"Do not wait for the horses, then."
"Never mind me; you, get your men out before they are coaxed over; look at the mayor speechifying to them! you have no time to lose either; make haste!"
At this instant up came the orderly with the two chargers. Charny took the nearest at hazard, snatched the reins from the man's hands, leaped astride, drove in both spurs and burst away on the track of Drouet, without clearly comprehending what the marquis yelled after him. Yet these words were important.
"You have taken my horse and not yours, and the pistols are not loaded!"
CHAPTER XIII.
STOP, KING!
With Isidore riding before it, the royal conveyance flew over the road between St. Menehould and Clermont.
Night was falling; the coach entered Argonne Forest crossing the highway.
The Queen had noticed the absence of Charny, but she could not slacken the pace or question the postboys. She did lean out a dozen times but she discovered nothing.