went to the
municipality, broke open the doors, took possession of the arms
stored there, collected all the papers they could find, and made a
great bonfire with them in the centre of the square. Then without
harming anyone, or doing the slightest mischief, they left the town
and scattered to their homes in the Bocage.

Leigh waited until all was over, returned to the cabaret where he
had left his horse, and rode on. Passing through the little town of
Pin a powerful-looking man, some thirty-five years old, with a
quiet manner, broad forehead, and intelligent face, stepped up to
him.

"Pardon, monsieur," he said; "but you have come from Saint
Florent?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Has aught happened there?"

"Yes, the peasants attacked the gendarmes, who fled, leaving their
cannon behind them. The peasants took what arms there were in the
municipality, and made a bonfire of the papers. They then, without
doing any damage, dispersed to their homes."

"They have done well," the man said. "They have made a beginning.
My name, monsieur, is Cathelineau; my business, so far, has been
that of a hawker. I am well known in this part of the country.
Maybe, sir, you will hear my name again, for henceforth I am an
insurgent. We have borne this tyranny of the butchers in Paris too
long, and the time has come when we must either free ourselves of
it, or die. You belong to another class, but methinks that when you
see that we are in earnest, you will join."

"I doubt not that we shall," Leigh said. "I am but a lad yet; but I
hope that, when the time comes, I shall do my part."

The man lifted his hat and moved off, and Leigh rode forward again.
He was struck with the earnest manner of the man. He had spoken
calmly and without excitement, expressed himself well, and had the
air of a man who, having determined upon a thing, would carry it
through.

"I expect I shall hear of him again," he said to himself. "A man
like that, travelling round the country, no doubt has a deal of
influence. He is just the sort of man the peasants would follow;
indeed, as it seems to me, that anyone might follow."

It was late in the afternoon when he arrived home, and told his
sister what he had witnessed.

"I am not surprised, Leigh," she said. "If I were a man I would
take up arms, too. There must be an end to what is going on.
Thousands have been murdered in Paris, men and women; and at least
as many more in the other great towns. If this goes on