"The child goes with its mother," answered the Bailly firmly.




DURING ONE YEAR LATER

CHAPTER XL

The day that saw Guida's restitution in the Cohue Royale brought but
further trouble to Ranulph Delagarde. The Chevalier had shown him the
lost register of St. Michael's, and with a heart less heavy, he left the
island once more. Intending to join Detricand in the Vendee, he had
scarcely landed at St. Malo when he was seized by a press-gang and
carried aboard a French frigate commissioned to ravage the coasts of
British America. He had stubbornly resisted the press, but had been
knocked on the head, and there was an end on it.

In vain he protested that he was an Englishman. They laughed at him.
His French was perfect, his accent Norman, his was a Norman face--
evidence enough. If he was not a citizen of France he should be, and he
must be. Ranulph decided that it was needless to throw away his life.
It was better to make a show of submission. So long as he had not to
fight British ships, he could afford to wait. Time enough then for him
to take action. When the chance came he would escape this bondage;
meanwhile remembering his four years' service with the artillery at
Elizabeth Castle, he asked to be made a gunner, and his request was
granted.

The Victoire sailed the seas battle-hungry, and presently appeased her