nto a line of sentinels, each
communicating with the other, the first with Gudin, the last with Hulot;
so that no shrub could escape the bayonets of the three lines which were
now in a position to hunt the Gars across field and mountain.

"The sly old wolf!" thought Corentin, as the shining muzzle of the last
gun disappeared in the bushes. "The Gars is done for. If Marie had only
betrayed that damned marquis, she and I would have been united in the
strongest of all bonds--a vile deed. But she's mine, in any case."

The twelve young men under Gudin soon reached the base of the rocks
of Saint-Sulpice. Here Gudin himself left the road with six of them,
jumping the stiff hedge into the first field of gorse that he came to,
while the other six by his orders did the same on the other side of the
road. Gudin advanced to an apple-tree which happened to be in the middle
of the field. Hearing the rustle of this movement through the gorse,
seven or eight men, at the head of whom was Beau-Pied, hastily hid
behind some chestnut-trees which topped the bank of this particular
field. Gudin's men did not see them, in spite of the white reflections
of the hoar-frost and their own practised sight.

"Hush! here they are," said Beau-Pied, cautiously putting out his head.
"The brigands have more men than we, but we have 'em at the muzzles of
our guns, and we mustn't miss them, or, by the Lord, we are not fit to
be soldiers of the pope."

By this time Gudin's keen eyes had discovered a few muzzles pointing
through the branches at his little squad. Just then eight voices cried
in derision, "Qui vive?" and eight shots followed. The balls whistled
round Gudin and his men. One fell, another was shot in the arm. The
five others who were safe and sound replied with a volley and the cry,
"Friends!" Then they marched rapidly on their assailants so as to reach
them before they had time to reload.

"We did not know how true we spoke," cried Gudin, as he recognized the
uniforms and the battered hats of his own brigade. "Well, we behaved
like Bretons, and fought before explaining."

The other men were stupefied on recognizing the little company.

"Who the devil would have known them in those goatskins?" cried
Beau-Pied, dismally.

"It is a misfortune," said Gudin, "but we are all innocent if you were
not informed of the sortie. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"A dozen of those Chouans are amusing themselves by picking us off, and
we are ge