ut led to no serious trouble until we reached Etampes,
twelve leagues from the capital; where we found the principal inn so
noisy and crowded, and so much disturbed by the constant coming and
going of couriers, that it required no experience to predicate the
neighbourhood of the army. The great courtyard seemed to be choked with
a confused mass of men and horses, through which we made our way with
difficulty. The windows of the house were all open, and offered us a
view of tables surrounded by men eating and drinking hastily, as the
manner of travellers is. The gateway and the steps of the house were
lined with troopers and servants and sturdy rogues; who scanned all who
passed in or out, and not unfrequently followed them with ribald jests
and nicknames. Songs and oaths, brawling and laughter, with the neighing
of horses and the huzzas of the beggars, who shouted whenever a fresh
party arrived, rose above all, and increased the reluctance with which I
assisted madame and mademoiselle to dismount.

Simon was no match for such an occasion as this; but the stalwart aspect
of the three men whom Maignan had left with me commanded respect, and
attended by two of these I made a way for the ladies--not without some
opposition and a few oaths--to enter the house. The landlord, whom we
found crushed into a corner inside, and entirely overborne by the crowd
which had invaded his dwelling, assured me that he had not the smallest
garret he could place at my disposal; but I presently succeeded in
finding a small room at the top, which I purchased from the four men who
had taken possession of it. As it was impossible to get anything to
eat there, I left a man on guard, and myself descended with madame and
mademoiselle to the eating-room, a large chamber set with long boards,
and filled with a rough and noisy crew. Under a running fire of
observations we entered, and found with difficulty three seats in an
inner corner of the room.

I ran my eye over the company, and noticed among them, besides a dozen
travelling parties like our own, specimens of all those classes which
are to be found in the rear of an army. There were some officers and
more horse-dealers; half a dozen forage-agents and a few priests; with a
large sprinkling of adventurers, braves, and led-captains, and here and
there two or three whose dress and the deference paid to them by their
neighbours seemed to indicate a higher rank. Conspicuous among these
last were a par