it was evident that he guided himself by landmarks which were invisible
to me. For my part, wet and miserable, with my forlorn bundle under my
arm, and my nerves all jangled by my terrible experiences, I trudged in
silence by his side, turning over in my mind all that had occurred to
me. Young as I was, I had heard much political discussion amongst my
elders in England, and the state of affairs in France was perfectly
familiar to me. I was aware that the recent elevation of Buonaparte to
the throne had enraged the small but formidable section of Jacobins and
extreme Republicans, who saw that all their efforts to abolish a kingdom
had only ended in transforming it into an empire. It was, indeed, a
pitiable result of their frenzied strivings that a crown with eight
_fleurs-de-lis_ should be changed into a higher crown surmounted by a
cross and ball. On the other hand, the followers of the Bourbons, in
whose company I had spent my youth, were equally disappointed at the
manner in which the mass of the French people hailed this final step in
the return from chaos to order. Contradictory as were their motives,
the more violent spirits of both parties were united in their hatred to
Napoleon, and in their fierce determination to get rid of him by any
means. Hence a series of conspiracies, most of them with their base in
England; and hence also a large use of spies and informers upon the part
of Fouche and of Savary, upon whom the responsibility of the safety of
the Emperor lay. A strange chance had landed me upon the French coast
at the very same time as a murderous conspirator, and had afterwards
enabled me to see the weapons with which the police contrived to thwart
and outwit him and his associates. When I looked back upon my series of
adventures, my wanderings in the salt-marsh, my entrance into the
cottage, my discovery of the papers, my capture by the conspirators, the
long period of suspense with Toussac's dreadful thumb upon my chin, and
finally the moving scenes which I had witnessed--the killing of the
hound, the capture of Lesage, and the arrival of the soldiers--I could