"It was unfortunate for M. Guizot," rejoined M. Albert, with a sardonic smile, "that his hôtel should have witnessed such a scene."
"But fortunate for the cause, nevertheless," replied Louis Blanc. "This last movement is called the movement of the journalists, I understand."
"If suspicions are always as correct," said M. Albert, "there will be fewer false ones, I fancy."
Louis Blanc made no reply, and the friends walked on up the Boulevard, reconnoitering every spot.
At the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre they were stopped by a barricade, which was rapidly rising under the united and vigorous exertions of several hundred men. Steadily, sternly and silently, all that night they toiled, and when the barricade was completed the tri-color flag was planted on its summit, and a citizen-soldier stood beside its staff to defend it. On the other side of the Boulevard, in the Rue Montmartre, rose another barricade entirely finished.
"These men are resolved," said Louis Blanc.
"Desperate, rather," replied Albert. "They have counted the cost and prepared to go on with the attempt they have begun at all hazards. It is better to fight than starve, they think."
"But do you observe how few of them are armed?" asked Louis Blanc.
"We have provided for that deficiency. You will see arms enough for all to-morrow," replied Albert. "Barricades first, arms afterwards!"