"You told me that you knew every man, woman
and child in Vincennes at sight. I know that you saw that girl
take the flag--lying does not serve your turn. I give you until
this evening to tell me who she is; if you fail, you die at
sunrise to-morrow."
In fact, it may be that Hamilton did not really purpose to carry
out this blood-thirsty threat; most probably he relied upon M.
Roussillon's imagination to torture him successfully; but the
effect, as time proved, could not be accurately foreseen.
Captain Farnsworth had energy enough for a dozen ordinary men.
Before he had been in Vincennes twelve hours he had seen every
nook and corner of its surface. Nor was his activity due
altogether to military ardor, although he never let pass an
opportunity to serve the best interests of his commander; all the
while his mind was on the strikingly beautiful girl whose saucy
countenance had so dazzled him from the roof-top of the fort, what
time she wrenched away the rebel flag.
"I'll find her, high or low," he thought, "for I never could fail
to recognize that face. She's a trump."
It was not in Alice's nature to hide from the English. They had
held the town and fort before Helm came, and she had not found
them troublesome under Abbott. She did not know that M. Roussillon
was a prisoner, the family taking it for granted that he had gone
away to avoid the English.
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