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:Ihad 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.
