The whole place
was in the utmost confusion: the men were hurrying to and fro, hardly
knowing what they were doing or going to do: the most ardent of them
were already a quarter of a mile advanced on the road to Saumur; others
were still following them; those who knew that they should have stayed
quiet during the night, were in the utmost distress; they did not know
whether to support their comrades, or to remain where they were.
"'What ails them, Peter?" said Cathelineau, catching hold of the arm of
a man who had followed him from St. Florent, "if they advance they will
be destroyed at Varin;" and as he spoke, he leapt upon the top of one
of the waggons laden with provisions, which had come from Durbelliere.
It was a beautiful warm evening in June, and the air was heavy with the
sweet scent of the flowering hedges; it was now nearly nine o'clock, and
the sun had set; but the whole western horizon was gorgeous with the
crimson streaks which accompanied its setting. Standing in the waggon,
Cathelineau could see the crowds of hurrying royalists rushing along the
road, wherever the thick foliage of trees was sufficiently broken to
leave any portion of it visible, and he could hear the eager hum of
their voices both near him and at a distance.
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