This I feared to tell him, but presently he sat up and looked about him.
"Ah!" he said, "I remember." And then he asked: "Where is Valerie St. Antoine?"
"She should be in Moscow by this time," said I. "Why do you ask?"
"Because," said he, "I am still looking for her, mon oncle."
I shook my head. It seemed to me that the young woman in question had proved herself to be but the harbinger of ill. And yet I could see that my nephew's mind was made up, and that what he had done to-night he would do again if Valerie St. Antoine did but lift her pretty hand to beckon him.
CHAPTER III
THE TREASURE IN THE WOODS
I
It was on the 18th day of October in the year 1812 that we first heard of His Majesty's intention to abandon Moscow.