In a few minutes they were alongside the lugger.  
"Maitre Nicolay! Maitre Nicolay!" the marquis shouted.
 
"Holloa!" and a head showed up the companion.
 
On seeing who it was, the speaker emerged.
 
"It is you, Maitre Perrot."
 
"Have you your cargo on board?"
 
"Every barrel," said the skipper. "We sail tomorrow morning."
 
"I will give you two hundred and fifty louis if you will sail in ten minutes, and as much more if you land us safely in England."
 
"Really?"
 
"Really."
 
"It is a bargain. Holloa! Pierre! Etienne!"
 
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.
 
Then a faint shout came across the water, followed by a musket shot, the ball splashing in the water a little way astern. The men looked at each other and at their captain.
 
"Look here, lads, I will tell you the truth about this matter; and I know that, as men of La Vendee, you will agree with me. This gentleman who crossed with us before is a noble, and the king wants this lady, his daughter, to marry a man she does not like. The father agrees with her; and he and her fiance, this gentleman here, have run away with her, to prevent her being locked up. Now we are bound, as true Vendeans, to assist them; and besides, they are going to pay handsomely. Each of you will get ten louis if we land them safe in England.
 
"But you know we cannot resist the law; so we must let these gentlemen, with their swords and pistols, drive us below, do you see? And then we shan't be responsible if the 'Jeanne' does not heave to when ordered.
 
"Now let us make a bit of a scuffle; and will you fire a shot or two, gentlemen? They will be watching us with glasses from the shore, and will see that we make a fight for it."
 
The sailors entered into the spirit of the thing, and a mock fight took place. The marquis and Rupert flashed their swords and fired their pistols, the crew being driven below, and the hatch put on above them.
 
The fugitives had time to look around. Two boats laden with soldiers had put out, and were rowing after them. The marquis took the helm.
 
"The wind is freshening, and I think it will be a gale before morning, Rupert; but they are gaining upon us. I fear they will overtake us."
 
"I don't think they will get on board if they do, sir," Rupert said. "Had not Adele better sit down on deck under shelter of the bulwarks? For they keep on firing, and a chance shot might hit her."
 
"It is no more likely to hit me than papa or you, Rupert."
 
"No more likely, my dear," her father said; "but we must run the risk, and you need not. Besides, if we are anxious about you, we shall not be so well able to attend to what we have to do."
 
Adele sat down by the bulwark, but presently said:
 
"If they come up close, papa, I might take the helm, if you show me which way to hold it. I could do it sitting down on deck, and you could help Rupert keep them off."
 
"Your proposal is a very good one, Adele, and it pleases me much to see you so cool and steady."
 
The bullets were now whistling past the lugger, sometimes striking her sails, sometimes with a sharp tap hitting her hull or mast.
 
"We may as well sit down out of sight till the time comes for fighting, Rupert," the marquis said. "Our standing up does no good, and only frightens this little girl."
 
The firing ceased when they sat down, as it was clearly a waste of powder and ball continuing. Rupert from time to time looked over the stern.
 
"The first boat is not more than fifty yards behind, the other thirty or forty behind it. They gain on us very slowly, but I think they will catch us."
 
"Then we must do our best, Rupert. We have each our pistols, and I think we might begin to fire at the rowers."
 
"The pistols are not much good at that distance, sir. My idea is to let them come alongside; then I will heave that cask of water down into the boat, and there will be an end of it."
 
"That water cask!" the marquis said. "That is an eighteen gallon cask. It is as much as we can lift it, much less heave it through the air."
 
"I can do it, never fear," Rupert said. "You forget my exercises at Loches, and as a miller's man.
 
"My only fear," he said in a low voice, "is that they may shoot me as I come to the side with it. For that reason we had better begin to fire. I don't want to kill any of them, but just to draw their fire. Then, just as they come alongside put a cap and a cloak on that stick, and raise them suddenly. Any who are still loaded are sure to fire the instant it appears."
 
The marquis nodded, and they began to fire over the stern, just raising their heads, and instantly lowering them. The boats again began to fire heavily. Not a man in the boats was hit, for neither of those in the lugger took aim. The men cheered, and rowed lustily, and soon the boat was within ten yards of the lugger, coming up to board at the side. Rupert went to the water barrel, and rolled it to the bulwarks at the point towards which the boat was making. The marquis stooped behind the bulwarks, a few paces distant, with the dummy.
 
"Now!" Rupert said, stooping over the barrel, as the boat made a dash at the side.
 
The marquis lifted the dummy, and five or six muskets were simultaneously discharged. Then a cry of amazement and horror arose, as Rupert, with the barrel poised above his head, reared himself above the bulwarks. He bent back to gain impetus, and then hurled the barrel into the boat as she came within a yard of the side of the lugger.
 
There was a wild shout, a crash of timber, and in an instant the shattered boat was level with the water, and the men were holding on, or swimming for their lives. A minute later the other boat was on the spot, and the men were at work picking up their comrades. By the time all were in, she was only an inch or two out of the water, and there was only room for two men to pull; and the last thing those on board the lugger saw of her in the gathering darkness, she was slowly making her way towards shore.
 
Now that all immediate danger was at an end, the marquis took the tiller, and Rupert lifted the hatchway.
 
"The captain and two of the crew may come on deck if they promise to behave well," he said.
 
There was a shout of laughter, and all the sailors pressed up, eager to know how the pursuit had been shaken off. When Rupert told them simply that he had tossed one of the water barrels into one of the boats and staved it, the men refused to believe him; and it was not until he took one of the carronades, weighing some five hundred weight, from its carriage, and lifted it above his head as if to hurl it overboard, that their doubts were changed into astonishment.
 
"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 pre............