y their arms and fled.
Those who resisted were speared or overthrown by the horses. As the
valley widened the four troops separated a little, each cutting a way
for itself through the peasants. It was no longer a fight; and a wild
panic seized upon the whole of the insurgents. Some rushed straight down
the valley, others ran up the opposite hillside; but the slope here was
gradual, and the horsemen were able to pursue.

"Paolo, take your troop up the hill. Let the others keep straight
down the valley." And, heading these, Hector galloped on, shouting to
MacIntosh to harness what teams there were to some of the guns and take
them up to the top of the road, and then bring the horses back for some
more.

For two hours the pursuit continued. Occasionally a group of peasants
gathered together and tried to stem the tide, but these were speedily
overcome, the long spears bearing them down without their being able to
strike a blow at the riders, and at the end of that time the insurgents
were scattered over a wide extent of country, all flying for their
lives. Hector now ordered trumpets to sound; he was soon joined by the
other troops, and at a leisurely pace they rode back to their starting
point. Not more than half the guns had as yet been taken up, for
MacIntosh had found it necessary to put double teams to them in order to
drag them up the steep road. The mounted men had all brought ropes with
them, and, dismounting, eight yoked their horses to each gun, and in
an hour the whole were brought up to the plateau, the drawbridge was
lowered, the sacks of earth cleared away, and the portcullis raised, the
gates thrown open, and the garrison filed into the courtyard, greeted by
cries of welcome from the women.

"I think that we have crushed the insurrection in this part of Poitou,"
Hector said to Madame de Blenfoix. "We have certainly killed six or
seven hundred of them, and I am sure that the remainder will never
rally. We will rest today, and tomorrow morning we will set to work
to complete the defences of the chateau, so that it may be held by a
comparatively small number of men."

The joy of the women was extreme when they found that not a single man
had fallen, though a few had received gashes more or less severe. The
next morning the whole of the men and boys set to work under Hector's
directions. The intrenchment at the top of the road was greatly
strengthened, an opening through which a cart could pass being left in