THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE: Say that I am going to speak to them! _(The GO-BETWEEN goes out on to the balcony. He can be seen bending over the rail and waving his arms. The TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE takes the arm of the HIGH PREFECT and walks across the hall with him, talking and gesturing._ THE MAN OUT OF OFFICE: See them! Not him! His Excellency the High Prefect! Serious as a tethered ass! Did you know that he writes verses in secret? THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE (_pointing sideways at_ TÊTE-D'OR _with his chin_): Eh? THE HIGH PREFECT (_authoritatively_): Don't alarm yourself! THE TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE: Tell me, Albert.... THE HIGH PREFECT: Don't alarm yourself. All this is absurd! He has profited by the.... Shall I say the enervation? in which we were. One does not like that, once the panic is past. He has overtaxed the people outrageously! He is an adventurer, A fellow picked off the streets! And as haughty as a god! None are allowed to touch him and if any approach too near, Men or women, he fetches them a rap on the head with his stick. The people know their friends. THE GO-BETWEEN (_making a gesture with his arm_): This way! _(The TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE goes out on the balcony and is seen speaking in the glow of the dawn._ _(Bursts of applause from time to time. Uproar in the hall. Groups form here and there, one of them around the bed of CÉBÈS. Noise of a breaking pane in the upper story._ _(The GO-BETWEEN speaks excitedly to the MAN OUT OF OFFICE and his group._ A CITIZEN (_all alone in the midst of the hall, contemplating the_ TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE): What a man! What a bag of wind! _(The TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE, smiling, re-enters the hall, and looking about for the KING, he finds him and leads him out on to the balcony. He is seen to speak, patting the KING on the shoulder._ THE GO-BETWEEN (_who stands near the_ HIGH PREFECT, _glancing quickly and furtively in all directions, and especially towards_ TÊTE-D'OR) (_to the_ HIGH PREFECT _in a low voice_): What do you think of him, eh? THE HIGH PREFECT: Hmm! He has the army back of him! _(The TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE re-enters the hall with the king._ _(Little by little a silence falls._ SOMEONE (_in a low voice_): Why are there no lights? The dawn makes us look hideous. _(The silence has become complete. All keep their eyes fixed on TÊTE-D'OR._ _(Pause._ Someone (_near_ CÉBÈS): He is dead. TÊTE-D'OR (_turning towards the assembly_): Who says that he is dead? SOMEONE: He is paler than any of us and his lips are discolored. _(The crowd recoils, leaving the KING, with his brother beside him, in front, opposite TÊTE-D'OR. To the right and behind the KING, the HIGH PREFECT, the SCHOOLMASTER and the other officials of the Government, to the left the TRIBUNE OF THE PEOPLE, the MAN OUT OF OFFICE. A young man, with the group of women, stands close to TÊTE-D'OR._ TÊTE-D'OR: Is it yet day? THE YOUNG MAN: Day? A WOMAN: The sun is rising. TÊTE-D'OR: It rises!