by G. A. Henty
Chapter 6: An Ambuscade.
On the morning arranged, the cavalcade started from Versailles.The baron had instructed the stable keeper, where the carriage andhorses had been placed, to notify the Vicomte de Tulle that heheld them at his disposal. The woman, who had been brought toVersailles, had been dismissed, after having made before amagistrate a deposition, stating how Mademoiselle de Pointdexterhad been held a close prisoner, and that, with the exception ofherself, no one whatever had entered her apartment, except thatthe Vicomte de Tulle had paid her a visit, of some five minutes'duration, on the morning after she was brought there. A copy ofthis was left in the magistrate's hands for safekeeping, while theoriginal was kept by the baron, who regarded it as a mostimportant document, concerning, as it did, the honour of hisdaughter.
Anne had travelled to Paris in the family coach, and she again,with her maid, took her place in it. The baron, Monsieur de laVallee, and Desmond rode on horseback behind it, two armedretainers rode in front, and two others, with Mike, took theirplaces behind. The old servitor sat on the front seat, by the sideof the coachman.
"I do not think, Desmond," Philip de la Vallee said, as the baronfell back to talk for a while with his daughter, "that he has theslightest thought of our being attacked by any of the agents ofthe vicomte; but I have made a good many enquiries about thefellow, in the past few days, and from what I have heard I amstill more convinced that, before long, he is likely to renew hisattempt to get possession of Anne. I hear that his circumstancesare well-nigh desperate. He has mortgaged the income of hisestates, which, of course, he is unable to sell, as they go withthe title to the heir. He is pressed by many creditors, who, nowthat he has lost the favour of the king, will give him no furthergrace. Indeed, I understand that the king, who is always liberal,and who not infrequently makes considerable gifts to the gentlemenof the court, to enable them to support the necessary expenses,has already assisted him several times, and that it was only bysuch aid that he has been able to hold on as long as he has done.
"He is, in fact, a desperate man, and his only hope is in making awealthy alliance. Therefore, putting aside his pique and anger athaving failed, the temptation to again obtain possession of Anneis great, indeed. Once married to her he could, even if the kingkept him in banishment, well maintain his position as a countrymagnate."
"But Mademoiselle de Pointdexter cannot come into the estatesuntil her father's death."
"Not his estates, but those of her mother, who was also a wealthyheiress, and of which she will enter into possession either oncoming of age or on marrying. So, you see, he can afford todisregard the enmity of her father, as well as the displeasure ofthe king, which probably would soon abate after the marriage tookplace. If I had known, when I left home, what had happened, andthat if she was found we should be returning home, I would havebrought with me a dozen stout fellows from my own estate. As itis, I sent off a messenger, yesterday, with an order to mymajordomo to pick out that number of active fellows, from amongthe tenantry, and to start with the least possible delay by theroute that we shall follow, of which I have given him particulars.He is to ride forward until he meets us, so that when he joins us,we shall be too strong a party for any force that the vicomte islikely to gather to intercept us."
"A very wise precaution, Philip; but we shall be far upon our way,before this reinforcement can come up."
"We shall be some distance, I admit. My messenger will take fullyfive days in going. He will take another day to gather and arm thetenants, so that they will not start until two days afterwards.Then, however, they will travel at least twice as fast as weshall, hampered as we are by the carriage. I should have suggestedthat Anne should ride on a pillion, behind me or her father, but Idid not do so, because it would have been necessary to explain tohim my reasons for suggesting the change; and, moreover, I feltsure that he would not agree to it, had I done so. BaronPointdexter is one of the largest landowners in Languedoc, andalthough one of the kindest and best of men, he has his full shareof family pride, and would consider that it was derogatory to hisposition for his daughter to be riding about on a pillion, likethe wife or daughter of some small landed proprietor or tenantfarmer, instead of in a carriage, as becomes her station.Therefore, I must accept the situation, carriage and all, and Ican only hope that this villain will not attempt to interfere withus before my men join us.
"Fortunately, even if a courier take the vicomte word that thebaron and his daughter have made their adieus to His Majesty, thefellow cannot hear of it for two days, however fast the messengermay travel. Of course, Tulle is nigh a hundred miles nearer Paristhan Pointdexter, which lies between Florac and Sainte Afrique,both of which towns lie within the circle of the estate. I admitthat, foreseeing the baron is likely to return to his estateswithout delay, the vicomte may have made his preparations, and beready to start as soon as he gets the news. Nevertheless, he willhave a ride of some eighty miles to strike the road on which weshall be travelling. He may then move north, until he finds somesuitable place for a surprise; but, even allowing for hisexercising the greatest speed, we should be halfway from Parisbefore we can possibly meet him, and my men should join us by thattime."
"You have forgotten one contingency, which would entirely alterthe state of things."
"What is that?" Monsieur de la Vallee asked sharply.
"We give this villain noble credit for resource and enterprise.What more likely than that he has left a couple of his retainersat Versailles, with orders that, should any messenger be sent offby a southern road from the baron, his journey is to be cut short,and any paper or letter found upon him carried with all speed toTulle? In that case, the chances of our being met by a reinforcementare very small."
"Peste! You are right, Desmond. I never gave the matter a thought.Now that you mention it, nothing is more probable. It was theservant who accompanied me whom I sent off, but, as de Tulle wouldhave been notified of my arrival, and the man started from thebaron's house, it would be deemed certain that he was either goingto Pointdexter or my own estate, and that the message he carriedwas a somewhat urgent one. Well, all we can do is to hope that thefellow has not thought of our taking such a precaution, and thatmy messenger will arrive unmolested. Still, I acknowledge that theidea makes me anxious, and I fear that we shall not get throughwithout serious trouble. There are so many disbanded soldiers, andother knaves, in the forests that de Tulle would have nodifficulty in hiring any number of them, and carrying his schemeout without the assistance or knowledge of his own tenants. Theheavy taxation necessary to keep up the expenses of the court hasdriven numbers of people to despair, and many hitherto law-abidingfolk are being forced to leave their holdings, and to take tounlawful courses.
"However, it is of no use our telling the baron our fears. He isobstinate, when he has once made up his mind to a thing, andnothing short of a royal command would induce him either to changehis route, or to stop at one of the towns that we shall passthrough, and wait until my band arrives. He would, indeed,consider his honour greatly attainted by allowing himself to makea change of plans, on the mere chance that our suspicions werejustified."
Six days passed without anything occurring. Impatient as Philip dela Vallee and Desmond were to get forward, they could not hurrythe slow pace at which they travelled. Mademoiselle Pointdexterwas now suffering from the reaction after her month of captivityand anxiety. The baron therefore travelled with provokingslowness. Obtaining, as he did, relays of horses at each post,they could without difficulty have travelled at almost double therate at which they actually proceeded, but stoppages were made atall towns at which comfortable accommodation could be obtained.Indeed, in some places the roads were so bad that the carriagecould not proceed at a pace beyond a walk, without inflicting aterrible jolting upon those within it.
"There is one comfort," Philip said, when he had been bewailingthe slowness of their pace, "my men should reach us at Nevers, atthe latest, and you may take it as tolerably certain that anyattempt to interfere with us
will take place considerably south ofthat town. I should guess that it would be somewhere betweenMoulins and Thiers. If our escort does not come before we reachMoulins, I shall begin to think that your suggestion was correct,and that my messenger has indeed been intercepted and slain."
Desmond could not gainsay the truth of his friend's calculation,but he said:
"Possibly, Philip, instead of being attacked by the way, deTulle's agents might rob him of his letter at one of the inns atwhich he put up. Did he know its contents?"
"Yes. I told him that it contained an order for the majordomo toride, with a troop of twelve men, to meet us, and that he was togive what aid he could in getting them together as quickly aspossible; so that, even if robbed of the letter, he might still beable to fulfil his mission. Not, I own, that I thought of that atthe time, for the idea that he might be stopped never once enteredmy mind."
At Nevers, Desmond went round to all the inns in the town, toenquire if any body of men had put up at that place, but withoutsuccess. When he related his failure to obtain any news to Philip,the latter said:
"Well, we must hope that we shall meet them before we arrive atMoulins. If not, I shall no longer have any hope that my messengergot through safely, and then we shall have to consider whether itwill not be necessary to inform the baron of our fears, and to gethim to change his route and make a detour, cross the Loire atBourbon, make for Maison, and then journey down on the other bankof the Saone as far as Pont Saint Esprit, and thence over themountains to Florac."
"That would certainly be the safest plan, always providing that wehave not been watched ever since we left Paris. The vicomte mightwell take this precaution, in case we should deviate from theregular route."
"Sapriste! Desmond, you are always full of evil prognostications.Still, as usual, I cannot but allow that there is reason in them."
"You see, Philip, we have plenty of time, as we travel at asnail's pace, and in the evening when we stop, to think over theaffair in every light. I always put myself in the position of theVicomte de Tulle, and consider what steps I should take to ensuresuccess in my next attempt to carry off Mademoiselle dePointdexter."
"Then I am very glad that you are not in the position of de Tulle,for, if you were, I should consider that all was lost, and thatthere was not a chink or crevice by which we could escape. It ismonstrous that a nobleman cannot travel from Paris to his estate,without being obliged to take as many precautions as the generalof an army would have to do, against the attack of an active andformidable enemy."
"And will you tell the baron, Philip?"
"I hardly know what to do in that respect, for after all, we haveno solid foundation whatever for our uneasiness, beyond the factthat the men I sent for have not met us. All our apprehensions aredue solely to the fact that this fellow is utterly unscrupulous,and that his whole future depends on his carrying out his insolentdesigns successfully. If we had any solid facts to work on, Iwould urge the baron to change his route, but I fear that he wouldnot only scoff at our views that there may be danger, but might beangry at my taking the step of sending for a party of myretainers, without his being in any way consulted in the matter.At any rate, I feel sure that he would refuse to change his route,without some very much stronger reason than we can give him."
"Then we must let matters go on as they are, Philip. It may bethat really we have been alarming ourselves without sufficientcause. If the worst comes to the worst, we can make a good fightfor it."
"It is certainly hard on you. You have performed one brave actionfor us, at the risk of your life, and now you are thrust intoanother danger, perhaps even greater than the first, and this in aquarrel in which you have no concern whatever."
Desmond laughed.
"Do you not see, Philip, that the adventure is good training for asoldier, and that, if I am on duty in command of a company, Ishall be all the more useful an officer for having served a sortof apprenticeship in surprises, ambuscades, and alarms. Thejourney has been vastly more interesting than it would have beenunder other circumstances. We should have found it dull, withoutsuch matter of interest as this affair has given us, and, evenshould nothing whatever come of it, it will have served itspurpose by beguiling our journey, which, in truth, riding at soslow a pace, would otherwise scarce have been amusing."
"Well, then, it seems that the only thing that we can do is to seethat the servants all keep their pistols charged, and are preparedto do their duty in case of sudden attack. Of course, at presentthey have no idea that any special danger threatens us; but Ishall tell them, before I start in the morning, that we fear theroad is dangerous owing to a band of robbers reported to be in theforest, and that they must hold themselves in readiness foraction, in case we fall in with any of them. Old Eustace and thecoachman have both got arquebuses. I shall tell them that, shouldthey be attacked, they are to fire at once, and then the coachmanis to whip up his horses and drive at full speed, while weendeavour to keep off the assailants."
"That would be of use, if the assailants should be for the mostpart on foot, but I think it more likely that they will bemounted, and however fast this lumbering carriage might go, theycould easily keep up with it. Fight as hard as we may, thecarriage must be overtaken if they are in sufficient force tooverpower us. I should think that it would be well that you shouldwarn Mademoiselle de Pointdexter that we hear the road is not verysafe, and that, if there is trouble, she is on no account toattempt to leave the carriage. As long as she remains there shewill run but little risk, for you may be sure that de Tulle willhave issued the strictest orders that no pistol is to be fired inits direction. I have also little doubt that he has ordered thebaron's life to be respected, because his death would greatly addto the anger that would be excited by the attack, and would alsoput a barrier between him and mademoiselle, who would naturallyregard him with even more hostility than before, as the author ofher father's death. Therefore, I trust that in any case his lifeand hers will not be endangered, however numerous our assailantsmight be."
"Yes, I have no doubt that that is so, Desmond, though I am surethat, were I wounded and on the point of death, I would ratherknow that Anne had fallen by a chance shot, than that she was inthe power of this villain."
The next morning, they started very early for Moulins, for thejourney would be a longer one than usual, and the road through theforest would probably be so rough, that the pace must necessarilybe very slow. At two o'clock, the men riding ahead noticed that atree had fallen across the road, and one of them galloped back andinformed the baron of it.
"That is strange," the latter said. "There have been no storms forthe past two days. It must have fallen quite recently, forotherwise the news would have been taken to the nearest commune,whose duty it would be to see at once to its removal."
Philip de la Vallee had, as the servant was speaking, glanced atDesmond. To both, it seemed that this obstacle could scarcely bethe result of an accident.
"I will see how large the tree is," the baron said. "Whatever beits size, it is hard if eight men and four horses cannot drag itoff the road."
So saying, he cantered forward, followed by the retainer, whosecomrade also fell in as they passed him.
"Look to your arquebuses," Philip said to the two men on the box,and at the same time called up Mike and the two men, from behind.
"A tree has fallen across the road," he said to them, "and it ispossible that this may be an ambush, and that we may be attacked,so hold yourselves in readiness, look to your pistols, and seethat the priming is all right in the pans."
Then they went to the door of the carriage.
"It is just possible that we are going to have trouble, Anne,"Philip said. "Remember what I told you last night, and on noaccount move from your seat, whatever may take place."
As he spoke, there was a discharge of firearms in front, and atthe same moment a score of horsemen broke from the trees, and rodedown upon the carriage. Their leader was masked.
As they came up, the coachman and Eusta
ce discharged theirarquebuses, emptying two saddles. Then, drawing their swords, bothleapt to the ground. In the meantime Philip, Desmond, and thethree men dashed at their assailants. Philip made for theirleader, who, he doubted not, was the Vicomte de Tulle, but thelatter drew a pistol and fired, when he was within a horse'slength of him. The young man swayed in his saddle, and fellheavily to the ground, while a piercing cry from the carriage rosein the air.
Desmond, after cutting down the first man he encountered, turnedhis horse and attacked the masked figure, who met him with a furythat showed he was animated by personal animosity. His skill infencing, however, gave him but slight advantage in such anencounter, while Desmond's exercise with the sabre, in theregimental salle d'armes, was now most useful to him. Enraged atthe fall of his friend, and seeing that there was but a moment tospare, for already some of the other assailants were coming to theassistance of their chief, he showered his blows with suchvehemence and fury that his opponent had enough to do to guard hishead, without striking a blow in return.
Seeing in a moment that he would be surrounded, Desmond made alast effort. The vicomte's weapon shivered at the stroke, but itsomewhat diverted the direction of the blow, and instead ofstriking him full on the head, the sword shore down his cheek,inflicting a ghastly wound, carrying away an ear as well as thecheek from the eye to the chin. Then, wheeling his horse, hedashed at two men who were riding at him.
The attack was so sudden that one of their horses swerved, andDesmond, touching his charger's flank with a spur, rode at him andhurled horse and rider to the ground. A backhanded blow struck hisother opponent full in the throat, and then he dashed into thewood, shouting to Mike to follow him.
The two servitors had both fallen, and the greater part of theassailants were gathered round the carriage. Mike was engaged in asingle combat with one of the horsemen, and had just run hisopponent through when Desmond shouted to him; so, turning, hegalloped after his master.
They were not pursued. The fall of their leader had, for themoment, paralysed the band, and while three or four of themremained by the carriage--whose last defender had fallen--theothers, dismounting, ran to where the vicomte was lying.
"That has been a tough business, your honour," Mike said, as hejoined his master. "It is right you were, sir, when you told methat you were afraid that rascal would try and hinder us on ourway. Sure it has been a bad business, altogether. Monsieur Philipis killed, and the baron, too, I suppose, and all the others, andMiss Anne has fallen into the hands of that villain again."
"I do not think that the baron has been hurt, Mike. I expect theorders were only to take him prisoner."
"Where are we going, your honour?" Mike asked, for they were stillgalloping at full speed.
"I am going to get into the road again, and try to find help, atMoulins, to recover the young lady. There is one thing, she is notlikely to be molested by that fellow for some little time."
"Then you did not kill him, your honour?"
"No. I cut through his guard, but it turned my sword. But I laidhis face open, and it will be some time before he will be fit toshow himself to a lady. If, as I expect, I can get no help atMoulins, I shall ride on to Monsieur de la Vallee's place, gathersome men there, and try to cut the party off before they get toTulle. If I am too late, I shall see what I can do to rescue them.From la Vallee I shall go to Pointdexter. I have no doubt that wecan get together a force, there, large enough to besiege deTulle's castle."
After an hour's ride, they arrived at Moulins, and Desmond rode atonce to the mairie. Being in uniform, he was received with everyrespect by the mayor, who, however, on hearing his story, saidthat he did not see how he could interfere in the matter. Itseemed to be a private quarrel between two nobles, and, even if hewere ready to interpose, he had no force available; "but at thesame time, he would send out four men, with a cart, to bring inany they might find with life in them."
"Very well, sir," Desmond said, indignantly. "You know your duty,I suppose, and I know mine, and I shall certainly report to theking your refusal to give any assistance to punish these illdoers."
So saying, he left the room, and at once rode to some stables.Leaving his horse and Mike's there, he hired others, and thencontinued his journey south at full speed, and before evening rodeinto Roanne. He knew that it was useless, endeavouring to stir upthe authorities here, as they would naturally say that it was thebusiness of the mayors at Nevers and Moulins, since the attack hadtaken place between those towns. Ordering fresh horses to be gotready, he said to Mike:
"Do you go to all the inns on the left of the main street--I willgo to all those on the right--and enquire if a troop of mountedmen have come in. I am afraid there is no chance of it, but it isat least worth the trial."
At the first four or five places he visited, the answer was thatno such party had arrived; then, seeing one of the civic guards,he asked him if he had seen or heard of a troop of men passingthrough the town.
"Such a troop arrived an hour ago, Monsieur l'officier. Theystopped, as they passed me, and asked if Monsieur le BaronPointdexter, accompanied by a carriage and some servants, hadpassed through the town. They put up at the Soleil, and I shouldthink that they are there now, for they had evidently made a longjourney, and their horses were too worn out to go farther."
Delighted at the unexpected news, Desmond hurried to the inn. Itwas a second-class establishment, and evidently frequented bymarket people, as there were large stables attached to it. Thelandlord was standing at the door. He bowed profoundly, for it wasseldom that guests of quality visited the inn.
"What can I do for monsieur?" he enquired.
"You have a party of travellers, who arrived an hour ago. I havebusiness with them."
"You will find them in this room, monsieur," the landlord said,opening a door.
There were some twelve men inside. The remains of a repast were onthe table. Some of the men were still sitting there, others werealready asleep on benches. One, who was evidently their leader,was walking up and down the room impatiently. He looked up insurprise when Desmond entered.
"You are the intendant of Monsieur de la Vallee, are you not?"
"I am, sir," the man said, still more surprised.
"I am a friend of your master. We have been expecting to meet you,for the past four or five days. He was travelling south with theBaron de Pointdexter and his daughter. We were attacked, thisafternoon, on the other side of Moulins. The baron and hisdaughter were, I believe, carried off; the servants all killed. Isaw your master fall, but whether mortally wounded or not I cannotsay.
"I and my servant cut our way through the assailants, who were ledby the Vicomte de Tulle, who had before carried off Mademoisellede Pointdexter. I was on my way south to la Vallee, with but fainthope of meeting you on the road."
"This is bad news indeed, sir," the intendant said. "I trust thatmy master is not killed, for we all loved him. As to MademoisellePointdexter, it was an understood thing that she, one day, wouldbe our mistress.
"It is not our fault that we are so late. Our master's messengerwas attacked, near Nevers, and was left for dead on the road. Theletter he bore, and his purse, were taken from him. The night aircaused his wounds to stop bleeding, and he managed to crawl toMoulins. Having no money, he was unable to hire a horse, andindeed could not have sat one. He went to an inn frequented bymarket people, and there succeeded in convincing an honestpeasant, who had come in with a cart of faggots, that his storywas a true one, and promised him large pay on his arrival at laVallee.
"The pace was, as you may imagine, a slow one, but two days ago hearrived home, and told me the story. I had the alarm bell at thecastle rung at once, and in half an hour the tenants came in, andI chose these twelve, and started an hour later. Fortunately, themaster had told the messenger what was the purport of his letter,and we have ridden night and day since. I am at your service,monsieur."
"In the first place, let your men have a sleep. It is eighto'clock now. I will give them seven hours. A
t three in themorning, we will mount. There are not beds enough here, but if youget some clean straw scattered down in one of the sheds, the mencan lie there. In the meantime, I will go round and hire freshhorses, leaving your own in pledge for their safe return.
"You had better pick out two of your men to ride on to Moulins.The mayor there promised to send out a cart, to fetch in anywounded who might be found at the scene of the conflict. If, ontheir arrival, they find that Monsieur de la Vallee is not amongthese, they must ride on till they get there--it is some threeleagues from the town--and bring in his body, together with thoseof his servants. They must arrange to give them Christian burialthere, but your master's body they will, of course, take on to laVallee.
"His last wish, of course, would be that Mademoiselle dePointdexter should be rescued from the power of the villain noblewho has carried her off. Starting in the morning so early, weshall have no difficulty in cutting him off long before he arrivesat Tulle. He will probably cross the Alier at the ferry at SaintPierre le Moutier. I must look at a map, and see the road that heis likely to follow, but it is probable that he will make bycountry tracks till he strikes the main road from Moulins."
"Well, I should think, sir, that he would cross it near Aubusson,and then pass over the mountains by the road through Felletin, andcome down upon Meimac, when he will be only two leagues from hiscastle near Correze. There is a good road from here to Aubusson,and we might take post on the road between that town and Felletin.At least, sir, we can avenge the murder of our dear master, thoughwe have arrived too late to save him; and can rescue Mademoisellede Pointdexter and her father."
The men, who had roused themselves and listened to theconversation with many ejaculations of fury and regret, nowexclaimed that they were ready to ride on at once.
"There is no occasion for that, my friends," Desmond said. "Thecoach with mademoiselle can travel but slowly, especially alongcountry roads."
"Perhaps the vicomte may take her on the saddle behind him," theintendant suggested.
"That he will not do," Desmond said. "In the fight I wounded himso sorely that he will, I think, have to be carried in a litter,and he will be in no condition for fast or long travelling, sothat they certainly are not, at the present time, many leaguesfrom the spot where they attacked us, and cannot reach Aubussonuntil the day after tomorrow. We might cut them off before theyarrive there, but we do not know what road they may follow, andmight miss them; whereas, from what you say, there can be no doubtthat they would pass through Felletin."
"I think that he would be sure to come that way, sir, for if hefollowed the road on to Limoges questions might be asked. At anyrate, sir, we might post a man at Aubusson, and another at PontGibaut, as he might make from that town to Felletin through thevillage of Croc. How many men has he with him?"
"That I cannot tell you. Some twenty mounted men, under his ownleading, attacked the carriage. Two were shot by Eustace and thecoachman. I disposed of two more, and my soldier servant ofanother. The two mounted men and the two servants probably killedtwo or three more, at least, before they themselves fell, so thatthe vicomte would only have some twelve mounted men with him. Butthere was another party in ambush, and I cannot say how strongthey were; but probably, altogether, there would be twenty.
"There are ten of your men, after sending two off to Moulins. Nowthere is yourself, my servant, and I, so we shall be thirteen.With the advantage of surprise, I think that we may calculate uponan easy victory, especially as I imagine that the men employed inthe affair are not de Tulle's own retainers, but some robber bandthat he hired for the purpose; and these, having no specialinterest in the matter beyond earning the pay, are not likely tomake any very determined resistance."
Desmond now went back to the hotel where he had put up his horse.He found Mike awaiting him there, and the latter was delightedwhen he heard the news of the arrival of the party from la Vallee.Desmond's purse was but lightly furnished, and as he saw that theexpenses might be heavy, he went to a jeweller's.
"I want to borrow fifty louis," he said, "on this ring. It is, Iimagine, worth a good deal more, since it was a present to me fromthe king."
The jeweller examined the ring carefully.
"It is a valuable one, indeed, sir," he said, "and I wouldwillingly lend you double as much upon it."
"Well, we will say seventy-five, then," Desmond said. "I thinkthat will be ample for my purpose."
Having received the money, he returned to the inn, accompanied byMike; and went round to the various stables in the town, where hehired fifteen horses. These were to be taken to the Soleil, atthree in the morning, and the men who brought them were to takeback the tired horses as security.
At that hour, the party started, and after a ride of somethirty-five miles reached Clermont, where they stabled the horsesfor six hours. Late that evening they arrived at Aubusson, havingaccomplished a journey of some seventy miles. One of the men hadbeen left at Pont Gibaut, with orders to take a fresh horse andride on to Aubusson, if the party they were in search of passedthrough the town.
At Aubusson, Desmond took a fresh horse and rode back to PontGibaut, enquiring at all the villages along the road whether aparty of twenty men had been seen to cross the road, at any point.Then he took four hours' sleep, and at daybreak started backagain, making fresh enquiries till he arrived at Aubusson. He wasconvinced that the band had not, at that time, crossed the road onits way south.
At ten o'clock he started out with his party, followed the road bythe side of the Crorrere river--here a mere streamlet--and haltedin a wood about five miles from Felletin.
At six o'clock in the afternoon, a horseman was seen coming along,and was recognized as the man who had been left at Pont Gibaut.Desmond went out to meet him. He reported that, at twelve o'clock,a party of horsemen had come down on to the road a mile to thewest of the town. He had followed at a distance, and they hadturned off by the track leading to Croc. They had with them acarriage and a horse litter, and were travelling slowly.
Desmond and his men at once shifted their position, and took up apost on the track between Croc and Felletin. An hour later, theparty of horsemen were seen approaching the wood in which theywere hidden. Desmond drew up the men, all of whom were armed withpistols, as well as swords, in line among the trees. He waiteduntil the carriage was abreast of them, and then gave a shout, andthe men at once dashed upon the escort.
Taken completely by surprise, these made but a poor fight of it.Several were shot down at once. The vicomte, whose head wasenveloped in bandages, leapt into the saddle of a horse whoserider had been shot, and, drawing his sword, rode at Desmond, whowas making for the door of the carriage. Expecting no such attack,he would have been taken by surprise had not Mike, who saw hisdanger, shouted a warning, and at the same moment discharged hispistol. The ball struck de Tulle in the forehead, and he fell backdead.
His fall at once put an end to the conflict. The robbers, who hadlost some eight of their number, at once turned their horses'heads and rode off at full gallop.
As Desmond drew bridle by the carriage, the door opened, and thebaron leapt out.
"By what miracle have you effected our rescue, my dear MonsieurKennedy?" he exclaimed. "My daughter told me that she saw you andyour servant break your way through these brigands, and ride off.She has been suffering an agony of grief for Philip, whom she sawshot. Have you any news of him?"
"None, sir. I, too, saw him fall, but whether he was killed, oronly wounded, I am unable to say. I have sent two men to bring himinto Moulins, and I trust they will find that he is only wounded."
"My daughter saw you cut down that villain with a terrible blow.We have not seen him since, but we know that he was carried on ahorse litter behind the carriage."
"At any rate, he will trouble you no more, Baron. My man shot himthrough the head, just as he was riding to attack me from behind."
"Thank God! We are saved from further persecutions! And now, tellme how you came to be here."
"It was
simple enough, Baron. I found twelve men, with Monsieur dela Vallee's intendant, at Roanne. Philip, who feared that thevicomte would endeavour to make a further effort to repair hisfortune, by carrying your daughter off on the road, sent amessenger to his intendant to ride at once, with twelve men, tomeet us; and, had all gone well, they would have joined us fullytwo days' journey north of Nevers. The messenger was attacked onthe way, robbed of his letter and purse, and left for dead. Hemanaged to crawl to Nevers, and there, being too weak and ill tosit a horse, he hired a peasant's cart and made the journey,slowly and painfully, to la Vallee. As he knew the purport of theletter, two hours after his arrival there the intendant started,and rode, without drawing bridle, to Roanne. There, by great goodfortune, I found them, though men and horses were alike done up.Knowing, however, that the vicomte, in his wounded state, andembarrassed with the coach, could proceed but slowly, I let themhave seven hours' sleep, and in the meantime hired fresh horsesfor them; and we rode that day to Aubusson, and this morning moveddown to within five miles of Felletin. I left a man on the road toPont Gibaut, and he brought us word that you had left the mainroad, and were travelling through Croc, so we moved at once tointercept you; and you know the rest."