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Show 454 TJI£ LrLY .ANO Til£ TOTEM. the stonn, one of them, the patadte, being lost with its whole complement of eight men; the other not reaching port for n month after himself. His escape was equally narrow from other nnd less merciful enemies than hunger and shipwreck. The bruit of his ndvcnturc, to his great surprise, had reached the country before him. '£he Spanish court, well served, in that day, by its emi.ss:1ries, had been udviscd of his progress, and that he bad appeared at Rochelle. A fleet of eighteen sail, led by one largo vessel, wa.s instantly despatched in pursuit of him. Received with good cheer and great applause by the people of Rochelle, it was fortunate that be did not linger there. He set forth with his vessel for Bordeaux; there he went to render an account to his friend, the Mnrcchal Blaize d~ Montluc, of his adYcnturcs. This timely movement saved him. The pursuing Spaniards reached Chc-de-Bois the very day that he bad left it, and continued the chase us far as Blaze. He reached Bordeaux in safety, and made his report to the king's lieutenant. Montluc was one of those glorious Ga.scons who would always much prefer to figl1t than cat. lie was proud of the chevalier as a Gascon, and he loved him as a friend. But the approbation that he expressed in pri\'atc, he did not venture openly to speak. "You ba\•e done a famous thing, Monsieur De Gourgues, you have saved the honor of France, and won immortal glory for yourself; but the king's lieutenant must not say this to the king's people. I praitro God that you arc a Gascon like myself, and no race, I think, Monsieur De Gourgues, was ever quite 80 vali:lot as our own ; but my friend, I fear they do not lo\'C us any the better that they have not the soul to rival us. I fear that the glory thou hast won will bring thee to the halter only. Hearken, my friend, Dominique, dost thou know that, at this very moment, thy DOMINIQUE DE GOUnGU£8. 455 vessel is pursued by a host of Spanish caravels? the winds rend and the seas sink them to perdition ! Thou knowcst, how I hate, and scorn, and spit upon the cut-thro;tt scoundrels! \\rcll ! That is not all. I tell thee, Dominique, my friend, there is 11 courier already on his way to the ambassador of Spain, who will demand thy head from our sovereign, tha~ it may gi\·e pleasure to his sovereign, the black·llCart~d and venomous Philip. What would he with thy head, my friend ? I tell thee, it is his wretched selfishness that would take thy head-not that it may be useful to him, but that it shall no longer be of usc to thee! Wa.s there ever such a fool and monster! Thou shouldst keep thy head, my friend, so long a.s thvu hast a usc for it thyself, even though it ache thee many times after an unnecessary bottle !'' "l'hink'st thou, ;\(ontluc, that there is nuy danger that the court of :France will give car to the king of Spain ?" "Give car! Ay, gh•c both cars, my friend! Our head is in the lap of Spain already. She lmth the shears with which she shall clip the hair by which our strength is shol'!l ; and, if she wi.ll, me thinks, she may clip head as well as hair, when the humor suits. It is not now, my friend, as when we fought against the bloody dogs at Sienna, remembering only to outdo the famous deeds of the stout mcn-afr..arms that followed Baynrd and J,a Paliase in the generation gone before. Ah! liTonsieur, thou wast with me in thoso dnys. Thou rcmcmbercst, I tro\v1 the famous skirmish which we had before the little town of SCve. But I will rend thee from my commentaries, which I have been writing in imitation of ltomnn Crosa.r, of the wonderful wars and sieges in which I have fought, nnd in which I have evermore found most delight." And h(' dl'ew forth from his cabinet, as he spoke, the great |