"Three!" cried Sénange. "Pardieu! but I am in luck! Your cloak belongs to me, Léodgard!" The young Comte de Marvejols dropped his head on his breast, while the other gentlemen held their peace and seemed distressed by the ill fortune which pursued Léodgard. At that moment a distant, indistinct noise reached the ears of the young men. "Do you hear, messieurs?" said La Valteline, listening intently; "do you hear?" "I hear nothing," said Monclair. "I do," said Beausseilly; "I hear a noise that seems to be coming nearer; it sounds like outcries, imprecations." "It seems to me that someone is coming toward us. Listen! listen! the footsteps are becoming more distinct." "Suppose it were Montrevert?" "Can he have been attacked? We must go to his assistance!" "We had better hail him first.--Take that lantern, Bruno, and hold it in the air.--Do as I do, messieurs.--Holà, Montrevert! is that you?" The shouts of the young men were met by an answering shout. "It is he," said Léodgard; "and he is not far away." "There he is! there he is!" "Come this way! this way!" A young man of twenty-eight to thirty years, dressed with elegance, but with his garments in disorder, his belt gone, his face transformed by excitement, and without his sword, crossed the Pont-aux-Choux at full speed and joined the friends whose shouts had guided him. "It is Montrevert!" "Mon Dieu! what is the matter with him? what a ghastly pallor!" "What a state his clothes are in!" "What has happened to you, Montrevert?" "Have you been attacked?" "Wait a moment, messieurs; give me a chance to breathe.--Yes, I have been attacked." "Are you wounded?" "No, not a scratch! And yet, I assure you that I tried to defend myself. It was Giovanni, the famous brigand, who attacked me--yonder, on the other side of the bridge, on the right." "Giovanni?" "Oh, yes! he was dressed just as those whom he has robbed describe him, just as he was when Léodgard saw him: the long olive-green cloak, and the cap bristling with hair---- Ah! the villain!--Look you, messieurs, this is how it happened. I stayed behind longer than I expected after your departure; so that when I started, wishing to make up for lost time and to overtake you the sooner, I walked very rapidly; I lengthened my strides, sometimes cutting across the market gardeners' gardens, and devoting all my thought to keeping my feet out of the holes and ruts and excavations which make such cross cuts extremely dangerous. So it is not surprising that I did not see my robber approaching. However, I think that he must have been hiding behind a tree, for he suddenly blocked my path without my hearing the sound of his footsteps. I was thunderstruck at seeing before me a man whose aspect was so truly frightful, and I instantly put my hand to my sword hilt; but instead of the raucous tones which I expected to hear, it was almost a falsetto voice that said to me: