CHAPTER XI.
BY THIS OR THAT.
Long after Basterga, with an exultant smile and the words "I have limed him!" on his lips, had passed into the Bourg du Four and gone to his lodging, the Syndic sat frowning in his chair.

From time to time a sigh deep and heart-rending, a sigh that must have melted even Petitot, even Baudichon, swelled his breast; and more than once he raised his eyes to his painted effigy over the mantel, and cast on it a look that claimed the pity of men and Heaven.
Nevertheless with each sigh and glance, though sigh and glance lost no whit of their fervour, it might have been observed that his face grew brighter; and that little by little, as he reflected on what had passed, he sat more firmly and strongly in his chair.
Not that he purposed buying his life at the price which Basterga had put on it.

Never! But when a ship is on the lee-shore it is pleasant to know that if one anchor fails to hold there is a second, albeit a borrowed one.

The knowledge steadies the nerves and enables the mind to deal more firmly with the crisis.

Or--to put the image in a shape nearer to the fact--though the power to escape by a shameful surrender may sap the courage of the garrison, it may also enable it to array its defences without panic.