Here their approach bad been watched for or had been already reported.

Jean saw men, women, children peeping from behind cabins and from half-opened doors.
Farther on Jean espied the dark figures of men, slipping out the back way through orchards and gardens and running north, toward the center of the village.

Could these be friends of the Jorth crowd, on the way with warnings of the approach of the Isbels?
Jean felt convinced of it.

He was learning that his father had not been absolutely correct in his estimation of the way Jorth and his followers were regarded by their neighbors.

Not improbably there were really many villagers who, being more interested in sheep raising than in cattle, had an honest leaning toward the Jorths.