the officer's orderly, then the two lads put on the Savoyard hats
they had carried under their cloaks. The officer took two packets
from his holster.

"The colonel bade me give this to you at starting," he said. "He
thought that after a long walk on foot you would want some slight
refreshment before the inns were open in the morning."

"Will you please give him my hearty thanks for his thoughtfulness,"
Hector said, "and accept the same yourself for your courtesy in
escorting me."

"Now we are fairly on our way, Paolo," he went on as he turned
down the lane, for it was little more; "this package is a bottle
of wine, and the one that I have handed to you contains the eatables."

"That is good, master. We shall find it pretty cold before morning,
and there is nothing like a good meal to warm one up again."

"Did you get the bow and arrows at Chivasso?"

"Yes, sir. I went out and bought them as soon as we got there. I
wanted them, I told the man, for a boy of ten years old, but all
he had were a good deal too long, which I was glad of, for a child's
bow would hardly have been strong enough, so I made him cut one
down until it was not more than three feet long. That way I shall
be able, as we agreed, to carry it under my doublet. Of course it
will make me walk stiffly, and there will be no possibility of
sitting down, but that matters not at all. It is all the stronger,
and will send an arrow a good distance. I have got six arrows as