cavefrom the west. We made no objection to being left alone, and juststayed, as it were, feeding on the ruddy glare, and blinking at it likeyoung owlets. Every now and then my mother turned to St. Maur or me, andsmiled and nodded, as much as to say, 'We have light.'
"Before long they came back, and there was then a long talk of which wedid not hear all, but not for want of eager ears. This council of warbeing over, Francois went back into the caves, and soon after returnedlaughing, and dressed in the clothes of the unlucky municipal guard.
"'One must not criticize what one inherits,' he said. 'The pantaloonsare brief, and the waistcoat is of such vastness as I would choose towear to-day to a good dinner.'
"As the light was now quite good, I saw this comical figure as I had notseen him before. He was tall and gaunt, with a nose of unusual length,and was very ruddy for so thin a man. He seemed to be all the time on abroad grin. He looked queer enough, too, in the short pantaloons andbaggy waistcoat.
"'Now,' he said, 'I am to tie the Duke's hands behind his back. He is,you see, an aristocrat I am taking to Sainte Pelagie. Madame his wifeand these children follow as I shall order. Poor things! they do notwant to escape.'
"At this the Duke, whom most things amused, submitted to be tied, butlaughed heartily at the comedy, as he called it.
"'_Dieu!_' said the thief. 'This is an affair of all our lives. See,Monsieur; you have but to turn the wrist, and you are free, in case ofneed.'
"The Duke, still smiling, promised to be a perfect and indignantaristocrat, and our thief entreated us all to look as sorrowful as wecould. Of this lesson, my mother, poor lady, had small need; but weboys had recovered our spirits with sight of day, and when the thiefbesought us and showed us how we were to look, we were seized with suchmirth that the Duke at last bade us understand that it was no laughingmatter, and we promised to act our parts. Finally we were made to fillour pockets with the most of the gold found in the bag, and the rest theDuke and my mother stowed away, while the thief took the Duke's pistols,and, leaving the others, girded on the dead man's sword.
"'Now, guard yourselves,' said the thief, as we went out of thecatacombs and across the debris of stone, stumbling, still unaccustomedto the light, and so down a slope and around a pond in the middle of theunused quarry. On the far side a road led out between the broken wallsof stone. Here the thief halted. 'Have you a handkerchief, Madame?' hesaid. 'Use it. Weep if ever you did. Never may tears be of so much useagain. And you, lads, if you laugh we are as good as dead.'
"'What day is it?' said my mother, and the tears were quite readyenough.
"'It is July the twenty-eighth,' answered the Duke.
"'Oh, no,' said I. 'Mama, it is the 10th Thermidor.'
"'That is better,' said our thief. 'Let us move on.'
"The quarry road opened into a lane, and here were market-gardens andrare houses, and a deserted convent or two, and a network of crosswaysthrough which Francois directed the Duke, who walked ahead, as if underarrest. We followed them anxiously beneath the ruddy evening sky,wondering, as we went, to see scarce a soul. The Rue d'Enfer was thefirst street we came upon as we left the suburban lanes; but still it,too, was deserted. The Duke remarked on this singular absence ofpeople; but as we were now near a small cabaret Francois called out,'Get along, aristocrat.' The Duke said some wicked words, and we wenton. A man came out of the cafe and cried after us: 'Family of theguillotine! _A bas les aristocrats!_' and would Francois have a _petitverre_? But our thief said no, he was on duty, and our comedy went on.
"It was necessary to pass the Barriere d'Enfer, where usually was aguard and close scrutiny. To our surprise, there were but two men. Oneof them said. 'Ah, Citizen, what have you here?'
"'Aristocrats under arrest--a _ci-devant_ duke.'
"'Have an eye to these,' said the officer to his fellow; 'and you,Citizen, come into the guardroom and register their names.''Certainly,' said the thief, and we were set aside while he passed intothe room with the guard. After some ten minutes he came out alone veryquietly, and said to the other guard, 'It is all correct and in order,Citizen,' waited to tease a black cat on the door-step, asked the hour,and at last, giving the Duke a rude push, cried out, 'Get on there,aristocrat! I have no time to waste.'
"At this we moved away, and he hurried us along the Rue d'Enfer past theObservatory. A little further he struck hastily to the left into theRue Notre Dame des Champs. By the Rue de Cimetiere, along past theNouvelle Foire St. Germain, he hurried us, and hardly gave us leave tobreathe until we came out amongst the trampled gardens and tall alleysof box back of the Luxembourg. Never pausing, he wound in and out,until by these roundabout ways he came forth into the Rue Vaugirard. Aswe went across the great ruined gardens, a few people scattered amongthe parterres looked at us, as if curious, and whispered to one another.Our thief was still in great haste.
"'Must I get you a grand carriage to help you?' he cried. 'Get on,aristocrat! Soon the Republic will give you a carriage; come along.Make haste, or we are lost,' he added in a lower voice.
"'What the deuce is it?' said the Duke. The thief's uneasiness wasvisible enough.
"'_Mille tonnerres_! Duke,' said the thief; 'that child of Satan at thebarrier knew me.'
"'And what then?'
"'Now he does not know me.'
"'_Mon Dieu!_' exclaimed the Duke. 'You are a brave _garcon_.'
"As we entered the Rue de Varennes, an old woman glared at the falsemunicipal, crying out, 'Thy day is over, accursed!' She shook her fistat him. Not understanding, we hurried on. As I looked back, her grayhair was hanging about her; she stood at the wayside, shaking herupraised hands. I could not comprehend what it meant.
"Here, as we went on, for the first time we met great numbers of people,all coming from the river. A few were talking in suppressed voices; andsome, turning, stared after us as we went by. Most were silent, asfolks not often are in France. At one place it was not easy to get onas fast as our thief desired. In place of quickly making way for anofficer, as was usual in those days, the people in our path jostled themunicipal, or made room sullenly. At last Francois cried out to someyoung fellows who blocked our way, 'Let these suspects go by, citizens;they are under arrest.' This was like a spark to powder. A woman criedout, 'Poor children! Are they yours, Citoyenne?' My mother,bewildered, said, 'Yes, yes.' Then a young man near me shouted, 'Downwith tyrants!' Our thief was puzzled. 'Hold, there!' he cried. 'Whatis this?' 'Down with the Terror! Robespierre is dead.' And as if itwere a signal, the great crowd, ever increasing, cried out, 'He is dead!Robespierre is dead!'
"In a moment we were pushed about and separated. Francois, our thief,was cuffed and kicked hither and thither. The silence became an uproarof wild cries. 'He is dead! Robespierre is dead!' It was a greatmadness of release from fear, and a tumult of cries, sharp andhoarse--an outburst of human emotion, sudden and strange to see. Nearme a woman fell in a fit. Men ran about yelling, 'He is dead!' All wasconfusion and tears and mad laughter, any one embracing the citizen nextto him. There were others who ran here and there through the crowd,jumping up and down, or catching some woman and whirling her as if in adance. I lost sight of the Duke, and Mama, and the thief, who kept holdof this my friend; but no one of them all did I see again until latethat night.
"As I was now where I knew my way, I went to and fro, afraid to askquestions, until I got to the quay. There I saw a lad of my own years,and it being by this time quite near to dark, I felt that I had a goodchance to run at need. 'Halloa!' I said. 'I am a boy from the country.What is the news?'
"'Oh, a fine sight, and you have missed it. They have cut off the headsof Robespierre and Henriot and twenty more. He had nankeen breeches anda blue coat, and my father says that is the end of the Terror. Youought to have got there three hours ago. Chop--chop--like carrots.'
"Now I was old enough to have heard much of Robespierre, and to havesome idea of the great relief his death might mean. So I thanked mynews-teller, a
nd ran as fast as I could go to my home, in this presenthouse. I stood, however, a moment, uneasy, at the opening of the longcovered way. Of a sudden I screamed, for a man caught me by the arm._Mon Dieu_! It was our neighbor, the charcutier opposite.
"He said, 'Have no fear, my lad. Fear is dead to-day. Get thee home;they look for thee. Robespierre is dead. _A bas les Jacobins!_'
"'And my father is here?' I heard him cry, 'Yes,' as he
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