loud. They soon met hand to hand, and all appeared one confused
melee, for Ravanel and his troop rushed like frantic upon the enemy,
who soon gave way on that side; others tried to come to the help of the
panic-striken men, and thus the mass fought confusedly on the limited
space of ground. A stout officer seized Edmond, while a second raised
his arm to hew down the youth, when the robber with gigantic strength,
seized both the soldiers by the hair, and knocked their heads so
forcibly together, that they fell senseless to the ground. But Edmond
was rescued only for a moment, for he found himself directly afterwards
engaged in a combat with several, and a heavy blow upon the arm
disabled him. He was taken prisoner, while the king's troops were
compelled by his friends to give way. They fled with their leaders, and
carried him with them. He saw himself lost, without hope of
deliverance.

In the wood Colonel Julien drew near and viewed his prisoners with
surprise. He sent detachments hither and thither to reconnoitre the
wood; he also sent a troop backwards, to see whether the rebels would
turn, or if they intended to follow them.

"Leave this single prisoner to me," cried he to the last, which he also
sent forward in some minutes. "I will soon dispose of this unarmed man.
Is it needful?" turned he to Edmond, when he found himself quite alone
with the latter; "So young man, must we see each other again? I would
not believe the reports, nay, I can scarcely trust my own eyes now! Oh
thou miserable father of so degenerate a son!"

"Apostate!" bitterly exclaimed Edmond, "hast thou indeed the right to
use such language?"

"Go, fly," said Julien with an expression of the most contemptuous
pity; "hasten into this thick underwood, I will pretend not to have
seen you. Escape ignominy and execution, before my companions return
and render it impossible."

Edmond sprang into the thick wood, enraged, ashamed and vexed: he ran
without stopping, and was soon in the most lonely part, and when at
last he fell exhausted and breathless in the cleft of a rock, he found
the stout robber reposing there, whose life he had, through pity,
generously solicited, as he in return had been obliged to accept his
own from the hands of a former friend, who now despised him.

CHAPTER III.

"Are you satiated with the buffoonery?" asked the fierce man of the
youth after some time. "I should have thought that you