“Thank you, sir, but I do not think that there is any necessity for it.  We are very well mounted, and should we see any party of the enemy’s cavalry I think that we ought to be able to outdistance them.  I shall be glad, colonel, if you and your officers will say nothing about the manner in which I communicated with the garrison, as doubtless the enemy have spies here; and if the story comes out and reaches the ears of the authorities at Turin, I should have no chance whatever of making my way in, in the same manner, should the general entrust me with another mission to communicate with the citadel.”

A quarter of an hour later Hector and Paolo mounted and rode out of the town.  They kept a vigilant lookout, and traveled by byroads, but they saw none of the enemy’s parties, and reached Susa late that afternoon.  On sending in his name to Turenne, Hector was at once shown into his room.

“I did not expect you back for another three or four days, Campbell,” the general said, “and I am heartily glad to see you again safe and sound.  I blamed myself for letting you go.  Of course, as I expected, you found the task an altogether impossible one.  Had it been otherwise you would not have been back so soon.”

“On the contrary, general, for I should have tried many plans before I gave it up.  As it is, I have only to report that I have carried out your instructions, and that your despatches are in the hands of the garrison of the citadel.”

“You do not say so!” Turenne said, rising from the table at which he had been sitting writing when Hector entered, and shaking him warmly by the hand.  “I congratulate both you and myself on your having performed a mission that seemed well nigh hopeless.  But by what miracle did you succeed in passing through the enemy’s lines?  All who have tried it before have either died in the attempt or have returned to tell me that it was an absolutely impossible one.”

“It would have been very difficult, general, had not the weather favoured us.  The snowstorm drove the sentries into shelter, and even had they remained at their posts they could not have seen us five yards away.”

“No, I can understand that once beyond the wall you might in such a storm make your way unnoticed up to the fortress; but I understood that not only were there guards on the walls and down near the great moat, but that there were also sentries in all the streets leading to the walls, and that none were allowed to pass along those leading to the walls facing the citadel.  Tell me how you managed it.”

“The story is a long one, sir.”

“Never mind how long it is; give me all details.  I am not particularly busy at present, and I would fain know exactly how this feat has been accomplished.”

Hector told his story at length.  Beyond asking a question now and then, Turenne remained silent until he had brought it to a conclusion.