reseen that the present perils would arise from the
truce; and still believed that it had better not have been made. But,
as he had agreed to it, the first breach should not be on his part.

If Toussaint owed his danger to Christophe, he owed him the protection
by which he had thus far been preserved. Worn as he was by perpetual
labour and anxiety, Henri seemed never to close his eyes in sleep during
this anxious season. He felt to the full his responsibility, from the
hour of the first discovery of French treachery towards his friend. By
day, he was scouring the country in the direction of Toussaint's rides.
By night, he was patrolling round the estate. It seemed as if his eye
pierced the deepest shades of the woods; as if his ear caught up
whispers from the council-chamber in Tortuga. For Henri's sake,
Toussaint ran no risks but such as duty absolutely required; for Henri's
sake, he freely accepted these toils on his behalf. He knew it to be
essential to Henri's future peace that his personal safety should be
preserved through this season, and that Henri himself should be his
chief guardian.

Henri himself did not ask him to give up his rides. It was necessary
that his people should have almost daily proof that he was among them,
safe and free. It was necessary that the French should discern no
symptom of fear, of shrinking, of departure from the mode of life he had
proposed on retiring to his estate. Almost daily, therefore, he rode;
and exhilarating did he find the rapid exercise, the danger, and, above
all, the knowledge he gained of the condition of his people, in fortunes
and in mind, and the confidence with which they hailed him, the
constancy with which they appealed to his authority, wherever he
appeared.

This knowledge enabled him to keep up more than the show of co-operation
with the French in matters which concerned the welfare of the people.
He pointed out gross abuses; and Leclerc hastened to remedy them.
Leclerc consulted him occasionally in local affairs, and had his best
advice. This kind of correspondence, useful and innocent, could not
have been carried on to equal purpose but for Toussaint's rides.

By such excursions he verified a cause of complaint, concerning which he
had received applications at home. In dispersing his troops over the
colony, Leclerc had taken care to quarter a very large proportion in the
districts near Gonaives, so as to enclose the residence of Toussaint
with