s and fields were
terribly uneven. Angelot had prudence enough not to take a light, which
would have been seen a mile off, moving on those slopes in the
darkness. This precaution also helped to save him from Simon, who, after
waiting about for some time between Les Chouettes and La Mariniere, had
seen Monsieur and Madame Urbain coming out with their lantern and had
tracked them half the way, hearing enough of their talk to understand
that he must lay hands on Angelot that night, or not at all. For it
sounded as if the young man's protectors were more powerful than General
Ratoneau, his enemy.

Simon was very uneasy, as he stole back, and turned towards Lancilly,
shrewdly guessing that those bright windows had attracted Angelot. He
crept through the lanes like a wolf in winter, searching for some lonely
colt or sheep to devour. Furious and bewildered, worn out with his long
watching, he almost resolved that young La Mariniere should have short
shrift if he met him. This, it seemed now, was the only way to remove
him out of the General's path. None of his relations knew exactly where
he was that night. If he were found dead in a ditch, the hand that
struck him would never be known. For his own sake, General Ratoneau
would never betray the suspicions he might have. At the same time, Simon
was not such a devil incarnate as to think of cold-blooded murder
without a certain horror and sickness; and he found it in his heart to
wish that he had never seen Ratoneau.

He heard footsteps in a deep lane he was approaching, and lying down,
peered over the bank and saw that two men had already passed him,
walking cautiously between the ruts of the road. They carried no light,
and it was so dark in the lane that he could hardly distinguish them.
One seemed taller than the other, and walked more feebly. There was
nothing to suggest the idea that one of these men might be Angelot. All
pointed to the contrary. He would be coming towards La Mariniere, not
going from it towards Lancilly. He would certainly be alone; and then
his air and pace would be different from that of this shorter figure,
who, carefully guiding his companion, was also carrying some bundle or
load. There was a low murmur of talk which the police spy could not
distinguish, and thus, his game within shooting distance, he allowed him
to walk away unharmed. He followed the two men slowly, however, till he
lost them on the edge of the park at Lancilly. There Angelot took t