T 1s about a year since my old friend, Jules Simon, the author of Devoir, came to ask me to write a story for the Journal pour Tous. I described a sub jcet that I had in my head; it suited him, and we Signed the agreement then and there. The scene was laid from 1791 to 1793, and the first chapter opened at Varennes, on the evening of the arrest of the king. Although the Journal pour Tous was in haste, I asked him for a fortnight before I should begin my story. I wanted to go to Varennes. I did not know Varennes.