We have followed him some way on his march; but it would appear, that inasmuch as the Royalists had been rather improvident of their supplies, and had been found, during the life of Henry III. somewhat unwilling to pay for the good things of this life, with which, at first, the peasantry had been very willing to furnish them, a want of provisions, both eatable and potable, had made its appearance in the camps of St. Cloud and Meudon. The jaws of the Royalists had got unaccustomed to maceration, and their lips to the taste of sweet things; so that as they took their way through the pleasant little towns and villages of Poissy, Triel, Meulan, Mantes, and sweet Fontenay, they lived very nearly at free quarters amongst the inhabitants, taking care to make the fat of the land through which they now passed, compensate for the meagreness of the diet they had so long endured. Nevertheless, as the king and his followers paid where they could, promised where they could not pay, and never took toll of rosy lips, except where there was a smile upon them, the people of the country in general gave them a better character when they were gone than might have been expected; and declared, that, after all, the Huguenots were not so bad as they were called. In the meantime, as we have already shown, to diversify these employments, a little interlude of fighting did now and then take place; a town was now and then besieged and taken; and Henry IV. made arrangements for giving the inhabitants of the loyal city of Rouen an entertainment, which brings down the walls of a city more by the double-bass of the cannon than by the shrill sound of the trumpet. Pausing a sufficient time before the walls of that town to give and receive various proofs of amity, which left his own host diminished by several hundred men, and the garrison of the town less by perhaps double that number, the king received news, which made him judge that the situation of his army might be improved by a very rapid change of air; and consequently without longer hesitation or delay, he struck his tents, left success to follow, and at once led his troops to the sea-side. Divining, however, that his enemies would anticipate with great satisfaction the moment for driving his scanty forces into the sea, he seemed resolved to disappoint them, if admirable dispositions could effect that purpose; and choosing for his troops the strongest position which he could discover, with their backs to the element and their faces inland, he ranged them along the side of a fair and beautiful hill, on the ridge of which still stands all which Time has left of the old and interesting castle of Arques.