When he rose two men seized him roughly.
"Ah, no foolishness," he said quickly. "It is I, Bavois."
This did not cause them to relax their hold.
"How does it happen," demanded one, in a threatening tone, "that Baron
d'Escorval falls and you succeed in making the descent in safety a few
moments later?"
The old soldier was too shrewd not to understand the whole import of
this insulting question.
The sorrow and indignation aroused within him gave him strength to free
himself from the hands of his captors.
"_Mille tonnerres_!" he exclaimed; "so I pass for a traitor, do I! No,
it is impossible--listen to me."
Then rapidly, but with surprising clearness, he related all the details
of his escape, his despair, his perilous situation, and the almost
insurmountable obstacles which he had overcome. To hear was to believe.
The men--they were, of course, the retired army officers who had
been waiting for the baron--offered the honest corporal their hands,
sincerely sorry that they had wounded the feelings of a man who was so
worthy of their respect and gratitude.
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