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Evidently the Count had departed somewhere with all his train,

and in a great hurry, for he had left the doors open. It was

evident that he had been arming himself; on the floor lay

double-barrelled muskets and carbines, besides ramrods and

gunhammers and locksmith's tools with which they had been

repairing the arms. There were also gunpowder and paper; they had

been making cartridges. Had the Count gone hunting with all his

train? But why should he take hand arms? Here lay a rusty,

hiltless sabre, there a sword with no belt; they must have been

selecting weapons from this rubbish, and have ransacked even the

old armouries. Robak surveyed with care the guns and swords, and

then went out to the farmhouse to explore, looking for servants

of whom he might inquire about the Count. In the deserted

farmhouse he at length found two peasant women, from whom he

learned that the master and his whole household had departed in a

body, armed, along the road to Dobrzyn.