erse the peasants. Dupont d'Aisy and Captain Pinteville himself
considered it dangerous to continue the struggle against such
determined adversaries; they retired their men, and resolutely turning
their backs to the enemy retreated towards Quesnay.

When they arrived in the wood a crowd was already there; from the
neighbouring villages where the tocsin still sounded, people came, drawn
entirely by curiosity. They laughed at the fine trick played on the
government, they thought the affair well managed, and did not hesitate
to applaud its success. They surrounded the waggon, half-sunk in the
ruts in the road, and searched the little wood for traces of the combat.

The arrival of the mayor and Captain Pinteville restored things to order
somewhat. They had brought lanterns, and in the presence of the
gendarmes who had now arrived in numbers, the peasants collected the
remains of the chests, and replaced in them the coppers that the robbers
had scornfully thrown in the grass. They found the carrier's leather
portfolio containing the two bills of lading, in the thicket, and
learned therefrom that the government had lost a little over 60,000
francs, and in face of this respectable sum, their respect for the men
who had done the deed increased. In the densest part of the wood they
found a sort of hut made of branches, and containing bones, empty
bottles and glasses, and the legend immediately grew that the brigands
had lived there "for weeks," waiting for a profitable occasion. Those
who had taken part in the fight from a distance described "these
gentlemen," who numbered twelve, they said; three wore grey overcoats
and top-boots; another witness had been struck "by the exceeding
smallness of two of the brigands."

At last, the money collected and put in the chests, they harnessed two
horses to the waggon and took it to the mayor's. He was now unsparing of
attention; he did not leave the waggon which was put in his yard, and
locked up the broken chests and money which amounted to 5,404 francs.
And when M. le Comte Caffarelli, prefet of Calvados arrived at dawn, he
was received by Dupont-d'Aisy, and after having heard all the witnesses
and received all information possible, he sent the minister of police
one of the optimistic reports that he prepared with so much assurance.
In this one he informed his Excellency that "after making examination
the shipment had been found intact, except the chests containing the
government money