"Make way!" repeated the officer, in still harsher tones.
"Make way yourself!" cried a young man in the crowd.
He had no sooner uttered the words than the officer rushed upon him, seized him by the collar and tossed him, by a slight effort of his powerful arm, into the midst of his men, saying:
"Arrest the rascal!"
The soldiers seized the young man, who tried in vain to free himself.
"Knock the dog down if he resists!" cried the officer.
Who knows but the soldiers would have done his bidding if at that moment Mr. Schmenckel had not suddenly appeared before the officer, crying out:
"Let the man go, your excellency, or ten thousand----"
The officer of the Life Guards and the man of the people stood a few moments opposite each other, both of them men of gigantic size, surprisingly alike in their tall figure, their full chest and ample shoulders, with long, muscular arms; yes, as they stared at each other with fierce passion, there was some resemblance even in the massive, coarse features.
But it was only a moment during which they stood thus; at the next moment the officer had hit the man with all his strength upon his chest in order to gain room to draw his sword. But he might as well have tried to move a rock from its place as the man in the velvet-coat. The blow sounded dull on the broad chest--that was all; but at the same time the man extended his powerful arms, seized the officer around the waist, lifted him sheer from the ground, and threw him with such violence against the soldiers, who had their hands full in holding the young man, that officer, men, and prisoner all rolled together in a heap.