"Good; this foolish dream, you will think no more of it, I hope?"
"I will endeavor."
"Ah! well, you will call for us at four o'clock? the diligence starts at five."
"It is agreed upon. But here we are in Paris; I will stop the coach, and go on foot to the Barrière Charenton; I will await M. Rudolph, to see him pass."
The carriage stopped, and the Slasher got out.
"Don't forget, at four o'clock, my good comrade," said Martial: "at four o'clock!"
The Slasher had forgotten that it was the morning after Mid-Lent. So he was much surprised at the spectacle, at the same time fantastic and hideous, which was presented to his view when he walked through a part of the exterior boulevard which he crossed on his way to the Barridre Charenton.
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE HAND OF HEAVEN.
The Slasher in a few moments was carried along, in spite of himself, by a dense crowd, a popular torrent, which, descending from the taverns of the Faubourg de la Glacière, collected around the approaches to the Barrière, to pour out afterward on the Boulevard Saint Jacques, where the execution was to take place. Although it was broad daylight, yet still could be heard at a distance the resounding music of the orchestras of the drinking dens, where, above all, could be distinguished the sonorous vibrations of the cornets-à-piston.