Lagardere patted him on the back. "Good lad," he said, and the boy darted
from his side and disappeared into the darkness.
Lagardere turned to the duke. "There is no chance of escaping now without
a scuffle," he said; "we must fight it out as well as we can. You and I,
duke, ought not to think it a great matter to handle ten rascals apiece
in this fighting-place, if only we intrench ourselves properly."
As he spoke he laid his precious bundle reverently in the hay-cart, where
it seemed to sleep as peacefully as if it were in its native cradle, and
began piling up the great masses of the bundles of hay in front of him to
form a kind of rampart.