more terrible night. Our poor fellows received little mercy.
Monseigneur's troopers gave no quarter. I got a nasty cut, and hid in a
hollow till all was quiet; then I crawled out, took my choice of several
riderless horses, and rode into the darkness. I thought I might find the
army somewhere, but there was no army to be found."

"No," I said rather bitterly, "the army was running to all the points of
the compass."

"That's just what I was doing, monsieur. What with the darkness, and the
pain of my wound, and the fear of falling into the hands of
Monseigneur's troops, I lost my head entirely, and wandered about in a
circle. When morning came I was hardly a mile from Montcontour. Then
some peasants seized me, and for once in my life I was glad to count a
robber among my friends."

"How so?"

"One of the fellows was Jules Bredin, from our own village. He
recognized me, and as he possessed some authority I came to no harm.
Indeed, they took me to their camp in the woods, and attended to me
until I had quite recovered. I owe Jules a debt of gratitude."

"On which side do these fellows fight?"

"I asked Jules that question myself, and he laughed in my face. 'My dear
Jacques,' said the rascal, 'we fight for ourselves, and we get our
victims from both parties. They won't let us work, so we must earn our
living as best we can.' And they seemed to be flourishing, monsieur.
They had no lack of wine and provisions. Jules never feasted so well in