hospitality," went on the vicomte, without
heeding the dwarf.

"The king will hang you!" exclaimed Triboulet, his face black with
disappointment and rage, as he witnessed the _plaisant_ and the
jestress leave the tavern together. "Let them go and you must answer
to the king. One is a heretic who threw down a cross; the other I
charge with being a sorceress."

A terrible arraignment in those days, yet the vicomte was apparently
deaf. Hat in hand, he waved them adieu; the steeds sprang forward,
past the soldiers, and down the street.

"After them!" cried the dwarf to the troopers, "Dolts! Joltheads!"

Whereupon one of the men, angered at this baiting, reaching out with
his iron boot, caught the dwarf such a sharp blow he staggered and
fell, striking his head so violently he lay motionless on the walk. At
the same time, far above, a body of troopers might have been seen
issuing from the gates of the chateau and leisurely wending their way
downward.

CHAPTER XXIV

AN ENCOUNTER AT THE BRIDGE

Some part of the interview with the commandant which had resulted in
their release the jester told his companion as they sped down the
sloping plain in the early silvery light which transformed the
dew-drops and grassy moisture into veils of mist. Behind them the
chateau was slowly fading from view; the town had already disappeared.
Around them the singing of the birds, the cooing of the cushat doves
and the buzzing of the bees, mingled in dreamy cadence. On each side
stretched the plain which, washed by recent heavy rains, was now
spangled with new-grown flowers; here, far apart in sequestered beauty;
there, clustering companionably in a mass of color.

"Upon the strength of the letter from the emperor, the vicomte took the
responsibility of allowing us to depart," explained the fool. "In it
his Majesty referred to his message to the king, to the part played by
him who took the place of the duke, and what he was pleased to term my
services to Francis and himself."

So much the _plaisant_ related, but he did not add that the commandant,
with Triboulet's words in mind, had at first demurred about permitting
the jestress to go. "_Vrai Dieu_!" that person had exclaimed. "If
what the dwarf said be true? To cross the king!--and yet," he had
added cynically, "it sounds most unlike. Did Aladdin flee from the
genii of the lamp? Such a magician is Francis. Chateaux,
gardens--'tis clearly an invention of Triboulet'