the noonday sun.

When he reached the summit, however, he paused to take breath; and while
wiping the perspiration from his brow, he turned to look back on the
road which he had traversed.

It was the first time he had visited the spot, and he was surprised at
the extent of the landscape which stretched before him.

From this point, which is the most elevated in the surrounding country,
one can survey the entire valley of the Oiselle, and discern, in the
distance, the redoubtable citadel of Montaignac, built upon an almost
inaccessible rock.

This last circumstance, which the baron was afterward doomed to recall
in the midst of the most terrible scenes, did not strike him then.
Lacheneur's house absorbed all his attention.

His imagination pictured vividly the sufferings of this unfortunate man,
who, only two days before, had relinquished the splendors of the Chateau
de Sairmeuse to repair to this wretched abode.

He rapped at the door of the cottage.

"Come in!" said a voice.

The baron lifted the latch and entered.

The room was small, with un-white-washed walls, but with no other floor
than the ground; no ceiling save the thatch that formed the roof.