We cannot sit quietly, and hear of murder so close at hand.

I see no prospect of rescuing the unfortunates from the prison at Niort; and it would be madness, with our small force, to attack a walled city; but I leave you free to do what may seem best to you, warning you only against undertaking any desperate enterprise.
"Philip will, of course, ride with you." "Shall we ring the alarm bell, mother ?" "No; it is better not to disturb the tenantry, unless on very grave occasion.

Take the fifty men-at-arms, your own men, and Philip's.
Sixty will be ample for dispersing disorderly mobs; while a hundred would be of no use to you, against the armed forces of the town and the garrison of two hundred men." In a quarter of an hour, the troop started.

All knew the errand on which they were bent, and the journey was performed at the highest speed of which the horses were capable.
"They can have a good, long rest when they get there," Francois said to Philip; "and half an hour, earlier or later, may mean the saving or losing of fifty lives.

The mob will have been feasting, and exulting over the slaying of so many Huguenots, until late last night; and will not be astir early, this morning.