followers, a full hundred strong sprang after him to the charge.

"Fire!" commanded the Captain, and from the front line of his
company fifty sheets of flame flashed from fifty carbines.

The mob paused; for a second it wavered; then before the smoke had
lifted it broke, and shrieking in terror, it fled for cover, leaving
the valorous Souvestre alone, to revile them for a swarm of cowardly
rats.

The Captain put his hands to his sides and laughed till the tears
coursed down his cheeks. Checking his mirth at last, he called to
Souvestre, who was retreating in disgust and anger.

"Hi! My friend the patriot! Are you still of the same mind or will
you withdraw your people?"

"We will not withdraw," answered the giant sullenly. "You dare not
fire upon free citizens of the French Republic."

"Dare I not? Do you delude yourself with that, nor think that
because this time I fired over your heads I dare not fire into your
ranks. I give you my word that if I have to command my men to fire
a second time it shall not be mere make-believe, and I also give you
my word that if at the end of a minute I have not your reply and you
are not moving out of this - every rogue of you shall have a very
bitter knowledge of how much I dare."

Souvestre was headstrong and angry. But what can one man, however
headstrong and however angry, do against two hundred, when his own