"Well, a pleasant journey to you. Have a care, though, if you ride late; the country is infested with brigands."
Thanking him for his advice I followed after Jacques, who had taken advantage of the conversation to ride on.
"I thought the officer might take a fancy to ask me some questions, and I am not so intimately acquainted as you with the doings of the king's general!" he said with a chuckle. "'Twas a bold stroke, monsieur, but it paid."
"Yes," I said, "it paid. And now let us push forward."
Strangely enough, now that Jacques had recovered his composure I began to feel nervous, and more than once caught myself glancing round as if half expecting to see a body of pursuers on our track. However, we proceeded all day without adventure, slept for two or three hours at a village inn, and resumed our journey in high spirits.
"We should reach the Loire by midday," remarked Jacques. "Shall we go into the town and cross by the bridge, or try for a ford? There is one a little to the north."
"The ford will suit our purpose," I said, "and I hardly care about trusting myself in the town."
There still wanted two hours to noon when, coming to a grassy and tree-shaded plateau through which ran a sparkling stream, Jacques proposed that we should rest the horses. So we dismounted, gave them a drink, fastened them to a tree, and lay down beside them.
"Monsieur might be able to sleep," suggested Jacques. "I will watch, but we cannot afford more than an hour."
"We will take turns," I said.