Above the confusion one shrill voice rose victorious, bearing the final decree of the mass.
"No, citoyens! À la lanterne! À la lanterne!"
The next moment all other cries were swallowed up in the wild outburst:
"À la lanterne!"
A hundred hands were stretched out to grasp the Marseillais, when Barabant, to the despair of Nicole, flung himself in front of Javogues, and with appealing arm sought to be heard. But the torrent he faced was relentless. He saw nothing but open mouths, clenched fists, black brows; pistol, knife, and hatchet tossing above the surge of arms. His friends thundered in his ear:
"À la lanterne!"
Those in the back, climbing on the benches, bellowed down:
"À la lanterne!"
From the tribune, frenzied and terrible in his anger, Goursac whipped on the tempest: