Perhaps we may afterwards be charged with starting at shadows; but it is better to be on the alert from the moment the shadow is perceived than to wait until the substance itself has overwhelmed us." It sounded so very much as if the Seneschal's words really had some hidden meaning, that d'Aubran, if not content with going upon an errand of which he knew so little, was, at least, reconciled to obey the orders he received.

He uttered words that conveyed some such idea to Tressan's mind, and within a half-hour he was marching out of Grenoble with beating drums, on his two days' journey to Montelimar..