the Jail was neared, a light pair of heels was frequently put in
requisition without the slightest ceremony. As might be supposed, the
number that finally reached their destination, was distressingly out of
proportion to the work to be done; and the Sheriff, after detaining them
for a time, was reported to have dismissed them with but scant
courtesy.

Bulletins meanwhile were issued daily and almost hourly, by the
physicians in attendance upon Mr. King, detailing his condition. They
were posted in conspicuous places, and were read and commented upon by
eager and excited crowds. The enlistments into the Vigilance Committee
were constantly going on. The French citizens held a meeting and
tendered their services to the Committee, and a battalion of three
hundred men was at once organized and armed. The Germans had no separate
organization, but were distributed in large numbers through the various
companies. Arms were collected from all quarters; cannon were obtained
from ships lying at the wharves or in the harbor; the gunsmiths shops
were thronged; dray loads of muskets and ammunition were taken to the
Jail and the Committee Rooms; armed men guarded and observed the Jail
night and day; and although every thing was done quietly, no person
could escape the conviction that an awful crisis was impending. In all
the streets men on foot and horseback were constantly passing and
repassing, apparently engaged in their ordinary pursuits; but a close
observer could detect by the interchange of a word, a motion, or a
significant glance, that they had a mutual understanding and a common
purpose, and were on the alert and quick and observant of all that was
passing.

On Saturday evening, May 17th, in consequence of a telegraphic dispatch
from Mayor Van Ness earnestly requesting his presence, Governor Johnson