The student flushed to the roots of the hair; but he replied only by a calm inclination of the head.

"It is needful that she set out this day, towards the dusk of the evening, for the city called Nantes, where our kinsfolk dwell; tarrying as little as possible by the way, more especially till she hath passed the frontiers of France. Now the service I have to beg of thee is this: to permit the girl to travel so far in thy company, and, if need be, under thy protection. What! thou refusest? Verily, it is on the road to the château of the Lord de Retz; it will not put thee out of thy way an inch; and Hagar-I would say the young woman-is modest in her speech; she will be no more trouble to thee than a spaniel dog, who followeth his master without being called or driven. Verily, it is but a little thing!" David, to whom an idea like this had never occurred as within the range of mundane possibilities, was in a profuse perspiration.

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'It is not a little thing, it is a weighty matter," stammered he at last, "young women, I have heard, are uncanny gear; but, nevertheless, I will do your bidding-and the Virgin grant I get well over it!"

On hearing this acquiescence, a weight seemed to be taken off the old man's mind; and, untying a bundle, he produced an entire suit of clothes, including a hat, and a serviceable if not a handsome cloak, for which David exchanged upon the spot such remnants as still remained upon his back of his scholar's apparel. The alchemist then presented him with a sword and dagger, the latter of which he fastened with his own hands in such a way that it was entirely concealed; and the student remarked, as an unusual circumstance, that his clothes and belt were expressly adapted for this purpose.

He was now better dressed than ever he had been in his life; his hand grasped a sword which was his own; and steady as the mind of the ex-scholar usually was, a flush of youthful confidence rose to his brow, and he walked several paces down the cavern with a step so elastic that he seemed to tread on air.

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Have you nothing else to ask of me?" said he, returning, "for, by St. Bride, this were goodly payment, were the service to transport even the fury Megæra to Nantes, of whom, as Annæus Lucanus testifies, Hercules himself was afraid. What will become of you when we are gone? You will doubtless follow, for so I predicate from the extinction of the furnace, as soon as you are able. want no assistance-no strong and trusty arm?"

Do you

"For what? Have I not given up the search? And what else should make secrecy desirable?"

"I spoke not of secrecy," replied David, his lip curling with disdain at the Jew's dissimulation; "but be it even as you will."

"And yet, is there anything better than secrecy," resumed Messire Jean, “in troubled times like these? When I said unto thee, Be watchful, and be bold, I should have said likewise, be secret! Thou art the son of a people who, as men relate, are all three. Be there more of you, good David, at the University?"

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Go seek at the Scottish college," answered David, who would not lose the opportunity of serving his friends, "and take the first you meet, for you cannot go wrong: but more especially, if you meet first with one who shall remind you of a poplar tree, or a cedar of Lebanon, or a church steeple, you may think that you have fallen in with as true and brave a fellow as ever cried clubs!' at a friend's need."

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Then let him come to me," said the alchemist eagerly, "for I know not how my eyes may serve me in the unwonted light of day. Let him come to-morrow night to the upper dwelling. Shall it be so without fail?"

"Without fail."

"Then fare thee well, good David Strongarm. When thou returnest in the twilight, thou shalt find my daughter awaiting thee at the door, and alone. Remember the words of my mouth: be secret, bold, and watchful! Now go." But he still continued to grasp the young man's hand, while he looked in his face with an expression, in which David, instructed as he was, was able to read at once, affection, pity, and remorse. At length he undid the convulsive pressure; and, repeating in a tone of solemn warning the word, 'Remember!" he pushed him towards the door,

and turned

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away.

Hagar was waiting in the vestibule, and they both ascended the stairs without exchanging a word. When they reached the door and were in the light of day

"You see," said David, with an attempt at gaiety, which was almost ludicrous in the relation in which they stood at that moment with each other; "You see that I am now somewhat better fitted to be the esquire of dames!"

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'I know not," replied she coldly; "I am a Jewess and understand not the needs of chivalry."

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Then adieu till the evening."

Stay; I meant not to hurt thee: but no matter. A single word, lest I may not have opportunity again to speak

it. Thou bearest a dagger at thy girdle; it is a talisman which will protect the life of the wearer just so long as it is worn concealed upon the person and ready to the hand. Remember!"

CHAPTER VIII.

SOON after David Armstrong had made his escape from the Scottish college, the three forsaken students received a visit from Sir Archibald Douglas. The knight was not now so ignorant of the character of the University as to be much surprised at the turn affairs had taken; neither, indeed; was he at all sorry that anything had occurred to detach his friend from the pursuit, either of the thin cold gown of a curé's vicar, or of that ignis fatuus of science, the philosopher's stone. The absence of the scholar, however, at this particular juncture was annoying in the extreme; for Douglas had determined to set out the next morning for Brittany, and to take his early friend with him as an ally in the adventure, if his powers of persuasion could bring it about.

After some fruitless inquiries as to the probable quarter to which their comrade had retired, he at length left Bauldy, and Nigel, and Andrew, to their studies, and then returned to his own apartments, in the hope that by this time David might have found his way thither. The day, however, wore on in idle expectation, and the knight had determined, with a heavy heart, to set out on his journey alone; when he received a note from his friend, he knew not by whose hand, appointing a meeting in the dusk of the evening at a well-known inn and tavern called the Pomme-du-Pin, for the purpose of exchanging farewells.

Sir Archibald's impatience did not allow him to wait till it was actually dark; but as soon as the broader light of day began to fade he sallied forth from the palace and sought out his rendezvous. The Pomme-du-Pin was a large building, which stood, as the modern French express it, "entre cour et jardin." Around the court were placed at regular distances sundry montoirs, or horseblocks, of different heights, so as to allow the guests, whether men, boys, or women, to mount their mules or horses without inconvenience. In the middle was a post, surmounted by a large lamp, whose yellow flame already began to mingle with the posthumous rays of the sun.

The walls of the house were brilliantly white; while the wooden posts or joists which intersected them were painted with the colours of the sign-green and vermilion. The sign itself was hung from the peak of the gable which fronted the street. An air of comfort and substance overspread the whole picture; which was not diminished by the clean and jolly appearance of the host, who happened to be standing at the door, dressed in bonnet, doublet, and breeches, all as white as the walls of the hotel; with his snowy apron tucked up on one side, so as to disclose a long knife stuck in his girdle, with a handle of burnished copper. This costume showed that the Pomme-du-Pin was not a mere tavern where the citizens assembled to drink; but also an inn, where travellers were sure of finding a dinner suited to their means and inclination. The innkeepers as is still the case in the provinces—were always cooks.

When the knight entered the salle, or traveller's room, he thought within himself that King James was not better provided with a banqueting-hall. The walls were handsomely wainscotted to the very ceiling, and adorned with engravings, laid upon velvet, and well framed. One of these represented Noah's ark, with a selection of the animals it enclosed, looking out at the windows. Another contained the patriarchs, dressed like substantial burghers, with their paternosters hanging on their arms. Another showed forth the tower of Babel, with its ramparts defended by cannon; and another, the twelve months of the yearsowing, pruning, reaping, feasting, or killing a pig, according to the individual character.

Stools and benches were ranged along the walls; and sideboards groaning under piles of trenchers and porringers, some of wood, some of earthenware, but most of bright pewter. In the middle of the floor stood a long narrow table for the public dinner, or table d'hote; and at the sides, some smaller ones for the convenience of excommunicated persons, or other guests who might choose to eat by themselves. The fire-place, since it was not cold enough for a fire, was ingeniously hidden by wainscotting, going upon hinges, and carved on both sides, so as to appear part of the wall, either when open or shut.

Douglas, who continued to lounge about the room for some time, indulging his curiosity, was set down by the drawers as an unproductive guest; and even, when at length he seated himself upon a stool which commanded a view of the door, and at the same time permitted him to

lean his back against one of the sides of a kind of box, resembling the subdivisions of a modern coffee-room, he was left entirely to his own reflections. These were frequently disturbed by the entrance of various groups of guests; for it seemed now to be the time of evening when both travellers and citizens were accustomed to refresh themselves after the labours of the day, and more especially for those of the mercantile profession, to sanctify their bargains by drinking healths to each other in full measures of wine.

He at length observed a person enter, substantially and genteelly dressed in a traveller's cloak and boots, with a pointed hat adorned with a plume of feathers, signifying that the wearer either assumed, or was entitled to, the rank of a gentleman. A sword of formidable dimensions hung at his girdle, while an ecritoire, or ink-horn, beside it, proclaimed that the stranger was something more than a mere military adventurer. Douglas started, and looked like a man who cannot believe his own senses; but the next moment his eyes were fixed with overpowering curiosity upon a female who leaned upon the stranger's arm. She, too, was in traveller's costume, and her face was completely concealed by her hood; a circumstance which somewhat relieved the knight, for a disgraceful suspicion had risen unconsciously in his mind. But, although furred and cinctured like the respectable women of the time, she had neither the agnus nor the jet chaplet, without which they rarely went abroad; these things, like the others we have mentioned, being among the articles of ornament or apparel forbidden by statute to the votaries of the Venus

aga.

The lady and gentleman were earnestly engaged in conversation, and seated themselves within the box without having observed the curiosity they had excited.

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Why hast thou entered here?" said the former, looking round anxiously from under her hood, "would it not have been wiser to have tarried near the stables till our horses were ready? But, peradventure the clerks of the University are forbidden to frequent such places as this."

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Truly, you may say so," answered her companion; "and even if the statutes were silent, it is not likely that we should run much risk of meeting them where the wine, I will be bold to say, is as much as two sous. No, no, you must go to the cabarets for such gentry, or to the Val d'Amour-hem! I would say the Val des Ecoliers. But, Mademoiselle, I will crave permission to leave you alone for a while. I expect a friend here, who is also, I may