At the moment when the column set forward, a young law-student, a fair pale Alsatian, of some twenty years, who was in their ranks, asked a captain, who was marching by him with his sword drawn,—­

“Where are we going?”

The officer made no reply.

Having left the Tuileries, they turned to the right, and followed the quay as far as the Pont de la Concorde.  They crossed the Pont de la Concorde, and again turned to the right.  In this manner they passed before the esplanade of the Invalides, and reached the lonely quay of Gros-Caillou.

As we have just said, they numbered 337, and as they walked two by two, there was one, the last, who walked alone.  He was one of the most daring combatants of the Rue Pagevin, a friend of Lecomte the younger.  By chance the sergeant, who was posted in the inner file by his side, was a native of the same province.  On passing under a street-lamp they recognized each other.  They exchanged quickly a few words in a whisper.

“Where are we going?” asked the prisoner.

“To the military school,” answered the sergeant.  And he added, “Ah! my poor lad!”

And then he kept at a distance from the prisoner.

As this was the end of the column, there was a certain space between the last rank of the soldiers who formed the line, and the first rank of the company which closed the procession.

As they reached the lonely boulevard of Gros-Caillon, of which we have just spoken, the sergeant drew near to the prisoner, and said to him in a rapid and low tone,—­

“One can hardly see here.  It is a dark spot.  On the left there are trees.  Be off!”

“But,” said the prisoner, “they will fire at me.”

“They will miss you.”

“But suppose they kill me?”

“It will be no worse than what awaits you.”

The prisoner understood, shook the sergeant’s hand, and taking advantage of the space between the line of soldiers and rear-ground, rushed with a single bound outside the column, and disappeared in the darkness beneath the trees.

“A man is escaping!” cried out the officer who commanded the last company.  “Halt!  Fire!”

The column halted.  The rear-guard company fired at random in the direction taken by the fugitive, and, as the sergeant had foreseen, missed him.  In a few moments the fugitive had reached the streets adjoining the tobacco manufactory, and had plunged into them.  They did not pursue him.  They had more pressing work on hand.

Besides, confusion might have arisen in their ranks, and to recapture one they risked letting the 336 escape.

The column continued its march.  Having reached the Pont d’Iena, they turned to the left, and entered into the Champ de Mars.

There they shot them all.

These 336 corpses were amongst those which were carried to Montmartre
Cemetery, and which were buried there with their heads exposed.