Jack, with his two troopers, rode away from the hospitable cottage of the priest in high spirits.

He determined to avoid Saragossa, as he was not charged with any direct mission from the earl, and wished, therefore, to avoid any official intercourse with the leaders of the province.

As soon as the marshal had marched, the people there had risen, had driven out the small French garrison left, and had resumed the management of their own affairs.

Jack learned, however, that the city had not formally declared for King Charles.

As the priest had told him would be the case, Jack encountered no bodies of armed men during the day; the country had a peaceful aspect, the peasants were working in the fields, and at the villages through which he passed the English uniforms excited a feeling of curiosity rather than of interest.