"Oh! I would not answer for them in that respect!"
"In that case, the Revolution has miscarried!..."
He went to his home, in the rue de la Ferme des Mathurins, to await the turn of events.
Events soon happened: they made him commander of the insurrection on the 3rd and they counted upon him to lead the democratic army, which he did. It was all one to him, so long as he was serving France. Charras had heard it cried in the streets that General Pajol was to be commander-in-chief of the expedition and he rushed off to the general's house. Let us begin by saying that he had been beforehand to the stables of Kausmann and had taken his best horse, over which he had had a dispute with a man who was a great judge of horses and had chosen it himself. The horse-fancier was Charles Ledru, who had left me in the rue Saint-Honoré, refusing the seat I offered him in my cab, to go and bestride the horse waiting for him at Kausmann's. Just as he entered the stables, Charras was leaving them at full gallop on the very horse he, Charles Ledru, had selected. He chose another, however, and rode after the first. Luckily, he found the second a good one, and accordingly, when he overtook Charras, he merely shook him by the hand. Charras, without any previous introduction, presented himself to General Pajol. That general, accustomed to taking all sorts of precautions during military expeditions, was having two enormous saddlebags taken down: one was full of hams, legs of mutton and fowls, and the other was filled with bread. At the fourth word Charras addressed to him, and at the first look he cast at him he said—
"Look here, I like you!"
"So much the better," said Charras.
"You appear to be a nice young dog!"
"Dogs are not allowed to take a share in things."
"Will you be my aide-de-camp?"
"Yes, indeed; that was what I came for!"