"So that was why you did not answer when I called to you, half-way up the hill?"
"I expect so. I went back to the Grand-Chêne."
"What for?"
"To join you.... I was sorry I had left you."
"Then you were behind us at the time of the attack?"
"Yes."
"In that case, of course, you heard the shots fired!... Let me see, you must have been on the Butte-aux-Loups...."
"Somewhere near there...."
"And perhaps you saw us.... From above!... With the moonlight!..."
"Oh, no!" protested Philippe. "No, I saw nothing!"