Paris (France) -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction; Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction
"At this we moved away, and he hurried us along the Rue d’Enfer past the
Observatory. A little further he struck hastily to the left into the
Rue Notre Dame des Champs. By the Rue de Cimetière, along past the
Nouvelle Foire St. Germain, he hurried us, and hardly gave us leave to
breathe until we came out amongst the trampled gardens and tall alleys
of box back of the Luxembourg. Never pausing, he wound in and out,
until by these roundabout ways he came forth into the Rue Vaugirard. As
we went across the great ruined gardens, a few people scattered among
the parterres looked at us, as if curious, and whispered to one another.
Our thief was still in great haste.
"’Must I get you a grand carriage to help you?’ he cried. ’Get on,
aristocrat! Soon the Republic will give you a carriage; come along.
Make haste, or we are lost,’ he added in a lower voice.
"’What the deuce is it?’ said the Duke. The thief’s uneasiness was
visible enough.
"’_Mille tonnerres_! Duke,’ said the thief; ’that child of Satan at the
barrier knew me.’
"’And what then?’
"’Now he does not know me.’
"’_Mon Dieu!_’ exclaimed the Duke. ’You are a brave _garçon_.’
"As we entered the Rue de Varennes, an old woman glared at the false
municipal, crying out, ’Thy day is over, accursed!’ She shook her fist
at him. Not understanding, we hurried on. As I looked back, her gray
hair was hanging about her; she stood at the wayside, shaking her
upraised hands. I could not comprehend what it meant.
"Here, as we went on, for the first time we met great numbers of people,
all coming from the river. A few were talking in suppressed voices; and
some, turning, stared after us as we went by. Most were silent, as
folks not often are in France. At one place it was not easy to get on
as fast as our thief desired. In place of quickly making way for an
officer, as was usual in those days, the people in our path jostled the
municipal, or made room sullenly. At last François cried out to some
young fellows who blocked our way, ’Let these suspects go by, citizens;
they are under arrest.’ This was like a spark to powder. A woman cried
out, ’Poor children! Are they yours, Citoyenne?’ My mother,
bewildered, said, ’Yes, yes.’ Then a young man near me shouted, ’Down
with tyrants!’ Our thief was puzzled. ’Hold, there!’ he cried. ’What
is this?’ ’Down with the Terror! Robespierre is dead.’ And as if it
were a signal, the great crowd, ever increasing, cried out, ’He is dead!
Robespierre is dead!’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account