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. asked to grant the interview, and the single-minded man did not foresee any other consequence from the interview; than that it would be the means of soothing the sadness and solitude of the lady ; and consequently, one night, thanks to the blind devotion of the lover, there met in the small cell we have already described, a gentleman remarkable for his beauty and an exquisitely lovely young maiden.

Truth must be told. From the very first interview the presence of the honest jailor spoiled the conversation. Gallantry, before him, talked politics ; inclination spoke of flying from France ; and the eyes alone told of-love.

Prisoners have a great deal of patience ; and therefore M. de Castera, encouraged by the weakness of Cabonis, determined to see and speak to Mademoiselle de Malortie without witnesses, without annoyances, without a jailor. The genius of a prison is a wonderful magician, and when he falls in love he is an unconquerable power. Thus it was with M. de Castera, who was one evening able to obtain admission to the cell of the lady. It was not more than an hour afterward that M. de Castera had ceased to address her as Mademoiselle de Malortie ; but called her " Lucille"-" his own Lucille." She had answered to that name ; she had smiled on him ; she sighed, and then leaning her head upon her hand, she, from excess of happiness, wept. She was weeping, when the bolts of the door were shaken, the wicket opened with a crash, and the jailor appeared upon the threshold, actually motionless from rage ; and then, fixing his eyes upon the gentleman, he said, in a tone of voice that struck terror into the hearts of those who heard him

"Aristocrat, you are a villain ! Answer, and answer quickly, what brings you here ?" “ You see, my dear Sir, how I am employed,” replied M. de Castera, " I have come to express my love for one who loves me in return. Monsieur Cabonis, I present to you Madame, the Marchioness de Castera." “Aye, aye ; but when do the nuptials take place, Monsieur le Marquis ?" "To-morrow, provided that Heaven sends us a priest, or liberty." "To-morrow ! To-morrow there is for you and for her -the guillotine !" At that terrible word Mademoiselle de Malortie trembled with fear. She approached Cabonis ; she took his hand and clasped it in both of hers. She besought of him to listen to her, and she spoke thus :-"I remember to have found in you a protector and a true friend, and therefore will I confide in you." The jailor bent down his head in grief. "Monsieur Cabonis," the young girl continued, " if you still love me I have a favor to ask of you. Pardon me." The jailor looked on her, but evidently not in anger.

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" My friend," she proceeded to say, " I am going to make my confession to you. I shall do so in a very few words, and it will be as one heart speaking to another. You, too, shall be my judge." The jailor began to smile. "I owe to the generous, kindly care that you have had of me, and your desire to amuse me in my solitude, the first and the last poetical billet that I had from de Castera. Is not that true, Cabonis ?" "Yes." "I owe to your devotion to your poor prisoner, the honor of having received, in the solitude of my prison, M. de Castera ; whom you yourself have brought here, not once, but twenty, aye, a hundred, times. Is not that true ?" "Yes, and it was wrong in me to do so." "Alas, my dear, kind, good, honest-hearted friend, you alone are the guilty one among us. I received your pupil eagerly, and I saw him a second time with pleasure. You it is who have shown him the way to my cell, and he has presumed to come and visit me without you. You have chaunted my praises so loudly, that you put it into M. de Castera's head to fall in love with me; and you suggested to my mind that-- I do not well know how to express it--not to hate him ; and now, but an instant— a minute--since, this nobleman has come to offer me his hand, and I have accepted it. He has offered to share the future with me, and I am ready to share it. He has promised me happiness, and I hope for it. This is our entire crime, and for this you would invoke, as a fitting punishment-the guillotine ! Well, be it so." "The executioner will never be here in time for you, lady," answered the now relenting jailor. " The executioner will perhaps be here to-morrow ; but you shall escape this very night." "This night !" " Yes ! and follow me. Quick, quick ! Here is a disguise for your person, money for your pocket, and a passport to the frontier. I have hastened to you to save you this night, and I do save you. But, lady, do you in turn pardon me, when you see me thus trembling, thus weeping before you, like a child-like a fool, as I am. It seems to me that I look upon you, that I speak to you, and that I admire you --for the last time. Adieu, then ; and when you have nothing better to do, think on the jailor of the fortress of Hâ.” The next day M. de Castera and Mademoiselle de Malortie had travelled a considerable distance from their prison. Three days afterward they had crossed the Spanish frontier, and Cabonis was ready to die of joy, upon hearing the happy tidings of their safe arrival in another country. The escape of the prisoners continued, however, unknown to every one. Both morning and evening the