These words made the squire turn pale. He was afraid to trust himself, alone, inside the walls of the chateau court-yard, but he was ashamed to own it—ashamed that his own men should see his fear, or that Michol should see it. And so, out of very cowardice and fear of mockery, he did a thing which was exceedingly brave, and entered by the wicket in the gate, which Michol opened for him.
Inside the court and in the chateau, the squire saw, as Michol was very glad to have him see, hundreds of _cotereaux_, well armed, and in a good state of discipline, and he felt sure, at last, that the tale he had been told was true.
The articles he had been sent for were all delivered to him, and properly packed by Michol's men for conveyance on the baggage-horses that had been brought for the purpose. Then the goods were carried out, and the squire was allowed to depart, without hurt or hindrance.
Provisions were sent outside the gates for the squire and his men and horses, and that night they bivouacked by the roadside.
The next morning they rode back to Barran's castle, and the squire delivered to the Countess the property he had been sent for, and told the wonderful tale that the captain of the _cotereaux_ had instructed him to tell.
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THE news of the occupation of Viteau by a band of robbers, occasioned, as well might be supposed, the greatest astonishment at the castle of Barran. At first, every one, from the Lord of the castle to the lowest varlet, was loud in favor of an immediate march upon the scoundrels, with all the force that could be gathered together on the domain. But after Barran had held a consultation with the Countess, Hugo de Lannes, and the very sensible and prudent Bernard, he determined not to be too hasty in this important matter. If the story of the squire who had been sent to Viteau was true,—and there was no reason to doubt it,—it would require every fighting man on the estates of the Count de Barran to make up a force sufficiently strong to compel the _cotereaux_ to leave the chateau; and if this force should not be large enough to completely surround and invest the place, the captain of the robbers might make good his threat of burning the chateau and retreating to the forest, which he could probably reach in safety, if the retreat should be made in the night.