God's thunder! if I meet the Gars I'll fight
him hand to hand, or my name's not Hulot; for if that fox brings him
before me in any of their new-fangled councils of war, my honor will
be as soiled as the shirt of a young trooper who is under fire for the
first time."
The massacre at La Vivetiere, and the desire to avenge his friends had
led Hulot to accept a reinstatement in his late command; in fact, the
new minister, Berthier, had refused to accept his resignation under
existing circumstances. To the official despatch was added a private
letter, in which, without explaining the mission of Mademoiselle de
Verneuil, the minister informed him that the affair was entirely
outside of the war, and not to interfere with any military operations.
The duty of the commanders, he said, was limited to giving assistance
to that honorable /citoyenne/, if occasion arose. Learning from his
scouts that the movements of the Chouans all tended towards a
concentration of their forces in the neighborhood of Fougeres, Hulot
secretly and with forced marches brought two battalions of his brigade
into the town. The nation's danger, his hatred of aristocracy, whose
partisans threatened to convulse so large a section of country, his
desire to avenge his murdered friends, revived in the old veteran the
fire of his youth.
* * * * *
"So this is the life I craved," exclaimed Mademoiselle de Verneuil,
when she was left alone with Francine.
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