Mario was not hungry. He was very anxious. In the room at the rear, which was a sort of pantry and serving-room, he saw Mistress Pignoux and her servant bustling about. It seemed to him that the former saw him and recognized him, and that she even spoke to the servant, as if to warn her not to mention the discovery. But all this might well be a delusion, and Mario waited for a moment when Saccage's back should be turned, to try to exchange a word or a glance with the hostess. He knew that everybody in the house worshipped his father and himself. He adopted the plan of pretending to fall asleep, and Saccage soon went out to give some order. Thereupon the child rushed up to Madame Pignoux, saying: "It is I! not a word! where is my father?" "Upstairs!" replied Madame Pignoux hastily; although advanced in years, she was still a robust woman, with a firm foot and a keen eye. She pointed to the wooden staircase leading to the dining-room, called the _salle d'honneur_ at the _Geault-Rouge_. But, as the child was already climbing the stairs, she detained him. "No!" she said, "they don't know that he is here! Don't stir, my young master. They would kill him!" "Who are these men?" "A wicked lot! Do you know what _arêtes_ are?" "No! Wait a moment! Perhaps you mean _reitres_?" "Yes, that's the word. My servant Jacques, who has served in the army, recognized them. They are brigands who burn and kill wherever they go." "But they haven't done you any harm, have they?" "No; they want food and drink; afterwards God only knows whether they won't burn the house and us with it! That's the way they pay their reckoning." "Madame Pignoux, my father must escape from here! How can he do it?" "Impossible at present! They are guarding all the doors, and your papa is too old to jump out of a window. Indeed, what would be the use? The house is surrounded, and they won't even let us go to the hen-coop and the cellar without following at our heels." "But you must at least hide my father! Ah! I am very sure now that it's he they are after! Where is he?" "In my man's room, who luckily isn't at home! He has gone to cook a wedding banquet at La Châtre and won't return till to-morrow. They called for him by name." "Who? my father?" "No, my man! I would like to know how it happens that they know him! I told them he was sick, and I said it very loud so that your papa could hear it upstairs. I hope that it will occur to him to get into bed." "But didn't they suggest going upstairs?" "Yes, indeed; they looked into the _salle d'honneur_, and they said----" "But they are coming back; we must stop talking," said Mario. And he hurried back to his corner in the kitchen and resumed his drowsy attitude.