But a line of soldiers shut this street up.
"It looks as though you were right," said the countryman.
"Alas!" sighed Ange, who had followed him like his shadow.
All his regret at not being wrong was shown in the single word by the tone it was spoken in.
By its clamor and motion the mob showed that it was no less sensible than he about the quandary all were in.
Indeed, by a skillful manœuvre, Prince Lambesq had encircled the rioters in a bow of iron, the cord being represented by the Tuileries garden-wall, hard to climb over, and the drawbridge railing, almost impossible to force. Billet judged that the position was bad. Still, being a cool fellow, full of resources when the emergency rose, he looked round him. Seeing a pile of lumber by the riverside, he said:
"I have a notion, Pitou; come along."
Billet went up to a beam and took up one end, making a nod to his followers as much as to say, "Take your end of it."
Pitou was bent on helping his leader without questioning: he had such trust in him that he would have gone down into sheol without grumbling on the length of the road or how the heat increased as they got on. The pair returned to the waterside walk, carrying a burden which half a dozen ordinary men would have sunk under.
Strength is always an object of admiration to the crowd. Although very closely packed, way was made for the peasants. Catching an idea of the work ahead, some men walked before the joist-carriers, calling out: "Clear the way, there!"