If by that hour the troops there have not set out, they will not arrive until after we have captured Saumur.
"Saunter along quietly.

There is no hurry." After they had set out he, too, strolled out of the town, kept along the road for another half mile, and then struck off across the fields towards the river.

Arrived there, he took off his heavy country shoes, tied them round his waist, and waded out into the river.

He had but some thirty yards to swim.

As soon as he reached the opposite bank, he poured the water out of his shoes, put them on again, and set out at a run.