an under-current to the desired goal, I continued, "And we must make
the most of them. We must remove the barricade, in the dark and
quietly, from the rear to the front gate. Do you see? Then the moment
they sound the attack in front we must slip out at the back, make a
dash for the road, and through the gorge to Gueret."

"Good," Parabere assented, with the utmost coolness. "Why not? Let us
do it."

We went in, and in a moment the orders were given, and, the men being
charged to be silent and to make as little noise as possible over the
work, we had every hope of accomplishing it undetected. To go out into
the road and raise and replace the shattered gate would have been too
bold a step. We contented ourselves, therefore, with removing four
great baulks of timber from the one gate to the other, and placing them
across the gap in such a manner that, being supported by large stones,
they formed a pretty high barrier. To these, at Boisrueil's
suggestion, were added three doors which we forced from their hinges in
the house, and behind the whole, to cover our retreat the better, we
tethered six sumpter horses in two lines.

It remained only to unbar the rear gate and see that it opened easily.
This being done, as we had done all the rest, stealthily and in
darkness, and by men who dared not speak above a whisper, I gave the
word to hang the male prisoner and gag and bind the woman. Colet
undertook these duties, and with a grim humour of his own hung the
rascally host on the threshold where the brigands must run against him
when they entered. Then I directed every man to saddle and bridle his
nag and stand by it, and so we waited with what patience we might for
the DENOUEMENT.

It seemed very long in coming, yet when it did, what with the restless
movements of the horses and the melancholy murmur of the stream, it
well-nigh took us by surprise. It was Boisrueil who touched my sleeve
and made me aware of a low trampling on the road outside, a sound that
had scarcely become clearly audible before it ceased. I judged that
the moment was come, and passed the word in a whisper to open the
gates. Unfortunately, they creaked, and I feared for a moment that I
had been premature; but before they were more than ajar a harsh whistle
startled the silence, a flare blazed up on the road, and a voice cried
to charge.

On the instant the ground shook under the assailants' rush, but the
barricade, which doubtless took th