown

Credits and acknowledgments borrowed from other sources and

reproduced, with permission, in this textbook appear on the appropriate
page within text.

Copyright © 2017, 2014, 2011, 2006 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights
reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is
protected by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the
publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system,
or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
permissions, request forms and the appropriate contacts within the Pearson
Education Global Rights & Permissions Department, please visit
www.pearsoned.com/permissions/.

Many of the designations by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their

products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this
book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations
have been printed in initial caps or all caps.

The programs and applications presented in this book have been included
for their instructional value. They have been tested with care, but are not
guaranteed for any particular purpose. The publisher does not offer any
warranties or representations, nor does it accept any liabilities with respect
to the programs or applications.

MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS MAKE NO

REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY OF THE
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE DOCUMENTS AND RELATED
GRAPHICS PUBLISHED AS PART OF THE SERVICES FOR ANY
PURPOSE. ALL SUCH DOCUMENTS AND RELATED GRAPHICS
ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS HEREBY
DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD
TO THIS INFORMATION, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES AND
CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, WHETHER EXPRESS,
IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS RESPECTIVE SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE
FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF
USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF
CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION,
ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
PERFORMANCE OF INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM THE
SERVICES.

THE DOCUMENTS AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED

HEREIN COULD INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR
TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY
ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN. MICROSOFT AND/OR ITS
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CHANGES IN THE PRODUCT(S) AND/OR THE PROGRAM(S)
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SPECIFIED.

MICROSOFT® WINDOWS®, AND MICROSOFT WINDOWS® ARE

REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF THE MICROSOFT CORPORATION
IN THE U.S.A AND OTHER COUNTRIES. THIS BOOK IS NOT
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MICROSOFT CORPORATION.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Schneider, David I., author.
Title: An introduction to programming using Visual Basic / David I.
Schneider, University of Maryland.
Description: Tenth edition. | Boston : Pearson Education, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016003346| ISBN 9780134542782 | ISBN 0134542789
Subjects: LCSH: BASIC (Computer program language) | Visual Basic.
Classification: LCC QA76.73.B3 S333633 2017 | DDC 005.26/8--dc23 LC
record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016003346

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN - 10: 0-13-454278-9

ISBN - 13: 978-0-13-454278-2

Attention Students
Installing Visual Studio
To complete the tutorials and programming problems in this book, you need
to install Visual Studio 2015 on your computer.

We recommend that you download Visual Studio Community 2015 from

the following Web site, and install it on your system:

www.visualstudio.com

Visual Studio Community 2015 is a free, full-featured development

environment, and is a perfect companion for this textbook.

Note: If you are working in your school’s computer lab, there

is a good chance that Microsoft Visual Studio has already been installed. If
this is the case, your instructor will show you how to start Visual Studio.

Installing the Student Sample

Program Files
The Student Sample Program files that accompany this book are available
for download from the book’s companion Web site at:

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/cs-resources
These files are required for many of the book’s tutorials. Simply download
the Student Sample Program files to a location on your hard drive where
you can easily access them.
 VideoNote Guide to VideoNotes
www.pearsonhighered.com/cs-resources

1. Chapter 2 Visual Basic, Controls, and Events

1. Textbox Walkthrough 22

2. Button Walkthrough27

3. Event Procedures 37

2. Chapter 3 Variables, Input, and Output

1. Numbers & Strings 56

2. Variable Scope 82

3. Input Boxes and Message Boxes 97

3. Chapter 4 Decisions

1. Relational and Logical Operators 115

2. If Blocks 122

3. Select Case Blocks 146

4. Listboxes, Radio Buttons, and Checkboxes for Input 160

4. Chapter 5 General Procedures

1. Function Procedures 180

2. Sub Procedures 197

3. Debugging Functions and Sub Procedures 218

 5. Chapter 6 Repetition

1. Pretest Do Loops 242

2. For . . . Next Loops 257

3. List Boxes and Loops 273

6. Chapter 7 Arrays

1. Declaring and Using Arrays 295

2. For Each Loops 302

3. LINQ 321

7. Chapter 8 Text Files

1. StreamReaders and StreamWriters 413

2. Exception Handling 419

8. Chapter 9 Additional Controls and Objects

9. 1. List Boxes and Combo Boxes 454

2. Timer, Picturebox, Menustrip, and Scrollbar Controls 463

3. Graphics 491

10. Chapter 10 Databases

1. Introduction to Databases 514

2. Querying Tables 521

3. Editing Databases 540

11. Chapter 11 Object-Oriented Programming

1. Classes and Objects 552

2. Arrays of Objects 569

3. Inheritance 581
Guide to Application Topics
Business and Economics
Admission fee, 164

Airline reservations, 390, 508

Analyze a Loan case study, 376

Analyze fuel economy, 393

Analyze growth of chains, 372

Annuity, 69, 195, 240, 255, 269

APY, 142

Automated directory assistance, 392

Automobile depreciation, 268

Bank account, 600

Bond yield, 112

Break-even analysis, 68, 156

Business travel expenses, 510

Calculate a profit, 68, 127, 194

Calculate a tip, 137, 211

Calculate weekly pay, 138, 184, 223, 485, 567

Car loan, 176, 254, 269

Cash register, 567, 578, 579, 597

Cash reward, 157

Change from a sale, 138

Checking account transactions, 488

Compare interest rates, 141–42

Compare two salary options, 269

Compound interest, 172, 184, 195, 253, 268, 488

Consumer options, 158

Consumer price index, 254

Cost of a computer system, 169

Cost of a tour, 157

Cost of benefits, 165, 166

Cost of electricity, 88

Cost of flash drives, 171

Create sales receipt, 428

Credit card account, 222, 489

Crop production, 70, 271

Currency exchange rates, 534

Depreciation, 268, 286

Discounted price, 68, 87, 143

Display economic data in a bar chart, 270, 495, 502

Display economic data in a pie chart, 494, 502, 504

Dogs of the DOW, 360

Doubling time of an investment, 253, 285

Dow Jones Industrial Average, 360

Employee paycheck receipt, 579

FICA tax, 128, 229, 568

Future value, 91, 185

Gather billing information, 489

Generate an order form, 237

Growth of an investment, 195

Income tax, 140, 171

Individual Retirement Account, 288

Interest-Only mortgage, 598

ISBN code, 386

Itemized bill, 110, 237

Lifetime earnings, 268

Loan analysis, 111, 488

Loan calculator, 239

Mail-order company, 549

Maintain a membership list, 506

Manage telephone directories, 449

Marginal revenue and cost, 156

Marketing terms, 109

Membership fee, 171

Minimum wage, 502

Monetary units of countries, 528

Mortgage, 222, 254, 565

Mortgage with points, 598

Municipal bonds, 92

Number of restaurants in U.S., 70

Pay raise, 222

Payroll, 228, 485, 598

Percentage markup, 69

Postage costs, 194

Present value, 92

Price-to-earnings ratio, 89

Recording Checks and Deposits case study, 439

Rental costs, 175, 196

Restaurant order, 176, 579

Retirement plan, 170

Revenue, 156

Rule of ‘72’, 285

Salary, 108

Salary options, 271

Sales commission, 91

Savings account, 139

Simple interest, 268

Small dogs of the DOW, 361

Supply and demand, 271

Tax return, 171

Total cost, 137

Total salaries paid, 374

Track inventory, 370, 507, 597

U.S. national debt, 71

Universal Product Code, 450

Weekly Payroll case study, 228

Withdrawal from a savings account, 138

Withholding tax, 229, 579

General Interest
Academy awards, 359

Age of a tire, 158

Airplane animation, 505

American Heart Association recommendation, 175

Anagram, 332

Analyze grades, 276

Bachelor degrees conferred, 387

Birthdays, 141, 212, 256, 272

Body Mass Index, 193

Bouncing ball animation, 496

Caffeine absorption, 285

Calculate age, 96, 98, 108, 141, 172

Calendar, 412

Chain-link sentence, 320

Chocolate ice cream, 71

Cloudiness descriptors, 155

College admissions, 177

College credits, 345

College enrollments, 503

College majors, 503

College tuition, 196

Computer pioneers, 356

Convert temperatures, 181, 478

Country flags, 501, 505, 511

Crayola crayons, 318, 411

Declaration of Independence, 107

Determine day of week, 107

Dial a telephone, 490

Digital clock, 475

Distance between cities, 364

Distance from a storm, 87

Earliest colleges, 340, 343, 437

Freshman life goals, 503

Friday the 13th, 270

Game of Life, 391

Gettysburg Address, 71, 431

GPA, 237

Grade book, 550

Ideal weight, 268

Internet lingo, 505

Language translation, 388

Leap years, 139, 195

Manage a list of names, 417

Mean temperature, 431

Military time, 139

Monthly precipitation, 373

Movies, 139, 162, 243, 538, 539, 540, 547

Newton’s law of cooling, 256

Nutritional content of foods, 365

Old McDonald Had a Farm, 211

Palindrome, 288

Physician’s abbreviations, 157

Pig Latin, 138

Pizza consumption, 70

Population growth, 71, 253, 256

Population of cities, 522–27, 531, 532, 544, 547

Presidential age at inauguration, 299, 300, 318, 398, 399, 461

Presidential colleges, 359

Presidential eligibility, 170

Principal languages, 504

Proverbs, 238

Quasi-palindromes, 271

Quiz, 123, 137, 140, 148, 173

Qwerty word, 269

Radioactive decay, 254, 267

Rating of hurricanes, 193

Shakespeare sonnet, 316, 334

Smoking among college students, 502

Social networking sites, 371

Soundex system, 289

Speed of a car, 89

State abbreviations, 354, 404, 412, 414, 434, 577

State areas, 354, 412, 436

State birds, 429, 430

State capitals, 335, 429

State flowers, 173, 429, 430

State mottos, 173

State nicknames, 173, 429

 State populations, 199, 354, 404, 412, 577, 578

Stopwatch, 463

Supreme Court justices, 356, 357, 399, 400, 402, 411, 412

Times Square ball, 478

Training heart rate, 88, 194

U.S. cities, 352

U.S. presidents, 140, 148, 159, 317, 324, 333, 402, 406, 410

U.S. Senate, 438, 448

U.S. states, 274, 275, 281–83, 304, 316, 321, 326, 333, 335, 354, 433,
436, 577

United Nations, 283, 334, 338, 339, 533, 534

University rankings, 371

User-operated directory assistance, 392

Using Excel, 412

Voting machine, 507

Vowel word, 187

Water usage, 70

Weather beacon, 125

Word palindrome, 319

Mathematics
Areas of geometric shapes, 156

Average speed, 70

Binary search, 289

Birthday probability, 256, 272

Calculate a median, 333, 372

Calculate a range, 252, 283, 317

Calculate a spread, 597

Calculate a sum, 315, 316, 429

Calculate an average, 90, 138, 244, 270, 276, 303, 316, 319, 332, 333,
344, 372, 386, 567, 597

Calculate population densities, 354

Calculator, 110, 143, 583, 597

Coefficient of restitution, 251

Convert percentage to a decimal, 89

Convert speeds, 71

Convert temperatures, 251

Convert units of length, 93, 111, 385, 461

Curve grades, 386

Determine a special number, 272

Determine two largest numbers, 211

Error detection, 288

Factorial, 270

Factorization, 253

Find largest number, 267, 300, 429

Find smallest number, 252, 315, 429

Fraction calculator, 568, 578

Gas mileage, 70

Greatest Common Divisor, 252

Interesting algorithm, 240

ISBN codes, 386

Magic square, 375

Make change, 111, 138

Measurements on a square, 566, 578

Multiplication table, 261

Odometer readings, 272

Projectile motion, 70, 286

Quadratic equation, 176

Standard deviation, 283, 317, 386

Student grades, 488, 550, 555, 569, 587, 597

Sum a series, 267

Sum of digits, 272

 Surface area, 193

Sports and Games

Baseball, 89, 355, 438, 448, 451, 535–38

Blackjack, 601

Carnival game, 477

Dice, 477, 478, 566, 578

Famous athletes, 357, 358

Four-minute mile, 71

PGA Championship, 372

Pick-up-Sticks, 238

Poker, 389, 574

Powerball, 476

Rock-Paper-Scissors, 464, 590

Rose Bowl, 279, 280

Soccer league, 389

Super Bowl, 296, 297, 301, 332

Triathlon, 88

World Series of baseball, 509

Contents
1. Guide to VideoNotes iv

2. Guide to Application Topics v

3. Preface xii

4. MyProgrammingLab xvi

5. Acknowledgments xvii

6. Using this Book for a Short or Condensed Course xviii

1. Chapter 1 An Introduction to Computers and Problem Solving 1

1. 1.1 An Introduction to Computing and Visual Basic 2

2. 1.2 Program Development Cycle 5

3. 1.3 Programming Tools 7

2. Chapter 2 Visual Basic, Controls, and Events 15

1. 2.1 An Introduction to Visual Basic 2015 16

2. 2.2 Visual Basic Controls 18

3. 2.3 Visual Basic Events 37

1. Summary 52

3. Chapter 3 Variables, Input, and Output 53

1. 3.1 Numbers 54

2. 3.2 Strings 72
Other documents randomly have
different content
"Very true; but our cash only amounts to twenty-five thousand
livres" (it appears that the cash as well as the troop had taken
pattern by the snowball), "and if we could reach a good round
figure, thirty thousand livres, say, it seems to me that it wouldn't be
a bad scheme."
"Ah! if you look at it from that point of view, I am with you, and
haven't a word to say."
"Hush! you will see."
Cauvignac approached the young woman, who, having drawn rein in
front of one of the windows of the inn, was questioning the hostess,
who assured her that she could be accommodated with a room.
"Your servant, young gentleman," he said, with a cunning
expression, putting his hand to his hat in a free and easy way.
"Young gentleman, did you say?" said the lady, with a smile.
"Yes, viscount."
The lady blushed.
"I am at a loss to know what you mean, monsieur," she said.
"Oh! yes, you do, and the half-inch of blush on your cheeks proves
it."
"You certainly are mistaken, monsieur."
"Nay, nay! on the contrary, I am perfectly sure of what I say."
"A truce to your jesting, monsieur."
"I am not jesting, monsieur, and if you wish for proofs, you shall
have them. I had the honor to meet you, it will soon be three weeks
ago, dressed according to your sex, on the banks of the Dordogne,
on which occasion you were attended by your faithful squire,
Monsieur Pompée. Is Monsieur Pompée still in your service?—Why,
yes, there he is now, dear Monsieur Pompée! Will you tell me that I
don't know him either?"
The squire and the young woman looked at each other in speechless
amazement.
"Oh! yes, that astonishes you, my gallant viscount," Cauvignac
continued; "but dare to say that it was not you whom I met on the
road to Saint-Martin de Cubzac, a fourth of a league from the
hostelry of Master Biscarros."
"I do not deny the meeting, monsieur."
"What did I say?"
"But that was the time when I was disguised."
"Nay, nay, you are disguised now. I quite understand that, as the
description of the Vicomte de Cambes has been given out all through
Guyenne, you deemed it more prudent, in order to avoid suspicion,
to adopt, for the moment, this costume, which, to do you justice, my
fair sir, is extremely becoming to you."
"Monsieur," said the viscountess, with an anxiety which she tried in
vain to conceal, "except that your conversation contains a word or
two of sense now and then, I should think you mad."
"I will not pay you the same compliment, for it seems to me a most
judicious thing to disguise one's self when one is conspiring."
The young woman gazed at Cauvignac with increasing uneasiness.
"Indeed, monsieur," she said, "it seems to me that I have seen you
somewhere; but I cannot remember where."
"The first time, as I have told you, was on the banks of the
Dordogne."
"And the second?"
"The second was at Chantilly."
"On the day of the hunt?"
"Even so."
"In that case, monsieur, I have nothing to fear, for you are one of
us."
"Why so?"
"Because you were at Chantilly."
"Permit me to observe that that is no reason."
"It seems to me to be."
"There were too many there to be sure that they were all friends."
"Beware, monsieur, or you will force me to form a strange opinion of
you."
"Oh! form whatever opinion you choose; I am not sensitive."
"But, when all is said, what do you desire?"
"To do the honors of the inn, if you have no objection."
"I am deeply grateful to you, monsieur, but I do not require your
services. I am expecting a friend."
"Very good; dismount, and while you are waiting, we will talk."
"What am I to do, madame?" interposed Pompée.
"Dismount, engage a room, and order supper," said Cauvignac.
"Monsieur," rejoined the viscountess, "if I mistake not, it is for me to
give orders to my servant."
"That depends upon circumstances, viscount. I command at Jaulnay,
and have fifty men at my beck and call. Pompée; do as I bid you."
Pompée lowered his crest and entered the inn.
"Do you presume to arrest me, monsieur?" demanded the young
woman.
"Perhaps."
"What do you mean by perhaps?"
"It will depend upon the conversation we are about to have. Pray
take the trouble to dismount, viscount; so! that's right. Now accept
my arm; the inn people will take your horse to the stable."
"I obey, monsieur; for, as you say, you are the stronger. I have no
means of resisting, but I tell you now that the person I am expecting
will soon be here, and that he is an officer of the king."
"Very well, viscount; you will do me the honor to present me to him,
and I shall be charmed to make his acquaintance."
The viscountess realized that resistance was useless at present, and
she led the way into the inn, making a sign to her strange
interlocutor that he was at liberty to follow her if he chose.
Cauvignac escorted her to the door of the room bespoken by
Pompée, and was about to follow her in, when Ferguzon ran quickly
up the stairs and whispered to him:—
"Captain, a carriage with three horses, a young man, masked,
inside, and two servants at the doors."
"Good!" said Cauvignac; "it is probably the gentleman expected."
"Ah! do we expect a gentleman?"
"Yes, and I will go down to meet him. Do you remain in this corridor;
don't lose sight of the door; let everybody in, but see that nobody
goes out."
"Very well, captain."
A travelling-carriage had stopped at the door of the inn, escorted by
four men of Cauvignac's company, who joined it a quarter of a
league outside the town, and had not since parted company with it.
A young gentleman, dressed in blue velvet, and wrapped in a great
furred cloak, was lying rather than sitting inside the carriage. From
the time that the four men surrounded his vehicle he had plied them
with questions; but, finding that he could obtain no answer, despite
his persistence, he seemed to have resigned himself to wait, and
simply raised his head from time to time to see if somebody had not
come up from whom he could demand an explanation of the strange
conduct of these people in his regard.
It was impossible, however, to make a just estimate of the
impression produced upon the young traveller by this episode, as
one of the black satin masks, called loups, which were very much in
vogue at that time, hid half of his face. Those portions which could
be seen, however,—that is to say, the upper part of his forehead,
and his mouth and chin,—denoted youth, beauty, and intelligence.
His teeth were small and white, and a pair of bright eyes shone
through the holes in the mask.
Two tall footmen, pale and trembling, although each held a
blunderbuss across his knee, sat as if glued to their saddles at either
door of the carriage. The whole scene would have made an excellent
picture of brigands stopping travellers on the highway, except for the
bright daylight, the inn, the smiling features of Cauvignac, and the
imperturbability of the pretended thieves.
At sight of Cauvignac, who, as we have said, when notified by
Ferguzon, made his appearance at the door, the young man uttered
a little shriek of surprise, and hastily put his hand to his face, as if to
make sure that his mask was in place; finding that it was, he
recovered his tranquillity.
Swift as the movement was, it did not escape Cauvignac. He gazed
at the traveller with the eye of a man skilful in tracing resemblances
even upon the most disguised features, and the next moment
started, in spite of himself, apparently as much surprised as the
young gentleman in blue. He recovered himself, however, and said,
removing his hat with a grace that was peculiar to him:—
"Welcome, fair lady."
The traveller's eyes shone with surprise through the holes in his
mask.
"Where are you going in this guise, pray?" continued Cauvignac.
"Where am I going?" replied the traveller, taking no notice of
Cauvignac's salutation,—"where am I going? You ought to know
better than I, as it seems that I am not at liberty to continue my
journey. I am going where you take me."
"Permit me to remark," continued Cauvignac, with a greater show of
politeness than ever, "that that does not answer my question, fair
lady! Your arrest is only momentary. When we have talked together
a few moments upon certain matters in which we are mutually
interested, with our hearts and our faces laid bare, you may resume
your journey unmolested."
"Pardon me," rejoined the traveller, "but before going any farther, let
us rectify an error. You pretend to take me for a woman, although
you can see from my dress that I am a man."
"You know the Latin proverb: Ne nimium crede colori,—the wise man
doesn't judge by appearances. Now I make some pretensions to
wisdom, and the consequence is that, under this deceitful costume, I
have recognized—"
"What?" demanded the traveller, impatiently.
"Why, I have already told you,—a woman!"
"Well, if I am a woman, why do you stop me?"
"Peste! Because, in times like these, women are more dangerous
than men; indeed, the war in which we are engaged might, properly
speaking, be called the war of women. The queen and Madame de
Condé are the two belligerent powers. They have taken for
lieutenant-generals Mademoiselle de Chevreuse, Madame de
Montbazon, Madame de Longueville—and yourself. Mademoiselle de
Chevreuse is Monsieur le Coadjuteur's general, Madame de
Montbazon is Monsieur de Beaufort's, Madame de Longueville
Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld's, and you—you have every
appearance of being Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon's."
"You are mad, monsieur," said the young traveller, shrugging his
shoulders.
"I should not be inclined to believe you, fair lady, were it not for the
fact that a handsome youth paid me the same compliment a
moment since."
"Perhaps he was a woman whom you persisted in calling a man."
"Even so. I recognized my fine gentleman from having seen him on
a certain evening early in May, prowling around Master Biscarros'
inn, and I was not to be taken in by his petticoats and his wigs and
his little soft voice, any more than I am taken in by your gray felt,
and your fancy boots; and I said to him: 'My young friend, take what
name you choose, wear what costume you choose, assume what
voice you choose, you will be the Vicomte de Cambes none the less.
'"
"The Vicomte de Cambes!" cried the traveller.
"Ah! the name seems to make an impression upon you. Do you
happen to know him?"
"A very young man, almost a child?"
"Seventeen or eighteen years old, at most."
"Very fair?"
"Very fair."
"Large blue eyes?"
"Very large, very blue."
"Is he here?"
"He is here."
"And you say that he is—"
"Disguised as a woman, the rascal,—as you are as a man, slyboots."
"Why is he here, pray?" cried the young man, vehemently, and with
evident distress, which increased perceptibly as Cauvignac assumed
a more serious tone, and became more sparing of his words.
"Why," he replied, enunciating every syllable with great distinctness,
"he claims to have an appointment with one of his friends."
"One of his friends?"
"Yes."
"A gentleman?"
"Probably."
"A baron?"
"Perhaps."
"And his name is—"
Cauvignac's brow contracted beneath a weighty thought which then
first presented itself to his mind, and caused a perceptible
commotion in his brain.
"Oho!" he muttered, "that would be a pretty kettle offish."
"And his name?" the traveller repeated.
"Wait a moment," said Cauvignac; "wait a moment—his name ends
in olles."
"Monsieur de Canolles!" cried the traveller, whose lips became
deathly pale, making a ghastly contrast with the black silk mask.
"That's the name! Monsieur de Canolles," said Cauvignac, following,
upon the visible portions of the young man's face and in the
convulsive movement of his whole body, the revolution which was
taking place in his mind. "Do you know Monsieur de Canolles, too?
In God's name, do you know everybody?"
"A truce to jesting," faltered the young man, who was trembling all
over, and seemed on the point of fainting.
"Where is this lady?"
"In that room yonder; look, the third window from this,—where the
yellow curtains are."
"I want to see her!" cried the traveller.
"Oho! have I made a mistake, and can it be that you are this
Monsieur de Canolles whom she expects? Or, rather, isn't this
Monsieur de Canolles, this gallant cavalier just trotting up, followed
by a lackey who looks to me like a consummate idiot?"
The young traveller jumped forward so precipitately to look through
the glass in the front of the carriage that he broke it with his head.
"'T is he! 'tis he!" he cried, utterly regardless of the fact that the
blood was flowing from a slight wound. "Oh! the villain! he is here to
meet her; I am undone!"
"Ah! didn't I say that you were a woman?"
"They meet here by appointment," the young man continued,
wringing his hands. "Oh! I will have my revenge!"
Cauvignac would have indulged in some further pleasantry; but the
young man made an imperious gesture with one hand, while with
the other he tore off his mask, and the pale, threatening face of
Nanon was revealed to Cauvignac's impassive gaze.

VII.

"Good-day to you, little sister," said Cauvignac, offering the young

woman his hand with imperturbable phlegm.
"Good-day! So you recognized me, did you?"
"The instant I laid my eyes on you. It wasn't enough to hide your
face; you should have covered up that charming dimple, and your
pearly teeth. When you wish to disguise yourself, coquette, cover
your whole face! but you were not careful—et fugit ad salices—"
"Enough!" said Nanon, imperiously; "let us talk seriously."
"I ask nothing better; only by talking seriously can business be
properly transacted."
"You say that the Vicomtesse de Cambes is here?"
"In person."
"And that Monsieur de Canolles is entering the inn at this moment?"
"Not yet; he dismounts and throws his rein to his servant. Ah! he
has been seen yonder also. See, the window with the yellow curtains
opens, and the viscountess puts out her head. Ah! she gives a little
shriek of delight. Monsieur de Canolles darts into the house; get out
of sight, little sister, or all will be lost."
Nanon threw herself back, convulsively pressing Cauvignac's hand,
as he gazed at her with an air of paternal compassion.
"And I was going to Paris to join him!" cried Nanon. "I risked
everything for the sake of seeing him again!"
"Ah! such a sacrifice, little sister, and for an ingrate, into the bargain!
Upon my word, you might bestow your favors to better purpose."
"What will they say to each other, now they are together? What will
they do?"
'Faith, dear Nanon, you embarrass me sorely by putting such a
question to me; they will—pardieu! they will love each other dearly, I
suppose."
"Oh! that shall not be!" cried Nanon, frantically gnawing at her nails,
which shone like polished ivory.
"On the contrary, I fancy that it will be," rejoined Cauvignac.
"Ferguzon has orders to let no one come out, but not to keep
anybody out. At this moment, in all probability, the viscountess and
Baron de Canolles are exchanging all sorts of endearing terms, each
more charming than the last. Peste! dear Nanon, you are too late."
"Do you think so?" retorted the young woman with an indefinable
expression of irony and malignant cunning; "do you think so? Very
good; just come in and sit beside me, you wretched diplomatist."
Cauvignac obeyed.
"Bertrand," said Nanon to one of her retainers, "tell the coachman to
turn quietly about, and draw up under the clump of trees we left at
the right as we entered the village.—Won't that be a safe place to
talk?" she asked Cauvignac.
"There could be no better. But permit me to take a few precautions
on my own account."
"Go on."
Cauvignac made signs to four of his men, who were strutting about
the inn, buzzing and puffing like hornets in the sun, to follow him.
"You do well to take those men," said Nanon, "and if you follow my
advice you will take six rather than four; there may be work cut out
for them."
"Good!" said Cauvignac; "work of that kind is what I want."
"Then you will be content," said Nanon.
The coachman turned the carriage, and drove away, with Nanon, red
with the flame of her thoughts, and Cauvignac, apparently calm and
cold, but ready, nevertheless, to lend an attentive ear to his sister's
suggestions.
Meanwhile, Canolles, attracted by the joyous cry uttered by Madame
de Cambes when she caught sight of him, had darted into the inn,
and to the viscountess's room, without noticing Ferguzon, whom he
passed in the corridor, but who made no objection to his entering, as
he had received no instructions concerning him.
"Ah! monsieur," cried Madame de Cambes, "come in quickly; I have
been so impatient for you to come!"
"Those words would make me the happiest man in the world,
madame, if your pallor and your evident distress did not tell me as
plainly as words could do that you were not expecting me for myself
alone."
"Yes, monsieur, you are right," said Claire with her charming smile,
"and I desire to lay myself under still greater obligation to you."
"How so?"
"By begging you to save me from some peril, I know not what,
which threatens me."
"Peril?"
"Yes. Wait."
She went to the door, and threw the bolt.
"I have been recognized," she said, returning to Canolles.
"By whom?"
"By a man whose name I do not know, but whose face and voice are
familiar to me. It seems as if I heard his voice the evening that you,
in this very room, received the order to repair at once to Mantes. It
seems also as if I had seen his face at the hunting party at Chantilly,
the day that I took Madame de Condé's place."
"Whom do you take the man to be?"
"An agent of Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon, and therefore an enemy."
"The devil!" exclaimed Canolles. "You say that he recognized you?"
"Yes; he called me by name, although he insisted that I was a man.
There are officers of the king's party all over the country hereabout;
I am known to belong to the party of the princes, and it may be that
they proposed to make trouble for me. But you are here, and I no
longer have any fear. You are an officer yourself, and belong to the
same party that they do, so you will be my safeguard."
"Alas!" said Canolles, "I greatly fear that I can offer you no other
defence or protection than that of my sword."
"How is that?"
"Because from this moment I cease to belong to the king's party."
"Do you mean what you say?" cried Claire, delighted beyond
measure.
"I promised myself that I would forward my resignation from the
place where I next met you. I have met you, and my resignation will
be forwarded from Jaulnay."
"Oh! free! free! you are free! you can embrace the cause of justice
and loyalty; you can join the party of the princes, that is to say, of all
the nobility. Oh! I knew that you were too noble-hearted not to
come to it at last."
Canolles kissed with transport the hand Claire offered him.
"How did it come about?" she continued. "Tell me every detail."
"Oh! it's not a long story. I wrote Monsieur de Mazarin to inform him
of what had taken place. When I arrived at Mantes, I was ordered to
wait upon him; he called me a poor fool, I called him a poor fool; he
laughed, I lost my temper; he raised his voice, I bade him go to the
devil. I returned to my hôtel; I was waiting until he thought fit to
consign me to the Bastille; he was waiting until prudence should bid
me begone from Mantes. After twenty-four hours prudence bade me
take that course. And even that I owe to you, for I thought of what
you promised me, and that you might be waiting for me. So it was
that I threw away all responsibility, all thought of party, and with my
hands free, and almost without preference, I remembered one thing
only, that I loved you, madame, and that at last I might tell you so,
aloud and boldly."
"So you have thrown away your rank for me, you are disgraced,
ruined, all for my sake! Dear Monsieur de Canolles, how can I ever
pay my debt? How can I prove my gratitude to you?"
With a smile and a tear which gave him back a hundred times more
than he had lost, Madame de Cambes brought Canolles to her feet.
"Ah! madame," said he, "from this moment I am rich and happy; for
I am to be always with you, I am never to leave you more, I shall be
happy in the privilege of seeing you, and rich in your love."
"There is no further obstacle, then?"
"No."
"You belong to me absolutely, and, while keeping your heart, I may
offer your arm to Madame la Princesse?"
"You may."
"You have sent your resignation, do you say?"
"Not yet; I wished to see you first; but, as I told you, now that I
have seen you again, I propose to write it here, instantly. I preferred
to wait until I could do it in obedience to your orders."
"Write, then, before anything else! If you do not write, you will be
looked upon as a turncoat; indeed, you must wait, before taking any
decisive step, until your resignation is accepted."
"Dear little diplomatist, have no fear that they will not accept it, and
very gladly. My bungling at Chantilly will spare them any great
regret. Did they not tell me," laughed Canolles, "that I was a poor
fool?"
"Yes; but we will make up to you for any opinion they may entertain,
never fear. Your affair at Chantilly will be more thoroughly
appreciated at Bordeaux than at Paris, I assure you. But write,
baron, write, so that we may leave this place! for I confess that I am
not at ease by any means in this inn."
"Are you speaking of the past; is it the memory of another time that
terrifies you so?" said Canolles, gazing fondly about the room.
"No. I am speaking of the present, and you do not enter into my
fears to-day."
"Whom do you fear, pray? What have you to fear?"
"Mon Dieu! who knows?"
At that moment, as if to justify the viscountess's apprehension, three
blows were struck upon the door with appalling solemnity.
Claire and Canolles ceased their conversation and exchanged an
anxious, questioning glance.
"In the king's name!" said a voice outside. "Open!"
The next moment the fragile door was shattered. Canolles attempted
to seize his sword, but a man had already stepped between his
sword and him.
"What does this mean?" he demanded.
"You are Monsieur le Baron de Canolles, are you not?"
"I am."
"Captain in the Navailles regiment?"
"Yes."
"Sent upon a confidential mission by the Duc d'Épernon?"
Canolles nodded his head.
"In that case, in the names of the king, and her Majesty the Queen
Regent, I arrest you."
"Your warrant?"
"Here it is."
"But, monsieur," said Canolles, handing back the paper after he had
glanced over it rapidly, "it seems to me that I know you."
"Know me! Parbleu! Wasn't it in the same village where I arrest you
to-day, that I brought you an order from Monsieur le Duc d'Épernon
to betake yourself to the court? Your fortune was in that
commission, my young gentleman. You have missed it; so much the
worse for you!"
Claire turned pale, and fell weeping upon a chair; she had
recognized the impertinent questioner.
"Monsieur de Mazarin is taking his revenge," muttered Canolles.
"Come, monsieur, we must be off," said Cauvignac.
Claire did not stir. Canolles, undecided as to the course he should
pursue, seemed near going mad. The catastrophe was so
overpowering and unexpected that he bent beneath its weight; he
bowed his head and resigned himself.
Moreover, at that period the words "In the king's name!" had not lost
their magic effect, and no one dared resist them.
"Where are you taking me, monsieur?" he said.
"Are you forbidden to afford me the poor consolation of knowing
where I am going?"
"No, monsieur, I will tell you. We are to escort you to Île-Saint
Georges."
"Adieu, madame," said Canolles, bowing respectfully to Madame de
Cambes; "adieu!"
"Well, well," said Cauvignac to himself, "things aren't so far
advanced as I thought. I will tell Nanon; it will please her
immensely."
"Four men to escort the captain!" he cried, stepping to the door.
"Forward, four men!"
"And where am I to be taken?" cried Madame de Cambes, holding
out her arms toward the prisoner. "If the baron is guilty, I am still
more guilty than he."
"You, madame," replied Cauvignac, "are free, and may go where you
choose." And he left the room with the baron.
Madame de Cambes rose, with a gleam of hope, and prepared to
leave the inn at once, before contrary orders should be issued.
"Free!" said she. "In that case I can watch over him; I will go at
once."
Darting to the window, she was in time to see Canolles in the midst
of his escort, and to exchange a farewell wave of the hand with him.
Then she called Pompée, who, hoping for a halt of two or three
days, had established himself in the best room he could find, and
bade him make ready for immediate departure.

VIII.

It was an even more melancholy journey for Canolles than he had

anticipated. The most carefully guarded prisoner has a false feeling
of freedom in the saddle, but the saddle was soon succeeded by a
carriage, a leathern affair, the shape of which and its capacity for
jolting are still retained in Touraine. Furthermore, Canolles' knees
were interlocked with those of a man with the beak of an eagle,
whose hand rested lovingly on the butt of a pistol. Sometimes, at
night, for he slept during the day, he hoped to be able to elude the
vigilance of this new Argus; but beside the eagle's beak were two
great owl's-eyes, round, flaming, and most excellently adapted for
nocturnal observations, so that, turn which way he would, Canolles
would always see those two round eyes gleaming in that direction.
While he slept, one of the two eyes also slept, but only one. Nature
had endowed this man with the faculty of sleeping with one eye
open.
Two days and two nights Canolles passed in gloomy reflections; for
the fortress of Île Saint-Georges—an inoffensive fortress enough, by
the way—assumed terrifying proportions in the prisoner's eyes, as
fear and remorse sank more deeply into his heart.
Remorse, because he realized that his mission to Madame la
Princesse was a confidential mission, which he had made the most
of to further his own interests, and that he had committed a terrible
indiscretion on that occasion. At Chantilly, Madame de Condé was
simply a fugitive. At Bordeaux, Madame de Condé was a rebel
princess. Fear, because he knew by tradition the appalling
vengeance of which Anne of Austria, in her wrath, was capable.
There was another source of perhaps even keener remorse than that
we have mentioned. There was, somewhere in the world, a young
woman, a beautiful, clever young woman, who had used her great
influence solely to put him forward; a woman who, through her love
for him, had again and again imperilled her position, her future, her
fortune; and that woman, not only the most charming of mistresses,
but the most devoted of friends, he had brutally abandoned, without
excuse, at a time when her thoughts were busy with him, and
instead of revenging herself upon him she had persistently bestowed
additional tokens of her favor upon him; and her voice, instead of
sounding reproachfully in his ears, had never lost the caressing
sweetness of an almost regal favor. It is true that that favor had
come to him at an inauspicious moment, at a moment when
Canolles would certainly have preferred disgrace; but was that
Nanon's fault? Nanon had looked upon that mission to his Majesty as
a method of augmenting the fortune and worldly position of the man
with whom her mind was constantly filled.
All those who have loved two women at once,—and I ask pardon of
my lady-readers, but this phenomenon, which they find it so hard to
understand, because they never have but one love, is very common
among us men,—all those who have loved two women at once, I
say, will understand that as Canolles reflected more and more
deeply, Nanon recovered more and more of the influence over his
mind which he thought she had lost forever. The harsh asperities of
character which wound one in the constant contact of daily
intercourse, and cause momentary irritation, are forgotten in
absence; while, on the other hand, certain sweeter memories
resume their former intensity with solitude. Fair and lost to him, kind
and ill-treated,—in such guise did Nanon now appear to Canolles.
The fact was that Canolles searched his own heart ingenuously, and
not with the bad grace of those accused persons who are forced to a
general confession. What had Nanon done to him that he should
abandon her? What had Madame de Cambes done that he should
follow her? What was there so fascinating and lovable in the little
cavalier of the Golden Calf? Was Madame de Cambes so vastly
superior to Nanon? Are golden locks so much to be preferred to
black that one should be a perjured ingrate to his mistress, and a
traitor to his king, all for the sake of exchanging black locks for
golden? And yet, oh, pitiable human nature! Canolles brought all
these eminently sensible arguments to bear upon himself, but
Canolles was not convinced. The heart is full of such mysteries,
which bring happiness to lovers and despair to philosophers. All this
did not prevent Canolles from hating himself, and berating his own
folly soundly.
"I am going to be punished," he said, thinking that the punishment
effaces the crime; "I am going to be punished, and so much the
better. I suppose I shall have to do with some very rough-spoken,
very insolent, very brutal captain, who will read to me, from the
supreme height of his dignity as jailer-in-chief, an order from
Monsieur de Mazarin, who will point out a dungeon for me, and will
send me to forgather with the rats and toads fifteen feet
underground, while I might have lived in the light, and flourished in
the sun's rays, in the arms of a woman who loved me, whom I
loved, and whom it may be that I still love. Cursed little viscount!
why need you have served as envelope to such a fascinating
viscountess? But is there anywhere in all the world a viscountess
who is worth what this particular one is likely to cost me? For it's not
simply the governor, and the dungeon fifteen feet under ground; if
they think me a traitor, they won't leave matters half-investigated;
they will pick a quarrel with me about that Chantilly affair, which I
could not pay too heavy a penalty for, if it had been more fruitful of
results for me; but it has brought me in just three kisses upon her
hand. Triple idiot, when I had the power, not to use it! Poor fool! as
Monsieur de Mazarin says,—to be a traitor, and not collect the pay
for his treason! Who will pay me now?"
Canolles shrugged his shoulders contemptuously in reply to this
mental question.
The man with the round eyes, clear-sighted as he was, could not
understand this pantomime, and gazed at him in amazement.
"If they question me," Canolles continued, "I'll not answer; for what
answer can I make? That I was not fond of Monsieur de Mazarin? In
that case I was under no obligation to enter his service. That I did
love Madame de Cambes? A fine reason that to give a queen and a
first minister! So I won't reply at all. But these judges are very
sensitive fellows; when they ask questions they like to be answered.
There are brutal wedges in these provincial jails; they'll shatter my
slender knees, of which I was so proud, and send me back to my
rats and my toads a perfect wreck. I shall be bandy-legged all my
life, like Monsieur le Prince de Conti, and that would make me
extremely ugly, even supposing that his Majesty would cover me
with his wing, which he will take good care not to do."
Besides the governor and the rats and toads and wedges, there
were certain scaffolds whereon rebels were beheaded, certain
gallows whereon traitors were hanged, and certain drill grounds
where deserters were shot. But all this was of small consequence to
a well-favored youth like Canolles, in comparison with bandy legs.
He resolved, therefore, to keep his mind clear and to question his
companion upon the subject.
The round eyes, the eagle's beak, and the frowning expression of
that personage gave him but slight encouragement to accost him.
However, no matter how stolid a man's face may be, it must soften a
little at times, and Canolles took advantage of an instant when a
grimace resembling a smile passed across the features of the
subaltern who watched him so sharply.
"Monsieur!" said he.
"Monsieur?" was the reply.
"Excuse me if I take you away from your reflections."
"Make no excuses, monsieur, for I never reflect."
"The devil! you are surely endowed with a fortunate mental
organization, monsieur."
"And therefore I never complain."
"Ah, well, you're not like me in that; for I am very much inclined to
complain."
"Of what, monsieur?"
"Because I was arrested just when I was least expecting it, to be
taken I don't know where."
"Oh! yes, monsieur, you do know, for you were told."
"So I was. We are going to Île Saint-Georges, aren't we?"
"Precisely."
"Do you think I shall remain there long?"
"I have no idea, monsieur; but from the way in which you were
recommended, I think it's likely."
"Oho! Is it a very forbidding place, this Île Saint-Georges?"
"Don't you know the fortress?"
"On the inside, no; I have never been inside."
"It's not very attractive, monsieur; and, aside from the governor's
apartments, which have been newly furnished and are very pleasant,
as I am informed, it's rather a gloomy abode."
"Very good. Do you suppose they will question me?"
"It's the custom."
"And suppose I don't answer?"
"Suppose you don't answer?"
"Yes."
"The devil! in that case there's the torture, you know."
"Ordinary?"
"Ordinary or extraordinary, according to the charge. What is the
charge against you, monsieur?"
"Why," said Canolles, "I am much afraid that I am accused of
offences against the State."
"Oho! in that case you will enjoy the extraordinary torture. Ten pots
—"
"What's that? ten pots?"
"Yes."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that you will have the ten pots of water poured down your
throat."
"So the torture by water is in vogue at Île Saint-Georges, is it?"
"Dame! monsieur, you understand that on the Garonne—"
"To be sure, where the water is right at hand. How many pailfuls in
the ten pots?"
"Three to three and a half."
"I shall swell up in that case."
"A little. But if you take the precaution to arrange matters with the
jailer—"
"What then?"
"You will have an easy time of it."
"In what does the service that the jailer has it in his power to render
me consist, I beg to know?"
"He can give you oil to drink."
"Is oil a specific?"
"Of sovereign efficacy."
"Do you think so?"
"I speak from experience. I have drunk (bu)—"
"You have drunk?"
"Pardon me; I meant to say, I have seen (vu). The habit of talking
with Gascons makes me pronounce v like b sometimes, and vice
versa."
"You were saying," said Canolles, unable to repress a smile,
notwithstanding the gravity of the conversation,—"you were saying
that you had seen—?"
"Yes, monsieur, I have seen a man drink the ten pots of water with
great facility, thanks to the oil which he had taken to put the canals
in proper condition. To be sure, he swelled up, as they all do; but
with a good fire they disinflated him without much damage. That is
the essential thing in the second part of the operation. Be sure and
remember these words: to heat without burning."
"I understand," said Canolles. "Mayhap monsieur was the
executioner?"
"No, monsieur," replied his interlocutor, with courtesy seasoned with
modesty.
"His assistant, perhaps?"
"No, monsieur; an onlooker, simply."
"Ah! and monsieur's name is—?"
"Barrabas."
"A fine name, an old name, too; made famous in the Scriptures."
"In the Passion, monsieur."
"That's what I meant; but from habit I used the other expression."
"Monsieur prefers to say 'the Scriptures.' Is monsieur a Huguenot?"
"Yes, but a very ignorant Huguenot. Would you believe that I know
hardly three thousand verses of the Psalms?"
"Indeed, it is very little."
"I succeeded better in remembering the music. There has been
much hanging and burning in my family."
"I hope that no such fate is in store for monsieur."
"No, there is a much more tolerant spirit to-day; they will submerge
me probably, nothing more."
Barrabas began to laugh.
Canolles' heart leaped for joy; he had won over his keeper. If this
jailer ad interim should become his permanent jailer, he stood a fair
chance to obtain the oil; he determined, therefore, to take up the
conversation where he had left it.
"Monsieur Barrabas," said he, "are we destined to be soon
separated, or shall you do me the honor to continue to bear me
company?"
"Monsieur, when we arrive at Île Saint-Georges, I shall be obliged, I
deeply regret to say, to leave you; I must return to our company."
"Indeed; do you belong to a company of archers?"
"No, monsieur, to a company of soldiers."
"Levied by the minister?"
"No, monsieur, by Captain Cauvignac, the same man who had the
honor of arresting you."
"Are you in the king's service?"
"I think so, monsieur."
"What the devil do you mean by that? Are you not sure?"
"One is sure of nothing in this world."
"Well, if you are in doubt there is one thing that you should do, in
order to set your doubts at rest."
"What is that?"
"Let me go."
"Impossible, monsieur."
"But I will pay you handsomely for your kindness."
"With what?"
"Pardieu! with money,"
"Monsieur has none."
"I have no money?"
"No."
Canolles hastily felt in his pockets.
"Upon my word, my purse has disappeared," he said. "Who has
taken my purse?"
"I, monsieur," replied Barrabas with a low bow.
"Why did you do it?"
"So that monsieur could not corrupt me."
Canolles stared at the honest keeper in open-mouthed admiration,
and as the argument seemed to admit of no reply, he made none.
The result was that the travellers relapsed into silence, and the
journey, as it drew near its close, resumed the depressing
characteristics which marked its beginning.

IX.
Day was breaking when the clumsy vehicle reached the village
nearest to its island destination. Canolles, feeling that it had ceased
to move, passed his head through the little loophole intended to
furnish air to those who were free, and conveniently arranged to
shut it off from prisoners.
A pretty little village, consisting of some hundred houses grouped
about a church on a hillside, and overlooked by a château, was
sharply outlined in the clear morning air, gilded by the first rays of
the sun, which put to flight the thin, gauzy patches of vapor.
Just then the wagon started on up the incline, and the coachman
left the box and walked beside the vehicle.
"My friend," said Canolles, "are you of this province?"
"Yes, monsieur, I am from Libourne."
"In that case you should know this village. What is yonder white
house, and those pretty cottages?"
"The château, monsieur," was the reply, "is the manor house of
Cambes, and the village is one of its dependencies."
Canolles started back, and his face instantly changed from the
deepest red to deathly white.
"Monsieur," interposed Barrabas, whose round eye nothing escaped,
"did you hurt yourself against the window?"
"No—thanks," said Canolles, and continued his examination of the
peasant. "To whom does the property belong?" he asked.
"The Vicomtesse de Cambes."
"A young widow?"
"Very beautiful and very rich."
"And, consequently, much sought after?"
"Of course; a handsome dowry and a handsome woman; with that
combination one doesn't lack suitors."
"Of good reputation?"
"Yes, but a furious partisan of the princes."
"I think I have heard so."
"A demon, monsieur, a downright demon!"
"An angel!" murmured Canolles, whose thoughts, whenever they
recurred to Claire, recurred to her with transports of adoration,—"an
angel!"
"Does she live here some of the time?" he inquired, raising his voice.
"Rarely, monsieur; but she did live here for a long while. Her
husband left her here, and as long as she remained, her presence
was a blessing to the whole countryside. Now she is said to be with
the princess."
The carriage, having reached the top of the hill, was ready to go
down again on the other side; the driver made a motion with his
hand to ask permission to resume his place upon the box, and
Canolles, who feared that he might arouse suspicion by continuing
his questions, drew his head back into the lumbering vehicle, which
started down hill at a slow trot, its most rapid gait.
After a quarter of an hour, during which time Canolles, still under the
eye of Barrabas, was absorbed in gloomy reflection, the wagon
halted again.
"Do we stop here for breakfast?" Canolles asked.
"We stop here altogether, monsieur. We have reached our
destination. Yonder is Île Saint-Georges. We have only the river to
cross now."
"True," muttered Canolles; "so near and yet so far!"
"Monsieur, some one is coming to meet us," said Barrabas; "be good
enough to prepare to alight."
The second of Canolles' keepers, who was sitting on the box beside
the driver, climbed down and unlocked the door, to which he had the