upon the damp and dripping walls. In the centre of the table was a skull, the eyes serving as the sockets of two guttering tallow candles, which were our only light. The atmosphere was misty with tobacco smoke. But the strangest thing was that almost all the comrades were personally known to me. All of them, like myself, were students at the University of Paris; and there was not a man among them whom I had ever suspected of being an earnest politician.

"But what of that? 'Still waters run deep' is your English proverb, is it not? This was, perhaps, an illustration of it. Otherwise—if that were a rude student's practical joke at the expense of the stranger who had come among —— I said to myself, 'then they shall soon learn that revolution is a subject upon which Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski does not jest.'

"But the voice of the President of the Society interrupted me.

"'The new comrade,' he said, 'will now take the oath to keep the secrets and obey the orders of the Friends of Revolution, and will drink to them in blood drawn from his own veins.'

"And I did this, a vein in my hand being opened with a penknife, and a drop let fall from it into a tumbler of red wine; and the business of the evening was proceeded with. Once more it was the President who spoke:—

"'For the benefit of the new comrade I explain the raison d'être of the Friends of Revolution. Our purpose is to pave the way for a revolution by removing those who are likely to be the chief obstacles to it when it comes. We choose the victim by ballot, and then we choose the executioner by ballot, so that injustice may be done to no one. I give no indications; it is not my place to give any. Some of you may think that a prince of the blood royal, now in Paris, holding high military command—— But this is your affair, not mine; the vote is secret. Vote according to your consciences.'

'We voted in solemn silence, using the President's silk hat for a ballot-urn. Seeing that I paused to think, my neighbour whispered a name into my ear. The suggestion pleased me, and I took it; and in due course the President of the assembly shuffled the papers and read them to us one by one. It was like this—

"'Montpensier, Montpensier, Montpensier, Montpensier. Comrades, the vote is unanimous for citizen the Duc de Montpensier.'

"There were loud cheers, and then there was a deadly silence. Looking round and seeing that the eyes of all were fixed intently upon me, I understood clearly what was coming next. The victim having been selected, they meant to choose me as his executioner. They thought that I should be frightened, that I should draw back, that I should give them the chance to laugh at me for talking bombast in the cafés. But they did not know me; they did not know Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski.

"'Comrades, I claim the work!' I cried, leaping to my feet with vigour, and so making my first appearance in any revolution. 'The choice is good,' I continued, with impetuosity. 'There could be no greater obstacle to revolution than a prince of the blood royal, who is also the commanding officer of the artillery, and would sweep the streets with his cannon when the people rise. But there is no need of any further ballot. A volunteer is better than a pressed man at any time, and I answer for Montpensier. Jean Antoine Stromboli Kosnapulski undertakes to see to it that Montpensier shall never turn his guns upon the people.'

"It was the turning of the tables on the jesters. They had brought me to this meeting-place, thinking first to terrify me by assigning me this perilous task, and then to laugh at me for my fears and my credulity in supposing that they were in earnest; and, lo! I had stood up and made them real conspirators against their will. It was their faces, instead of mine, that were now pale with terror; and their efforts to wriggle out of the responsibilities to which I had committed them were laughable.

"'It is well,' said the President; 'but a committee must now be constituted to consult with the comrade Stromboli concerning ways and means.' Which meant, of course, a committee to break it to me gently that the Friends of Revolution had made a fool of me. I repudiated the proposal with all my indignation.

"'M. le President,' I said, 'I will ask for a committee to advise me when I need advice. It was because I did not feel the need of it that I offered to execute the task. I have my plan, which I do not disclose. Within a fortnight you shall know for certain that the Duc de Montpensier will never turn his guns upon the people. In the meantime, drink to my enterprise, and then hold your peace about it.'

"Had I convinced them? Or had the power of my eye laid them under a spell? Or had my earnestness made them ashamed? I cannot say for certain. All that I know is that they rose to their feet and pledged me in the wine-cup, the toast being—

"'To the comrade who will remove Montpensier!'

"But I corrected them.

"'Drink, rather,' I said, 'to the comrade who answers for Montpensier.' And they drank.

"And now you think, perhaps, that I had some dark design to be executed with dagger, with pistol, or with poison. Perish the thought! I am not that kind of revolutionist. On the contrary, it has always been my aim to raise the tone of revolution by employing finesse instead of violence, wherever possible. And this time it seemed to me that finesse could be employed, that I could persuade the Duc de Montpensier to do my bidding, if only I could get speech with him upon a suitable occasion.

"The difficulty was, of course, to find a suitable occasion, to manage to meet the prince at some time when he was amusing himself incognito and unattended by his suite. All princes do these things, and it is not necessary to belong to the secret police to find out when and where. I asked Clarisse, about whom I need only tell you that she was beautiful, and that she loved me. Ah, dear Clarisse! But this is no place for sentimental memories.

"'I should not wonder,' Clarisse said, 'if he were to be at the next masked ball at the Closerie des Lilas.'

"'Eh! what?' I interrupted. 'A royal prince at a masked ball among the students?'

"'And why not, seeing that he will be masked, and no one will ever know of it who is not told?'

"There was reason in that: but a further difficulty presented itself.

"'His being there is little use to me if I cannot recognise him,' I said.

"'Perhaps I could help you,' Clarisse answered.

"'You know him, then?'

"'He does not know that I know him,' she replied.

"'But he has spoken to you?'

"She nodded laughing.

"'And would again?'

"'Perhaps?'

"'And if I were there, and watching, you would make a sign to me?'

"'I might even do that, if you were to ask me nicely.'

"So Clarisse was enlisted as my ally, though without being taken into my confidence; and I