"I will go to him, then," rejoined Gabriel, haughtily; "Come, Master Paré, follow me."
"Monseigneur, you may pass, since you demand it," said the soldier; "but this man cannot pass."
"Why so?" asked Gabriel. "Why cannot the surgeon be admitted to the wounded man?"
"All the surgeons, doctors, and quacks," replied the pikeman, "all those at least who are recognized and licensed, have already been summoned to Monseigneur's bedside. Not one is missing, so we are informed."
"Ah, that is just what alarms me!" said Ambroise Paré, with contemptuous irony.
"This man has no license in his pocket," the soldier continued. "I know him well. He has saved more than one poor fellow's life in the camp, it is true; but he is not the man for dukes."
"Less talk!" cried Gabriel, stamping his foot angrily. "It is my desire that Master Paré should go in with me."
"Impossible, Monsieur le Vicomte."
"I have said that it is my desire, blackguard!"
"Pray remember," the soldier replied, "that my orders compel me to disobey you."