And Saboureux, seized with fresh anger, stuttered:
"Of course!... I said so!... I saw the Uhlans ... there were five of them."
There was a stir among the servants. All rushed to meet a new arrival, Gridoux, the official game-keeper, who came prancing along the terrace, brandishing a stick. He pushed them aside:
"Don't bother me!... I've a message to give! Where's monsieur le maire? He must come at once! They're waiting for him!"
He seemed furious at not finding the Mayor of Saint-Élophe there, ready to go back with him.
"Not so loud, not so loud, Gridoux," Mme. Morestal ordered. "You'll wake him up."
"He's got to be woke up. I've been sent from the town-hall.... He's got to come at once."
Philippe laid hold of him:
"Stop that noise, I tell you, hang it all! My father is ill."