"Are you coming?" he said.
But his follower shook his head gloomily.
"What have I to do over there, monsieur le marquis?" he said. "Whereas here--"
"Here, what?"
"I'll tell you that if we ever meet again, monsieur le marquis."
So saying, he fired two balls at the nearest republicans. They fell. One of them was an officer of rank; his men pressed round him. Jean Oullier and the marquis profited by that instant to bury themselves in the depths of the woods.
But at the end of some fifty paces Jean Oullier, finding a thick bush at hand, slipped into it like a snake, with a gesture of farewell to the Marquis de Souday.
The marquis continued his way alone.