Nothing was to be heard but these shouts yelled with wrath:
"Down with Veto!"—"Over with the Austrian!"—"Dethronement or death!"
Understanding that it was in particular their mother who was threatened, the two children huddled up to her. The little dauphin asked:
"Lord Charny, why do these naughty people want to hurt my mamma?"
A gigantic man, armed with a pike, and roaring louder than the rest, "Down with Veto—death to the Austrian!" kept trying to stab the king and the queen.
The Swiss escort had gradually been forced away, so that the royal family had by them only the six noblemen who had left the palace with them, Charny, and the Assembly deputation.
There were still some thirty paces to go in the thick crowd.
It was evident that the lives of the pair were aimed at, and chiefly the queen's.
The struggle began at the staircase foot.
"If you do not sheathe your sword," said Roederer, "I will answer for nothing."