They were the Gaspereaugians. The Gaspereaugians! Now they understood it all. This, then, was the reason why they had gone through Gaspereaux unmolested. They had not been troubled, for the simple reason that the Gaspereaugians had themselves been off on a foray, and this was their enterprise. They wondered what had become of Bart and Solomon; and as Bruce thought of this, a dark frown came over his face, and he stood looking at the Gaspereaugians like a thunder-cloud. VIII. _Bart and Solomon fall into an Ambush, and after a desperate Resistance are made Prisoners.--Bonds and Imprisonment.--Bruce and the Gaspereau-gians.--A Challenge, a Conflict, and a Victory.--Immense Sensation among the Spectators.--The Prisoners burst their Bonds.--Their Flight.--Recovery of the Spoils of War._ MEANWHILE Bart and Solomon had been having their own little adventure. They had left the Academy at half past three, so as to have everything ready for the boys by four o’clock. For this purpose Solomon carried a basket of provisions, filled with those multiform and very attractive dishes which his rare culinary genius never failed to create whenever a fitting occasion demanded it. So they ascended the hill, and crossed the old French orchard, and descended into the gully, and went up the other side into the woods, and then walked along the path towards the camp. Suddenly, as they came to a place where the path turned to the left, there was a loud shout; and in an instant they were surrounded by some twenty or thirty boys. The boys were rough and wild. They were dressed in homespun. They were strong-limbed, red-cheeked, horny-handed, burly fellows; and they threw themselves violently upon Bart and Solomon. Bart struggled bravely; but what could he do against so many? In his desperate struggles he managed to knock down one or two of them; but before long he was lying down, first on his back, and then on his face, and his hands were tied behind him. Then he was allowed to get up. He did so, and found himself none the worse for the rough-and-tumble fight which he had been indulging in. A pang, however, came to his generous heart as he saw Solomon with his hands tied; and another pang, also, as he saw two of the Gaspereaugians carrying off the basket with all its precious store of provisions. But in spite of his situation, Bart did not for a moment lose heart. “Couldn’t you have managed it with less than thirty?” he said, quietly, to the Gaspereaugians. “Wouldn’t twenty have done to attack me and old Solomon?” The Gaspereaugians looked sulky at this. “Ten, I should say,” resumed Bart. “Ten Gaspereaugians ought to be enough for one of us; and if so, why bring thirty? Answer me that. You won’t? Very well. All the same.” “Here, young chap,--you dry up!” growled a big Gaspereaugian, who was near him. “Ten of us? I’ll show you that I’m a match fur any ten o’ youns. That wull I jist. So dry up!”