the accent with which he had given them, had at first a
little excited, followed the pair at about twenty paces, but
the general having turned round as if astonished to find his
orders had not been obeyed, the aid-de-camp perceived his
indiscretion and returned to his tent.

He supposed that the general wished to make, incognito, one
of those reviews of vigilance which every experienced
captain never fails to make on the eve of a decisive
engagement: he explained to himself the presence of Athos in
this case as an inferior explains all that is mysterious on
the part of his leader. Athos might be, and, indeed, in the
eyes of Digby, must be, a spy, whose information was to
enlighten the general.

At the end of a walk of about ten minutes among the tents
and posts, which were closer together near the headquarters,
Monk entered upon a little causeway which diverged into
three branches. That on the left led to the river, that in
the middle to Newcastle Abbey on the marsh, that on the
right crossed the first lines of Monk's camp, that is to
say, the lines nearest to Lambert's army. Beyond the river
was an advanced post belonging to Monk's army, which watched
the enemy; it was composed of one hundred and fifty Scots.
They had swum across the Tweed, and, in case of attack, were
to recross it in the same manner, giving the alarm; but as
there was no post at that spot, and as Lambert's soldiers
were not so prompt at taking to the water as Monk's were,
the latter appeared not to have much uneasiness on that
side. On this side of the river, at about five hundred paces