The atrocities committed by the invaders, the destruction of every village, the clouds of smoke which ascended from the burning woods, created so terrible a scare among the peasants that the greater portion of the villages and farms were entirely deserted, and every road leading to Chollet, which was the rendezvous where the fighting men were ordered to gather, was crowded with fugitives.

Francois walked by the horse's head.
Patsey, the nurse, and the child, with a trunk containing articles of absolute necessity, occupied the cart.

Jean and Leigh rode ahead.
The company of Cathelineau's scouts no longer existed.

More than half of them had fallen in the late battles.

Their services were no longer required as scouts, and the survivors had joined their fathers and brothers, and formed part of the command of Bonchamp.
On the fourteenth of October the enemy's columns were closing in upon Chollet.