nch
gendarmes."

"Balstain?"

"Yes, Balstain; and he is hunting for you now. That is not all. As I
passed through Saint-Pavin, on my return, I saw eight mounted soldiers,
guided by a peasant, also on horseback. They declared that they knew
you were concealed in the village, and they were going to search every
house."

These soldiers were none other than the Montaignac chasseurs, placed at
Chupin's disposal by the Duc de Sairmeuse.

It was indeed as Antoine had said.

The task was certainly not at all to their taste, but they were
closely watched by the lieutenant in command, who hoped to receive some
substantial reward if the expedition was crowned with success. Antoine,
meanwhile, continued his exposition of his hopes and fears.

"Wounded and exhausted as you are," he was saying to Lacheneur, "you
will be in no condition to make a long march in less than a fortnight.
Until then you must conceal yourself. Fortunately, I know a safe retreat
in the mountain, not far from here. I will take you there to-night, with
provisions enough to last you for a week."

A stifled cry from his wife interrupted him.

He turned, and saw her fall almost fainting against the door, her face
whiter than her coif, her finger pointing to the path that led from
Saint-Pavin to their cottage.

"The soldiers--they are coming!" she gasped.

Quicker than thought, Lacheneur and the peasant sprang to the door to
see for themselves.

The young woman had spoken the truth.

The Montaignac chasseurs were climbing the steep foot-path slowly, but
surely.

Chupin walked in advance, urging them on with voice, gesture and
example.

An imprudent word from the little shepherd-boy, whom M. Lacheneur had
questioned, had decided the fugitive's fate.

On returning to Saint-Pavin, and hearing that the soldiers were
searching for the chief conspirator, the lad chanced to say:

"I met a man just now on the mountain who asked me where he was; and I
saw him go down the footpath leading to Antoine's cottage."

And in proof of his words, he proudly displayed the piece of silver
which Lacheneur had given him.

"One more bold stroke and we have our man!" exclaimed Chupin. "Come,
comrades!"

And now the party were not more than two hundred feet from the house in
which the proscribed man had found an asylum.

Antoine and his wife looked at each other with anguish in their eyes.

They saw that their visitor was lost.

"We must save him! we must sav