other by a sabre-cut, and the grenadiers falling into disorder,
first lost ground and then fled, pursued by Catinat and his horsemen,
who, seizing them by the hair, despatched them with their swords. Having
tried in vain to rally his men, M, de Vergetot, surrounded by a few
Irish, was forced in his turn to fly; he was hotly pursued, and on the
point of being taken, when by good luck he reached the height of Gamene,
with its walls of rock. Jumping off his horse, he entered the narrow
pathway which led to the top, and entrenched himself with about a hundred
men in this natural fort. Cavalier perceiving that further pursuit would
be dangerous, resolved to rest satisfied with his victory; as he knew by
his own experience that neither men nor horses had eaten for eighteen
hours, he gave the signal far retreat, and retired on Seyne, where he
hoped to find provisions.

This defeat mortified the royal forces very deeply, and they resolved to
take their revenge. Having learnt by their spies that on a certain night
in November Cavalier and his band intended to sleep on a mountain called
Nages, they surrounded the mountain during the night, so that at dawn
Cavalier found himself shut in on every side. As he wished to see with
his own eyes if the investment was complete, he ordered his troops to
fall into rank on the top of the mountain, giving the command to Ravanel
and Catinat, and with a pair of pistols in his belt and his carbine on
his shoulder, he glided from bush to bush and rock to rock, determined,
if any weak spot existed, to discover it; but the information he had
received was perfectly correct, every issue was guarded.

Cavalier now set off to rejoin his troops, passing through a ravine, but
he had hardly taken thirty steps when he found himself confronted by a
cornet and two dragoons who were lying in ambush. There was no time to
run away, and indeed such a thought never entered the young commander's
head; he walked straight up to them. On their side, the dragoons
advanced towards him, and the cornet covering him with his pistol, called
out, "Halt! you are Cavalier; I know you. It is not possible for you to
escape; surrender at discretion." Cavalier's answer was to blow out the
cornet's brains with a shot from his carbine, then throwing it behind him
as of no further use, he drew his two pistols from his belt, walked up to
the two dragoons, shot them both dead, and rejoined his comrades
unwounded. These, who h