was drowned by the shouts of the mob who had gathered round a coffee-house where stood a bust of the emperor, which they insisted should be given up to them.  Verdier, hoping to calm, what he took to be a simple street row, gave orders that the bust should be brought out, and this concession, so significant on the part of a general commanding in the emperor’s name, convinced the crowd that his cause was lost.  The fury of the populace grew greater now that they felt that they could indulge it with impunity; they ran to the Town Hall, and tearing down and burning the tricoloured, raised the white flag.  The roll of the generale, the clang of the tocsin were heard, the neighbouring villages poured in their populations and increased the throng in the streets; single acts of violence began to occur, wholesale massacres were approaching.  I had arrived in the town with my friend M____ the very beginning of the tumult, so we had seen the dangerous agitation and excitement grow under our eyes, but we were still ignorant of its true cause, when, in the rue de Noailles, we met an acquaintance, who, although his political opinions did not coincide with ours, had always shown himself very friendly to us.  ‘Well,’ said I, ‘what news?’ ’Good for me and bad for you,’ he answered;’ I advise you to go away at once.’  Surprised and somewhat alarmed at these words, we begged him to explain.  ‘Listen,’ said he; ’there are going to be riots in the town; it is well known that you used to go to Brune’s nearly every evening, and that you are in consequence no favourite with your neighbours; seek safety in the country.’  I addressed some further question to him, but, turning his back on me, he left me without another word.

“M______ and I were still looking at each other in stupefaction, when the
increasing uproar aroused us to a sense that if we desired to follow the
advice just given we had not a moment to lose.  We hastened to my house,
which was situated in the Allees de Meilhan.  My wife was just going out,
but I stopped her.

“‘We are not safe here,’ I said; ‘we must get away into the country.’

“‘But where can we go?’

“‘Wherever luck takes us.  Let us start.’

“She was going to put on her bonnet, but I told her to leave it behind; for it was most important that no one should think we suspected anything, but were merely going for a stroll.  This precaution saved us, for we learned the next day that if our intention to fly had been suspected we should have been stopped.

“We walked at random, while behind us we heard musket shots from every part of the town.  We met a company of soldiers who were hurrying to the relief of their comrades, but heard later that they had not been allowed to pass the gate.

“We recollected an old officer of our acquaintance who had quitted the service and withdrawn from the world some years before, and had taken a place in the country near the village of Saint-Just; we directed our course towards his house.