arm, and a clear, deep, but low voice thrilled through his ear: "Obey!
I warned you. No fight to-day. Time not ripe. All that is needed is
done--do not undo it. Hist! the _sergens de ville_ are force enough to
disperse the swarm of those gnats. Behind the _sergens_ come soldiers
who will not fraternise. Lose not one life to-day. The morrow when we
shall need every man--nay, every _gamin_--will dawn soon. Answer not.
Obey!" The same strong hand quitting its hold on Monnier, then seized
Rameau by the wrist, and the same deep voice said, "Come with me."
Rameau, turning in amaze, not unmixed with anger, saw beside him a tall
man with sombrero hat pressed close over his head, and in the blouse of a
labourer, but through such disguise he recognized the pale grey whiskers
and green spectacles of Lebeau. He yielded passively to the grasp that
led him away down the deserted street at the angle.

At the further end of that street, however, was heard the steady thud of
hoofs.

"The soldiers are taking the mob at its rear," said Lebeau, calmly; "we
have not a moment to lose--this way," and he plunged into a dismal court,
then into a labyrinth of lanes, followed mechanically by Rameau. They
issued at last on the Boulevards, in which the usual loungers were
quietly sauntering, wholly unconscious of the riot elsewhere. "Now, take
that _fiacre_ and go home; write down your impressions of what you have
seen, and take your MS. to M. de Mauleon." Lebeau here quitted him.

Meanwhile all happened as Lebeau had predicted. The _sergens de ville_
showed themselves in front of the barricades, a small troop of mounted
soldiers appeared in the rear. The mob greeted the first with yells and
a shower of stones; at the sight of the last they fled in all directions;
and the _sergens de ville_, calmly scaling the barricades, carried off in