It was a damp, foul-smelling hole, but to this they did not just then pay attention. With bated breath they strained their ears to catch some sound of those who were after them.
It was a good five minutes before anybody came into the place, to tramp loudly directly over their heads. There were four or five soldiers, and the two in hiding heard them move among the horses and through the grain room and the hay mow. The soldiers spoke in French, so neither Henry nor Silvers knew what was said.
Following the examination of the barn, the soldiers looked over the other buildings, and even into the water vat of the milk house. Then they went outside and looked around the trees in the chateau park, and among the bushes.
“They must have gone further,” said the corporal in charge, in French. “They were afraid to stay here.”
“Unless we catch them it will go hard with Gaston and Pasmont,” said another. “The captain said they must keep a good watch over the sly rascals.”
After the French soldiers had gone the barn became as silent as a tomb.
“What an escape!” whispered Henry half joyously.
“Hush, lad,” warned Silvers. “We are not yet out of the woods.”
For half an hour they remained under the flooring of the barn, and then, unable to endure the smell any longer, they left the hole and moved up into the hay mow, now half filled with the summer crop.
Henry had brought the food in the cloth with him, and, being hungry, both proceeded to make a meal in the hay, Silvers drinking from the bottle of wine and the young soldier procuring some water from the milk house.