must accept the situation, carriage and all, and I
can only hope that this villain will not attempt to interfere with
us before my men join us.

"Fortunately, even if a courier take the vicomte word that the
baron and his daughter have made their adieus to His Majesty, the
fellow cannot hear of it for two days, however fast the messenger
may travel. Of course, Tulle is nigh a hundred miles nearer Paris
than Pointdexter, which lies between Florac and Sainte Afrique,
both of which towns lie within the circle of the estate. I admit
that, foreseeing the baron is likely to return to his estates
without delay, the vicomte may have made his preparations, and be
ready to start as soon as he gets the news. Nevertheless, he will
have a ride of some eighty miles to strike the road on which we
shall be travelling. He may then move north, until he finds some
suitable place for a surprise; but, even allowing for his
exercising the greatest speed, we should be halfway from Paris
before we can possibly meet him, and my men should join us by that
time."

"You have forgotten one contingency, which would entirely alter
the state of things."

"What is that?" Monsieur de la Vallee asked sharply.

"We give this villain noble credit for resource and enterprise.
What more likely than that he has left a couple of his retainers
at Versailles, with orders that, should any messenger be sent off
by a southern road from the baron, his journey is to be cut short,
and any paper or letter found upon him carried with all speed to
Tulle? In that case, the chances of our being met by a reinforcement
are very small."

"Peste! You are right, Desmond. I never gave the matter a thought.
Now that you mention it, nothing is more probable. It was the
servant who accompanied me whom I sent off, but, as de Tulle would
have been notified of my arrival, and the man started from the
baron's house, it would be deemed certain that he was either going
to Pointdexter or my own estate, and that the message he carried
was a somewhat urgent one. Well, all we can do is to hope that the
fellow has not thought of our taking such a precaution, and that
my messenger will arrive unmolested. Still, I acknowledge that the
idea makes me anxious, and I fear that we shall not get through
without serious trouble. There are so many disbanded soldiers, and
other knaves, in the forests that de Tulle would have no
difficulty in hiring any number of them, and carrying his scheme
o