"Like my pocket."
"Wait for the soldiers there, not in ambush but openly. Order fire when they are within twenty paces. Kill all you can,--so much vermin the less."
"Yes. And then?"
"As soon as your guns are discharged separate in two bodies,--one to escape by the path to La Cloutière, the other by the road to Bourgnieux. Fire as you run, and coax them to follow you."
"To get them off their track, hey?"
"Precisely, Guérin; that's it."
"Yes; but--you?"
"I must get to Souday. I ought to be there now."
"Oh, oh, Jean Oullier!" exclaimed the peasant, doubtfully.
"Well, what?" asked Jean Oullier. "Does any one dare to distrust me?"