It is two o'clock in the afternoon and the upper class is busy with end of year composition papers while M Seurel writes problems on the blackboard. The classroom smells of grilled herrings and burnt wool from the stove, and a restless murmuring fills the air. Sitting near the large windows, François watches the frosty landscape outside with growing anxiety because Augustin Meaulnes has not returned from the midday break. François suspects that Meaulnes has slipped away across the stream to the nearby farm of La Belle Etoile to borrow a horse and carriage.
Through the window, François observes the preparations at the farm. He watches the shafts of a cart disappear and then sees the mare emerge from the entrance with a second seat attached for travelers. A dark figure holding the reins casually in a peasant fashion reveals itself as Meaulnes. After the vehicle passes out of sight for a moment, two men at the gate realize something is amiss and call out while one begins to run in pursuit. At that exact moment, Meaulnes abandons his casual posture, stands tall on the front of the cart like a charioteer, and urges his horse forward at full speed toward the road.
As M Seurel finishes writing the math problems and cleans his hands of chalk, three voices from the back of the room suddenly shout out that the grand Meaulnes has gone. Immediately afterward, a man in a blue blouse bursts through the classroom door to ask if permission was granted for the student to take the carriage to Vierzon to fetch the teacher's parents. Confusion erupts in the classroom as the boys rush to the doors and windows to watch, but Meaulnes has successfully vanished. M Seurel instructs François to go to the station with Mouchebœuf to intercept Meaulnes, who does not know the way and risks getting lost, while townspeople begin to gather outside in the street.