We have seen that before the colonel's arrival the defenders numbered three hundred and twenty men, of whom sixty were veterans. Among these men about fifty were capable of serving the guns, having been artillerymen. The troop brought by the colonel consisted of three battalions, in all one thousand four hundred and fifty men, twenty-five artillerymen, and thirty dismounted horsemen; total, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five men, including officers. Provisions were the first question. The colonel, having learned the arrest of the mayor, summoned him into his presence, and soon heard the confession of the municipal magistrate. He gave him to understand that the proofs of his royalist intrigues were sufficient to justify his being shot there and then, and that the only means of avoiding this unpleasant necessity was to set about provisioning the city without a moment's delay. He added that he only commanded the vanguard of a _corps d'armée_, marching from Lyons in the rear of the enemy, while the Emperor was to take them in front: it was important therefore for the town of La Roche-Pont to be in a position to resist for some days, and if it were obliged to surrender for want of provisions, the Emperor's Government would lay blame on the mayor, as having an understanding with the enemy, and then it was all over with him. The poor mayor, more dead than alive, promised everything, and swore by all the saints that he was devoted to the Emperor, and that in four-and-twenty hours the fortress should be supplied with all the provisions that could be found in the neighbourhood. "I don't know what there may be in the neighbourhood," replied the colonel; "you probably _do_; but I have to tell you that by four o'clock to-morrow afternoon--it is now a quarter-past six--there must be on this spot, first, rations of meal, meat, and wine for a garrison of two thousand men for twenty-five days at least; secondly, the inhabitants of the town must also be provisioned for thirty days; and that if this is not done, I shall be unfortunately obliged to send you back to your place of confinement, where you will await the decision of the Emperor's Government; I am going to give you twenty men to accompany you and help you. Planton! ask the major to come here!" "But, colonel," said the mayor, "you must be aware that at this time of the year I shall have great difficulty--" "You prefer then to return to prison immediately?" interrupted the colonel. "Major!" said he when this officer was introduced, "Monsieur le maire de la Roche-Pont engages to provision the town within twenty-four hours. Here is a list of what is required. You will accompany him, and have twenty pressed men with you--thirty if you want them. You must begin at once. I wish you good luck, Monsieur le maire." Addressing himself to the major, while the mayor was retiring, pale and covered with perspiration, in spite of the cold: "Do not suffer