"Black!" replied the general; "black shall be the colour of France until she shall have regained her liberty!"
And ten minutes afterwards a black flag floated over the Hôtel de Ville.
[CHAPTER II]
General La Fayette at the Hôtel de Ville—Charras and his men—"The Prunes of Monsieur"—The Municipal Commission—Its first Act—Casimir Périer's bank—General Gérard—The Duc de Choiseul—What happened at Saint-Cloud—The three negotiators—It is too late—M. d'Argout with Laffitte
As soon as General La Fayette was installed at the Hôtel de Ville, it immediately became as full of people as it had been deserted before his arrival. In the midst of all the shouts of joy, clamouring enthusiasm and yells of triumph, the poor general did not know to whom to listen. Men of the people, students, pupils from the École polytechnique, all came with their own particular tale. The general replied—
"Very good! very good!" and shook hands with the messenger, who rushed off down the stairs, delighted, shouting—
"General La Fayette shook hands with me! Hurrah for General La Fayette!"