Villegagnon | Page 5

am off guard I will accompany you, my good kinsman, and will
assist you in procuring a horse," was the answer.
Nigel gladly accepted Leslie's offer, and the two Scotchmen set forth
together. Nigel, being totally ignorant of the city, had no notion in what
direction they were going. They were passing through the Rue Saint
Antoine, when they saw before them a large crowd thronging round a
party of troopers and a body of men-at-arms, who were escorting
between them several persons, their hands bound behind their backs,
and mostly without hats, the soldiers urging them on with the points of
their swords or pikes; Nigel also observed among them three or four
women, who were treated with the same barbarous indignity as the
men.
"Who are those unhappy people?" he asked.
"Heretics on their way to prison, to be burnt, probably, in a few days
for the amusement of the king, who, ambitious of surpassing his sister
sovereign, Queen Mary of England, and to exhibit his love for religion,
manages to put to death ten times as many as she ventures to send to
the stake, unless they recant, when they will have the honour of being
strangled or hung instead," answered Leslie, in a nonchalant tone. "He
and his counsellors are determined to extirpate heresy; but as the
Protestants are numbered by hundreds of thousands, and as there are a
good many men of high rank and wealth among them, his Majesty has

undertaken a difficult task."
"I pray that he may alter his mind, or fail in the attempt," exclaimed
Nigel, indignantly.
"I may whisper amen; although, as the foolish people bring the
punishment on their own heads, I am not inclined to throw down the
gauntlet in their cause, and must e'en do my duty and carry out the
orders of the master whose bread I eat," said Leslie.
Nigel did not reply, but he felt more than ever determined not to take
service on shore, however tempting the offers he might receive. Leslie
told him that of late years, throughout France, many hundreds, nay,
thousands of persons, after being broken on the wheel, or having had
their tongues cut out, or being tortured in some other way, had been
burnt at the stake for their religious opinions; but that, notwithstanding,
the Protestants increased in numbers, and that, for his part, though
himself a faithful son of the Church, he thought that a wiser plan might
have been adopted.
"For my part, I believe that had not the Pope and the priests and monks
interfered, and worked up some of our fanatic nobles and the ignorant
populace to persecute their fellow-countrymen, they might have lived
together on friendly terms; and, for the life of me, I cannot see why
people should not be allowed to worship God according to the dictates
of their consciences," added the shrewd Scotchman, with a shrug of his
shoulders.
Nigel, who had only heard rumours of such proceedings, felt his blood
boil with indignation, and instinctively touching the hilt of his sword,
he vowed that he was ready to do battle in the cause of justice and
humanity. His kinsman, who saw the act, smiled; and divining his
thoughts, said, "Let me advise you to avoid interference in quarrels not
your own, unless you receive a due recompense in pay, and then the
less you trouble yourself about the rights of the case the better. Come
along. The first thing we are to do is to look out for your steed. Honest
Jacques Cochut will supply you with one which will bear you from one
end of France to the other, and an attendant to bring the animal back. It

will be more economical than purchasing a horse, unless you have a
long journey to make."
Nigel accompanied his friend to the stables of Jacques Cochut, to
whom Leslie was well known. A strong and active steed was soon
engaged, with the promise that it should be ready at the door of the
hostelry at an early hour next morning.
Leslie, leaving Nigel at the Angel inn, returned to his duty at the palace,
while the latter, having ordered his supper, retired to his room to think
over the events of the day.
It is needless to say that Constance de Tourville frequently recurred to
his thoughts. He had heard enough to make him understand the
dangerous position of the Protestants in France, even of the highest
rank, and the fearful persecutions to which all classes were exposed.
From the remarks Constance had made, it was evident that she herself
was exposed to much annoyance, if not danger, even within the
precincts of the palace, and he earnestly hoped that he might have an
opportunity of speaking to her father, and obtaining