CHAPTER X: A Perilous Journey.
A number of peasants with market carts were waiting outside the gates,and for the first few miles of their ride the road was dotted with peoplemaking their way to the city. As they rode, Malcolm discussed thequestion of the best road to be taken. Ronald himself was still in favourof pushing straight forward, for he was not so convinced as his followerthat a serious attempt would be made to interrupt their journey. Hepointed out that the road, as far as Orleans at least, was one of themost frequented in France, and that in that city even the most recklesswould hardly venture to assault them.
"I agree with you, Ronald, that the road offers less opportunities forambushes than most others, for the country is flat and well cultivated;but after all a dozen men with muskets could lie in ambush in a cornfieldas well as a wood, and the fact that people are going along the roadcounts for little one way or the other, for not one in fifty wouldventure to interfere if they saw a fray going on. But granting that sofar as Orleans the country is open and cultivated, beyond that it is forthe most part forest; but above all--although they may regard it aspossible that we may be on our guard, and may travel by other roads--itis upon this direct line that they are sure to make the most preparationsfor us. Beyond that it can only be chance work. We may go by one road orby another. There may be one trap set on each road; but once past thatand we are safe."
After riding for upwards of an hour they came, at the turn of the road,upon two carts. One had apparently broken down, and the other had stoppedthat those with it might give assistance in repairing it. One cart wasturned across the road, and the other filled the rest of the space.
"Stop!" Malcolm exclaimed, checking his horse suddenly.
"What is it?" Ronald asked in surprise.
"Turn back!" Malcolm said sharply as he wheeled his horse round.
Ronald, without a word, did the same, and they galloped a hundred yardsdown the road.
"We were nearly caught there," Malcolm said.
"Why, how do you mean?"
"Never mind now, Ronald. Turn sharp to the right here, and make a detourthrough the fields. You will soon see whether I was right."
"It is a shame riding through this ripe corn," Ronald said, as withoutany further comment he leaped his horse over the bank and dashed offamong the golden grain, which stretched far and wide on both sides of theroad.
They had not gone fifty yards before they heard loud shouts, and as theycame abreast of where the carts were standing several shots were fired,and ten or twelve men were seen running through the corn as if to cutthem off. But although they heard the whiz of the bullets they were toofar off to be in much danger, and the men on foot had no chance ofcutting them off, a fact which they speedily perceived, as one by onethey halted and fired. A few hundred yards farther the two horsemen cameround into the road again and pursued their journey.
"Well, what do you think of that, Ronald?"
"It was an ambush, no doubt, Malcolm; but what on earth made you suspectit? I saw nothing suspicious. Merely two carts in the road, with three orfour men doing something to one of the wheels."
"I am in a suspicious humour this morning, Ronald, and it is lucky I am.The sight of the two carts completely blocking the road brought me to ahalt at once, and as I checked my horse I saw a movement among the busheson the right of the road, and felt sure that it was an ambush. It was awell laid one, too, and had we ridden on we should have been riddled withbullets. No doubt there were men lying in the carts. They would havejumped up as we came up to them, and the fellows in the bushes would havetaken us in the rear; between their two fires our chances would have beensmall indeed. No doubt they had a man on watch, and directly they saw uscoming they got their carts across the road, and took up their positions.It was a well contrived scheme, and we have had a narrow escape."
"Thanks to your quickness and watchfulness, Malcolm, which has saved ourlives. I admit that you are right and I was wrong, for I own that I didnot share your apprehensions as to the dangers of our journey. HenceforthI will be as much on the lookout as you are, and will look with suspicionat every beggar woman that may pass."
"And you will be right to do so," Malcolm said seriously; "but for thepresent I think that we are safe. This, no doubt, was their main ambush,and they may reasonably have felt certain of success. However, we may besure that they did not rely solely upon it. This, no doubt, is theunmounted portion of their gang. They were to try and put a stop to ourjourney at its outset; but mounted men will have ridden on ahead,especially as they couldn't have been sure that we should follow thisroad. We might have gone out by one of the other gates at the south sideof the town, and they will have watched all the roads. Now I propose thatwe take the next lane which branches off to the right, and travel bybyroads in future. Do not press your horse too fast. We have a longjourney before us, and must always have something in hand in case it isnecessary to press them to full speed."
Two miles further a road branched to the right. As they approached itRonald was about to touch his horse's rein, when Malcolm said shortly,"Ride straight on."
Although surprised at this sudden change of plan, Ronald obeyed withoutquestion.
"What was that for?" he asked when he had passed the turning.
"Did you not see that man lying down by the heap of stones at thecorner?"
"Yes, I saw him; but what of that?"
"I have no doubt he was on the lookout for us. Yes, I thought so," hewent on, as he stood up in his stirrups and looked back; "there, do yousee that horse's head in that little thicket, just this side of where theroad separates? I expected as much. If we had turned off, in another twominutes that fellow would have been galloping along this road to take thenews to those ahead, and they would have ridden to cut us off furtheralong. I have no doubt we shall find someone on watch at every turningbetween this and Orleans."
"But this is a regular campaign, Malcolm."
"It is a campaign, Ronald. The ruffians and thieves of Paris form a sortof army. They have heads whom they implicitly obey, and those who havemoney enough to set this machine in motion can command the services ofany number of men. Sharp fellows, too, many of them are, and when theyreceived orders to arrest our journey to Tours at any cost, they wouldnot omit a single precaution which could ensure success. Their formerattack upon you, and its result, will have showed them that we are notchildren, and that the enterprise was one which demanded all theirefforts."
"What is our next move now, Malcolm?"
"We will turn off before we get to the next road. They can see a long wayacross these level plains; so we will dismount and lead our horses. Thecorn is well nigh shoulder deep, and if we choose a spot where the groundlies rather low, neither that scoundrel behind nor the one at the nextroad is likely to see us."
Half a mile further there was a slight dip in the ground.
"This is a good spot," Malcolm said. "This depression extends far away onour right, and although it is very slight, and would not conceal us ifthe ground were bare, it will do so now, so let us take advantage of it."
So saying he dismounted, and leading his horse, turned into thecornfield. Ronald followed him, and for two miles they kept straight onthrough the corn; then they came upon a narrow road connecting twovillages. They mounted and turned their horses' heads to the south.
"It is as well that none of the peasants saw us making through theircorn," Ronald said, "or we should have had them upon us with stone andflail like a swarm of angry bees."
"It could not be helped," Malcolm replied, "and we could easily haveridden away from them. However, it is just as well that we have had nobother with them. Now we will quicken our pace. We are fairly between twoof the main roads south, and if we can contrive to make our way by thesevillage tracks we shall at any rate for some time be free from all riskof molestation."
"I should think we should be free altogether," Ronald said. "When theyfind we do not come along the road they will suppose we have been killedat the first ambush."
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Malcolm shook his head.
"Do not build upon that, Ronald. No doubt as soon as we had passed, someof those fellows mounted the horses we saw in the carts, and rode off inaccordance with an agreed plan to give notice that we had passed themsafely, and were proceeding by that road. In the next place the fellow wesaw on watch would most likely after a time mount and follow us, and whenhe got to the watcher at the next crossroad and found that we had notcome along there would know that we must have turned off either to theright or left. One of them is doubtless before this on his way to thenext party with the news, while the other has set to work to find outwhere we turned off, which will be easy enough to discover. Still, wehave gained something, and may fairly reckon that if we ride brisklythere is no fear of those who were posted along the road we have leftcutting us off."
They rode all day at a steady pace, stopping occasionally for a shorttime to allow the horses a rest and a feed. The people in the quietlittle villages looked in surprise at the young officer and his followeras they rode through their street or stopped for a quarter of an hourwhile the horses were fed, for even Malcolm agreed that such pauses wereunattended by danger. It was rarely, indeed, that a stranger passed alongthese bypaths, and the peasants wondered among themselves what couldinduce them to travel by country byways instead of following the mainroads.
As they left the rich plains of the Beauce, the country was lesscarefully cultivated. The fields of corn were no longer continuous, andpresently they came to tracts of uncultivated land with patches of wood.They now left the little road they had been following, and rode straightacross country, avoiding all villages. They crossed several hills, andlate in the afternoon drew rein in a wide spreading forest. They were,Malcolm thought, quite as far south as Orleans, and by starting atdaylight would arrive at Tours by midday.
"Here at least we are perfectly safe," he said; "when we approach Toursour perils will begin again. When once they find that we have given themthe slip they are not likely to try to intercept us anywhere along theroute till we near the town, for they will know that the chances areenormous against their doing so, and the parties along the various roadswill push on so as to meet us somewhere near that city. The river canonly be crossed at certain points, and they will feel sure we shall go byone or other of them."
"And I suppose we shall," Ronald said.
"No, Ronald; my idea is that we turn west and ride to Le Mans, then takea wide detour and enter Tours from the south side. It will take us a daylonger, but that is of little consequence, and I think that we shall inthat way entirely outwit them. The only precaution we shall have to takeis to cross the main road on our right at some point remote from any townor village."
"I think that is a capital plan. I do not mind a share of fair fighting;but to be shot down suddenly in an ambush like that of this morning, Iown I have little fancy for it."
Hobbling their horses, they turned them loose to pick up what they couldin the forest, and then sat down to enjoy a good meal from the amplesupply Malcolm had brought with him. When night fell they unstrappedtheir cloaks from their saddles and rolled themselves in them, and laydown to sleep. An hour later they were roughly awakened, each beingseized by three men, who, before they could attempt to offer resistance,bound their arms to their sides, and then hurried them along through theforest.
"I have been a fool, Ronald," Malcolm said bitterly; "I ought to havekept watch."
"It was not your fault, Malcolm. One could never have guessed that theywould have found us in this forest. Somebody must have followed us at adistance and marked us down, and brought the rest upon us; but even hadyou kept watch it would have been no good, for they would have shot usdown before we could make any resistance."
"I wonder they didn't cut our throats at once," Malcolm said. "I don'tknow what they are troubling to make us prisoners for."
Presently they saw a light in the forest ahead of them, and soon arrivedat a spot where a number of men were sitting round a fire.
"You had no trouble with them, Pierre, I suppose?"
"No, captain, they slept as soundly as moles. They have been speakingsome strange language as we came along."
"Thank God!" Malcolm exclaimed fervently. "I think, after all, Ronald, wehave only fallen in with a band of robbers, and not with our enemies."
"Unbind their hands," the captain of the band said, "but first take awaytheir swords and pistols. Gentlemen, may I ask you to be seated; andthen, perhaps, you will inform us what you, an officer in the Scotchdragoons, as I perceive by your uniform, are doing here in the forest?"
Ronald, to whom the question was principally addressed, replied frankly:
"We took to this forest, I fancy, for the same reason for which you useit, namely, for safety. We are on our way to Tours, and there are somepeople who have interest in preventing our arriving there. They made oneattempt to stop us near Paris; fortunately that failed, or we should notbe now enjoying your society; but as it was likely that another attemptwould be made upon the road, we thought it better to leave it altogetherand take to the forest for the night."
"What interest could anyone have in preventing an officer of the kingfrom arriving at Tours?" the man asked doubtfully.
"It is rather a long story," Ronald said, "but if it is of interest toyou I shall be happy to relate it; and I may mention that there are threebottles of good wine in the valise of one of the saddles, and a story isnone the worse for such an accompaniment."
A laugh went round the circle at Ronald's coolness, and a man steppedforward with the two saddles which he had carried from the spot when thecaptives had been seized. The wine was taken out and opened.
"Yes," the captain of the band said, after tasting it, "the wine is good;now let us have your story."
Ronald gave them an outline of his history, told them how his father andmother had been for many years imprisoned for marrying contrary to theking's pleasure, and how he had at last obtained the royal order fortheir release, and how the enemies of his parents were now trying toprevent him from having those orders carried out. "There are the orders,"Ronald said as he concluded, taking them from the inner pocket where hecarried them. "You see they are addressed to the abbess of the convent ofOur Lady at Tours, and to the governor of Blois."
"The story you tell us is a singular one," the captain replied, "and Idoubt not its truth. What was the name of your father?"
"He was Colonel Leslie, and commanded the same regiment to which Ibelong."
"I remember him," one of the band said. "Our regiments were quarteredtogether, nigh twenty years ago, at Flanders, and I was in Paris at thetime when he was imprisoned. We were in the next barracks to theScotchmen, and I remember what a stir it made. The regiment was very nighmutinying."
"And I remember you too, though I cannot recall your name," Malcolm said,rising and looking hard at the speaker; "and if I mistake not we havecracked many a flask together, and made many a raid on the hen roosts ofthe Flemish farmers. My name is Malcolm Anderson."
"I remember you well," the other said, rising and giving him his hand."Of course I met you scores of times, for the regiments were generallybrigaded together."
"That confirms your story altogether, monsieur," the captain of the bandsaid. "From this moment do not consider yourself a prisoner any longer. Imay say that we had no expectation of booty in your case, and you werecaptured rather from curiosity than from any other reason. One of my men,this afternoon, happened to see you ride into the wood and then dismountand make preparations for passing the night there. He reported the matterto me. I know that gentlemen of your cloth--I may say of mine, for Iwas once an officer of his majesty, though I left the service somewhathastily," and he smiled, "on account of an unfortunate deficiency in thefunds of the regiment in which I happened, at the time, to be acting aspaymaster--are seldom burdened with spare cash, but the incident seemedso strange that I determined to capture and question you. If you happento have more cash on you than you care about carrying we shall b
e glad topurchase a few bottles of wine equal to that which you have given us. Ifnot, I can assure you that I do not press the matter.".
"I am obliged to you for your courtesy," Ronald said; "and as at presentI really happen to be somewhat flush of cash I am happy to contribute tenlouis for the laudable purpose you mention."
So saying he took out his purse, counted out ten pieces, and handed themto the captain.
The action was received with a round of applause, for the robbers hadnot, from the first, anticipated obtaining any booty worth speaking of,and the turn affairs had taken had altogether driven any idea of gainfrom their minds.
"I thank you warmly, sir," the captain said, "and promise you that I willtomorrow despatch a messenger to Orleans, which is but ten miles away,and will lay out the money in liquor, with which we will, tomorrow night,drink your health and success in the enterprise. Nay, more, if you like,a dozen of my men shall accompany you on your road to Tours. They have,for various reasons, which I need not enter into, a marked objection topassing through towns, but as far as Blois they are at your service."
"I thank you for your offer," Ronald replied, "but will not accept it, aswe intend to ride tomorrow morning to Le Mans, and then to enter Toursfrom the south side, by which we shall throw our enemies completely offthe scent."
"But why do you not go to Blois first?" the man asked. "It is on your wayto Tours."
"I wish my mother to be present at the release of my father. So long aconfinement may well have broken him down. Now that I see how obstinatelybent our enemies are upon our destruction I will take with me two orthree stout fellows from Tours, to act as an escort."
"What day will you be leaving there?" the man asked.
"Today is Tuesday," Ronald said; "on Thursday we shall be at Tours, onFriday morning we shall leave."
"Very well," the man replied, "we will be on the road. It is nodifference to us where we are, and as well there as here. I will have menscattered all along in the forest between Blois and Amboise, and if Ifind that there are any suspicious parties along the road we will catchthem, and if you are attacked you will find that we are close at hand tohelp you. You are a generous fellow, and your story has interested me. Wegentlemen of the woods are obliged to live, whatever the law says; but ifwe can do a good action to anybody it pleases us as well as others."
"I am greatly obliged to you," Ronald said, "and can promise you, anyhow,that your time shall be not altogether thrown away."
Soon afterwards the whole band lay down round the fire and were soundasleep. In the morning Malcolm saddled the two horses, and after a heartyadieu from the captain and his followers--all of whom were dischargedsoldiers who had been driven to take up this life from an inability tosupport themselves in any other way--they started for Le Mans, whichtown they reached late in the afternoon, without adventure.
Deeming it in the highest degree improbable that any watch would be setfor them at a place so far from their line of travel, they put up for thenight at the principal inn. In the morning they again started, and afterriding for some distance to the south, made a wide sweep, and crossingthe river, entered Tours from the south, late in the evening. They againput up at the principal inn, for although they doubted not that theirarrival would be noticed by the emissaries of the enemy, they had no fearof molestation in a town like Tours. And on the following morning Ronaldpresented himself at the entrance to the convent.
"I wish to see the lady superior," he said to the lay sister at thewicket. "I am the bearer of a communication to her from the king."
He was left waiting for a few minutes outside the gate, then the wicketdoor opened, and the sister requested him to follow her. Not a soul wasto be seen as he traversed the gloomy courts and passed through severalcorridors to the room where the abbess was waiting him. In silence hehanded to her the king's order. The abbess opened and read it.
"His majesty's commands shall be obeyed," she said; "in an hour thecountess will be in readiness to depart."
"A carriage shall be in waiting at the gate to receive her," Ronald said,bowing, and then, without another word, retired.
Malcolm was awaiting him outside, and they at once went to the officer ofthe royal post and engaged a carriage and post horses to take them toBlois.
The carriage was at the door at the appointed time, and a few minuteslater the gate opened, and the countess, in travelling attire, issuedout, and in a moment was clasped in her son's arms. He at once handed herinto the carriage and took his place beside her. Malcolm closed the doorand leapt up on the box, the postilion cracked his whip, and the carriagemoved off.
"Can it be true, Ronald, or am I dreaming? It is but a week since youwere here last, and the news of my release came upon me with such asurprise that, do you know, I fainted. Am I really free? Is it possiblethat I have seen the last of those hateful walls? It seems like a dream.Where are we going?"
"We are going to Blois."
"To a prison?" the countess exclaimed. "But no, there are no guards orescorts. Are we going, oh, Ronald, are we going to see my husband?"
"Yes, mother, we are going, not only to see him but to release him. Ihave the king's order in my pocket."
For some time the countess was unable to speak, her joy was too great forwords. Then tears came to her relief, and she sobbed out exclamations ofjoy and gratitude. Ronald said nothing until she had somewhat recoveredher calmness, and then he told her the manner in which Marshal Saxe hadobtained the two orders of release.
"I will pray for him night and morning to the last day of my life," thecountess said. "God is indeed good to me. I had hoped, from what yousaid, that my term of imprisonment was drawing to an end; but I hadlooked forward to a long struggle, to endless efforts and petitionsbefore I could obtain your father's release, with, perhaps, failure inthe end. Not for one moment did I dream that such happiness as thisawaited me."
Ronald now thought it wise to repeat the warning which the marshal hadgiven him.
"Mother, dear," he said "you must be prepared to find that a total changewill have taken place in my father. His imprisonment has been a verydifferent one to yours. You have had companions and a certain amount offreedom and comfort. You have had people to speak to, and have known whatis going on in the world. He has been cut off altogether from mankind. Hecannot even know whether you are alive, or whether you may not haveyielded to the pressure that would be sure to be brought upon you, andacquiesced in a divorce being obtained. He has, doubtless, been kept in anarrow cell, deprived almost of the air and light of heaven. He will begreatly changed, mother. He will not be like you; for it does not seem tome that you have changed much from what you were. I could not see youmuch that night on the terrace; but now I see you I can hardly believethat you are my mother, so young do you look."
"I am nearly forty," the countess said smiling. "I was past twenty-onewhen I married. Had I not been of age they could have pronounced themarriage null and void. But you are right, Ronald, and I will preparemyself to find your father greatly changed. It cannot be otherwise afterall he has gone through; but so that I have him again it is enough forme, no matter how great the change that may have taken place in him. Butwho are these men?" the countess exclaimed, as, a quarter of a mileoutside the town, four men on horseback took up their places, two on eachside of the carriage.
"Do not be alarmed, mother, they are our escort. Malcolm hired them at LeMans. They are all old soldiers, and can be relied on in case ofnecessity."
"But what need can there be for them, Ronald? I have heard that bands ofdischarged soldiers and others make travelling insecure; but I had noidea that it was necessary to have an armed escort."
"Not absolutely necessary, mother, but a useful measure of precaution. Weheard of them as we came through from Paris, and Malcolm and I agreed,that as you would have with you any jewels and valuables that you took tothe convent, it would be just as well to be in a position to beat off anywho might be disposed to trouble us. As you see, they have brought withthem Malcolm'
s horse and mine, and we shall now mount. The less weightthe horses have to draw the better. I will get in and have a talk fromtime to time where the road happens to be good; but, to tell you thetruth, the jolting and shaking are neither pleasant nor good fortalking."
"You are expecting to be attacked, Ronald," the countess said. "I am sureyou would not be wanting to get out and leave me so soon after we havemet did you not anticipate some danger."
"Frankly, mother, then, I do think it is probable that an attempt may bemade to stop us, and that not by regular robbers, but by your enemies.They did their best to prevent me from reaching Tours, and will now mostlikely try to prevent our arriving at Blois. I will tell you all about itwhen we get there tonight. Here is the order for my father's release.Will you hide it in your dress? I had rather not have it about me. And,mother, if we should be attacked, do not be alarmed, for I have reason tobelieve that if we should be outnumbered and hard pressed, help willspeedily be forthcoming."
"I am not in the least afraid for myself," the countess said; "but becareful, Ronald. Remember I have only just found you, and for my sake donot expose yourself unnecessarily."
"I will take care of myself, mother," he said. "You know I have alwayshad to do so."
Malcolm had already mounted his horse, and Ronald was really glad when hetook his place beside him a few yards ahead of the carriage. The art bothof road making and carriage building was still in its infancy. When theweather was fine and the ground hard a fair rate of progress could bemaintained; but in wet weather the vehicles often sank almost up to theiraxles in mud holes and quagmires, and the bumping and jolting wereterrible.
"Now we take up our work of looking out for ambushes again, Malcolm."
"It will not be quite the same thing now," Malcolm said. "Before, two orthree men with guns behind a wall might do the business, now they willhave to make a regular attack. I have no doubt that we were watched fromthe time we entered the town, and that the news that we are travellingwith the countess in a carriage, and with an escort of four armed men,has been carried on ahead already. It is by horsemen that we shall beattacked today if we are attacked at all, and they will probably fallupon us in the forest beyond Amboise. They will know that with a vehiclewe must keep the road, and that as we cannot travel more than six milesan hour at the outside, we cannot attempt to escape by our speed."
"Do you think we had better wait at Amboise for the night and go on toOrleans tomorrow?"
"No, I think we had better push straight on, especially as we told ourfriends in the forest that we should come today, and I feel sure theywill keep their promise to be on the lookout to aid us. If it were notfor that I should have said let us stay at Tours for the present, for wemay expect to be attacked by a force much superior to our own."
"Why, they would not have sent down more than six men to attack us two,Malcolm?"
"No, if they had been sure which road we should travel; but as theydidn't know that, they may have had small parties at half a dozen spots,and these will now be united. Probably there may be a score of them.However, I rely on the robbers. The captain meant what he said, and youwon the goodwill of all the men. If there are a dozen horsemen anywherealong the road they are sure to know of it, and will, I have no doubt,post themselves close at hand so as to be ready to join in the fray assoon as it commences."
Amboise was reached without adventure. Here the horses in the carriagewere changed, and the party proceeded on their way. Four miles furtherthey entered a great forest. Ronald now ordered two of the men to ride afew yards in front of the horses' heads. He and Malcolm rode on each sideof the coach, the other two followed close behind. He ordered the driver,in case they were attacked, to jump off instantly and run to the horses'heads, and keep them quiet during the fray.
A vigilant lookout was kept. Suddenly, when they were in the thickestpart of the wood, a number of mounted men dashed out from either side. Inobedience to the orders Ronald had given, the men in front and behind atonce closed in, so that there were three on either side of the carriage.The assailants fired their pistols as they dashed down, but the bulletsflew harmlessly by, while the fire of the defenders, sitting quietly ontheir horses, was more accurate, two of the assailants falling dead,while another was severely wounded.
A moment later swords were drawn, and a furious combat ensued. Ronald hadtold his men to keep close to the carriage, so that they could not beattacked in the rear, keeping just far enough out on either side of himto be able to use their swords. For a short time the defenders of thecoach maintained their position, the number of their assailants givingthem but slight advantage, as they were unable to utilize their force.
Ronald ran the first man who attacked him through the body, and laid openthe face of the next with a sweeping blow from left to right. The menthey had hired fought stoutly; but they were being pressed together asthe assailants urged forward their horses, when suddenly a volley offirearms was heard.
Several of the assailants fell dead, and with a loud shout a number ofmen rushed out from the wood and fell upon them in rear. The assailantsturned to fly, and it was now the turn of the defenders of the coach toattack, which they did furiously.
In two or three minutes all was over. Five or six only of the assailantscut their way through the footmen who had attacked them in rear, whiletwelve lay dead or dying on the ground. Ronald's first impulse was toride up to the carriage to assure his mother of his safety, his next toleap off his horse and grasp the hand of the chief of the robbers.
"You have kept your promise nobly," he said, "and arrived at the verynick of time. They were beginning to press us hotly; and though I fancywe should have rendered an account of a good many more, we must have beenbeaten in the end."
"I was farther behind than I intended to be," the man said; "but we wereobliged to keep in hiding some little distance behind them. There werefour parties of them. We kept them in sight all yesterday, and last nightthey assembled a mile or two away. I had men watching them all night, andthis morning we followed them here, and saw them take up their positionon both sides of the road. We crept up as closely as we dared withoutbeing observed, but you had for a couple of minutes to bear the brunt ofit alone."
"I thank you most heartily," Ronald said. "My mother will thank youherself." So saying, he led them to the door of the carriage, which heopened.
"Mother, I told you that if we were attacked I relied upon help beingnear at hand. We owe our lives, for I have no doubt that yours as well asmine would have been taken, to this brave man and his followers."
"I thank you most sincerely, sir," the countess said. "At present I feellike one in a dream; for I have been so long out of the world that such ascene as this has well nigh bewildered me."
"I am only too glad to have been of service," the man said as he stoodbareheaded. "I am not a good man, madame. I am one of those whom thenecessities of the times have driven to earn their living as they canwithout much regard to the law; but I trust that I have not quite lost myinstincts as a gentleman, and I am only too glad to have been able to beof some slight assistance to a persecuted lady; for your son, the othernight, related to us something of the treatment which you have had toendure."
With a bow he now stepped back. His followers were engaged in searchingthe pockets of the fallen, and found in them a store of money which spokewell for the liberality of their employer, and well satisfied the robbersfor the work they had undertaken. After a few words with her son thecountess opened a small bag she carried with her, and taking from it avaluable diamond brooch, called the leader of the band up and presentedit to him.
Ronald and his party then remounted their horses--the robbers hadalready overtaken and caught those of the fallen assailants--the drivermounted the box, and after a cordial farewell to their rescuers the partyproceeded on their way to Blois.