“Soldiers,” said the Admiral, “there are my plans, but I do not force you to obey me.  Those whose courage fails must stop behind and return to their homes, but I will march though not more than five hundred should follow my banner.  Think well before you agree.  The journey is long, perilous, and full of hardship.  We shall find few friends and many enemies; our provisions may fail, and Monseigneur will certainly send a strong army to bar our passage.  It is an undertaking for only the bravest; the weak-kneed will but hinder.”

“We will follow you to the death, my lord,” cried Felix impetuously, and thousands of voices took up the bold cry.

“I will ask you to-morrow,” said our chief; “for when once we have started I must have no faltering, nor turning back.”

That same evening Felix and I went over to the Englishmen’s camp.  I had expected to find some traces of excitement, and to hear them discussing whether they should embark on the hazardous venture.  Instead of that they were lounging about as carelessly as if we had Drought the war to a successful conclusion.

Roger came towards us smiling.  “Well,” said he, “your general has sprung a surprise on us!”

“Will your comrades go with us?” I asked.  “Have they talked the matter over yet?”

“What is there to talk over?  We are here to help, not to say what you shall do.  Of course we shall go.  One part of France is the same to us as another; but I fancy some of your own troops will elect to remain behind.”

“’Tis quite possible,” I replied.  “The venture is a daring one.”

“The majority will march,” declared Felix with enthusiasm; “a few of the southerners may prefer to guard their own districts, but that is all.  I knew Coligny had some gigantic scheme in his head, but never dreamed of this.  It is glorious; it will be the talk of Europe.”

“If it succeed,” said Roger drily, “it will matter little whether Europe talks or not; but in any case Coligny is staking everything on one throw.  If we get beaten, he cannot expect to raise another army.”

“Do not let us think of defeat,” I said, “and we shall stand a better chance of winning a victory.  There is no sense in gazing at the black clouds when we can as easily look at the bright sunshine.”

CHAPTER XIV

Scouting for Coligny

As Roger had prophesied, not all the Huguenot soldiers were prepared to follow their intrepid leader; but on that memorable April morning of 1570 we swung out from Nismes some five thousand strong, all horsemen, for Coligny had mounted the three thousand arquebusiers who formed the major part of our force.

The journey from Saintes to Narbonne had been tedious, and, because of the bitter winter cold, full of hardship, but we had not met with opposition.  Now we were launched straight into the midst of a hostile district filled with the king’s troops, and few days passed without some skirmish, in which, though petty enough, we could ill afford to engage.