CHAPTER IX.
THE FOUR RASCALS
We rode southward at an easy pace, that mademoiselle might not be madeto suffer from fatigue. Aside from the desirability of our reaching safeterritory, there was no reason for great haste. M. de Varion had not yetbeen tried, and the attempt to deliver him from prison need not be madeimmediately. Time would be required in which I might form a satisfactoryplan of action in this matter. It would be necessary to employ all mymen in it, and to bring them secretly from Maury by night marches, but Imust not take the first step until the whole design should be completein my mind.
I suggested to mademoiselle that we first go to her father's house, inFleurier, where she might get such of her belongings as she wished totake with her. But she desired to take no more along than was already inthe portmanteaus that her boys, Hugo and Pierre, carried with them ontheir horses. She had come directly from Bourges with this baggage,having been visiting an unmarried aunt, in that city, when news of herfather's arrest reached her.
When I questioned her as to her conduct on the reception of that news,her face clouded, and she showed embarrassment and a wish to avoid thesubject. Nevertheless, she gave me answers, and I finally learned thather purpose on leaving Bourges had been to seek the governor of theprovince, immediately, and petition for her father's release. It was byaccident that she had met M. de la Chatre at the inn, where she hadstopped that her horses might be baited. My persistent, thoughdeferential, inquiries elicited from her, in a wavering voice, that shehad not previously possessed the governor's acquaintance; that herentreaties had evoked only the governor's wrathful orders to depart fromthe province on pain of sharing her father's fate; and that La Chatre hadrefused to allow her even to see her father in his dungeon in the Chateauof Fleurier.
Her agitation as she disclosed these things to me became so great that Ipresently desisted from pursuing the subject, and sought to restorebrightness to the face of one whose tenderness and youth made hermisfortune ineffably touching.
I found that, with a woman's intelligence, she had a child'singenuousness. I had no difficulty in leading her to talk about herself.Artlessly she communicated to me the salient facts of her life. Herfather, the younger son of a noble family, had passed his days in studyon his little portion of land near Fleurier. Like myself, she had whenvery young become motherless. As for her education, her unmarried aunthad taught her those accomplishments which a woman can best impart, whileher father had instructed her concerning the ancients, the arts, and thesciences. She had been to Paris but once, and knew nothing of the court.
Most of my conversation with mademoiselle was had while we traversed adeserted stretch of road, where I could, with safety, ride by her sideand allow Blaise to take my place with the maid, Jeannotte. I could inferhow deeply the good fellow had been smitten with the petite damsel by themeans which he took to impress her in return. Far from showing himself asthe wounded, sighing lover, he swelled to large dimensions, assumed hismost martial frown, and carried himself as a most formidable personage.He boasted sonorously of his achievements in battle.
"And the scar on your forehead," I heard her say, as she inspected hisvisage with a coquettish side glance; "at what battle did you get that?"
His reply was uttered in a voice whose rancorous fierceness must have setthe maid trembling.
"In the battle of the Rue Etienne," he said, "which was fought betweenmyself and a hell-born Papist, on St. Bartholomew's night, in 1572. Fromthe next house-roof, I had seen Coligny's body thrown, bleeding, from hisown window into his courtyard, for I was one of those who were with himwhen his murderers came, and whom he ordered to flee. I ran from roof toroof, hoping to reach a house where a number of Huguenots were, that Imight lead them back to avenge the admiral's murder. I dropped to thestreet and ran around a corner straight into the arms of one of thebutchers employed by the Duke of Guise that night to decorate the streetsof Paris with the best blood in France. Seeing that I did not wear thewhite cross on my arm, he was good enough to give me this red mark on myforehead. But in those days I was quick at repartee, and I gave him asimilar mark on a similar place. Then I was knocked down from behind, andwhen I awoke it was the next day. The dogs had thought me dead. As forthe man who gave me this mark, I have not seen him since, but forthirteen years I have prayed hard to the bountiful Father in Heaven tobring us together again some day, and the good God in His infinitekindness will surely do so!"
Now and then mademoiselle turned in her saddle to look behind. It waswhen she did this for the ninth or tenth time that she gave a start, andher lips parted with a half-uttered ejaculation of alarm. I followed herlook and saw five mounted figures far behind us, on the road. It wasmost probable that these were De Berquin, Barbemouche, and the latter'sthree ragged comrades. But in this sight I found no reason to bedisturbed. If mademoiselle was the object of De Berquin's quest, I feltthat our party was sufficiently strong to protect her. If he hadabandoned the intention of annoying her with further importunities, andwas merely proceeding to Clochonne in order to act as the governor's spyagainst me, there could be no immediate danger in his presence, for hedid not suspect that I was the Sieur de la Tournoire.
"Be assured, mademoiselle," I said, "you have nothing whatever to fearfrom M. de Berquin."
"I do not fear for myself," she replied, with a pathetic little smile."It cannot be possible that, having seen me only once, he should puthimself to so much trouble merely to inflict his attentions on me."
"Then you never saw him before the meeting at the inn to-day?" I asked,in surprise.
"Never. When he addressed me and introduced himself, I was surprised thathe should already know my name."
I then recalled that the governor's secretary, Montignac, at one time,during his talk with De Berquin outside our window, had pointed towardsthe inn. Was it, then, of Mlle. de Varion that he had been talking?Montignac, of course, having witnessed the interview between mademoiselleand the governor, had learned her name. It must have been he who hadcommunicated it to De Berquin. Had the subtle secretary entrusted theunscrupulous cavalier with some commission relative to mademoiselle, aswell as with the task of betraying me? It was in vain that I tried tofind satisfactory answers to these questions.
I asked mademoiselle whether she had ever known Montignac before thisday.
"Never," she answered, with a kind of shudder, which seemed to expressboth abhorrence and fear. Again she grew reticent; again the shadow andthe look of confusion appeared on her face. I could make nothing of thesesigns. To attempt a solution by interrogating her was only to cause herpain, and rather than do that I preferred to remain mystified.
Once more mademoiselle cast an uneasy look at the riders in thedistance rearward.
"Ah!" said I, with a smile, "you have no fear for yourself, yet youcontinue to look back with an expression that very nearly resembles thatof fright."
"I do not fear for myself," she said, quite artlessly; "it is for youthat I fear. M. de Berquin will surely try to revenge himself for thehumiliation you gave him."
A joyous thrill sent the blood to my cheeks. Without disguising myfeelings, I turned and looked at her. Doubtless the gladness that shonein my eyes told her what was in my heart. Realizing that her frank andgentle demonstration of solicitude was a confession to be received withineffable delight by the man to whom it was tendered, she dropped hereyes and a deep blush overspread her face. For some time no word passedbetween us; enough had been said. I knew that the look in my eyes hadtold more, a thousand times, than all the extravagant compliments withwhich I had, half banteringly, deluged her at the inn.
We might, by hard riding, have reached Maury on the night of that day,but mademoiselle's comfort was to be considered, and, moreover, I desiredto throw De Berquin off our track before going to our hiding-place.Therefore, when Clochonne was yet some leagues before us, we turned intoa by-way, and stopped at an obscure inn at the end of a small village.This hostelry was a mere hut, consisting of a kitchen and one otherapartment
, and was kept by an old couple as stupid and avaricious as anyof their class. The whole place, such as it was, was at our disposal. Theone private room was given over to mademoiselle and Jeannotte for thenight, it being decided that I and Blaise should share the kitchen withthe inn-keeper and his wife, while the two boys should sleep in an outershed with the horses.
Roused from sluggishness by the sight of a gold piece, which Blaisedisplayed, the old couple succeeded in getting for us a passable supper,which we had served to us on the end of an old wine-butt outside the inn,as the kitchen was intolerably smoky.
"A poor place, mademoiselle," said I, ashamed of having conducted sodelicate a creature to this miserable hovel.
"What would you have?" she replied, with a pretty attempt to cover herdejection by a show of cheerfulness. "One cannot flee, for one's liberty,through the forest, and live in a chateau at the same time."
As for the others, hunger and fatigue made any fare and shelter welcome.Blaise, in particular, found the wine acceptable. Conscious of theglances of Jeannotte, now flashing, now demure, he strove to outdohimself in one of his happiest accomplishments, that of drinking. The twoboys, Hugo and Pierre, emulated his achievements, and only the presenceof mademoiselle deterred our party from becoming a noisy one.
Blaise became more and more exuberant as he made the wine flow the moregenerously. Seeing a way of diverting mademoiselle from her sad thoughts,I set him to telling of the things he had done in battle when controlledby the sanguinary spirit of his father. He had a manner of narratingthese deeds of slaughter, which took all the horror out of them, and madethem rather comical than of any other description. He soon hadmademoiselle smiling, the maid laughing, and the two boys looking on himwith open-eyed admiration. Finding Jeannotte and the boys so wellentertained, mademoiselle allowed them to remain with Blaise when sheretired to her room.
I followed her to the inn door, and bade her rest without fear, assuringher that I would die ere the least harm should befall her.
"Nay," she answered smiling, "I would endure much harm rather than buysecurity at such a price."
For an instant her smooth and delicate fingers lay in mine. Then theywere swiftly withdrawn, and she passed in, while I stood outside to muse,in the gathering dusk, upon the great change that had come over the worldsince my first meeting with her, six hours before. The very stars and skyseemed to smile upon me; the moonlight seemed to shine for me consciouslywith a greater softness; the very smell of the earth and grass and treeshad grown sweeter to me. I thought how barren, though I had not known it,the world had been before this transformation, and how unendurable to mewould be a return of that barrenness.
I rejoined the now somewhat boisterous party at the wine-butt in time tocatch Blaise making an attempt to kiss Jeannotte, who was maintaining afair pretence of resistance. She seemed rather displeased at my return,for as Blaise, unabashedly, continued his efforts, she was compelled, inorder to make her coyness seem real to me, to break from him, and fleeinto the inn.
Blaise, in whom the spirit of his father was now manifestly gaming theascendancy, consoled himself for the absence of Jeannotte by drinkingmore heroically and betaking to song. The boys labored assiduously tokeep him company. Finally the stalwart fellow, Hugo, succumbed to theeffects of the wine, and staggered off to the shed. Pierre followed him afew minutes later, and Blaise was left alone with the remains of thewine. The landlord and his wife had retired to rest, on their pallets onthe kitchen floor, some time before. Blaise sat on a log, singing tohimself and cursing imaginary enemies, until all the wine at hand wasexhausted. Then he let me lead him into the kitchen, where he immediatelydropped to the floor, rolled over on his back, and began snoring with thevigor that characterized all his vocal manifestations.
Making a pillow of my cloak, I lay down beside him, and tried to sleep;but the stale air of the kitchen, the new thoughts to which my mind clungwith delight, the puzzling questions that sought to displace thosethoughts, and the tremendous snoring of both the landlord and his wife,as well as of Blaise, made slumber impossible to me. I therefore rose,and went out of the inn. At a short distance away was a smooth, grassyknoll, now bathed in moonlight. I decided to make this my couch. I hadproceeded only a few steps from the inn when the silence of the earlynight was disturbed by the sound of footsteps on the crisp, fallen leavesin the woods close at hand.
The smallness of the village and the obscurity of the locality gaveimportance to every sound, proceeding from a human source, at this hour.I, therefore, dropped behind the thick stump of a tree, where I might seeand hear without being observed. Presently a figure emerged from the edgeof the wood and moved cautiously towards the inn. It stopped, made agesture towards the wood, and then continued its course. Three morefigures then came out of the wood, one very tall, one exceedingly broad,and the third extremely thin. They came on with great caution, andfinally joined the first comer near the inn. By this time I hadrecognized the leader as my old friend, Barbemouche. The others were hiscompanions.
I awaited their further proceedings with curiosity. Was it in quest ofus, at the behest of De Berquin, that they had come hither so cautiouslyand without their horses? Very probably. Doubtless, from afar, they hadseen us turn into the byway which, as one or more of them perhaps knew,led to this inn and to no other. It was not likely that, having certainlymade some bargain with De Berquin, and being moneyless, they had quittedhis service so soon. Yet, if they were now carrying out orders of hisagainst mademoiselle or against me, the supposed lackey who had incurredhis wrath, why was he not with them? I hoped soon to see these questionsanswered by the doings of the rascals themselves.
The fat ruffian sank down, with a heavy sigh of relief, on the log whereBlaise had sat. He pulled down with him the thin fellow, who had beenclutching his arm as if for support. The latter had a wavy, yellow beard,a feminine manner, and a dandified air, as if he might once have been afop at the court before descending to the rags which now covered him. Thefat hireling had a face on which both good nature and pugnacity weredepicted. At present he was puffing from his exertions afoot. The moststriking figure of the group was that of the tall rascal. He was gaunt,angular and erect, throwing out his chest, and wearing a solemn andmeditative mien upon his weather-beaten face. This visage, long enough inits frame-work, was further extended by a great, pointed beard. There wassomething of grandeur about this cadaverous, frowning, Spanish-lookingwreck of a warrior, as he stood thoughtfully leaning upon a hugetwo-handed sword, which he had doubtless obtained in the pillage of someold armory.
"The place seems closed as tight as the gates of Heaven to a heretic,"growled Barbemouche, scrutinizing the inn.
The tall fellow here awoke from his reverie, and spoke in solemn,deliberate tones:
"Would it not be well to wake up the landlord and try his wine?"
"Wake up the devil!" cried Barbemouche angrily. "Nobody is to be wakedup. We are simply to find out whether they are here, and then go back tothe Captain. Your unquenchable thirst will take you to hell before yourtime, Francois."
"It is astonishing," put in the fat fellow, looking at the tall, leanFrancois, "how so few gallons of body can hold so many gallons of wine."
"Would I had your body to fill with wine, Antoine," said Francois,longingly; and then, casting an unhappy look at the inn, he added, "andthe wine to fill it with."
"What are you shaking for, Jacques?" asked fat Antoine of his slimcomrade at his side. "One would think you were afraid. Haven't you toldus that love of fighting was the one passion of your life?"
"Death of the devil, so it is!" replied Jacques in a soft voice, andwith a lisp worthy of one of the King's painted minions. "That is whatannoys me, for if this insignificant matter should come to a fight, and Ishould accidentally be killed in so obscure an affair, how could I everagain indulge my passion for fighting?"
Meanwhile, Barbemouche had gone to the door and cautiously opened it, noone having barred it after my departure from the kitchen. I could hearthe sound of B
laise's superb snoring, mingled with the less resonantefforts of the old couple. Barbemouche surveyed as much of the kitchen asthe moonlight disclosed to him. Then he quietly shut the door and turnedto his fellows.
"It is well," he said. "The gentleman himself is snoring his lungs awayjust inside the door. There is another room, and it is there that thewomen must be. The others are probably in the shed. Let us go quietly, asit would not be polite to disturb their sleep."
Whereupon Barbemouche led the way back to the woods, followed by fatAntoine, who toiled puffingly, Jacques, who stepped daintily and seemedfearful of treading on stones and briars, and last of all Francois, whomoved at a measured pace, with long strides, retaining his air ofprofound meditation. The sound of the crushing of leaves beneath theirfeet became more distant, and finally died out entirely.
In vain I asked myself the meaning of this strange investigation.Manifestly the present object of De Berquin was nothing more than to keephimself informed of our whereabouts. But why had he sent all four of hishenchmen to find out whether we were at this inn, when one would havesufficed? I abandoned the attempt to deduce what his exact intentionswere. Drowsiness now coming over me, and the night air having growncolder, I repaired to the shed for the purpose of obtaining there therepose that had been denied me in the kitchen. I was satisfied in mindthat whatever blow De Berquin intended to strike for the possession ofmademoiselle, or for revenge upon myself, would be attempted at a timeand place more convenient to him. Knowing that my slumbers invariablyyielded to any unusual noise, I allowed myself to fall asleep on a pileof straw in the shed.
I know not how long I had slept, when I suddenly awoke with a start andsat upright. What noise had invaded my sleep, I could not, at thatmoment, tell. The place was then perfectly quiet, save for the regularbreathing of the two boys, and an occasional movement of one of thehorses. The shed was still entirely dark, excepting where a thin slice ofmoonlight entered at a crack. I sat still, listening.
Presently a low sound struck my ear, something between a growl and agroan. I quickly arose, left the shed, and ran to a clump of bushes atthe side of the inn, whence the sound proceeded. Separating the bushes Isaw, lying prone on the ground among them, the stalwart body of Blaise.
"What is the matter?" I cried. "Speak! Are you wounded?"
The only reply was a kind of muffled roar. Looking closer, I saw thatBlaise's mouth and head were tightly bound by the detached sleeve of adoublet, and this had deterred him from articulating. I saw, also,that his legs had been tied together, and his hands fastened behindhim with a rope.
I rapidly released his legs, and he stood up. Then I undid his hands,and he stretched out his arms with relief. Finally I unbound his mouthand he spoke:
"Oh, the whelps of hell! To fall on a man when he is sleeping off hiswine, and tie him up like a trussed fowl! I will have the blood of everycursed knave of them! And the maid! Grandmother of the devil! They havetaken the maid! Come, monsieur, let us cut them into pieces, and savethe maid!"
But I held him back, and cried: "And mademoiselle, what of her? Speak,you drunken dog! Have you let her be harmed?"
"She is perfectly safe," he answered, in his turn holding me back fromrushing to the inn. "I do not think that she was even awakened. Whatuse to let her know what has happened? If we rescue the maid and themaid will hold her tongue, mademoiselle will never know what danger shehas escaped."
"Or what vigilant protectors she has had to guard her sleep," I said,with bitter self-reproach, no longer daring to blame Blaise for a laxityof which I had been equally guilty. "You are right," I went on, "she mustknow nothing. Now tell me at once exactly what has occurred."
Blaise would rather have looked for his sword, and started offimmediately to the rescue of the maid, but I made him stand with me inthe shadow of the inn and relate.
"From the time when I fell asleep on the kitchen floor," he said, "I knewnothing until a little while ago, when I awoke, and found myself stillwhere I had lain down, but tied up as you found me yonder. Four curs ofhell were lifting me to carry me out. I tried to strike, but the deepsleep, induced by that cursed wine, had allowed them to tie me up asneatly as if I had been a dead deer. Neither could I speak, though Itried hard enough to curse, you may be sure. So they brought me out, andlaid me down there by the inn-door. 'Would it not be best to stick asword into him?' said one of the rascals, a soft speaking, womanish pup.A hungry-looking giant put the point of an old two-handed sword at mybreast, as if to carry out the suggestion; but a heavy, black-beardedscoundrel, whose voice I think I have heard before, pushed the sword awayand said: 'No, the captain has a quarrel to adjust with him in person. Weare to concern ourselves entirely with the lady. Lay him yonder.' So theycarried me over to the bushes. 'And now for the others,' said the giant.'Why lose time over them?' said the burly fellow, who seemed to be theleader; 'they are sleeping like pigs in the shed. Come! We can do thebusiness without waking them up.'
"So they left me lying on the ground and went into the inn again, veryquietly. They must have gone, without waking the landlord or his wife,into the room of mademoiselle and her maid. Presently they came outagain, carrying the maid. When they had gone about half way to the woods,they stopped and set her on her feet. So far, I suppose, it was the winethat kept her asleep; but now she awoke, and I could see her lookingaround, very scared, from one to the other of the four rascals. Then shegave a scream. At that instant, there came rushing from the woods, withhis sword drawn, your friend, the Vicomte de Berquin. 'Stand off,rascals!' he shouted, as he ran up to them. They drew their weapons, andmade a weak pretense of resisting him; then, when each one had exchangeda thrust with him, they all turned tail, and made off into the woods.
"M. de Berquin now turned to the maid, who had fallen to her knees infright. Taking her hand, he said, 'Mademoiselle, I thank Heaven I arrivedin time to give you the aid your own escort failed to afford. Perhaps nowyou will be the less unwilling to accept my protection!'--the maid nowlooked up at him, and he got a good view of her face. He started back asif hell had opened before him, threw her hand from his, turned towardsthe woods, and shouted to the four rascals, 'You whelps of the devil, youhave made a mistake and brought the maid!' He was about to follow them,when it probably occurred to him that if left free the maid woulddisclose his little project; for he stood thinking a moment, then graspedthe frightened maid by the wrist, and ran off into the woods, draggingher after him. All this I saw through an opening in the bushes while Ilay helpless and speechless. By industriously working my jaw, I at lastsucceeded in making my mouth sufficiently free to produce the soundswhich brought you to me. Now, monsieur, let us hasten after the maid, formademoiselle will be vastly annoyed to lose her precious Jeannotte."
I saw that Blaise knew with what argument I was quickest to be moved.
"Blaise," I said, "do not pretend that it is only for mademoiselle'ssake that you are concerned. In your anxiety about the maid, you forgetthe danger in which mademoiselle still lies, and which requires me toremain here. When the ingenious De Berquin learns, from his fourhenchmen, that mademoiselle was not awakened, he will certainly repeathis attempt. He thinks to win her favor by appearing to be her rescuerfrom these four pretended assailants, and, at the same time, to make usseem unworthy to protect her. He does not know that she has seen the fourrascals in his company. He wishes to work with his own hand his revengeupon us, and so he has let us live. I see the way to make him soridiculous in the eyes of mademoiselle that he will never dare show hisface to her again."
"But the maid!" persisted Blaise.
"They will doubtless secure her somewhere in the woods, and return hereto enact, with mademoiselle herself, the sham rescue which theymistakenly carried out with the maid. Go and seek your preciousJeannotte, if you please, but do not let them discover you. Wait untilthey leave her before you try to release her."
Blaise was quick to avail himself of this conditional commission. He wentwith me into the kitchen, where the old couple were sleeping as no
isilyas ever, and found his sword where he had laid it before supper. Thedoor to mademoiselle's room was ajar. Standing at the threshold, I couldhear her breathing peacefully, unaware of the peril from which, by ablunder, she had been saved. Through the small window of the room came abar of moonlight which lighted up her face. It was a face pale, sad,innocent,--the face of a girl transformed, in an instant, to womanhoodby a single grief.
Leaving her door as I had found it, I went from the inn to the shed,still wearing my sword, which I had put on in first leaving the kitchenafter my futile attempt to sleep. Blaise was already making rapidly forthe woods.
I quietly awoke Hugo and Pierre, and bade them put on their weapons andremain ready to respond to my call. I then posted myself again behind thetree stump near the inn door and awaited occurrences.
By this time clouds had arisen, and the moonlight was frequentlyobscured. I had waited about half an hour, when, again, the sound ofbreaking leaves and sticks warned me that living beings wereapproaching through the woods. At last I made out the four figures ofDe Berquin's hirelings as they cautiously paused at the edge of theopen space. Apparently assured by the silence that their presence wasunsuspected, they came on to the inn. In a moment of moonlight, Iperceived, also, the figure of De Berquin, who stood at the border ofthe woods watching the proceedings of his varlets. Even as I looked, hewithdrew into the shadow. At the same time a heavy mass of cloud castdarkness over the place.
But I could descry the black forms of the four rascals huddled togetherat the door of the inn, which the foremost cautiously opened. A momentlater they had all entered the kitchen.
I glided rapidly through the darkness after them, and took my stand justwithin the door, where any one attempting to pass out must encounter me.The four rascals were now at the inner door leading to the room ofmademoiselle.
"Stand off, rascals!" I cried, assuming the tone of De Berquin. Inthe same moment, I gently punctured the back of the nearest rascalwith my sword.
Surprised at what they took for the premature advent of their master, thefellows turned and stood for a moment undecided. But, by thrusting mysword among them, I enabled them to make up their minds. They could butblindly obey their instructions, and so they came towards me with afeeble pretense of attack. In the darkness it was impossible for them tomake out my features. I met their sham assault with much greater vigorthan De Berquin had led them to expect from him. This they might havebeen moved to resist, in earnest, but for the fear of losing their pay,which De Berquin, in order to secure himself against treachery on theirpart, would certainly have represented as being, not on his person, butsomewhere awaiting his call. Thus deterred from making a sufficientdefence against my sword-play, and as mademoiselle, awakened by thenoise, had hastened to her door and was looking on, the four adventurerssoon considered that their pretense of battle had lasted long enough. Ahowl of pain from Barbemouche, evoked by a wound in the groin, was thesignal for their general flight. As I still stood in the doorway to barall exit there, they sought other ways of egress. The slim Jacques ranpast mademoiselle into her room and bolted through the window.Barbemouche managed to go through the rear window of the kitchen, and thefat Antoine tried to follow him, but succeeded only as to his head, arms,and shoulders. Squeezed tightly into the opening, he remained anirresistible temptation to the point of my sword, and at every thrust hebeat the air with his legs, and shrieked piteously. The tall Francois, inattempting to reach this window at one stride, had stumbled against thebodies of the terrified innkeeper and his wife, and he now labored,vainly, to release his leg from the grasp of the old woman, who clung toit with the strength of desperation.
I took mademoiselle by the hand and led her out into the air. Here wewere joined by Hugo and Pierre, who had run around from the shed at thenoise. I was just about to answer her look of bewilderment and inquiry,when there came a loud cry:
"Stand off, rascals!"
And on rushed De Berquin from the woods, making a great flourish with hissword as he came. In the darkness, seeing mademoiselle standing withthree men, one of whom had led her rapidly from the inn, the inventiveVicomte had taken us three for his own zealous henchmen.
And so he came, like some giant-slaying chevalier of the old days,crying again: "Stand off, rascals!" and adding, "You hounds, releasethis lady!"
"Fear not for the lady; her friends are here!" I said, motioning Hugo andPierre aside and stepping forward with mademoiselle, my drawn sword in myright hand.
The moon reappeared, and showed De Berquin standing with open mouth, asif turned to stone. In a moment this astonishment passed.
"Thousand devils!" he cried. "The cursed lackey!"
And he made a wrathful thrust at me, but I disarmed him now as neatly asat the inn. Thereupon, he picked up his sword and made rapidly off to thewoods. Turning towards the inn, I saw the tall fellow and his fatcomrade leaving it, the former bearing his huge sword on his shoulder.They avoided us by a detour, and followed De Berquin. The two who hadescaped by windows had, doubtless, already reached the protection of thetrees. I began to explain to mademoiselle, and was asking myself how bestto account for the absence of Jeannotte, when I saw Blaise coming fromthe woods, bearing the maid in his arms. To prevent her from returning tothe inn, De Berquin had caused Barbemouche to bind her to a tree. Whenher captors had departed to make a second attempt against mademoiselle,the maid had set up a moaning, and this had guided Blaise to her side.
It was now impossible to conceal any of the night's events frommademoiselle, but she, far from blaming our lack of vigilance, feigned tothink herself indebted to us for a second rescue from the attentions ofher persecutor. During the rest of that night her slumbers were morefaithfully guarded, although they were not threatened again.
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