By this time the wine was finished.  The next day they again saw horsemen in the distance, but remained in hiding till they had disappeared in the afternoon.  They then went into a village, but scarcely had they proceeded up the street when the doors were opened, and from every house men rushed out armed with flails, clubs, and axes, and fell upon them furiously, shouting “Death to the robbers!”

They had evidently received warning that a band of plunderers were approaching, and everything had been prepared for them.  The band fought stoutly, but they were greatly outnumbered, and, as but few of them carried firearms, they had no great advantage in weapons.  Charlie and Stanislas, finding that their lives were at stake, were forced to take part in the fray, and both were with the survivors of the band, who at last succeeded in fighting their way out of the village, leaving half their number behind them, while some twenty of the peasants had fallen.

Reduced now to twelve men and the captain, they thought only of pushing forward, avoiding all villages, and only occasionally visiting detached houses for the sake of obtaining flour.  The country became more thinly populated as they went on, and there was a deep feeling of satisfaction when, at length, their leader pointed to a belt of trees in the distance, and said: 

“That is the beginning of the forest.  A few miles farther, and we shall be well within it.”

By nightfall they felt, for the first time since they had set out on their journey, that they could sleep in safety.  A huge fire was lit, for the nights were now becoming very cold, and snow had fallen occasionally for the last four or five days, and in the open country was lying some inches deep.  The next day they journeyed a few miles farther, and then chose a spot for the erection of a hut.  It was close to a stream, and the men at once set to work, with axes, to fell trees and clear a space.

It was agreed that the captain and two of the men, of the most pacific demeanour, should go to the nearest town, some forty miles away, to lay in stores.  They were away five days, and then returned with the welcome news that a cart, laden with flour and a couple of barrels of spirits, was on a country track through the forest a mile and a half away.

“How did you manage, captain?” Charlie asked.

“We went to the house of a well-to-do peasant, about a mile from the borders of the wood.  I told him frankly that we belonged to a band who were going to winter in the forest, that we would do him no harm if he would give us his aid, but that if he refused he would soon have his place burnt over his head.  As we said we were ready to pay a fair sum for the hire of his cart, he did not hesitate a moment about making the choice.  The other two remained at his cottage, so as to keep his family as hostages for his good faith, and I went with him to the town, where we bought six sacks of good flour and the two barrels of spirits.  We got a few other things—­cooking pots and horns, and a lot of coarse blankets, and a thick sheepskin coat for each man.  They are all in the car.  I see that you have got the hut pretty nearly roofed in, so, in a day or two, we shall be comfortable.”