their hopes to me with the greatest innocence, and above all, their firm
determination to belong to what ever party got the upper hand. As we
drove into Orgon we saw at a glance that the whole town was simmering
with excitement. Everybody's face expressed anxiety. A man who, we were
told, was the mayor, was haranguing a group. As everyone was listening,
with the greatest attention, we drew near and asked them the cause of the
excitement.

"'Gentlemen,' said he, 'you ought to know the news: the king is in his
capital, and we have once more hoisted the white flag, and there has not
been a single dispute to mar the tranquillity of the day; one party has
triumphed without violence, and the other has submitted with resignation.
But I have just learned that a band of vagabonds, numbering about three
hundred, have assembled on the bridge over the Durance, and are preparing
to raid our little town to-night, intending by pillage or extortion to
get at what we possess. I have a few guns left which I am about to
distribute, and each man will watch over the safety of all.'

"Although he had not enough arms to go round, he offered to supply us,
but as I had my double-barrelled pistols I did not deprive him of his
weapons. I made the ladies go to bed, and, sitting at their door, tried
to sleep as well as I could, a pistol in each hand. But at every instant
the noise of a false alarm sounded through the town, and when day dawned
my only consolation was that no one else in Orgon had slept any better
than I.

"The next day we continued our journey to Tarascon, where new excitements
awaited us. As we got near the town we heard the tocsin clanging and
drums beating the generale. We were getting so accustomed to the uproar
that we were not very much astonished. However, when we got in we asked