ce as that he has used at Niort.

"And now, gentlemen, supper is served. Let us go in at once. We
must have already tried the patience of our good hosts, who are
doing their best to entertain us right royally; and whom I hope to
relieve of part of the burden, in a very few days.

"Monsieur Fletcher, you shall sit between the Admiral and myself;
for you have told us your story but briefly, and afterwards I would
fain question you farther, as to that affair at Toulouse."

The two nobles, indeed, inquired very minutely into all the
incidents of the fight. By closely questioning him, they learned
that the idea of forcing the peasants to lend their horses and
carts, to convey the Huguenot villagers' goods to Laville, was his
own, and occurred to him just as he was about to start from the
first village he entered.

"The success of military operations," the Admiral said, "depends
greatly upon details. It is one thing to lay out a general plan;
another to think, amid the bustle and excitement of action, of the
details upon which success so largely depends; and your thought of
making the men, who were about to join in the slaughter of their
fellow villagers, the means of conveying their goods and chattels
to a place of safety, is one that shows that your head is cool, and
able to think and plan in moments when most men would be carried
away by the excitement of the occasion. I am pleased with you, sir;
and shall feel that, if I have any matter on hand demanding
discretion and prudence, as well as bravery, I can, in spite of
your years, confidently intrust you with it.

"Are you thinking of returning tomorrow to Laville?"

"I was intending to do so, sir. It may be that the people of Niort
may endeavour to revenge the stroke that we have dealt them, and
the forty men with me are necessary for the defence of the
chateau."

"I do not think there is any fear of an attack from Niort," the
Admiral said. "They will know, well enough, that our people are
flocking here from all parts; and will be thinking of defence,
rather than of attack, knowing that, while we are almost within
striking distance, the royal army is not in a condition, as yet, to
march from Paris.

"Where are you resting for the night?"

"My troops are down by the shore, sir. Seeing how full the town
was, I thought it was not worth while to look for quarters; and
intended to sleep down there among them, in readiness for an early
start."

"Then, after supper