When Dubreuil had finished reading, he again took his seat, saying,
"Well, you see now, do you not?"
"Where did you get that?" asked Kasper.
"It is posted everywhere."
"We are glad to hear it," said Materne, pressing the arm of Frantz, who had risen with flaming eyes. "Do you want some fire, Frantz? Here is my steel."
Frantz sat down, and the old man proceeded good-humoredly,
"And so, our good friends, the Austrians, will take nothing from us?"
"Well-disposed people have nothing to fear, but those who rise in arms are stripped of everything; which is only right, for it is not just that the good should suffer for the bad. Thus, for instance, you would be very well received at the allied headquarters; you know the country and could serve as guides, for which you would be well paid."
There was a moment of silence; again the three hunters gazed at each other; the father placed his hands upon the table, as if beseeching his sons to remain calm, but he himself was pale with rage.