in the fields; and he passed two chateaux which were now but empty
shells. As soon as he had crossed into his own estates he found
the houses entirely deserted; no man, woman, nor child was to be
seen; no animals grazed in the fields, and the little stacks of
hay and straw had been carried away.

"It is evident," he said to Paolo, "that MacIntosh has called all
the tenantry into the chateau; had they joined the insurgents the
women and children would still be here."

As they ascended the steep hill on whose brow the chateau stood,
he could make out that there were a number of men posted upon the
walls.

"He is evidently determined that he will not be caught napping,
Paolo, and all the peasants of Poitou could not take the place
unless they were well provided with cannon."

The chateau, indeed, still retained the characteristics of a castle.
The site had evidently been selected with a sole eye to defence;
the hill on which it stood fell abruptly away on three sides, and
could hardly be attacked except in front. Here a plateau extended
some three or four hundred yards long and upwards of a hundred
yards across. A wall with flanking turrets had been a sufficient
defence on the other three sides, but here there was a strong
tower on each flank, and also on each side of the central gate. The
walls inclosed a space of some two acres, in the centre of which
stood the castle. This had been to some extent modernized --
windows having taken the place of loopholes in the upper floors,
while those looking into the inner courtyard extended to the