CHAPTER XLV.
ROBESPIERRE PAYS A VISIT TO M. DUPLAY.
I had no sooner quitted this frightful scene of bloodshed, than, thanking my saviors, I sprang forward towards the river, in order to cross it by boat, or, if there was a necessity, to swim it.
The affair seemed to me grave. There must have been some treachery on foot, of which, in my mind the Jacobins ought to be instructed.
There happened to be, in a boat anchored to the river’s bank, a man fishing, who did not disturb himself, notwithstanding the thundering of the cannon.
Nothing ever disturbs a man fishing. To untie the rope, jump into the boat, and take possession of the oars, was but the work of a few moments. I had nearly half-way crossed the river before he recovered from his astonishment.
At length, he demanded what I meant by this violence, both to himself and to his boat? I showed him a paper, and said, “An order from General Lafayette.” That was sufficient.
I jumped out on the right bank, leaving the boat, with its owner, to regain the left.
Once on solid ground, I took to my heels, and by Cours la Reine, and the Porte St. Honoré, I set out for M. Duplay’s house as fast as my legs could carry me.
From Cours la Reine to the Church of the Assumption, in front of which M. Duplay lived, I found the streets greatly agitated and full of people.