They gave him what he wanted. Whilst he devoured his piece of bread Baude brought him two proclamations to sign. He signed one without difficulty, but refused to sign the other. Baude took it and signed it with a shrug of his shoulders—"BAUDE, Secretary to the Provisional Government."
Poor Provisional Government! It would have been curious to see what its behaviour would have been if Charles X. had returned to Paris.
Arago was on his way carrying these two proclamations, when he met a new troop near Saint-Eustache, proceeding to an attack on the Louvre. He could not refrain from joining it.
"Bah!" he said, "the proclamations will wait; let us go to the most pressing business first." And to the Louvre he went.
When the Louvre was taken, he took his proclamations to the National and there announced the people's victory. It was here that General La Fayette had seen him with a tricolour cockade and was made uneasy by his boldness.
When Étienne heard that the general was going to the Hôtel de Ville he did the same for him that he had done for General Dubourg: he ran to the Hôtel to announce to Baude the arrival of General La Fayette. In fairness to General Dubourg be it said that he did not even attempt to dispute the position of the new arrival, although he had come later than himself. He came forward to receive him on the steps and, bowing respectfully, said—
"À tout seigneur, tout honneur!"
For five hours, he had been master of Paris; and, for two of those five, his name had been on all lips. He was to reappear a second time to be hounded out of the Hôtel de Ville, and a third when he was very nearly assassinated. When he arrived, he sent for the tricolour tent and an upholsterer.
When the latter came—"Monsieur," the general said to him, "I want a flag."
"What colour?" the man asked.