y feeling a
sensation of pride in the work that he had undertaken, and in the
ceremony of which he had been the centre.

"Now, lads," Leigh said, as soon as they were fairly away from the
village, "instead of walking along as a loose body, you had better
form four abreast, and endeavour to keep step. It is no more
difficult to walk that way than in a clump; and indeed, by keeping
step it makes the walking easy, and it has the advantage that you
can act much more quickly. If we heard an enemy approaching, and I
gave the order, 'Ten go to the right and ten go to the left!' you
would not know which were to go.

"Now each four of you will form a section, and the order into which
you fall now, you will always observe. Then if I say, 'First two
sections to the right, the other three sections to the left!' every
one of you knows what to do, instead of having to wait until I
mention all your names.

"This is nearly all the drill you will have to learn. You can
choose your places now, but afterwards you will have to keep to
them, so those of you who are brothers and special friends will,
naturally, fall in next to each other."

In a minute or two the arrangements were made, and the party
proceeded four abreast, with Leigh marching at their head. For the
first hour or so, he had some difficulty in getting them to keep
step; but they presently fell into it, time being kept by breaking
into one of the canticles of the church.

After a long day's march, they arrived at the village which
Cathelineau now occupied as his headquarters; as it had been
necessary, in view of the threatening circle of the various columns
of the enemy, to remove the headquarters from Chollet to a central
point, from which he could advance, at once, against whichever of
these columns might first move forward into the heart of the
country. The lads all straightened themselves up as they marched
through the streets, the unwonted spectacle of twenty peasant lads,
marching in order, exciting considerable surprise. Cathelineau was
standing at the door of the house he occupied, conversing with
Messieurs Bonchamp and d'Elbee.

"Ah, Monsieur Stansfield," he said, "is it you?" as Leigh halted
his party, and raised his hat. "You are the most military-looking
party I have yet seen. They are young, but none the worse for
that."

"There is nothing military about them, except that they march four
abreast," he said, with a smile, "but for the work we have come to