say that stern Jacques Gaultier spent his hours carving out lace
bobbins, who would believe me?"

"Don't laugh at me, Hirzel, perhaps one of these fine days thou wilt do
something more foolish: when thy nineteen summers shall have ripened
like mine to thirty thou wilt have different thoughts."

"Time enough to speak when it comes. Now I love my boat better than
anything else! But how we are wasting this fine evening. My Father will
think we are lost or gone to be soldiers, eh Jacques? Come along, and we
will see what Marguerite thinks of those little sticks of thine."




CHAPTER II.


On the same evening of which we have been speaking Marguerite was
sitting just outside the door, employed as she generally was in her
leisure time at lace work, of the style which had been so fashionable
during the reign of the late murdered King. How Marguerite had first
learnt this "unedifying work," we know not but as she used to work for
the family of one of the King's officers, and had seen the ladies do it,
she soon with very little instruction learnt to do it well. Very pretty
Marguerite looked bending over her "lace pillow," weaving sweet
thoughts into her work, if we may judge from the expression of her face
which was one of those that "made one feel good to look at," as Charlie
often said, and indeed it was a good thing for him to take the
remembrance of such a face through his Barrack life, which at least was