As Tournay approached the group of noblemen, the Marquis de Lacheville, determined to keep him in a state of submission, greeted him with an arrogant rebuke. "You have kept us waiting a pretty length of time." "I only received notice of your intended hunt a short time ago, and various preparations had to be made," was the rejoinder. "Make no excuses," continued the marquis,--"you always have plenty of those upon the end of your tongue." Tournay bit his lip to keep from replying. "Whose horse is that?" called out the marquis a moment later, pointing out one of the animals among the number which were being led up by the grooms. "My own, monsieur le marquis--a present from the baron." "Well, it is by all odds the best one among them; I will ride it." And the marquis swung himself into the saddle without waiting for a reply. Tournay made no audible reply, but the color deepened on his cheek, as he quietly took another horse. "We shall never see that boar if we delay much longer," called out St. Hilaire, who was long since in the saddle. "Are you ready, gentlemen?" With one accord they all started down the avenue at a swift gallop; Tournay following a short distance behind them. For a mile or so they swept along the parkway until they arrived at the gate which led into the wood. De Lacheville had been correct in his judgment of the horse, and was the first to reach the gate. This seemed to make him good-natured for the time being; and as they cantered through the forest he allowed Tournay, who was best acquainted with the ground, to ride in advance. On approaching the entrance to the glade, the party dismounted and the horses were fastened to the trees. The Counts d'Arlincourt and de Blois went to the right; the Marquis de St. Hilaire to the left; Tournay took two dogs and went toward the northern end; while de Lacheville remained near the entrance. It was arranged that Tournay with the dogs should rout the animal from its lair in the upper end of the dale, and, the thicket being surrounded, one of the gentlemen would be sure to bring it down with a shot as it ran out. Tournay had not gone half the distance when he heard a noise in the underbrush, and looking in the direction whence it came, saw the boar making its way leisurely down the glade, snuffing from time to time at the roots of trees for acorns. Tournay tried to work down ahead of the animal and drive him off to his right in the direction of the Marquis St. Hilaire, as he was the best shot in the company, and with a sportsman's instinct Tournay wanted to give him the opportunity to win the tusks. One of the dogs, however, upset this plan by slipping the leash and bounding off in the direction of the boar; that animal took the alarm at once and started on a run down the glade with Tournay and the two dogs after him in full pursuit. "The Marquis de Lacheville will be the one to shoot him," thought Tournay bitterly.