art of spy if the general had not required it.
Sibilet fawned upon the bailiff and flattered him, without being able
to get anything from him beyond an extreme politeness which the loyal
soldier established between them as a barrier.

Now, all preliminary details having been made known, the reader will
understand the conduct of the general's enemies and the meaning of the
conversation which he had with what he called his two ministers, after
Madame de Montcornet, the abbe, and Blondet left the breakfast-table.

CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING THE MEDIOCRACY

"Well, Michaud, what's the news?" asked the general as soon as his wife
had left the room.

"General, if you will permit me to say so, it would be better not to
talk over matters in this room. Walls have ears, and I should like to be
certain that what we say reaches none but our own."

"Very good," said the general, "then let us walk towards the steward's
lodge by the path through the fields; no one can overhear us there."

A few moments later the general, with Michaud and Sibilet, was crossing
the meadows, while Madame de Montcornet, with the abbe and Blondet, was
on her way to the gate of the Avonne.

Michaud related the scene that had just taken place at the Grand-I-Vert.

"Vatel did wrong," said Sibilet.

"They made that plain to him at once," replied Michaud, "by blinding
him; but that's nothing. General, you remember the plan we agreed
upon,--to seize the cattle of those depredators against whom judgment
was given? Well, we can't do it. Brunet, like his colleague Plissoud, is
not loyal in his support. They both warn the delinquents when they are
about to make a seizure. Vermichel, Brunet's assistant, went to the
Grand-I-Vert this morning, ostensibly after Pere Fourchon; and Marie
Tonsard, who is intimate with Bonnebault, ran off at once to give the
alarm at Conches. The depredations have begun again."

"A strong show of authority is becoming daily more and more necessary,"
said Sibilet.

"What did I tell you?" cried the general. "We must demand the
enforcement of the judgment of the court, which carried with it
imprisonment; we must arrest for debt all those who do not pay the
damages I have won and the costs of the suits."

"These fellows imagine the law is powerless, and tell each other that
you dare not arrest them," said Sibilet. "They think they frighten you!
They have confederates at Ville-aux-Fayes; for even the prosecuting
attorney seems t