About three o'clock
Henri 's first care , after having seen Marie and Madame de Lescure , was to provide for their transit , and that of his wounded friend , to the other side of the water ; for he felt that if the blues came upon St. Florent before that was done , nothing could prevent the three from being made prisoners . No tidings had yet been received of the advance of the republicans from Cholet towards St. Florent , and the precautions which Henri had taken were such as to ensure him some few hours ' notice of their approach . He knew , however , that those hours would be hours of boundless confusion ; that the whole crowd of unfortunate wretches who might then still be on the southern side of the river , would crowd into the small boats , hurrying themselves and each other to destruction ; that discipline would be at an end , and that all his authority would probably be insufficient to secure a passage for his party . About three o'clock he sent word to Arthur to have the strongest of the boats kept in readiness a little lower down the river than the usual point of embarkation ; so that they might , if possible , escape being carried through the throng . He then procured a waggon into which de Lescure was lifted on his bed ; his wife sat behind him , supporting his head on her lap , and Henri and his sister walked beside the vehicle down to the water 's edge . The little Chevalier was there with the boat , and he had with him two men , neither of whom were young , and who had been at work the whole day ferrying over the Vendeans to the island . Arthur 's figure was hardly that of an aide-de-camp .