Gilbert smiled, but conceded that the plan, if called for, might be worth trying. “Only do not go about announcing us as druggists without necessity,” he warned the inventor. “I can bandage a cut, but that is the extent of my surgical knowledge.” “Never mind; perhaps you will have a chance of putting even that accomplishment in practice,” said Louis, switching at a wayside thistle. And again he did not know that he was invested with the gift of prophecy. CHAPTER XIX CONCERNING A HANDKERCHIEF “If you be the Earl, as I think you be, Sit down and drink the red wine with me; But I rede ye, when ye shall rise from the board, Ye commend your soul to the saints, my lord!” At noon they came into the square at Mamers. Louis was in wild spirits; amused with the country people who thronged the wide market-place—it was market-day—and wanting to buy all kinds of useless objects at the stalls as they picked their way through the crowd looking for an inn. The Hôtel d’Espagne appeared so full that they chose an eating-house instead, and hence, after a modest repast, Gilbert sallied forth to enquire for a conveyance. He came back with the disconcerting intelligence that the diligence for Fresnay and Sillé-le-Guillaume had already started, and that there would not be another till the late afternoon. “We must walk it,” he said to Louis, adding in a lower tone: “It would be unwise to wait about here so long for the diligence.” “How many miles is Sillé?” asked Louis, who was finishing his coffee. He made a slight grimace when he heard. “And we have already walked about a hundred!” “We can always stop at Fresnay, which is about fifteen, instead of going further,” said his cousin. “I suspect we shall,” returned the Vicomte. He got up with a little sigh. “Well, needs must when the devil drives! I beg your pardon, Gilbert; I did not mean to be personal. I should enjoy this walking tour better if it were not so hot.” At that instant the Marquis became aware of two young peasant women who were looking at them with interest and whispering together. The elder of them suddenly approached him. “Messieurs,” she said, with the trace of a blush, “if you want to get to Fresnay, my sister and I are starting back for Saint-Ouen, which is almost on the way . . .” And she looked from one to the other of the travellers, the tint deepening on her round, fresh visage. “Madame, we should inconvenience you,” said the Marquis, hesitating. “_Nenni_,” replied the damsel, and she pointed through the open door to a large market cart which reclined on its shafts near the church. “You see, Monsieur, that it would hold a great many.” And thus it was settled, and in a few moments they were following the sisters across the sunlit market-place to the vehicle in question, Louis carrying a large basket full of their purchases. His spirits were by no means lowered by this turn of affairs.