Colet,
a light man and well mounted, was after him in a trice, and we
heard them go ding-dong, ding-dong, through the darkness for a
mile or more as it seemed to us. Then a sharp scream came
faintly down the wind.
"Good!" Parabere said cheerfully. "Let us be jogging." He had
tied his prisoner neck and knees over the saddle before him.
"You heard what he said?" I muttered, as we moved on.
"Perfectly," he answered in the same tone.
"And you think?"
"I think, Grand Master," he replied drily, "that the sooner you
are out of La Marche and Bareilles' government the longer you are
likely to live."
I was quite of that opinion myself, having drawn the same
inferences from the words the prisoner had uttered. But for the
moment I had no alternative save to go on, and put a bold face on
the matter; and accordingly I led the way forward at as fast a
pace as the darkness and the jaded state of our horses permitted.
Colet presently joined us, and half an hour later a bunch of
lights which appeared on the side of a hill in front proclaimed
that we were nearing Gueret.
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