"My farm is on the Rivière de Chine."
"Has it been burned?"
"No, monsieur."
"That in itself looks suspicious," said Roland, while the stranger glanced uneasily at the dark mass of the grey-coated and cross-belted column, now descending the slope in the moonlight.
"From whence came you last?" asked Roland.
"The village of St. Eustache, monsieur."
Roland's heart leaped; it was with difficulty he could ask the next question.
Did he know aught of a young lady who was in the hands of Mie insurgents?
"Mademoiselle Darnel—yes, monsieur. She is still in the house of the Seigneur with Colonel Smash, or perhaps in the church which is fortified. She is married to him, people say—or, rather, he has married her," added the fellow, with a grin, which nearly tempted Roland in his then mood of mind to run him through the body.
He felt sick, sick at heart; but in a little time he would know all—the worst!