Le Duc guessed what they were talking about. He himself felt desperately hungry.
“I tell you what, messieurs, without food we shall make slow progress. I’ll go into the village and try to procure some. I shall easily learn from some person, before I venture to enter, whether the gendarmes are there, and if they are not, we shall be safe for the present. They will, I hope, fancying that you made your way back to the house of Madame La Roche, have gone off there. We must hope for the best, and I will try and invent some reason for wishing to purchase food. The kind lady supplied me with money, so that I shall have no difficulty on that score.”
Rayner, who in reality suffered more than any one, as he had had less to eat, at last consented to the proposal of Le Duc, who set off.
As soon as he had gone the bushes were drawn close again. The party sat in silence, anxiously waiting his return.
They waited and waited. Again it became dark.
Jack declared that he felt strong enough to go on.
“Yes, you may; but I could not budge an inch until I have had some food,” growled Tom. “I wish that that Frenchman would come back.”
“Shut up there, mate, and don’t be grumbling. You’re not worse than the rest of us,” said Brown.
Time wore on; it was now perfectly dark. They listened eagerly for the sound of Le Duc’s footsteps.
Rayner had made up his mind to go out and try to ascertain what had become of him, or at all events to obtain some food, for he felt that neither he nor the rest of the party could get through the night when travelling without it. Later on it would be still more difficult to obtain, as the inhabitants would be in bed. He thought he should be able to find his way back to their place of concealment; so, desiring the party to keep perfectly silent, he set out. He had not gone far in the wood, when he heard footsteps. He crouched down behind a tree, when, looking out, he saw a man, with something on his back, approaching. He hoped that it was Le Duc, but it might be a stranger. He kept quiet.