"Wait!" said Fanfar.
He went to the side of the rock, and examined it with his lantern. He uttered a joyous exclamation.
"Most men," he said to himself, "would find this rock impracticable, but Fanfar can do it."
He returned to the Marquis.
"Put your arms about my neck," he said, "and trust to me."
The Marquis obeyed, and Fanfar, weighed down again by this burthen, climbed the path heretofore trodden only by goats. They reached the top in safety, there they found Irène's horse.
"I am going to take you on the saddle with me," he said to the Marquis. "I had been to a neighboring village for a physician, and returning I am only too thankful that accident brought me in this direction."
He assisted the Marquis to the saddle, and that his hands might be free requested the Marquis to hold the lantern.
He did so, and, with instinctive curiosity, flashed the light into the face of his preserver. He started back, for he saw before him the living image of the old Marquis de Fongereues. He must know the truth at any price. He fought against his fatigue, and just as Fanfar was about to leap into the saddle, the Marquis pressed the animal with his knee, and the animal was off like the wind. Fanfar believed that the horse had ran away.
"I hope he will get to the inn in safety," said Fanfar, anxiously. "I must get back on foot, it seems!"