The general was the first to discover the blunder of his men.
"Stop the firing!" he said to the captain who was still beside him; "those fools have dropped the prey for the shadow."
Just then a brilliant light shone from the crest of the rocky ridge overhanging the river; a sharp hiss sounded above the heads of the two officers, and a ball buried itself in the trunk of a tree beyond them.
"Ah ha!" exclaimed the general, coolly; "that rascal only asked for a dozen _Ave Marias_, but his friends are inclined to be liberal!"
Three or four more shots were now fired, and the balls ricochetted along the shore. One man cried out. Then, in a voice that overpowered the tumult, the general shouted:
"Bugles, sound the recall! and you, there, put out the torches!"
"Bring the other forty over at once; we shall need every man here in a minute."
The soldiers, startled by this night attack, clustered round their general. Five or six flashes, at rather long distances apart, shone from the crest of the ravine, and lit up momentarily the dark dome of the sky. A grenadier fell dead; the horse of a chasseur reared and fell over on his rider with a ball through his chest.
"Forward! a thousand thunders! forward!" cried the general, "and let's see if those night-hawks will dare to wait for us."
Putting himself at the head of his men he began to climb the slope of the ravine with such vigor that, in spite of the darkness which made the ascension difficult, and in spite of the balls which met them and brought down two more of his men, the little troop soon scaled the height. The enemy's fire stopped instantly, and though a few shaking furze-bushes still showed the recent presence of Chouans, it might be thought that the earth had opened and swallowed them up.
"Sad war! sad war!" muttered the general. "And now, of course, our whole expedition is a failure. No matter! better attempt it. Besides, Souday is on the road to Machecoul, and we can't rest our men short of Machecoul."
"But we want a guide, general," said the captain.
"Guide! Don't you see that light, a thousand feet off, over there?"
"Well, I see it. That light means a hut; a hut means a peasant; and whether that peasant be man, woman, or child, he or she shall be made to guide us through the forest."