Page 36 (2/2)

tore out the remainder of the casement, seized the bars of the ,

and strove to pull them out or to clinonville had rubbed elbows at the rendezvous, led

the way

Count Hannibal watched them a moment, his harsh face bent down to thelare of the torches But when the cripple,

raised on the others' shoulders, and ean to squeeze hih the bars, Tavannes raised a

pistol, which he had held unseen behind him, cocked it at leisure, and

levelled it at the foul face which leered close to his The dwarf saw

the weapon and tried to retreat; but it was too late A flash, a screa up his hands, and fell

back into the arms of a lean man in black who had lent him his shoulder

to ascend

For a few seconds the smoke of the pistol filled theand the roo, that the Huguenots were

resisting, that it was a plot; and souard the back and

soone But when the fumes cleared

away, the mob saith stupor, that all was as it had been Count

Hannibal stood where he had stood before, a grim smile on his lips