"I only object to all the work being done by others. I would rather take my own share. What are you supposed to be doing?" "Nothing, and for once in a way it is a very pleasant occupation. Have you met Raoul?" "No, and I expect he is a dozen miles off by now. He is in luck; his squadron acts as a kind of bodyguard to the Marshal. I had no idea that Beauchamp was such a daring fellow." "He is like the rest, anxious to make a name for himself. Ah, here comes Pillot to warn me that it is my turn for duty." Gien was still crowded with numbers of the Queen's troops, gentlemen of the King, and Mazarin's bodyguard, in addition to the hosts of servants and attendants on the Court. Hundreds watched Turenne's advance, and almost every one seemed to imagine that the Marshal had little to do but march peacefully to Paris. From the gossip among Mazarin's gentlemen next morning I gathered that Turenne had halted at a place called Briare, while Hocquincourt, our second general, had advanced to Blenau. "The Marshal is preparing his plans," exclaimed one of our fellows complacently, "and if Conde's army stays to fight it will be soundly beaten. I prophesy that within a month we shall be inside Paris." I remembered these boastful words and laughed, when, a night or two afterwards, Pillot burst into my room and wakened me rather brusquely. "Get up, monsieur," said he, "Conde has sent to announce his arrival." "Conde," I growled sleepily. "Where? What do you mean? What is all the noise outside?" "The town has gone mad with fright--that is all. Monsieur must be quick in dressing." In a few minutes I was dressed and out of the house. Pillot was right--the town certainly had gone mad. The street was packed with people surging this way and that, pushing, struggling, and asking questions. There were hundreds of rumours in the air: Conde had crept into Gien, and had hanged Mazarin in his own room. The Queen-Mother was a prisoner with her two sons, and all her Guards had died fighting. I had hardly witnessed such a tumult even in Paris. Couriers and lackeys, coachmen and grooms; soldiers, citizens, peasants, and ladies of the Court, were all grouped together, making the oddest spectacle. No one really knew what had happened, though a hundred people were willing to tell. I would have gone straight to the Cardinal's quarters, but such a course was out of the question; so, following Pillot, I found myself on a piece of high ground to the left of the town. "Ah!" said I, drawing a deep breath, "now it is plain what has occurred. You are right, Pillot, that is a message from Conde, sure enough!" The night was dark, but far away in the distance the gloom was lit up by numerous tongues of fire that extended for miles. Now one died away, but the next minute a fresh one shot skyward, and in places several merged together in one broad flame.