It was therefore necessary to hold the advanced barricade as long as possible. But what was to be done, and how was the resistance to be maintained? They had scarcely two shots per man left. An unexpected source of supply arrived. A young man, I can name him, for he is dead--Pierre Tissié,[19] who was a workman, and who also was a poet, had worked during a portion of the morning at the barricades, and at the moment when the firing began he went away, stating as his reason that they would not give him a gun. In the barricade they had said, "There is one who is afraid." Pierre Tissié was not afraid, as we shall see later on. He left the barricade. Pierre Tissié had only his knife with him, a Catalan knife; he opened it at all hazards, he held it in his hand, and went on straight before him. As he came out of the Rue Saint Sauveur, he saw at the corner of a little lonely street, in which all the windows were closed, a soldier of the line standing sentry, posted there doubtlessly by the main guard at a little distance. This soldier was at the halt with his gun to his shoulder ready to fire. He heard the step of Pierre Tissié, and cried out,-- "Who goes there?" "Death!" answered Pierre Tissié. The soldier fired, and missed Pierre Tissié, who sprang on him, and struck him down with a blow of his knife. The soldier fell, and blood spurted out of his mouth. "I did not know I should speak so truly," muttered Pierre Tissié. And he added, "Now for the ambulance!" He took the soldier on his back, picked up the gun which had fallen to the ground, and came back to the barricade. "I bring you a wounded man," said he. "A dead man," they exclaimed. In truth the soldier had just expired. "Infamous Bonaparte!" said Tissié. "Poor red breeches! All the same, I have got a gun." They emptied the soldier's pouch and knapsack. They divided the cartridges. There were 150 of them. There were also two gold pieces of ten francs, two days' pay since the 2d of December. These were thrown on the ground, no one would take them. They distributed the cartridges with shouts of "Long live the Republic!" Meanwhile the attacking party had placed a mortar in position by the side of the cannon. The distribution of the cartridges was hardly ended when the infantry appeared, and charged upon the barricade with the bayonet. This second assault, as had been foreseen, was violent and desperate. It was repulsed. Twice the soldiers returned to the charge, and twice they fell back, leaving the street strewn with dead. In the interval between the assaults, a shell had pierced and dismantled the barricade, and the cannon began to fire grape-shot.