"Is he dead?" I asked.
Rodenard nodded in silence.
CHAPTER IV
A MAID IN THE MOONLIGHT
I do not know whether it was the influence of that thing lying in
a corner of the barn under the cloak that Rodenard had flung over
it, or whether other influences of destiny were at work to impel me
to rise at the end of a half-hour and announce my determination to
set out on horseback and find myself quarters more congenial.
"To-morrow," I instructed Ganymede, as I stood ready to mount, "you
will retrace your steps with the others, and, finding the road to
Lavedan, you will follow me to the chateau."
"But you cannot hope to reach it to-night, monseigneur, through a
country that is unknown to you," he protested.
"I do not hope to reach it to-night. I will ride south until I come
upon some hamlet that will afford me shelter and, in the morning,
direction."
I left him with that, and set out at a brisk trot. Night had now
fallen, but the sky was clear, and a crescent moon came opportunely
if feebly to dispel the gloom.
I quitted the field, and went back until I gained a crossroad, where,
turning to the right, I set my face to the Pyrenees, and rode briskly
amain. That I had chosen wisely was proved when some twenty minutes
later. I clattered into the hamlet of Mirepoix, and drew up before
an inn flaunting the sign of a peacock - as if in irony of its
humbleness, for it was no better than a wayside tavern. Neither
stable-boy nor ostler was here, and the unclean, overgrown urchin
to whom I entrusted my horse could not say whether indeed Pere Abdon
the landlord would be able to find me a room to sleep in.
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