But all were not yet departed; some still sat drinking or chatting at the supper tables; some danced in groups without any music to accompany them except the airs which they hummed or whistled themselves, for the orchestra had put up its instruments and gone also to its bed; and some, principally men, struggled and pushed in the _vestiaires_ to obtain cloaks, roquelaures, hats and riding hoods, and swords--which latter could not by law be worn in the ball-room. Mock harlequins jostled imitation Henrys of Navarre; mock monks swore at supposed Crusaders; minotaurs and cavaliers and priests all contended against one another for their and their female companions' wraps, and at the same time laughed and jested and proposed breakfasts at neighbouring taverns, or a visit to the gambling hells, which on such nights as these kept their doors perpetually open. Amidst all this confusion there ran through the whole place a rumour--a whisper, which reached first those in the _vestiaires_, and next the people at the supper tables--that those who so chose might yet finish their night's enjoyment with another spectacle--a grim and dismal but still enjoyable one--which was far better than any tavern breakfast or punting at the gaming table. "_Figurez-vous!_" screamed one reveller, a deformed creature by nature, who had, with true Parisian appreciation of ludicrousness, arrayed himself consequently as Venus--"_figurez-vous, mes enfants_, there are two for execution, although, _malheureusement_, but only one is to be broken. The other, they say--because, _peste!_ he is a _sal Anglais_ and also of high rank--escapes the wheel and is only to be decapitated. A curse upon the law, say I, that treats an Englishman better than us!" "_Ma petite Vénus de poche_," remarked another to him, clad as an arquebusier, "have a care how you curse the law; otherwise you may get broken yourself. There are plenty of police here in disguise, and if they hear you, that goodly hump of yours will stand a fine chance of being smashed by the executioner's bar. _Ma foi!_ the _coup de grâce_ is generally administered to the chest bone; with you, I presume, it will be administered on the _bosse_." "I spoke only in jest," exclaimed the deformed one, glancing round apprehensively; "I meant no harm. A good subject, I, of the King of France and all his ministers. But come, let us away. Who's for the Grève? _Mon Dieu!_ we must not miss the show!"