“Go on, then, Remy.”

They turned to the left, taking a road hardly made, but which visibly led to Villebrock; Henri also quitted the road, and turned down the lane, still keeping his distance from them.

Remy’s disquietude showed itself in his constantly turning to look behind him.  At last they arrived at Villebrock.  Of 200 houses which this village contained, not one was inhabited; some forgotten dogs and lost cats ran wildly about the solitude, the former calling for their masters by long howls.  Remy knocked at twenty doors, but found no one.  Henri on his side, who seemed the shadow of the travelers, knocked at the first house as uselessly as they had done, then, divining that the war was the cause of this desertion, waited to continue his journey until the travelers should have decided what to do.

They fed their horses with some corn which they found in an inn, and then Remy said—­

“Madame, we are no longer in a friendly country, nor in an ordinary situation; we must not expose ourselves uselessly.  We shall certainly fall in with some French, Spanish, or Flemish band, for in the present state of Flanders, adventures of all kinds must be rife.  If you were a man I should speak differently; but you are a young and beautiful woman, and would run a double risk for life and honor.”

“My life is nothing,” said she.

“On the contrary, madame, it is everything.  You live for a purpose.”

“Well, then, what do you propose?  Think and act for me, Remy.”

“Then, madame, let us remain here.  I see many houses which would afford us a sure shelter.  I have arms, and we will defend or hide ourselves, as we shall be strong or weak.”

“No, Remy, no, I must go on; nothing must stop me; and if I had fears, they would be for you.”

“We will go on then.”

They rode on, therefore, without another word, and Henri du Bouchage followed.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

The water.

As the travelers advanced, the country took an equally strange aspect, for it was utterly deserted, as well as the towns and villages.  Nowhere were the calves to be seen grazing in the meadows, nor the goat perched on the top of the mountain, or nibbling the green shoots of the brier or young vine; nowhere the shepherd with his flock; nowhere the cart with its driver; no foreign merchant passing from one country to another with his pack on his back; no plowman singing his harsh song or cracking his long whip.  As far as the eye could see over the magnificent plains, the little hills and the woods, not a human figure was to be seen, not a voice to be heard.  It seemed like the earth before the creation of animals or men.  The only people who animated this dreary solitude were Remy and his companion, and Henri following behind and preserving ever the same distance.  The night came on dark and cold, and the northeast wind whistled in the air, and filled the solitude with its menacing sound.