A young man of noble bearing passed through the crowd of kneeling men and hastily approached the Marquis. He wore a felt hat with an upturned brim, a white cockade, and a skin jacket, like the peasants; but his hands were delicate and his linen was fine, and over his waistcoat was a white silk scarf, from which hung a sword with a golden hilt. Having reached the _hure_, he threw aside his hat, unfastened his scarf, and kneeling, presented to the Marquis both scarf and sword. "Indeed we were seeking for you," he said, "and we have found you. Receive the sword of command. These men are yours now. I was their commander; now am I promoted, since I become your soldier. Accept our devotion, my lord. General, give me your orders." At a sign from him, men carrying the tricolored banner came forth from the woods, and going up to the Marquis, placed it at his feet. It was the one he had seen through the trees. "General," said the young man who presented the sword and the scarf, "this is the flag which we took from the Blues who held the farm Herbe-en-Pail. My name is Gavard, my lord. I was with the Marquis de la Rouarie." "Very well," said the Marquis. [Illustration 032] And calm and composed he girded on the scarf. Then he pulled out his sword, and waving it above his head, he cried,-- "Rise! And long live the king!" All started to their feet. Then from the depth of the woods arose a tumultuous and triumphant cry,-- "Long live the king! Long live our Marquis! Long live Lantenac!" The Marquis turned towards Gavard. "How many are you?" "Seven thousand." While they were descending the hill, the peasants clearing away the furze-bushes to make a path for the Marquis de Lantenac, Gavard continued:-- "All this may be explained in a word, my lord: nothing could be more simple. It needed but a spark. The republican placard in revealing your presence has roused the country for the king. Besides, we have been secretly notified by the mayor of Granville, who is one of us,--the same who saved the Abbé Ollivier. They rang the tocsin last night." "For whom?" "For you." "Ah!" said the Marquis. "And here we are," continued Gavard. "And you number seven thousand?" "To-day. But we shall be fifteen thousand to-morrow. It is the Breton contingent. When Monsieur Henri de la Rochejaquelein went to join the catholic army they sounded the tocsin, and in one night six parishes--Isernay, Corqueux, Échaubroignes, Aubiers, Sainte Aubin, and Nueil--sent him ten thousand men. They had no munitions of war, but having found at a quarryman's house sixty pounds of blasting-powder, Monsieur de la Rochejaquelein took his departure with that. We felt sure you must be somewhere in these woods, and we were looking for you." "And you attacked the Blues at the farm Herbe-en-Pail?"