About eight o'clock in the evening
Believe me , whoever he may be , this man is no soldier . '' De Lescure was , perhaps , right in the character which he attributed to the Captain of La Petite Vendée ; but the band of men which that mysterious leader now commanded , held its ground in Brittany long after the Vendean armies were put down in Poitou and Anjou . They then became known by another name , and the Chouan bands for years carried on a fearful war against the government in that part of the province which is called the Morbihan . About eight o'clock in the evening , Henri and Arthur Mondyon returned to the house , after a long day 's work , and were the first to bring new tidings both of the blues and their new ally , the Mad Captain . A portion of the republican army had advanced as far as Antrâmes , within a league or two of Laval ; and they had hardly taken up their quarters in the town , before they were attacked , routed , and driven out of it by the men of La Petite Vendée . Many hundreds of the republicans had been slaughtered , and those who had escaped , carried to the main army an exaggerated account of the numbers , daring , and cruelty of the Breton rebels . `` Whoever he is , '' said Henri , in answer to a question from his sister , `` he is a gallant fellow , and I shall be glad to give him my hand .