When honest Bois-Doré, armed to the teeth and firmly seated on the stately Rosidor, had passed the confines of the village of Briantes, he discovered Adamas, mounted on a little hackney of placid disposition, ambling at his side. "What! is that you, master rebel?" he said, in a tone which did not succeed in being angry; "did I not forbid you to follow me and order you to keep watch over my heir?" "Your heir is well guarded, monsieur; Master Jovelin gave me his word not to leave him, and, moreover, I do not see that he incurs any risk in your château, now that the enemy has left it and we are charging upon him." "I know that we are the ones who are in danger now, Adamas, and that is why I did not want you here, for you are old and broken, and besides, you never were a great warrior." "It is true, monsieur, that I am not overfond of receiving blows, but I like to deal them when I can. I am no longer a young man; but if I am not quick of foot, I have a sharp eye, and I propose to see that you don't fall into any ambush. That is why I have brought two more men with me, who will overtake us in three minutes. Besides, I should have gone mad to have to wait for you, knowing nothing and doing nothing. By the way, my dear master, where are we going and what are we going to do?" "You will soon see, my friend, you will soon see! But let us make haste. We have no time to lose if we would overtake them half way to Ars." They urged their horses to a gallop, and in less than a quarter of an hour came in sight of Guillaume and his escort, who were still riding very slowly. The moon was rising and shone on the weapons of the horsemen. They had reached a spot then and now called La Rochaille, a spot not far from numerous houses to-day, but in those days completely deserted and barren. The road was on a slope, with a small ravine on one side, and on the other a hill-top strewn with great gray boulders, with an occasional stunted chestnut tree growing among them. The place bore a bad name; the peasants have always had superstitious ideas concerning the boulders, perhaps because they vaguely attribute their presence to the efforts of the demons of ancient Gaul, perhaps because they believe that they fell from heaven to destroy the worship of those wicked demons. The marquis ordered his little troop to halt before it had been discovered by Guillaume and his men, and rode forward alone at full speed, intending to bar his young kinsman's passage. When they heard the noise of the galloping hoofs, Guillaume and D'Alvimar turned, the former perfectly calm, supposing that it was some frightened traveller, the latter sorely perturbed, and still dwelling on the prediction which the events of that evening seemed to confirm and to hasten to its fulfilment.