The hint sufficed, and the animal broke into a gallop.
Montbar passed through the villages of Varennes, La Creche, and Chapelle-de-Guinchay, and did not stop until he reached the Maison-Blanche.

The spot was exactly as Valensolle had described it, and was admirably adapted for an ambuscade.
The Maison-Blanche stood in a tiny valley between a sharp declivity and a rise in the ground.

A little rivulet without a name flowed past the corner of the garden and made its way to the Saone just above Challe.
Tall bushy trees followed the course of the little stream, and described a half-circle, inclosing the house on three sides.

The house itself was formerly an inn which proved unproductive to the innkeeper.

It had been closed for seven or eight years, and was beginning to fall into decay.
Before reaching it, the main road coming from Macon made a sharp turn.
Montbar examined the locality with the care of an engineer choosing his ground for a battlefield.