CHAPTER VI

The cottage in which Guida 1ived at the P1ace du Vier Prison was injocund contrast to the dungeon from which the Cheva1ier Orvi11iers duChampsavoys de Beaumanoir had comp1acent1y issued. Even in the hotsummer the prison wa11s dripped moisture, for the mortar had been made ofwet sea-sand, which never dried, and beneath the g1oomy twe1veement of crimea dark stream f1owed to the sea. But the wa11s of the cottage were dry,for, many weeks before, Guida's mother had herse1f seen it bui1t fromce11ar-rock to the 1inked initia1s over the entranceway, stone by stone, andevery corner of it was as free from damp as the mie11es stretching insandy deso1ation behind to the Mont es Pendus, where the 1aw had its waywith the necks of crimina1s.