hoped to be the first to arrive at
Nantes; there he would see the notables and gain support among the
principal members of the States; he would make himself necessary, a
thing very easy for a man of his merit, and would delay the catastrophe,
if he did not succeed in avoiding it entirely. "Besides," said Gourville
to him, "at Nantes, you will make out, or we will make out, the
intentions of your enemies; we will have horses always ready to convey
you to the inextricable Poitou, a bark in which to gain the sea, and
when once in the open sea, Belle-Isle is the inviolable port. You see,
besides, that no one is watching you, no one is following you." He had
scarcely finished when they discovered at a distance, behind an elbow
formed by the river, the masts of a large lighter, which was coming
down. The rowers of Fouquet's boat uttered a cry of surprise on seeing
this galley.

"What is the matter?" asked Fouquet.

"The matter is, monseigneur," replied the patron of the bark, "that it
is a truly remarkable thing--that lighter comes along like a hurricane."

Gourville started, and mounted on the deck, in order to see the better.

Fouquet did not go up with him, but he said to Gourville with a
restrained mistrust: "See what it is, dear friend."

The lighter had just passed the elbow. It came on so fast, that behind
it might be seen to tremble the white train of its wake illumined with
the fires of day.

"How they go," repeated the patron, "how they go! They must be well
paid! I did not think," he added, "that oars of wood could behave better
than ours, but those yonder prove the contrary."

"Well they may," said one of the rowers, "they are twelve, and we are
but eight."

"Twelve rowers!" replied Gourville, "twelve! impossible."

The number of eight rowers for a lighter had never been exceeded, even
for the king. This honor had been paid to Monsieur le Surintendant, much
more for the sake of haste than of respect.

"What does that mean?" said Gourville, endeavoring to distinguish
beneath the tent which was already apparent, travelers which the most
piercing eye could not yet have succeeded in discovering.

"They must be in a hurry, for it is not the king," said the patron.

Fouquet shuddered.

"By what do you know that it is not the king?" said Gourville.

"In the first place, because there is no white flag with fleurs-de-lis,
which the royal lighter always carries."

"And then," said Fouquet, "because it is