“Well then,” he said, “I will go myself.”
His men opposed his leaving them with all their power; they said he had defended them for three days, and they would not suffer him to depart. He called them cowards, took the proclamation, and went.
Between the bridge of Aisnay and the arsenal there is a little Place belonging to the latter, and closed by its own barrier. The bridge is no inconsiderable length; and as Capt. de —— advanced along it, and under the fire of the barricade, he waved the paper above his head, but it was unlikely it would neutralize the effect produced by an officer’s uniform. Arrived at its extremity, and at the barricade which concealed from him all that was passing behind, he leaped on and from it, and on the other side found himself in the midst of armed men, the greater part intoxicated. He was received, not as an envoy, but with shouts of fury; those nearest him rested their bare knives and bayonets on his breast, and those more distant took aim at him with their muskets: he thought it was all over.
At this moment a young man, dressed like the others, as a workman, forced his way to Capt. de ——, threw himself into his arms and embraced him.
“Ah! mon pauvre lieutenant,” he exclaimed, “vous êtes perdu.” Capt. de —— looked at him, and recognized a private of the Royal Guard who had served in his own company before the Revolution of 1830. The affection, so little looked for, softened him for a moment, but his firmness did not forsake him; he took advantage of the pause.
“Stand back, and be silent,” he said, in a tone of authority; “I have something to read to you.”
The men obeyed, half-drunk as they were, but closed round him again as he ceased.
“Who is to answer for the execution of these promises,” they said ferociously, “is it you?”
“You are fathers or brothers,” answered Capt. de ——; “you have others dependent on you, and it is important that you should leave the false position in which you have placed yourselves. As to me, a life more or less signifies little to our cause.”
The rioters were not disposed to listen to reason, and their menaces grew more and more alarming; but the private again interposed, and by soothing some, and repulsing others, managed to hold them back while his old officer again passed the barricade, which a few moments before seemed likely to be his monument.