remember getting off the horse because he was so used to doing it. He
always did it when there was an alarm and the clash of arms at the
front."

"Why did he choose that time for it?" asked Jean.

"I don't know. To tighten up his girth, he thinks, to climb a tree, I
think; I saw him climb nine trees in a single night."

"You saw nothing of the kind! A person that can lie like that deserves no
one's respect. I ask you all to answer me. Do you believe what this
reptile has said?"

All seemed embarrassed, and only Pierre replied. He said, hesitatingly:

"I--well, I hardly know what to say. It is a delicate situation. It seems
offensive to me to refuse to believe a person when he makes so direct a
statement, and yet I am obliged to say, rude as it may appear, that I am
not able to believe the whole of it--no, I am not able to believe that
you climbed nine trees."

"There!" cried the Paladin; "now what do you think of yourself, Noel
Rainguesson? How many do you believe I climbed, Pierre?"

"Only eight."

The laughter that followed inflamed the Paladin's anger to white heat,
and he said:

"I bide my time--I bide my time. I will reckon with you all, I promise