Alfred argued that they would not succeed in finding Isaure by staying always in the same place; he did not believe that her abductors had remained in Auvergne, and he urged his father and his friend to bid that province farewell for some time. Certain business matters required the baron’s presence in Paris; they agreed to go thither for a short time, and then to resume their search.
But Edouard suggested making one more circuit of the mountains before leaving Auvergne, upon which he regretted to turn his back. Although they looked for no success from that course, Alfred and the baron acceded to his wish. One fine winter’s day the three started on foot, accompanied by the faithful Vaillant. They wrapped and wound themselves in enormous cloaks, and Alfred still carried under his the sword they had found in Isaure’s house.
The travellers walked a large part of the day over roads which the snow had made very hard to travel. They passed the night in a village, and, as their search had been no more successful than usual, they prepared to return to the White House on the morrow. They started early in the morning and took roads which had been pointed out to them as the shortest to Saint-Amand. But, after walking several hours, they found themselves in the heart of the mountains, in an absolutely deserted spot; and they had no doubt that the snow had caused them to wander from their road.
"Where in the devil are we?" said Alfred, stopping to look about; "instead of approaching our destination, we are going away from it."
"It seems to me that I recognize this place," said the baron, "and that we have been here before."
"Let us follow Vaillant," said Edouard; "see, he keeps on, he seems to propose to be our guide."
The dog was in fact going on ahead, manifesting extraordinary eagerness and excitement. The travellers covered themselves with their cloaks as well as they could, to protect themselves from the cold, and decided to follow Vaillant. They soon came to the steep slope of a mountain, and saw before them a dark, narrow path, running between two very high cliffs.
"I recognize this spot now," said the baron; "we took this path nearly two months ago, and visited an old hut occupied by an aged shepherd."
"Come," said Alfred, "it is useless to follow a course that will take us still farther from our destination."
The travellers were about to retrace their steps when, on looking about for Vaillant, they saw him running toward the path at incredible speed. They called him, but he did not heed the voice of his masters, and entered alone the narrow road between the cliffs. The ardor with which the dog ran in that direction impressed the travellers; they went on as far as the entrance to the path, but the prolonged barking of Vaillant, a loud, savage barking, announced that he had made some important discovery.