hink and act for me, Remy."

"Then, madame, let us remain here. I see many houses which would afford
us a sure shelter. I have arms, and we will defend or hide ourselves,
as we shall be strong or weak."

"No, Remy, no, I must go on; nothing must stop me; and if I had fears,
they would be for you."

"We will go on then."

They rode on, therefore, without another word, and Henri du Bouchage
followed.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

THE WATER.

As the travelers advanced, the country took an equally strange aspect,
for it was utterly deserted, as well as the towns and villages. Nowhere
were the calves to be seen grazing in the meadows, nor the goat perched
on the top of the mountain, or nibbling the green shoots of the brier or
young vine; nowhere the shepherd with his flock; nowhere the cart with
its driver; no foreign merchant passing from one country to another with
his pack on his back; no plowman singing his harsh song or cracking his
long whip. As far as the eye could see over the magnificent plains, the
little hills and the woods, not a human figure was to be seen, not a
voice to be heard. It seemed like the earth before the creation of
animals or men. The only people who animated this dreary solitude were
Remy and his companion, and Henri following behind and preserving ever
the same distance. The night came on dark and cold, and the northeast
wind whistled in the air, and filled the solitude with its menacing
sound.

Remy stopped his companion, and putting his hand on the bridle of her
horse, said--

"Madame, you know how inaccessible I am to fear; you know I would not
turn my back to save my life; but this evening some strange feeling
possesses me, and forbids me to go further. Madame, call it terror,
timidity, panic, what you will, I confess that for the first time in my
life I am afraid."

The lady turned.

"Is he still there?" she said.

"Oh! I was not thinking of him; think no more of him, madame, I beg of
you; we need not fear a single man. No, the danger that I fear or
rather feel, or divine with a sort of instinct, is unknown to me, and
therefore I dread it. Look, madame, do you see those willows bending in
the wind?"

"Yes."

"By their side I see a little house; I beg you, let us go there. If it
is inhabited, we will ask for hospitality; and if not, we will take
possession of it. I beg you to consent, madame."

Remy's emotion and troubled voice decided Diana to yield, so she turned
her hor