A Gentleman of France

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'Arnidieu!' Maignan muttered, 'give me ten men, and I would hold
it against a hundred!'

'Tut, man, There is more than one way to Rome!' I answered
oracularly, though I was far from feeling as confident as I
seemed. 'Come, let us descend and view this nut a little
nearer.'

We began to trail downwards in silence, and as the path let us
for a while, out of sight of the castle, we were able to proceed
with less caution. We had nearly reached without adventure the
father skirts of the wood, between which and the ruin lay an
interval of open ground, when we came suddenly, at the edge of a
little clearing, on an old hag; who was so intent; upon tying up
faggots that she did not see us until Maignan's hand was on her
shoulder. When she did, she screamed out, and escaping from him
with an activity wonderful in a woman of her age, ran with great
swiftness to the side of an old man who lay at the foot of a tree
half a bowshot off; and whom we had not before seen. Snatching
up an axe, she put herself in a posture of defence before him
with gestures and in a manner as touching in the eyes of some
among us as they were ludicrous in those of others; who cried to
Maignan that he had met his match at last, with other gibes of
the kind that pass current in camps.

I called to him to let her be, and went forward myself to the old
man, who lay on a rude bed of leaves, and seemed unable to rise.
Appealing to me with a face of agony not to hurt his wife, he
bade her again and again lay down her axe; but she would not do
this until I had assured her that we meant him no harm, and that
my men should molest neither the one nor the other.

'We only want to know this,' I said, speaking slowly, in fear
lest my language should be little more intelligible to them than
their PATOIS to me. 'There are a dozen horsemen in the old
castle there, are there not?'

The man stilled his wife, who continued to chatter and mow at us,
and answered eagerly that there were; adding, with a trembling
oath, that the robbers had beaten him, robbed him of his small
store of meal, and when he would have protested, thrown him out,
breaking his leg.

'Then how came you here?' I said.

'She brought me on her back,' he answered feebly.

Doubtless there were men in my train who would have done all that
these others had done; but hearing the simple story told, they
stamped and swore great oaths of indignation; and one, the
roughest of the party, took out some black bread and gave it to
the woman, whom under other circumstances he would not have
hesitated to rob. Maignan, who knew all arts appertaining to
war, examined the man's leg and made a kind of cradle for it,
while I questioned the woman.

'They are there still?' I said. 'I saw their horses tethered
under the walls.'

'Yes, God requite them!' she answered, trembling violently.

'Tell me about the castle, my good woman,' I said. 'How many
roads into it are there?'

'Only one.'

'Through the nearer tower?'

She said yes, and finding that she understood me, and was less
dull of intellect than her wretched appearance led me to expect,
I put a series of questions to her which it would be tedious to
detail. Suffice it that I learned that it was impossible to
enter or leave the ruin except through the nearer tower; that a
rickety temporary gate barred the entrance, and that from this
tower, which was a mere shell of four walls, a narrow square-
headed doorway without a door led into the court, beyond which
rose the habitable tower of two stories.

'Do you know if they intend to stay there?' I asked

'Oh, ay, they bade me bring them faggots for their fire this
morning, and I should have a handful of my own meal back,' she
answered bitterly; and fell thereon into a passion of impotent
rage, shaking both her clenched hands in the direction of the
castle, and screaming frenzied maledictions in her cracked and
quavering voice.

I pondered awhile over what she had said; liking very little the
thought of that narrow square-headed doorway through which we
must pass before we could effect anything. And the gate, too,
troubled me. It might not be a strong one, but we had neither
powder, nor guns, nor any siege implements, and could not pull
down stone walls with our naked hands. By seizing the horses we
could indeed cut off Bruhl's retreat; but he might still escape
in the night; and in any case our pains would only increase the
women's hardships while adding fuel to his rage. We must have
some other plan.

The sun was high by this time; the edge of the wood scarcely a
hundred paces from us. By advancing a few yards through the
trees I could see the horses feeding peacefully at the foot of
the sunny slope, and even follow with my eyes the faint track
which zigzagged up the hill to the closed gate. No one appeared
--doubtless they were sleeping off the fatigue of the journey--
and I drew no inspiration thence; but as I turned to consult
Maignan my eye lit on the faggots, and I saw in a flash that here
was a chance of putting into practice a stratagem as old as the
hills, yet ever fresh, and not seldom successful.

It was no time for over-refinement. My knaves were beginning to
stray forward out of curiosity, and at any moment one of our
horses, scenting those of the enemy, might neigh and give the
alarm. Hastily calling M. d'Agen and Maignan to me, I laid my
plan before them, and satisfied myself that it had their
approval; the fact that I had reserved a special part for the
former serving to thaw the reserve which had succeeded to his
outbreak of the night before. After some debate Maignan
persuaded me that the old woman had not sufficient nerve to play
the part I proposed for her, and named Fanchette; who being
called into council, did not belie the opinion we had formed of
her courage. In a few moments our preparations were complete: I
had donned the old charcoal-burner's outer rags, Fanchette had
assumed those of the woman, while M. d'Agen, who was for a time
at a loss, and betrayed less taste for this part of the plan than
for any other, ended by putting on the jerkin and hose of the man
who had served us as guide.

When all was ready I commended the troop to Maignan's discretion,
charging him in the event of anything happening to us to continue
the most persistent efforts for mademoiselle's release, and on no
account to abandon her. Having received his promise to this
effect, and being satisfied that he would keep it, we took up
each of us a great faggot, which being borne on the head and
shoulders served to hide the features very effectually; and thus
disguised we boldly left the shelter of the trees. Fanchette and
I went first, tottering in a most natural fashion under the
weight of our burdens, while M. d'Agen followed a hundred yards
behind. I had given Maignan orders to make a dash for the gate
the moment he saw the last named start to run.

The perfect stillness of the valley, the clearness of the air,
and the absence of any sign of life in the castle before us--
which might have been that of the Sleeping Princess, so fairy-
like it looked against the sky--with the suspense and excitement
in our own breasts, which these peculiarities seemed to increase
a hundred-fold, made the time that followed one of the strangest
in my experience. It was nearly ten o'clock, and the warm
sunshine flooding everything about us rendered the ascent, laden
as we were, laborious in the extreme. The crisp, short turf,
which had scarcely got its spring growth, was slippery and
treacherous. We dared not hasten, for we knew not what eyes were
upon us, and we dared as little after we had gone half-way--lay
our faggots down, lest the action should disclose too much of our
features.

When we had reached a point within a hundred paces of the gate,
which still remained obstinately closed, we stood to breathe
ourselves, and balancing my bundle on my head, I turned to make
sure that all was right behind us. I found that M. d'Agen,
intent on keeping his distance, had chosen the same moment for
rest, and was sitting in a very natural manner on his faggot,
mopping his face with the sleeve of his jerkin. I scanned the
brown leafless wood, in which we had left Maignan and our men;
but I could detect no glitter among the trees nor any appearance
likely to betray us. Satisfied on these points, I muttered a few
words of encouragement to Fanchette, whose face was streaming
with perspiration; and together we turned and addressed ourselves
to our task, fatigue--for we had had no practice in carrying
burdens on the head--enabling us to counterfeit the decrepitude
of age almost to the life.

The same silence prevailing as we drew nearer inspired me with
not a few doubts and misgivings. Even the bleat of a sheep would
have been welcome in the midst of a stillness which seemed
ominous. But no sheep bleated, no voice hailed us. The gate,
ill-hung and full of fissures, remained closed. Step by step we
staggered up to it, and at length reached it. Afraid to speak
lest my accent should betray me, I struck the forepart of my
faggot against it and waited: doubting whether our whole
stratagem had not been perceived from the beginning, and a
pistol-shot might not be the retort.

Nothing of the kind happened, however. The sound of the blow,
which echoed dully through the building, died away, and the old
silence resumed its sway. We knocked again, but fully two
minutes elapsed before a grumbling voice, as of a man aroused
from sleep, was heard drawing near, and footsteps came slowly and
heavily to the gate. Probably the fellow inspected us through a
loophole, for he paused a moment, and my heart sank; but the
next, seeing nothing suspicious, he unbarred the gate with a
querulous oath, and, pushing it open, bade us enter and be quick
about it.

I stumbled forward into the cool, dark shadow, and the woman
followed me, while the man, stepping out with a yawn, stood in
the entrance, stretching himself in the sunshine. The roofless
tower, which smelled dank and unwholesome, was empty, or cumbered
only with rubbish and heaps of stones; but looking through the
inner door I saw in the courtyard a smouldering fire and half a
dozen men in the act of rousing themselves from sleep. I stood a
second balancing my faggot, as if in doubt where to lay it down;
and then assuring myself by a swift glance that the man who had
let us in still had his back towards us, I dropped it across the
inner doorway, Fanchette, as she had been instructed, plumped
hers upon it, and at the same moment I sprang to the door, and
taking the man there by surprise, dealt him a violent blow
between the shoulders, which sent him headlong down the slope.

A cry behind me, followed by an oath of alarm, told me that the
action was observed and that now was the pinch. In a second I
was back at the faggots, and drawing a pistol from under my
blouse was in time to meet the rush of the nearest man, who,
comprehending all, sprang up, and made for me, with his sheathed
sword. I shot him in the chest as he cleared the faggots--which,
standing nearly as high as a man's waist, formed a tolerable
obstacle--and he pitched forward at my feet.

This balked his companions, who drew back; but unfortunately it
was necessary for me to stoop to get my sword, which was hidden
in the faggot I had carried. The foremost of the rascals took
advantage of this. Rushing at me with a long knife, he failed to
stab me--for I caught his wrist--but he succeeded in bringing me
to the ground. I thought I was undone. I looked to have the
others swarm over upon us; and so it would doubtless have
happened had not Fanchette, with rare courage, dealt the first
who followed a lusty blow on the body with a great stick she
snatched up. The man collapsed on the faggots, and this hampered
the rest. The check was enough. It enabled M. d'Agen to come
up, who, dashing in through the gate, shot down the first he saw
before him, and running at the doorway with his sword with
incredible fury and the courage which I had always known him to
possess, cleared it in a twinkling. The man with whom I was
engaged on the ground, seeing what had happened, wrested himself
free with the strength of despair, and dashing through the outer
door, narrowly escaped being ridden down by my followers as they
swept up to the gate at a gallop, and dismounted amid a whirlwind
of cries.

In a moment they thronged in on us pell-mell, and as soon as I
could lay my hand on my sword I led them through the doorway with
a cheer, hoping to be able to enter the farther tower with the
enemy. But the latter had taken the alarm too early and too
thoroughly. The court was empty. We were barely in time to see
the last man dart up a flight of outside stairs, which led to the
first story, and disappear, closing a heavy door behind him. I
rushed to the foot of the steps and would have ascended also,
hoping against hope to find the door unsecured; but a shot which
was fired through a loop hole and narrowly missed my head, and
another which brought down one of my men, made me pause.
Discerning all the advantage to be on Bruhl's side, since he
could shoot us down from his cover, I cried a retreat; the issue
of the matter leaving us masters of the entrance-tower, while
they retained the inner and stronger tower, the narrow court
between the two being neutral ground unsafe for either party.

Two of their men had fled outwards and were gone, and two lay
dead; while the loss on our side was confined to the man who was
shot, and Fanchette, who had received a blow on the head in the
MELEE, and was found, when we retreated, lying sick and dazed
against the wall.

It surprised me much, when I came to think upon it, that I had
seen nothing of Bruhl, though the skirmish had lasted two or
three minutes from the first outcry, and been attended by an
abundance of noise. Of Fresnoy, too, I now remembered that I had
caught a glimpse only. These two facts seemed so strange that I
was beginning to augur the worst, though I scarcely know why,
when my spirits were marvellously raised and my fears relieved by
a thing which Maignan, who was the first to notice it, pointed
out to me. This was the appearance at an upper window of a white
'kerchief, which was waved several times towards us. The window
was little more than an arrow-slit, and so narrow and high
besides that it was impossible to see who gave the signal; but my
experience of mademoiselle's coolness and resource left me in no
doubt on the point. With high hopes and a lighter heart than I
had worn for some time I bestirred myself to take every
precaution, and began by bidding Maignan select two men and ride
round the hill, to make sure that the enemy had no way of retreat
open to him.

CHAPTER XXIX.

PESTILENCE AND FAMINE.

While Maignan was away about this business I despatched two men
to catch our horses, which were running loose in the valley, and
to remove those of Bruhl's party to a safe distance from the
castle. I also blocked up the lower part of the door leading
into the courtyard, and named four men to remain under arms
beside it, that we might not be taken by surprise; an event of
which I had the less fear, however, since the enemy were now
reduced to eight swords, and could only escape, as we could only
enter, through this doorway. I was still busied with these
arrangements when M. d'Agen joined me, and I broke off to
compliment him on his courage, acknowledging in particular the
service he had done me personally. The heat of the conflict had
melted the young man's reserve, and flushed his face with pride;
but as he listened to me he gradually froze again, and when I
ended he regarded me with the same cold hostility.

'I am obliged to you,' he said, bowing. 'But may I ask what
next, M. de Marsac?'

'We have no choice,' I answered. 'We can only starve them out.'

'But the ladies?' he said, starting slightly. 'What of them?'

'They will suffer less than the men,' I replied. 'Trust me, the
latter will not bear starving long.'

He seemed surprised, but I explained that with our small numbers
we could not hope to storm the tower, and might think ourselves
fortunate that we now had the enemy cooped up where he could not
escape, and must eventually surrender.

'Ay, but in the meantime how will you ensure the women against
violence?' he asked, with an air which showed he was far from
satisfied.

'I will see to that when Maignan comes back,' I answered pretty
confidently.

The equerry appeared in a moment with the assurance that egress
from the farther side of the tower was impossible. I bade him
nevertheless keep a horseman moving round the hill, that we might
have intelligence of any attempt. The order was scarcely given
when a man--one of those I had left on guard at the door of the
courtyard--came to tell me that Fresnoy desired to speak with me
on behalf of M. de Bruhl.

'Where is he?' I asked.

'At the inner door with a flag of truce,' was the answer.

'Tell him, then,' I said, without offering to move, 'that I will
communicate with no one except his leader, M. de Bruhl. And add
this, my friend,' I continued. 'Say it aloud that if the ladies
whom he has in charge are injured by so much as a hair, I will
hang every man within these walls, from M. de Bruhl to the
youngest lackey.' And I added a solemn oath to that effect.

The man nodded, and went on his errand, while I and M. d'Agen,
with Maignan, remained standing outside the gate, looking idly
over the valley and the brown woods through which we had ridden
in the early morning. My eyes rested chiefly on the latter,
Maignan's as it proved on the former. Doubtless we all had our
own thoughts. Certainly I had, and for a while, in my
satisfaction at the result of the attack and the manner in which
we had Bruhl confined, I did not remark the gravity which was
gradually overspreading the equerry's countenance. When I did I
took the alarm, and asked him sharply what was the matter. 'I
don't like that, your Excellency,' he answered, pointing into the
valley.

I looked anxiously, and looked, and saw nothing.

'What?' I said in astonishment.

'The blue mist,' he muttered, with a shiver. 'I have been
watching it this half-hour, your Excellency. It is rising fast.'

I cried out on him for a maudlin fool, and M. d'Agen swore
impatiently; but for all that, and despite the contempt I strove
to exhibit, I felt a sudden chill at my heart as I recognised in
the valley below the same blue haze which had attended us through
yesterday's ride, and left us only at nightfall. Involuntarily
we both fell to watching it as it rose slowly and more slowly,
first enveloping the lower woods, and then spreading itself
abroad in the sunshine. It is hard to witness a bold man's
terror and remain unaffected by it; and I confess I trembled.
Here, in the moment of our seeming success, was something which I
had not taken into account, something against which I could not
guard either myself or others!

'See!' Maignan whispered hoarsely, pointing again with his
linger. 'It is the Angel of Death, your Excellency! Where he
kills by ones and twos, he is invisible. But when he slays by
hundreds and by thousands, men see the shadow of his wings!'

'Chut, fool!' I retorted with, anger, which was secretly
proportioned to the impression his weird saying made on me. 'You
have been in battles! Did you ever see him there? or at a sack?
A truce to this folly,' I continued. 'And do you go and inquire
what food we have with us. It may be necessary to send for
some.'

I watched him go doggedly off, and knowing the stout nature of
the man and his devotion to his master, I had no fear that he
would fail us; but there were others, almost as necessary to us,
in whom I could not place the same confidence. And these had
also taken the alarm. When I turned I found groups of pale-faced
men, standing by twos and threes at my back; who, pointing and
muttering and telling one another what Maignan had told us,
looked where we had looked. As one spoke and another listened, I
saw the old panic revive in their eyes. Men who an hour or two
before had crossed the court under fire with the utmost
resolution, and dared instant death without a thought, grew pale,
and looking from this side of the valley to that; with faltering
eyes, seemed to be seeking, like hunted animals, a place of
refuge. Fear, once aroused, hung is the air. Men talked in
whispers of the abnormal heat, and, gazing at the cloudless sky,
fled from the sunshine to the shadow; or, looking over the
expanse of woods, longed to be under cover and away from this
lofty eyrie, which to their morbid eyes seemed a target for all
the shafts of death.

'I was not slow to perceive the peril with which these fears and
apprehensions, which rapidly became general, threatened my plans.
I strove to keep the men employed, and to occupy their thoughts
as far as possible with the enemy and his proceedings; but I soon
found that even here a danger lurked; for Maignan, coming to me
by-and-by with a grave face, told me that one of Bruhl's men had
ventured out, and was parleying with the guard on our side of the
court. I went at once and broke the matter off, threatening to
shoot the fellow if he was not under cover before I counted ten.
But the scared, sultry faces he left behind him told me that the
mischief was done, and I could think of no better remedy for it
than to give M. d'Agen a hint, and station him at the outer gate
with his pistols ready.

The question of provisions, too, threatened to become a serious
one; I dared not leave to procure them myself, nor could I trust
any of my men with the mission. In fact the besiegers were
rapidly becoming the besieged. Intent on the rising haze and
their own terrors, they forgot all else. Vigilance and caution
were thrown to the winds. The stillness of the valley, its
isolation, the distant woods that encircled us and hung quivering
in the heated air, all added to the panic. Despite all my
efforts and threats, the men gradually left their posts, and
getting together in little parties at the gate, worked themselves
up to such a pitch of dread that by two hours after noon they
were fit for any folly; and at the mere cry of 'plague!' would
have rushed to their horses and ridden in every direction.

It was plain that I could depend for useful service on myself and
three others only--of whom, to his credit be it said, Simon Fleix
was one. Seeing this, I was immensely relieved when I presently
heard that Fresnoy was again seeking to speak with me. I was no
longer, it will be believed, for standing on formalities; but
glad to waive in silence the punctilio on which I had before
insisted, and anxious to afford him no opportunity of marking the
slackness which prevailed among my men, I hastened to meet him at
the door of the courtyard where Maignan had detained him.

I might have spared my pains, however. I had no more than
saluted him and exchanged the merest preliminaries before I saw
that he was in a state of panic far exceeding that of my
following. His coarse face, which had never been prepossessing,
was mottled and bedabbled with sweat; his bloodshot eyes, when
they met mine, wore the fierce yet terrified expression of an
animal caught in a trap. Though his first word was an oath,
sworn for the purpose of raising his courage, the bully's bluster
was gone. He spoke in a low voice, and his hands shook; and for
a penny-piece I saw he would have bolted past me and taken his
chance in open flight.

I judged from his first words, uttered, as I have said, with an
oath, that he was aware of his state. 'M. de Marsac,' he said,
whining like a cur, 'you know me, to be a man of courage.'

I needed nothing after this to assure me that he meditated
something of the basest; and I took care how I answered him. 'I
have known you stiff enough upon occasions,' I replied drily.
'And then, again, I have known you not so stiff, M. Fresnoy.'

'Only when you were in question,' he muttered with another oath.
'But flesh and blood cannot stand this. You could not yourself.
Between him and them I am fairly worn out. Give me good terms--
good terms, you understand, M. de Marsac?' he whispered eagerly,
sinking his voice still lower, 'and you shall have all you want.'

'Your lives, and liberty to go where you please,' I answered
coldly. 'The two ladies to be first given up to me uninjured.
Those are the terms.'

'But for me?' he said anxiously.

'For you? The same as the others,' I retorted. 'Or I will make
a distinction for old acquaintance sake, M. Fresnoy; and if the
ladies have aught to complain of, I will hang you first.'

He tried to bluster and hold out for a sum of money, or at least
for his horse to be given up to him. But I had made up my mind
to reward my followers with a present of a horse apiece; and I
was besides well aware that this was only an afterthought on his
part, and that he had fully decided to yield. I stood fast,
therefore. The result justified my firmness, for he presently
agreed to surrender on those terms.

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