advancing in the very direction where they would
encounter the enemy. I, on this, instantly sent forth a person to warn
him of his danger, and galloped after you, to entreat you to head a
party, of strength sufficient to meet the enemy. I directed all the men
in the district to assemble in arms; they want a leader, however, in
whom they may have confidence. I have told them that they would find
one in you, and they believe me. You will come, will you not?"

"Indeed, I will!" answered Ronald, belabouring his horse, and digging
his spurs into his flanks with an energy proportioned to his anxiety.
So eager was he, that for some time he could scarcely ask questions.
One thought alone occupied his mind: Edda was in danger, and there was a
possibility that he might preserve her from it.

The party soon got back to the village, where, in front of the inn, a
large number of men with arms in their hands were assembled. They
received Morton as he rode up with loud vivas. He had won their regards
the previous evening by the way he had addressed them, and Don Josef had
been telling them what a gallant fellow he was. They were, therefore,
now prepared to place the most implicit confidence in him, and to hail
him as a leader in the enterprise Don Josef had projected. The Spaniard
had been giving him an exact account of all the information he had
received, and of the plans he had formed. Ronald thought them
excellent; there was, however, no time to be lost. Messengers with the
fiery cross--at least a message of the same import--had been sent round
to all the neighbourhood, and armed men were coming in from every
direction. When their numbers were counted, Morton found himself at the
head of a guerilla band, mustering upwards of three hundred men, cavalry
and infantry. They varied more in their arms than in their costume, and
though many were somewhat ragged, when massed together and all looking
fierce and eager for the fight, they had a very warlike appearance.

The great object was to overtake Colonel Armytage before he could reach
the spot where the ambush was supposed to be placed; he travelled with
only a small escort of a dozen troopers, merely sufficient for
protection against any brigands who might be roving through the country.
As to the French, he had fancied that they were at a considerable
distance, and had no fear of falling in with them: he ought of course to
have been better informed. The truth was, that th