"Look at the soles of your shoes, you butcher!" he cried desperately. "They are red with blood!"
He was not allowed to continue.
The Incorruptible motioned the agents to remove him out of reach of the furious and exasperated crowd, who continued to cry out—
"To death with him! To death!"
Olivier turned in the grasp of his gaolers and cried—
"You can kill me, murder me, ruffians! but I have cried out, as others will cry out after me, 'Down with the scaffold!'"
His words were lost in the tumult. Robespierre reascended the steps of the statue, and tried to calm the people.
"Citizens!" he said, "let us give ourselves up to the joys of this fête, which the insults and outrages of a rebel shall not disturb! To-morrow the sword of Justice will strike with renewed ardour the enemies of our country!"
Loud plaudits followed, and cries of "Long live the Republic! Long live Robespierre! Long live the Incorruptible!"
"Down with the scaffold!" cried a faint voice in the distance.