“It is all packed and ready for the carts; a few days since the cellars were half-full of the lead and iron, which we have been casting; they are now, I trust, half-way to Saumur, under Foret’s care.”
“How many men has he with him?” asked the priest.
“He has all the men from Clisson, from St. Paul’s and St. Briulph’s— except a few of Charles’ own tenants, who went on forward to join him at Doué, and who have our supply of flags with them, made in the château at Clisson. Madame de Lescure and poor Marie have worked their fingers to the bone.”
“God bless them! God will bless them, for they are working in the spirit which he loves.”
“Agatha and Annette, between them, have packed nearly every ounce of gunpowder,” said Henri, who could not help boasting of his sister. “Night and day they have been handling it without regarding for a moment the destruction which the slightest accident might bring upon them.”
“It is that spirit, my son, which will enable us to beat twice our own strength in numbers, and ten times our own strength in arms and discipline How many men has Foret with him?”
“Above six hundred. I do not know his exact numbers,” said Henri.
“And you, yourself?”
“I shall muster a thousand strong, that is for a certainty; I believe I shall be nearer twelve thousand.”
“Let me see—that will be, say two thousand five hundred from the Bocage.”