y of it, and
plenty of danger and excitement, but for the present we have to act
as spectators."

It was a ride of fifteen miles to Saint Florent and, although Leigh
had twice during the winter ridden there with Jean, he had some
difficulty in finding his way through the winding roads and
numerous lanes along which he had to pass. During the early part of
the ride he met with but few people on the way. The church bells
were ringing, as usual, and there was nothing to show that any
trouble was impending; but when he arrived within two or three
miles of the town, he overtook little groups of peasants walking in
that direction. Some of them, he saw, carried pitchforks. The rest
had stout cudgels.

Saint Florent stood on the Loire and, in an open space in the
centre of the town, the authorities were gathered. Behind them was
a force of gendarmes, and in the middle of their line stood a
cannon.

Leigh had, as Jean had told him, left his horse outside the town;
and now took up his place, with a number of townspeople, on one
side of the square. As the peasants arrived, they clustered
together at the end of the street, waiting for the hour to strike
at which the drawing was to begin. A few minutes before the clock
struck, some of the gendarmes left the group in the centre of the
square, and advanced to the peasants. They were headed by an
officer who, as he came up, exclaimed:

"What do you mean by coming here with pitchforks? Lay them down, at
once!"

There was a low murmur among the peasants.

"Follow me!" he said to his men and, walking up to one of the men
carrying a pitchfork, he said:

"I arrest you, in the name of the Republic."

In an instant a young man standing next to the one he had seized
sprang forward, and struck the officer to the ground with his
cudgel.

[Illustration: 'Follow Me!' he shouted. 'Make for the gun!']

"Follow me!" he shouted. "Make for the gun!"

With a cheer the peasants rushed forward, overthrowing the
gendarmes as they went. The municipal authorities, after hesitating
for a moment, took to their heels in the most undignified manner.
The gun had not been loaded. The gendarmes round it, seeing that
they were greatly outnumbered, followed their example; and the
peasants, with exultant shouts, seized the cannon and then,
scattering, chased the gendarmes out of the town.

Never was a more speedy and bloodless victory. Headed by their
leader, whose name was Rene Foret, the peasants