w, and the lawyer
caught these words: "Once in the church, you will go out by the door on
the left, and there find a lane; it is there...."

When Allain had gone Le Chevalier informed his friends of the affair on
hand. At the approach of each term, funds were passed between the
principal towns of the department; from Alencon, Saint-Lo and Evreux
money was sent to Caen, but these shipments took place at irregular
dates, and were generally accompanied by an escort of gendarmes. As the
carriage which took the funds to Alencon usually changed horses at
Argentan, it was sufficient to know the time of its arrival in that town
to deduce therefrom the hour of its appearance elsewhere. Now Le
Chevalier had secured the cooperation of a hostler named Gauthier,
called "Boismale," who was bribed to let Dusaussay know when the
carriage started. Dusaussay lived at Argentan, and by starting
immediately on horseback, he could easily arrive at the place where the
conspirators were posted several hours before the carriage. Allain had
just gone to find Boismale.

When he returned to the cafe, he gave the result of his efforts. The
hostler had decided to help Le Chevalier, but the affair would probably
not take place for six weeks or two months, which was longer than
necessary to collect the little troop needed for the expedition. The
roles were assigned: Allain was to recruit men; the lawyer would procure
guns wherewith to arm them; and besides this he allowed Allain to use a
house in the Faubourg Saint-Laurent de Falaise, which he was
commissioned to sell. Here could be established "a depot for arms and
provisions," for one difficulty was to lodge and feed the recruits
during the period of waiting. Le Chevalier answered for the assistance
of Mme. Acquet de Ferolles, whom he easily persuaded to hide the men for
a few days at least; he also offered as a meeting-place his house in the
Rue de Saint-Sauveur at Caen.

The chief outlines of the affair being thus arranged, they parted, and
the next day Allain took the road, having with him as usual, a complete
surveyor's outfit, and a sort of diploma as "engineer" which served as a
reference, and justified his continual moves. He was, moreover, a
typical Chouan, determined and ready for anything, as able to command a
troop as to track gendarmes; bold and cunning, he knew all the
malcontents in the country, and could insure their obedience. The
recruiting of this troop, armed, housed and provid