CHAPTER IV.

It was night, and the farm of old La Brousse was left in solitude, for he had indignantly sent the unhappy girl, who had betrayed the secrets of his dwelling, back to her family; and suspecting that his own life and liberty had not been left to him, when much smaller offences were daily visited with death, without some treacherous motive, he had himself gone forth to seek, in the most obscure parts of the desolate track amidst which his house was situated, the young stranger whom we have seen under the name of Auguste. By some evil chance, however, they had missed each other; and, after the place had remained for some time without the presence of a single breathing thing, the door was gently opened and the young stranger entered, habited as usual in the dress of a peasant. He looked round the vacant kitchen in some surprise at seeing it dark and untenanted, and then, approaching the foot of the stairs, he pronounced the names of La Brousse and Ninette. No answer was of course returned; but while he was anxiously striving to obtain a light from the half extinct embers, the door was again unclosed, and the old farmer stood beside him.

"Haste, haste, La Brousse!" cried the young man, "Get me a light, and bring me my sabre and my bugle. I hear Carrier is roaming the country with one of his infernal bands of murderers. He must be met with ere he returns to Nantes; and I have named the rendezvous for daybreak to-morrow at the Mill of Bohalard."

"It is in vain, Monseigneur!" replied the old man, "it is in vain! By this time he is in Nantes; and he has dragged Mademoiselle de la Roche along with him."

Had there been a light in the chamber, the countenance of Auguste might have shown the old farmer that deeper and more powerful feelings were excited in his bosom by those words, than either common friendship or the peculiar interest of Clara's situation could inspire; but there was no light, and while the young Vendean remained in horror-struck silence, his companion proceeded rapidly to detail all that had occurred during the morning.

Even when he had done, Auguste made no reply for several minutes; and his first words were only, "My sabre and my bugle!"

Casting himself down in a chair, while the old man went to bring the articles he demanded, from the place where they were concealed, the other covered his eyes with his hands, and remained for several moments in deep and painful thought, from which he only roused himself for a moment to bolt the door by which he had entered. La Brousse at length returned; and Auguste, while buckling on his sabre and slinging the horn over his shoulder, grasped his arm and whispered, "Up to the high window, La Brousse! I heard a noise but now in the court. Arm yourself as best you can, and then bring me news of what you see below--quick! the moon is shining!"

The old man speedily came back with a fowling-piece in his hand, and a broadsword by his side; and he now replied in the same low tone, that there were men evidently skulking under the shadow of the barn.

"You see why your life was spared, La Brousse," said his young companion. "It is but that, by granting you a longer space, I might be entrapped along with you. But they shall find that we can sell our lives dearly. What say you? shall we go forth?"

"With all my heart, Monsieur le Comte," answered the stout old man. "I have nothing to care for now, and nothing to regret but the fate of that poor young lady; and perhaps I might not have been able to serve her, even if they had let me live."

"We may both serve her yet!" answered his companion. "Now open the door!" and drawing with one hand a pistol, which had lain concealed in a thick silk handkerchief that was tied round his waist, he held his bugle in the other, and prepared to go forth the moment the way was clear. As soon as his foot was beyond the threshold, "Qui va là?" was shouted from several different sides of the court-yard; and the next moment five men with levelled muskets advanced into the moonlight, exclaiming, "Rends-toi, brigand!"

He raised the bugle to his lips, and for all reply, blew one long loud blast, waving back La Brousse who was following him, and then sprang once more into the cottage. For a moment the soldiers seemed uncertain; but, as he retreated, the word "Fire!" was given, and the next instant the five muskets were at once discharged. Three of the balls whistled through the doorway; but by that time the young Vendean was himself masked by the wall, and had forcibly pulled the old farmer back out of the line of fire.

"Now, La Brousse, now!" he exclaimed, again starting forward into the court as soon as the muskets were discharged, and levelling his pistol at the head of the foremost assailant. The old man was by his side in an instant, taking a steady, fearless aim, by the light of the moon, at the left-hand man of the attacking party. The soldiers rushed forward, but ere they closed there were two distinct reports, and the odds were reduced to three against two.

The struggle that followed, however, was a fierce one. It was the bold heart and the strong hand doing the bidding of hatred and revenge. Old La Brousse, notwithstanding the load of years, overpowered one of the assailants that might have been his son, and cast him headlong to the earth, while Auguste cut down another; but the third sprang upon the old farmer, while struggling to terminate the contest with his first opponent, and, seizing him behind, mastered his arms and tied them in a moment with all the skill of a jailer. At that instant Auguste turned upon him; but the man that La Brousse had overpowered now rose up but little hurt, and the young Vendean found himself attacked at once by two well-armed men, each equal to himself in personal strength. The game they seemed resolved to play was a deadly one; while one kept him engaged, the other loaded his musket, and the fate of Auguste seemed decided; but scarcely had the cartridge been crushed down into the gun, when a large stag-hound dashed down from the high grounds into the court, and at once sprang to the throat of the second soldier, at the very instant he was levelling his weapon at the head of the young Vendean. Self-preservation--always the strong principle of man's nature--made him turn the gun upon the faithful dog; but the unwieldy length of the musket at that time used in the French service, rendered it nearly impossible to bring the muzzle to bear upon the body of the animal, as it still hung by the grasp it had taken of his throat; and, in attempting to effect his purpose, the soldier fired and missed entirely his four-footed assailant, while the recoil of the gun, unsupported by his shoulder, shattered and disabled the hand by which it was held.

The dog, however, was accompanied by still more serviceable allies; and in a minute or two after, while Auguste still prolonged the combat with his opponent, and the gallant hound still held his grasp of the other, nine or ten men, in the wild costume of Vendean soldiers, warned by the bugle of their leader, poured into the court and overpowered all resistance.

The revolutionary soldiers were made prisoners in an instant; and as there were many words of very doubtful augury in regard to their fate passing amongst the Vendeans, they pleaded hard for life. For a moment or two no one heeded their entreaties, and Auguste himself gazed upon them with a look expressive of contempt rather than pity, while his companions untied the hands of good old La Brousse. "Bring out a light, La Brousse!" said the young man, "I would fain see the face of at least one of those gentry. His voice does not seem unknown to me."

The light was brought, and held alternately to the countenances of the two men who had prolonged the contest so fiercely, when the glare of the burning resin lighted first upon the features of a young, and then upon those of a middle-aged man, without displaying any extraordinary brutality of expression, or any marks of those savage passions which might be expected in the willing followers of the bloodthirsty Carrier.

"'Tis as I thought," cried Auguste, as he gazed upon the face of the elder. "How is it, fellow, that you, who were so long faithful to our cause, are now amongst the foremost of its base adversaries, and are especially chosen to capture the son of your ancient master and benefactor?"

"I was faithful to your cause," replied the man, with an abruptness which the revolutionists greatly affected, "as long as I had no opportunity of abandoning it; and I was chosen to capture you, because I knew your person. But I am pleading for my life--or rather for that of one to whom life is more valuable--this young man here, my son; and I know well that I must offer something more than words to purchase it at your hands. Listen to me then--if you will spare us and set us at liberty, I will set free her who was taken from this place this morning."

"Ha!" cried Auguste; "free and unharmed?"

"Free and unharmed as she went," replied the other. "You had better take my offer, for it is her only chance for life."

"But how can I trust you?" demanded the young Vendean "you who have already proved yourself false and faithless?"

"Neither false nor faithless!" replied the soldier. "Your father forced me to join a cause of which he had never asked my opinion, and should not have wondered at my quitting it without asking his permission. But I waste words; you require some better assurance of my good faith than a mere promise, and I offer you here my son. Keep him in your hands; and if I do not deliver over to you Clara de la Roche, safe and well, at the time and place I shall appoint, shoot him on the spot."

Some further conversation ensued, which it is unnecessary to detail. The soldier named the time--the night following--and the place--a sequestered spot upon the banks of the Loire, about two miles above the city of Nantes. He spoke boldly in regard to his power of performing what he promised. His son willingly undertook to be his surety; and after some discussion amongst the Vendeans, in regard to the propriety of liberating him, he was at length set free, and departed.