at we shall have to cross the marsh of Peulven and
the forest of Cardik; we then arrive at the vast moor of Kennor, the
rendezvous of the two other armed bodies of Louis the Pious, who are
marching to that point across the river Vilaine and over the defile of
Mount Orock, as we are to penetrate through this one. Morvan will be
attacked from three sides, and will not be able to resist our forces."

"I marvel that so important a pass as this is not defended."

"I furnished you the reason when I delivered to you Morvan's plan of
campaign, that was forwarded to me by Kervor, a pious Catholic who came
over to the Frankish side and submitted to the authority of our King. He
is the chief of the southern tribes whose territory we have just
crossed."

"I loved to see those people so docile to the priests; they furnished us
with supplies, and at your voice knelt down as we passed."

"At the time of the other wars you would have dropped fully one-half of
your troops in this region so cut up with bogs, hedges and woods. The
change between now and then is great. The Catholic faith penetrates
little by little these people, formerly so intractable. We have preached
to them submission to Louis the Pious, and menaced them with the fires
of hell if they attempted to resist your arms."

"Indeed, more than one of the troopers of the old bands who fought here
at the time of Charles the Great, have told me they could no longer
recognize the Bretons, who, in their days, were almost invincible. But
for all your explanations, monk, I cannot understand how this pass comes
to be abandoned."

"And yet nothing is simpler. According to his plan of campaign, Morvan
counted with the resistance of the tribes that we have just crossed. In
one day, without drawing your sword, you have cleared a track that would
otherwise have cost you three days' hard fighting, and a fourth of your
troops. Morvan, never apprehending your early arrival at the defile of
Glen-Clan, will not think of having it occupied until this evening, or
to-morrow. He has not enough forces at his disposal to place them where
they would lie idle while he himself is being attacked from two other
sides by as many army corps."

"To that argument I have nothing to say, my father in Christ, you know
the country better than I. If this war succeeds, I shall have my share
of the conquered territory; and, according to the promise of Louis the
Pious, I shall become a powerful seigneur in Bri