FOOTNOTES:
[1] Fact.
CHAPTER IV.
It became very apparent to our hero, after traversing one or two streets, that there was some great commotion going on in other parts of the town, for the shouts and outcries from the distance were deafening. As yet they had passed but few persons, and those seemed all to be hurrying in one direction.
Toulon at this period contained nearly five thousand inhabitants within its walls; three parts of this population were Republicans, and so were the bulk of the fleet. Jean Plessis led the way some distance ahead, when suddenly, in turning the corner of a street, they encountered a mob, swearing and shouting furiously; and to the great astonishment of William Thornton, he perceived that a large body of the people surrounded Lieutenant Cooke and a few of the Committee, and were evidently bent upon obstructing their path to the dock gates, which were now in sight. In a moment the young man and his terrified charge were pushed out of the road, and the next instant became mingled with the riotous mob they had so unfortunately stumbled upon. Still holding Mabel by the hand, the midshipman, a resolute and strong youth for his age, sturdily strove to gain the side of Lieutenant Cooke[2] and the Commissioners, who were arguing with the mob; but just then a ferocious-looking man, with his neck and throat bare, no coat on his back, but with an apron and a butcher’s knife tied round his waist, suddenly clutched our hero by the collar, in a terrible grip, spluttering out:
“Ah, cursed aristocrat Anglais, what are you doing with this boy?”
Without a moment’s hesitation William Thornton drew a pistol from his pocket, cocked it, and putting it close to the man’s head, said—
“Let go, ruffian, or you are a dead man!”
The surly villain let go his hold with a horrid oath, and the midshipman, catching his young and terrified companion round the waist, burst through the startled group surrounding him, and the next instant was by Lieutenant Cooke’s side, just as a large body of the Committee and a Royalist guard of marines came up to protect the British envoy.