written me confidentially about this crisis. Fouche has discovered
that the tyrant Louis XVIII. has been advised by traitors in Paris to
send a leader to his followers in La Vendee. It is thought that Barras
is betraying the Republic. At any rate, Pitt and the princes have sent
a man, a /ci-devant/, vigorous, daring, full of talent, who intends,
by uniting the Chouans with the Vendeans, to pluck the cap of liberty
from the head of the Republic. The fellow has lately landed in the
Morbihan; I was the first to hear of it, and I sent the news to those
knaves in Paris. 'The Gars' is the name he goes by. All those beasts,"
he added, pointing to Marche-a-Terre, "stick on names which would give
a stomach-ache to honest patriots if they bore them. The Gars is now
in this district. The presence of that fellow"--and again he signed to
Marche-a-Terre--"as good as tells me he is on our back. But they can't
teach an old monkey to make faces; and you've got to help me to get my
birds safe into their cage, and as quick as a flash too. A pretty fool
I should be if I allowed that /ci-devant/, who dares to come from
London with his British gold, to trap me like a crow!"

On learning these secret circumstances, and being well aware that
their leader was never unnecessarily alarmed, the two officers saw the
dangers of the position. Gerard was about to ask some questions on the
political state of Paris, some details of which Hulot had evidently
passed over in silence, but a sign from his commander stopped him, and
once more drew the eyes of all three to the Chouan. Marche-a-Terre
gave no sign of disturbance at being watched. The curiosity of the two
officers, who were new to this species of warfare, was greatly excited
by this beginning of an affair which seemed to have an almost romantic
interest, and they began to joke about it. But Hulot stopped them at
once.