"They are, good old man; they are; I have seen them at work."
"The Bagauders are, then, numerous armed troops?"
"Karadeucq, my pet, do not excite yourself--listen without interrupting."
"Bad boy, he can only think of battles, revolts and adventures!"
And the poor woman added in a low voice in Araim's ear:
"Was there any occasion for the peddler to mention such matters before my son? Alas! I told you so, father, it is an ill wind that blew this man into our house."
"Do you think him in league with the Dus and Korrigans, Madalen?"
"What I believe is, father, that a misfortune threatens this house. I wish this night were over, and it were to-morrow!"
And the alarmed mother sighed while the peddler answered Karadeucq, who hung upon the stranger's words:
"The new Bagauders, my brave lad, are what the old ones were. Terrible to the oppressors, kind to the people."
"Whether they love them! Aëlian and Aman, the two chiefs of the first Bagaudy who were put to death nearly two centuries ago in an old Roman castle near Paris, at the confluence of the Seine and the Marne--Aëlian and Aman are to this day loved by the people as martyrs!"
"Ah! Theirs is a happy fate! To be still loved by the people after two centuries! Did you hear that, grandfather?"
"Yes, I did, and so did your mother--see how sad she looks."
But the "bad boy," as the poor woman called him, already seeming in thought to be running the Bagaudy, cast inquisitive and ardent looks at the peddler, and asked:
"Did you ever see the Bagauders? Were there many of them? Had they already run any raids against the Franks and bishops? Is it long since you saw them?"
"Three weeks ago, on my way hither, as I crossed Anjou. One day I missed my road in the forest. Night fell upon me. After having walked a long, long while, and going astray ever deeper in the woods, I noticed at a distance a bright light that issued from a cavern. I ran thither. There I found about a hundred lusty Bagauders. They were resting around a fire with their Bagaudines, because you must know that they are generally accompanied by determined women. A few nights before, they had made a descent upon some Frankish seigneurs, our conquerors, and attacked their 'burgs' as the barbarians term their castles. The Bagauders fought furiously and without neither mercy or pity; they pillaged churches and episcopal villas, exacted ransom from the bishops, hung from the trees the most perverse of the priests who fell into their hands, rifled the coffers of the royal tax-collectors, and slew whatever Frank came in their way. But, as fast as they took from the rich, they gave to the poor. They generously distributed among these the plunder of the rich prelates and Frankish counts, and set free all the chained slaves whom they found. Ah! By Aëlian and Aman, the patrons of the Bagauders, the life of those gay and brave fellows is a noble and happy one. Had I not been on my way to Britanny in order to see my old mother once more, I would have then and there joined them in running the Bagaudy in Anjou and the contiguous provinces."