Into this he put the letters he had brought, and it re-ascended; after waiting a reasonable time, the silent messenger returned, and from it a precious packet was taken; nothing was said, the _conducteur_ resumed his seat on the box, the horses were urged onwards, and we rattled forward on our way to Poitiers.
Mirebeau, though now an insignificant bourg, was formerly a place of some consequence.

Its chateau was built by Foulques Nera, the redoubted Count of Anjou; and here, in 1202, Elionor of Aquitaine sustained a siege directed against her by the partisans of the Count of Bretagne, her grandson.

Close by is a village, the lord of which had an hereditary privilege sufficiently ludicrous.
It appears that at Puy Taille there must have been a remarkable number of serpents, who refused to listen to the voice of the charmer until the lord of the castle, _wiser_ than any other exorciser, took them in hand.
He was accustomed, at a certain period, to set forth in state, and, placing himself at a spot where he presumed he should be heard, raised his voice, and, in an authoritative tone, commanded the refractory animals to quit his estates.

Not one dared to refuse; and great was the rustling, and hissing, and sliding, and coiling as the serpentine nation prepared to _demenager_, much against their inclination no doubt, but forced, by a power they could not withstand, to obey.

None of these creatures interrupted our route, although there has long ceased to be a lord at Puy Taille, and we arrived before day-break safely at the Hotel de France, at Poitiers..