the farmer's hospitality, and clean straw.

"I agree with you," was the answer, "that Dampierre is clearly not on
this road; but that is no reason why he may not be on some other. On
considering the matter, I think that we have been wrong in looking for
him here; for his national adroitness is much more likely to have tried
a movement in any other direction. He may be marching on either the
right or the left of the spot where we are standing. And if he is the
officer which I believe him to be, he is trying this game at this
moment."

"What then is to be done, but ride back to our quarters, unless we
should prefer being cut off by his advance?" was my question.

"One thing is to be done," was the reply--"we must not let ourselves be
laughed at; and if we return with nothing more for our night's work than
the story that we slept in a Flemish barn, we shall be laughed at. So
far as I am concerned, I care nothing for the sneers of ignorance; but,
my young friend, your late conduct has inevitably made you an object of
envy already; and the only way to pluck the sting out of envy, is by
giving the envious some new service to think of."

We now agreed to separate, and examine the country to the right and left
for an hour precisely, meeting at one of the villages in the road, if no
advance of the enemy were discernible within that time. We parted, and I
commenced as comfortless an expedition as it would be easy to imagine.
The Flemish cross-roads, never very passable, were now deep in mire; the
rivulets, of which they are generally the conduits, had been swelled by
the storm of the night before; and I floundered on for nearly the
appointed time, in the full perplexity of a stray traveller. I was on
the point of returning, when I observed a sudden light rising above some
farm-houses, about half a league off. The light rapidly strengthened,
and I rode forward, in some degree guided by its illumination. But after
blazing fiercely for a while, it sank as suddenly as it rose; and I was
again left bewildered among hedges and ditches. But a loud hum of
voices, followed by the sound of many footsteps, now convinced me that a
large body of men were near; though whether peasants roused by the fire,
or battalions, I was still unable to discover. While I stood under cover
of a clump of trees by the roadside, the question was settled by the
march of a patrol of cavalry, followed at brief intervals by squadrons
and light troops intermixed