e inclined to question all passersby."

"Do you know the roads well about here?" Hector asked.

"I was stationed in Turin before the enemy came with too great a force
to be resisted."

"I want to strike across the country, and to come into the road from
Turin to Casale at a distance of three or four miles from the city."

"A mile or so away a road branches off from this which keeps by the
river. It is a mere country road, and except in two or three small
villages that you will pass through, you are not likely to meet with
anyone upon it. It is about eight miles to the main road from the point
where you turn off, and you will then be five miles from Turin. It is
just possible that you may meet patrols, but I should think it very
unlikely; now that our army has gone into winter quarters at Carignano,
they are not likely to be very vigilant."

As they rode along Hector related some of the incidents of the late
battle. No signs of the enemy were met with, and the officer presently
said, "I am sorry to say that this is the point where you leave us,
monsieur. I wish it had been a little farther, so that I could hear more
of the fight."

Hector and Paolo dismounted. Two troopers were called up and took charge
of their horses, while the cloaks and hats were given to the officer's
orderly, then the two lads put on the Savoyard hats they had carried
under their cloaks. The officer took two packets from his holster.

"The colonel bade me give this to you at starting," he said. "He thought
that after a long walk on foot you would want some slight refreshment
before the inns were open in the morning."

"Will you please give him my hearty thanks for his thoughtfulness,"
Hector said, "and accept the same yourself for your courtesy in
escorting me."

"Now we are fairly on our way, Paolo," he went on as he turned down the
lane, for it was little more; "this package is a bottle of wine, and the
one that I have handed to you contains the eatables."

"That is good, master. We shall find it pretty cold before morning, and
there is nothing like a good meal to warm one up again."

"Did you get the bow and arrows at Chivasso?"

"Yes, sir. I went out and bought them as soon as we got there. I wanted
them, I told the man, for a boy of ten years old, but all he had were a
good deal too long, which I was glad of, for a child's bow would hardly
have been strong enough, so I made him cut one down until it was not
more than three feet l