cordance with his
surroundings, keeping his arms and armour brightly polished, and
waiting at table as orderly as if he had been used to nothing else
all his life.

"I am glad to hear it, sir," Pierre said, when Philip informed him
that they would start on the following morning. "I love not towns;
and here, where there is nought to do but to polish your armour,
and stand behind your chair at dinner, the time goes mighty
heavily."

"You will have no cause to grumble on that account, Pierre, I
fancy, for your ride will be a long one. I do not expect we shall
often have a roof over our heads."

"All the better, sir, so long as the ride finishes before the cold
weather sets in. Fond as I am of sleeping with the stars over me; I
own that, when the snow is on the ground, I prefer a roof over my
head."

At six o'clock the party started. Only two other gentlemen rode
with it, both of whom were, like the Count, from Brittany. The
little group chatted gaily as they rode along. Unless they happened
to encounter parties of Catholics going north, to join the royal
army, there was, so far as they knew, no chance of their meeting
any body of the enemy on their westward ride.

The towns of Vendome, Le Mans, and Laval were all strongly
Catholic, and devoted to the Guises. These must be skirted. Rennes
in Brittany must also be avoided, for all these towns were strongly
garrisoned, and could turn out a force far too strong for La Noue
to cope with.

Upon the march, Pierre was not only an invaluable servant but the
life of the troop; he being full of fun and frolic, and making even
the gravest soldier smile at his sallies. When they halted, he was
indefatigable in seeing after Philip's comforts. He cut boughs of
the trees best suited for the purpose of making a couch, and
surprised his master and Francois by his ingenuity in turning out
excellent dishes from the scantiest materials. He would steal away
in the night to procure fowls and eggs from neighbouring farmhouses
and, although Philip's orders were that he was to pay the full
price for everything he required, Philip found, when he gave an
account a fortnight later of how he had spent the money he had
given him, that there was no mention of any payment for these
articles. When he rated Pierre for this, the latter replied:

"I did not pay for them, sir. Not in order to save you money, but
for the sake of the farmers and their families. It would have been
worse than cruelty t