"Lepers, indeed!" exclaimed Redward. "My faith, they would bear us company."
Waving their arms to attract and arrest their supposed fellow-sufferers, the two grey-robed men quickened their pace, but, directly the Englishmen had gained the cover of the tree-lined road, they, too, hastened to avoid being overtaken, so that by the time the lepers had turned the corner, Raymond and his father were some distance ahead.
"We more than hold our own," quoth Redward, glancing over his shoulder. "Directly we shake them off we'll have a well-earned rest."
It was as he said. The well-knit frames of the Englishmen were vastly superior to the diseased bodies of the lepers, and long before the bottom of the hill was reached their two pursuers were but dimly visible on the dusty road.
Once again the road led upwards. Not a village was to be seen, only a vast undulating plain, unbroken except for an occasional clump of trees, while in the distance the blue outlines of a lofty range of hills showed that some stiff climbing would be necessary ere Hennebon was in sight.
An hour later and they had all but gained the ridge of the next hill. By the roadside was a heather-covered bank, while between a mass of rocks a spring gushed forth, the water making a pleasant sound in the ears of the weary travellers.
Father and son drank at the spring, then clambering over the bank, lay down on the springy heather, where, without being seen, they could command the road for nearly a league.
"'Tis quite evident that we can outpace those poor wretches," said Raymond, stretching out his limbs to their fullest extent in appreciation of his natural bed. "Here we can rest in comfort till they draw nigh; then, refreshed, we can hasten onwards once more."
For nearly an hour they remained, sleep all but claiming them. Not a word was spoken, though Redward gave an occasional grunt as he raised himself on his elbow at intervals to watch the advancing lepers.
The heat, too, was terrific, the sun beating down with fierce violence on their unprotected resting-place.