so that the blunt church tower seemed but the shape of a crowning rock&mdash;&ldquo;if you think this spot quiet enough, you can speak to him at once. And I beg you, comrades, to speak openly, with perfect confidence.&rdquo; </p> <p> They stepped back at this, and raised again their hands to their hats with marked ceremoniousness. Then the one with the chipped nose, speaking for both, remarked that the matter was confidential enough, and to be arranged discreetly. Their general quarters were established in that village over there, where the infernal clodhoppers&mdash;damn their false, Royalist hearts!&mdash;looked remarkably cross-eyed at three unassuming military men. For the present he should only ask for the name of General D&rsquo;Hubert&rsquo;s friends. </p> <p> &ldquo;What friends?&rdquo; said the astonished General D&rsquo;Hubert, completely off the track. &ldquo;I am staying with my brother-in-law over there.&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;Well, he will do for one,&rdquo; said the chipped veteran. </p> <p> &ldquo;We&rsquo;re the friends of General Feraud,&rdquo; interjected the other, who had kept silent till then, only glowering with his one eye at the man who had never loved the Emperor. That was something to look at. For even the gold-laced Judases who had sold him to the English, the marshals and princes, had loved him at some time or other. But this man had never loved the Emperor. General Feraud had said so distinctly. </p> <p> General D&rsquo;Hubert felt an inward blow in his chest. For an infinitesimal fraction of a second it was as if the spinning of the earth had become perceptible with an awful, slight rustle in the eternal stillness of space. But this noise of blood in his ears passed off at once. Involuntarily he murmured, &ldquo;Feraud! I had forgotten his existence.&rdquo; </p> <p> &ldquo;He&rsquo;s existing at present, very uncomfortably, it is true, in the infamous inn of that nest of savages up there,&rdquo; said the one-eyed cuirassier, drily. &ldquo;We arrived in your parts an hour ago on post horses. He&rsquo;s awaiting our return with impatience. There is hurry, you know. The General has broken the ministerial order to obtain from you the satisfaction he&rsquo;s entitled to by the laws of honour, and naturally he&rsquo;s anxious to have it all over before the gendarmerie gets on his scent.&rdquo; </p> <p> The other elucidated the idea a little further. &ldquo;Get back on the quiet&mdash;you understand? Phitt! No one the wiser. We have broken out, too. Your friend the king would be glad to cut off our scurvy pittances at the first chance. It&rsquo;s a risk. But honour before everything.&rdquo; </p> <p>