“God and the King!” I shouted. “Death to the Na——”
There came a sharp pain at my throat——
Then, as though I had uttered a signal, a hundred muskets crashed from the hedge at our right. The rope relaxed; I opened my eyes to see with astonishment the sheep rising on two legs and charging down upon us. The night was filled with shrill cries, with hideous yells. In the camp a drum was beating, and I could see the Blues running to arm themselves, dashing hither and thither in panic, their officers straining to bring order to the frenzied mob. But the savage flood was upon us....
“At least, aristocrat, you shall not escape!” hissed a voice in my ear; and the world reeled and turned black before me as a great blow fell upon my head.
CHAPTER XXVI.
“COURAGE!”
For a time I thought I was again in that raftered chamber at Beaufort which had been mine for so many years; but finally I recognized uneasily that this was not the bed to which I was accustomed, nor were these dark and grimy walls the ones at which I had been wont to stare while building my castles in Spain.
Then in a flash I remembered,—escape, flight, capture, rescue,—and I started to spring from the bed, but fell back again with a cry of pain. For an instant my head seemed splitting open, and I closed my eyes dizzily.
“Gently, monsieur, gently,” said a voice; and I opened my eyes to see a kindly woman’s face bending over me. “You must lie still,” she added, and placed a cool hand upon my forehead. “You must go to sleep.”
“But where am I?” I asked.
“You are with friends.”