“Right!” said Morgan. “Brothers, I recognize you there. Cadoudal points out our duty in that admirable letter we have just received. Let us adopt his heroic motto: Etiamsi omnes, ego non.” Then addressing the peasant, he said, “Branche-d’Or, the forty-nine thousand francs are at your disposal; you can start when you like. Promise something better next time, in our name, and tell the general for me that, wherever he goes, even though it be to the scaffold, I shall deem it an honor to follow, or to precede him. Au revoir, Branche-d’Or.” Then, turning to the young man who seemed so anxious to preserve his incognito, “My dear Adler,” he said, like a man who has recovered his gayety, lost for an instant, “I undertake to feed and lodge you this night, if you will deign to accept me as a host.”
“Gratefully, friend Morgan,” replied the new-comer. “Only let me tell you that I could do without a bed, for I am dropping with fatigue, but not without supper, for I am dying of hunger.”
“You shall have a good bed and an excellent supper.”
“Where must I go for them.”
“Follow me.”
“I’m ready.”
“Then come on. Good-night, gentlemen! Are you on watch, Montbar?”
“Yes.”
“Then we can sleep in peace.”
So saying, Morgan passed his arm through that of his friend, took a torch in his other hand, and passed into the depths of the grotto, where we will follow him if our readers are not too weary of this long session.