"Would you touch a servant of the Lord?" the leading priest said.
"Your clothing is that of a servant of the Lord," Philip replied; "but as I find you engaged upon the work of the devil, I can only suppose that you have stolen the clothes.
"Four of you take these priests behind you," he said to his men; "tie them tightly, with their backs to yours. That will leave you the use of your arms.
"Pierre, do you ride beside the other prisoners and, if you see any attempt at escape, shoot them at once.
"Quick, my lads; there may be more of this work going on, ahead."
He then gave similar instructions, for the carriage of the Huguenot goods, as he had at the preceding places.
At the next village they were in time to prevent the work of massacre from commencing. A party of horsemen and some priests, followed by a mob, were just entering it as they rode up. The horsemen were overthrown by their onset, the mob sent flying back towards the town, the Huguenots charging almost up to the gates. The horsemen and priests were made prisoners, as before; and when the rest of the band returned from their pursuit, they again rode on. They had now made half a circuit of Niort, and presently saw Francois and his party, galloping towards them.
"I had begun to be afraid that something had happened," Francois said, as he rode up. "I waited a quarter of an hour and then rode on, as we agreed.
"Well, I see you have got a good batch of prisoners."
"We have lost no time," Philip said. "We have been through five villages. At one we were just in time, for they had begun the work of massacre, before we got up. At another, we met them as they arrived. But at the other three, although the villagers were prepared for the work, the townsmen had not arrived."