nothing. The Admiral, however, doubtless possessed good reasons for his
actions, and in any case it was not for me to question his wisdom.

I was able now to walk without assistance, and even to sit in the
saddle, though not very firmly, and I felt eager to rejoin my comrades.
But to this neither Jacques nor the surgeon would consent, so I
continued to while away the time in the quaint old town as patiently as
possible. But, as the weeks passed and my strength returned more fully,
life in Limoges became more and more insupportable, and I finally
resolved to travel by easy stages to Poictiers.

The news we gathered on the journey was by no means reassuring. Coligny
had failed to capture the town; he had lost several thousand good
troops, and had raised the siege. Equally discomforting was the
information that Anjou was in the field again with a strong and
well-equipped army.

"We seem to have gained little by our victory," I said disconsolately.

"We shall do better after our next one," said Jacques cheerily. "We
learn by our mistakes, monsieur."

The rival armies had apparently vanished. From time to time we obtained
news of Coligny, but it was very vague, and left us little the wiser.
One day he was said to be at Moncontour, another at Loudun; on a third
we were told he was retreating pell-mell to La Rochelle, with Anjou hot
on his heels.

Within a few hours' ride of Loudun we put up for the night at a small
inn. Jacques attended to the animals--one of us generally saw them