"Some twenty-six leagues, my lord," replied the lad, "and by the other more than thirty."
"You are right there," said the Marquis Dorset.
"And what will one find on the other side of Nozay?" asked the earl.
"Nothing to stop you, sir," said the boy; "between it and Angers there is the little village of Conde, where you can bait your horses; and there is a good road thence to Angers, with nothing but hamlets or scattered farm-houses, till you reach the town. No one would be able to take you from Redon to Nozay but myself--at least, nobody at Vannes; but from Nozay to Angers you could go by yourself if you liked."
"You seem to know it well," said Richmond.
"I was born at Nozay," replied the boy.
There the conversation stopped; and they rode on in silence for some time, going at a very quick pace, till at length the Earl said,
"We must spare our horses a little, or they will hardly bear us out. Twenty-six leagues; think you we can do it in one day, boy?"
"Oh, yes, my lord," replied the boy, "if your beasts be strong and willing. The night is fresh, and the ground soft; and we can afford to stop and feed the horses at Nozay, for, if any one comes after us, a thousand to one they will take the other road."
"That is one recommendation to yours at all events," said Dorset, laughing; "and the ground is soft enough indeed, for it seems to me as if we were entering a morass."