II.


At three o'clock in the afternoon there was a dense group of linesmen
and Nationals in one of the streets bordering on the Elysée-Montmartre.
The person who told us this did not recollect the name of the street,
but men were eagerly haranguing the crowd, talking of General Lecomte,
and his having twice ordered the troops to fire upon the citizen
militia.

"And what he did was right," said an old gentleman who was listening.

Words that were no sooner uttered than they provoked a torrent of curses
and imprecations from the by-standers. But he continued observing that
General Lecomte had only acted under the orders of his superiors; being
commanded to take the guns and to disperse the crowd, his only duty was
to obey.

These remarks being received in no friendly spirit, hostility to the
stranger increased, when a vivandière approached, and looking the
gentleman who had exposed himself to the fury of the mob full in the
face, exclaimed, "It is Clément Thomas!" And in truth it was General
Clément Thomas; he was not in uniform. A torrent of abuse was poured
forth by a hundred voices at once, and the anger of the crowd seemed
about to extend itself to violence, when a ruffian cried out: "You
defend the rascal Lecomte! Well, we'll put you both together, and a
pretty pair you'll be!" and this project being approved of, the General