"Take them to the nearest hospital," cried Corentin.
Hulot took the spy by the arm with a grip that left the imprint of his
fingers on the flesh.
"Out of this camp!" he cried; "your business is done here. Look well
at the face of Commander Hulot, and never find yourself again in his
way if you don't want your belly to be the scabbard of his blade--"
And the older soldier flourished his sabre.
"That's another of the honest men who will never make their way," said
Corentin to himself when he was some distance from the guard-room.
The marquis was still able to thank his gallant adversary by a look
marking the respect which all soldiers feel for loyal enemies.
* * * * *
In 1827 an old man accompanied by his wife was buying cattle in the
market-place of Fougeres. Few persons remembered that he had killed a
hundred or more men, and that his former name was Marche-a-Terre. A
person to whom we owe important information about all the personages
of this drama saw him there, leading a cow, and was struck by his
simple, ingenuous air, which led her to remark, "That must be a worthy
man."
As for Cibot, otherwise called Pille-Miche, we already know his end.
It is likely that Marche-a-Terre made some attempt to save his comrade
from the scaffold; possibly he was in the square at Alencon on the
occasion of the frightful tumult which was one of the events of the
famous trial of Rifoel, Briond, and la Chanterie.
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