"And Rossi's speech?"
"The usual appeal to the passions of the people, Excellency. An extraordinary exhibition of the art of flying between wind and water. We couldn't have found a word that was distinctly seditious, even if we hadn't had your Excellency's order to let the man go on."
"You have stopped the telegraph wires?"
"Yes."
"When the meeting was over, Rossi went home?"
"He did, Excellency."
"And the hundred thousand?"
"In their excitement they began to sing and to march through the streets. They are still doing so. After going down to the Piazza Navona, they are coming up by the Piazza del Popolo and along the Babuino with banners and torches."
"Men only?"
"Men, women, and children."