t I could, and, to his astonishment, making the
landlord of the inn a present of the horse we had taken at Le
Jaquemart, Pierrebon and I went on our way.

CHAPTER XII

A WRITER OF COMMENTARIES

I rode sullenly on, my eyes between my horse's ears. Pierrebon, who
loved to wag his tongue, once or twice tried to open a talk, but
finding his efforts useless dropped away back. It was not possible to
go fast, as the horses were worn, and had to be saved for the stretch
of nearly six leagues that lay between us and Poitiers, which, however,
I had made up my mind to reach ere the gates were closed for the night.
Despite all our care we were delayed by Pierrebon's nag casting a shoe,
and this meant a stop for nearly an hour at a small hamlet, the name of
which I forget. At length matters were righted, and we continued our
journey. The day was hot and overcast. Towards sunset the clouds
increased, and ever and again the rumbling of thunder gave warning of
an approaching storm. We were, however, near Poitiers by this, and
could see the spires of the churches and the black mass of the city. I
drew rein for a moment to look, and almost felt as if my task were
done, when Pierrebon exclaimed:

"_Allons_, monsieur! it has come!"

And with a vengeance, too. First a few warm drops, then a blaze of
lightning, a crash of thunder, and then rain in torrents. It became
dark, and it was with the greatest difficulty that we could find our
way. But at length we reached the Pont Joubert, and passing the Chapel
of the Holy Virgin, raised in memory of the miraculous preservation of
the city during the war of the hundred years, we entered Poitiers. It
is true we had reached it, but it seemed as if our difficulties had
only begun. What with the darkness and the wind blowing the rain
straight in our faces, so that we could barely see, it would have been
hard for us to have found our way anywhere, even if we knew the city,
but neither Pierrebon nor I had been in Poitiers before. In the
basement of the guard-tower flanking the gate lights were burning, and
a group of soldiers were sitting at a table playing at dice, whilst a
few stray travellers were huddled together at the entrance, waiting,
perhaps, for the storm to pass, and continually peering out into the
darkness from their shelter, if such it could be called. I made my way
there, and had to shout twice ere I was heard, so great was the noise
of the tempest. Finally the a