"Ferguzon is right," said a third; "they are conspiring, and we sha'n't be able to get in."
"A stag-hunt isn't a bad thing, however, when one falls in with it on the road."
"Especially when one is tired of hunting men, eh, Barrabas?" said Cauvignac. "Well, it shall not be said that we allowed this one to pass under our noses. We are all that any one need be to cut a decent figure at this fête; we are as shiny as new crown-pieces. If Monsieur le Duc d'Enghien needs soldiers, where will he find smarter ones than we? If he needs conspirators, where will he find any more fashionably dressed? The least gorgeous of us has the bearing of a captain!"
"And you, Cauvignac," rejoined Barrabas "would pass at need for a duke and peer."
Ferguzon said nothing; he was reflecting.
"Unfortunately," continued Cauvignac, laughing, "Ferguzon is not inclined to hunt to-day."
"Peste!" said Ferguzon, "I've no special objection to hunting; it's a gentlemanly amusement which suits me to a T. So I don't despise it myself, nor try to dissuade others. I simply say that an entrance to the park where they are hunting is made impossible by locked gates."
"Hark!" cried Cauvignac, "there are the horns sounding the tally-ho."
"But," continued Ferguzon, "what I say doesn't necessarily mean that we may not hunt."
"How can we hunt, blockhead, if we can't get in?"