"This is your resolution? Then listen! Jerome's brother will take command."
"My brother is dead," interrupted Jerome; "he lies on the side of Grossmann."
There was a moment's silence, and then Hullin continued:
"Colon, you will take command of all who remain, except those who formed the escort of Catherine Lefevre. I retain them with me. You will rejoin Pivrette in the valley of Blanru."
"And our munitions?" cried Marc-Dives.
"I have brought my wagon with me," said Jerome. "Colon can supply himself from it."
"Let them take the sledge too," cried Catherine. "The Cossacks are coming, and they will steal everything. Our people must not go away empty-handed; let them take with them oxen, cows, and goats—everything; for whatever they take is so much won from the enemy."
Five minutes after, the farm-house was a scene of pillage. The sledge was loaded with hams, smoked meats, and bread; the cattle driven from the stables; the horses harnessed to the great wagon, and soon the train began its march, Robin at the head, blowing his horn, and the partisans behind pushing at the wheels. When they had disappeared in the woods, and silence suddenly succeeded the tumult, Catherine, turning round, saw Hullin behind her as pale as a corpse.
"Well, Catherine," he said; "all is finished. We will begin the ascent."
Frantz, Kasper, and the men of the escort, Marc-Dives and Materne, awaited them in the kitchen, resting on their arms.