"It leads first to Melsungen," said Dick, "but for us it is merely the first stage of the road to Paris; we shall not stop, except to eat and sleep and change horses, till we arrive there."
Dick felt certain he could now return to Paris without incurring danger there. He would make himself known at once to the American commissioners, and so establish connections that would not allow of his being imprisoned again without inquiry. As a citizen of a country now France's ally in war, he would have little, if anything, to fear from Necker, as long as he should act prudently. As for the secret Brotherhood, perhaps it no longer existed. Now that he had not four armed men at his elbows, he felt he could take care of himself. But he trusted most to the likelihood of his being unrecognized after such a lapse of time.
Meanwhile, he was yet several days' journey from Paris, and far from being out of the dominion of his friend, Frederick II. of Hesse-Cassel.
When the four riders, on the two horses, neared the place where Antoine was to have waited, they heard a horse coming towards them from ahead, and soon the dark figure that loomed up on its back proved to be his.
"Monsieur," he said to Dick, "there is a body of horsemen approaching from the direction of Melsungen. They must be the troops that the Landgrave sent in search of you after your escape yesterday." Antoine had been informed of recent occurrences by the messenger whom he had accompanied to Spangenberg.
"Shall we turn back and take the by-road we passed awhile ago?" asked Dick, of Romberg, who was better acquainted with the country.
"It is the only thing to do," said Romberg, suiting action to the word by turning his horse.
When the party had moved a few rods back towards Cassel, there came from the direction of the city a sullen boom, breaking with startling effect the silence of the night.
"The alarm-gun," said Romberg, checking his horse.
"That is fired for deserters, is it not?" said Dick, following his example.