on their way.

"Attention!" said Morgan.

And both young men, on their knees, their ears alert, their eyes at the
window, waited.

Let us now explain to the reader the cause of this interruption of a
repast which, though taken at three o'clock in the morning, was not, as
we have seen, over-tranquil.

CHAPTER XL. A FALSE SCENT

The jailer's daughter had not been mistaken; it was indeed Roland whom
she had seen in the jail speaking to the captain of the gendarmerie.
Neither was Amelie wrong in her terror. Roland was really in pursuit of
Morgan.

Although he avoided going to the Chateau des Noires-Fontaines, it was
not that he had the slightest suspicion of the interest his sister had
in the leader of the Companions of Jehu; but he feared the indiscretion
of one of his servants. He had recognized Charlotte at the jail, but as
the girl showed no astonishment, he believed she had not recognized him,
all the more because, after exchanging a few words with the captain,
he went out to wait for the latter on the Place du Bastion, which was
always deserted at that hour.

His duties over, the captain of gendarmerie joined him. He found Roland
impatiently walking back and forth. Roland had merely made himself
known at the jail, but here he proceeded to explain the matter, and to
initiate the captain into the object of his visit.

Roland had solicited the First Consul, as a favor to himself, that the
pursuit of the Companions of Jehu be intrusted to him personally, a
favor he had obtained without difficulty. An order from the minister
of war placed at his disposal not only the garrison of Bourg, but also
those of the neighboring towns. An order from the minister of police
enjoined all the officers of the gendarmerie to render him every
assistance.

He naturally applied in the first instance to the captain of the
gendarmerie at Bourg, whom he had long known personally as a man of
great courage and executive ability. He found what he wanted in him.
The captain was furious against the Companions of Jehu, who had stopped
diligences within a mile of his town, and on whom he was unable to lay
his hand. He knew of the reports relating to the last three stoppages
that had been sent to the minister of police, and he understood the
latter's anger. But Roland brought his amazement to a climax when he
told him of the night he had spent at the Chartreuse of Seillon, and
of what had happened to Sir John at that same Chartreuse d