Count Hannibal

"The little fool!" she murmured pettishly. "Does she think that I am to

be murdered that she may fatten on sighs? Oh, come up, Madame, you must

be dragged out of this!" And she started briskly towards the alders,

intent on gaining company as quickly as possible.

She had gone about fifty yards, and had as many more to traverse when she

halted. A man, bent double, was moving stealthily along the farther side

of the brook, a little in front of her. Now she saw him, now she lost

him; now she caught a glimpse of him again, through a screen of willow

branches. He moved with the utmost caution, as a man moves who is

pursued or in danger; and for a moment she deemed him a peasant whom the

bathers had disturbed and who was bent on escaping. But when he came

opposite to the alder-bed she saw that that was his point, for he

crouched down, sheltered by a willow, and gazed eagerly among the trees,

always with his back to her; and then he waved his hand to some one in

the wood.

Madame St. Lo drew in her breath. As if he had heard the sound--which

was impossible--the man dropped down where he stood, crawled a yard or

two on his face, and disappeared.

Madame stared a moment, expecting to see him or hear him. Then, as

nothing happened, she screamed. She was a woman of quick impulses,

essentially feminine; and she screamed three or four times, standing

where she was, her eyes on the edge of the wood. "If that does not bring

her out, nothing will!" she thought.

It brought her. An instant, and the Countess appeared, and hurried in

dismay to her side.

"What is it?" the younger woman asked, glancing over her shoulder; for

all the valley, all the hills were peaceful, and behind Madame St. Lo--but

the lady had not discovered it--the servants who had returned were laying

the meal. "What is it?" she repeated anxiously.

"Who was it?" Madame St. Lo asked curtly. She was quite calm now.

"Who was--who?"

"The man in the wood?"

The Countess stared a moment, then laughed. "Only the old soldier they

call Badelon, gathering simples. Did you think that he would harm me?"

"It was not old Badelon whom I saw!" Madame St. Lo retorted. "It was a

younger man, who crept along the other side of the brook, keeping under

cover. When I first saw him he was there," she continued, pointing to

the place. "And he crept on and on until he came opposite to you. Then

he waved his hand."

"To me?"

Madame nodded.

"But if you saw him, who was he?" the Countess asked.

"I did not see his face," Madame St. Lo answered. "But he waved to you.

That I saw."