"Yes, Isaure must be restored to us. I love her as a brother now; but I will assist you; I shall not enjoy a moment’s repose until I have restored her to your arms."

"Poor Isaure!" said the baron. "Since she has been stolen from me, I realize all the strength of my attachment to her. Who can the men be who have taken her from her house? What motive can have inspired them? Robbers would have pillaged the house but would not have taken Isaure. Only a lover—but Isaure said that only you two came to this valley to see her. As for this wretch, this vagabond, of whom Alfred has spoken, what reason could he have had for stealing Isaure from us? And, indeed, how could he have compelled her to go with him?"

The baron and the young men lost themselves in conjectures; but they prepared to take the field once more. They went to Clermont-Ferrand to buy horses; they caused poor Vaillant to be taken to the house of honest peasants who promised to take the greatest care of him; they gave them the goats and all that composed the girl’s fortunes. Alfred took with him the sword which they had found in Isaure’s cottage; then all three plunged at random into the mountains, determined to visit every corner, even the hovel of the most destitute mountaineer, to search the least travelled paths, to undertake everything, in short, to find the maiden.

XXX
THE ABDUCTION OF ISAURE

During the night when Alfred and Edouard went into the valley to spy upon Isaure’s actions, a man had constantly followed the two young men, keeping always in the shadow; that man, whom the reader will recognize as he who seemed to have no other home than the mountains, did not lose sight of the two friends; he seemed to take a great interest in having them learn the secret actions of the young girl, and to await impatiently the result of that discovery.

At the moment when Alfred recognized his father in the man who had left Isaure, and named him to Edouard, the vagabond, who was hiding close at hand, had made a sudden movement as if he would have rushed on the baron. But instantly he had checked himself, muttering:

"I have no weapons!" then he had walked rapidly away in the direction of the girl’s cottage.

Arrived in front of the cottage, he stopped, scrutinized it for a long while, and seemed to be meditating some scheme of vengeance. Suddenly his eyes lighted up, and a bitter smile played over his face as he muttered:

"That will be better, much better! If I had killed the baron, that would have been the end. Death is soon over; he would have suffered only a moment; but I have been suffering eighteen years; I will try to repay him what he has done to me. He must be very strongly attached to this girl, to conceal her in this place and to employ so much mystery about coming to see her. I must obtain possession of Isaure; to-morrow she shall be in my power. But in order to carry out this plan, I, too, must have weapons, and I have no money, absolutely none. The other night, but for the arrival of that Alfred, I should have found what I was looking for in the tower; but I still have time to go there again; yes, I have no other means of procuring what I want."

Thereupon, striding hurriedly along the country, and as quickly, despite the darkness, as if it were bright daylight, the vagabond took a cross road which shortened the distance to the Château of La Roche-Noire, where he arrived in a very short time. He soon stood before the small gate of the garden, to which he had a key; he opened it, entered the garden and walked toward the abandoned tower, where he arrived without meeting anyone. He rapidly mounted the winding staircase and did not stop until he reached the room where Alfred had found him two nights before. The most profound darkness reigned about him; he hesitated a moment, then drawing a flint and steel from his pocket, he decided to strike a light, at the risk of alarming the château again.