t I
had in front of me eyes keen enough to prevent any surprise.

One squad climbed nimbly up the ridge to the left. The horses
scrambled up the steep ground, dislodging stones and clods of earth.
They struggled with straining hocks hard to get up, and seemed to
challenge each other for a race to the top. Their riders, in extended
order, showed as patches of red and blue against the grey stubble. Up
they went, further and further, and then disappeared over the crest.
Only one was still visible, but this one was my guarantee that I had
good eyes, keen and alert, on my left. Should any danger threaten from
that quarter I knew well that he would pass on to me the signal
received from his corporal, and I should only have to gallop to the
top to judge of the situation myself. I could see the man against the
blue sky, the whole outline of his body and that of his horse; the
equipment and harness, the curved sword, the graceful neck, the sinewy
legs, the heavy pack. I recognised the rider and knew the name of his
horse. They were both of the right sort. Yes, I felt quite easy about
my left.

On the right the ground dropped sheer to a narrow valley, at the
bottom of which flowed a stream of clear water. Among the green trees
were glittering patches here and there, on which the sun threw
metallic reflections. And on the other side rose heights covered by
the forest of Riz. On the edge of this forest I could see the stately
ruins of a splendid country mansion. I questioned a boy who was
standing on the side of the road, looking at us half timidly, half
gladly.

"Tell me, child, who burnt that chateau over there?"

"_M'sieur_, _they_ did; and they took everything away--all the
beautiful things. They even carried everything off on big carts, and
then they set fire to the house. But everything isn't burnt, and a lot
of them came back again this morning with some horses, and they went
on looking for things."

I sent off another squad towards the chateau, telling them first to
follow the edge of the wood and to be careful how they approached it.
The men got into the wood by the spaces in the bank along the road and
scattered in the thickets that dotted the side of the spur we were
turning. I was thus protected on my right.

I went up at a trot to the place where the road reached the plateau,
and just as I was on the point of reaching it we were met by a crowd
of village folk--men, women, and children--coming along, looking
ra