ched toward Palota, and the Volons turned into the
road which led to Zircz. They seemed, however, to have been swallowed up
by the Bakonye forest, for nothing was seen again of them after they
entered it. The inhabitants of Ratota still repeat tales of the handsome
troopers--every man of them a true Magyar!--who rode through their
village to the sound of the trumpet, nodding to the pretty girls, and
paying gold coin for their refreshment at the inn. But the dwellers in
Zircz complained that, instead of Magyar troopers, a squad of hostile
cavalry passed through their village--Frenchmen in blue mantles, with
cocks' feathers in their helmets, with a commandant who had given all
sorts of orders that no one could understand. Luckily, the prior of the
Premonstrants could speak French, and he acted as interpreter for the
French commandant. And everybody felt relieved when he marched farther
with his troop.

These were the transformed Volons. They had exchanged their crimson
shakos in the dense forest for the French helmets, and wrapped
themselves in the blue mantles taken from the luggage-wagons. No one
would have doubted that they were French _chasseurs_--even the trumpeter
sounded the calls according to the regulations in the armies of France.

Master Matyas hurried on in advance of the troop to learn if the way was
clear. It would have been equally unpleasant to have met either
Hungarian or French soldiery. They encountered neither, however; and at
daybreak on the second day arrived at the village of Boercs, on the
Rabcza, where is an interesting monument of times long past--a redoubt
of considerable extent, in the center of which stands the village
church.

Vavel's troop camped within this redoubt, where they could escape
attracting attention. The country about them, for a long distance, was
occupied by French troops.

The highway which led to Raab might be seen from the steeple of the
church, and here Vavel took up his station with a field-glass.

He had not been long in his tower of observation when he saw a heavy
cloud of dust moving along the highway, and very soon was able to
distinguish a body of horsemen. It was a company of cuirassiers, whose
polished breastplates glittered in the sunlight like stars. The company
was divided into two squads: one rode in front of a four-horse
traveling-coach, the other in the rear of it.

There were two ladies in the coach. The elder of the two shielded her
face from the dust