CHAPTER XX
HOW ANGELOT CLIMBED A TREE
The police had caught Angelot; but they did not keep him long.
They had to do with a young man who knew every yard of that wild country far better than they did, and was almost as much a part of it as the birds and beasts that haunted it.
"Where are you taking me?" he said, as they walked across the high expanse of the landes, dimly lighted by the last glimmer of day. "This is a very roundabout way to Sonnay-le-Loir."
"It is not the way at all," said the officer who took the lead, "and we know that as well as you."
"But I demand to be taken to Sonnay," Angelot said, and stopped. "The warrant for my arrest, if you have such a thing, must be from the Prefect. Take me to him, and I will soon convince him that there is some mistake."
"Monsieur le Préfet is ill, as you know. Walk on, if you please."
"Then take me to the sous-Préfet, or whoever is in his place."