swept their load to the hearth.
As soon as their chain was unhooked, these fairy horses shot out again,
and their joyful neighing could be heard as they scampered around the
fort to their stable. Two men rolled the log into place, set a table and
three chairs, and one returned to the cook-house while the other spread
the cloth.

Claude La Tour and his wife, the maid of honor, seemed to palpitate in
their frames, with the flickering expressions of firelight. The silent
company of these two people was always enjoyed by Le Rossignol. She knew
their disappointments, and liked to have them stir and sigh. In the
daytime, the set courtier smile was sadder than a pine forest. But the
chimney's huge throat drew in the hall's heavy influences, and when the
log was fired not a corner escaped its glow. The man who laid the cloth
lighted candles in a silver candelabrum and set it on the table, and
carried a brand to waxlights which decorated the buffet.

These cheerful preparations for her evening meal recalled Madame La Tour
to the garrison's affairs. Her Swiss lieutenant yet stood by, his arms
and chin settled sullenly on his breast; reluctant to go out and pass
the barrack door where his wife was sheltered.

"Are sentinels set for the night, Klussman?" inquired the lady.

He stood erect, and answered, "Yes, madame."

"I will not wait for my supper before I hear your news. Discharge it
now. I understand the grief you bear, my friend. Your lord will not
forget the faithfulness you show toward us."

"Madame, if I may speak again, put that woman out of the gate. If she
lingers around, I may do her some hurt when I have a loaded piece in my
hand. She makes me less a man."

"But, Klussman, the Sieur de la Tour, whose suspicions of her you have
justified, strictly charged that we restrain her here until his return.
She has seen and heard too much of our condition."

"Our Indians would hold her safe enough, madame."

"Yet she is a soft, feeble creature, and much exhausted. Could she bear
their hard living?"

"Madame, she will requite whoever shelters her with shame and trouble.
If D'Aulnay has turned her forth, she would willingly buy back his favor
by opening this fortress to him. If he has not turned her forth, she is
here by his command. I have thought out all these things; and, madame, I
shall say nothing more, if you prefer to risk yourself in her hands
instead of risking her with the savages."

The dwarf's mandolin tre