“Mordieu, my friend, are the dead so lifeless?”
“What do you seek?”
The voice boomed, low and muffled, from the folds.
“Rest and food,” answered Laville. “We are weary and famished. For the rest, we ask no question, and invite none.”
“So they come in peace,” said the figure, “all are welcome here.”
The Colonel pushed to the front, carrying his burden.
“We come in peace,” he said—“strangers and travellers. We pay our way, and the better where our way is smoothed. Take that message to your Prior.”
The figure withdrew, and returned in a little.
“The answer is, Ye are welcome. For those who are officers, a repast will be served within an hour in the refectory; for the rest, what entertainment we can compass shall be provided in the outhouses. A room is placed at the disposal of your commander.”
“It is well,” said de Regnac. “Now say, We invite your Prior to the feast himself provides, and his hand shall be first in the dish, and his lip to the cup; else, from our gallantry, do we go supperless.”