They were for Amiens to spread the good news." "Had they a priest with them ?" "Ay, a Jacobin monk, who cried on them to hasten and not spare their horses.

He said there was much to do in the north." "I think the holy man spoke truth," said Gaspard, and they rode into open country.
They broke their fast on black bread and a cup of wine at the first inn, where a crowd of frightened countrymen were looking in the direction of Paris.

It was now about seven o'clock, and a faint haze, which promised heat, cloaked the ground.

From it rose the towers and high-peaked roofs of the city, insubstantial as a dream.
"Eaucourt by the waters!" sighed Gaspard.

"That the same land should hold that treasure and this foul city!" Their horses, rested and fed, carried them well on the north road, but by ten o'clock they had overtaken no travellers, save a couple of servants, on sorry nags, who wore the Vidame of Amiens' livery.