His remark made no impression. They did not understand English.
The Senator's wrath made his hair fairly bristle. He contented himself, however, with drawing up the programme of an immediate war between France and the Great Republic.
It took an hour for the column to get emptied. It was choked with people rushing up. Seven gentlemen fainted, and three escaped with badly sprained limbs. During this time the Senator remained in the custody of his captors.
At last the column was cleared.
The prisoner was taken down and placed in a cab. He saw the dense crowd and heard the mighty murmurs of the people.
He was driven away for an immense distance. It seemed miles.
At last the black walls of a huge edifice rose before him. The cab drove under a dark archway. The Senator thought of the dungeons of the Inquisition, and other Old World horrors of which he had heard in his boyhood.
***
So the Senator had to give the dinner. The Club enjoyed it amazingly.
Almost at the moment of his entrance Buttons had arrived, arm in arm with the American minister, whose representations and explanations procured the Senator's release.