he messengers
sought him at his lodgings and in all his haunts, but could not find
him. It was nine in the evening when he appeared at headquarters in
the Place du Carrousel. This delay gave Barras a chance to insinuate
that his ardent republican friend, who all the previous week had been
eagerly soliciting employment, was untrustworthy in the crisis, and
had been negotiating with the sectionaries. Buonaparte reported
himself as having come from the section of Lepelletier, but as having
been reconnoitering the enemy. After a rather tart conversation,
Barras appointed him aide-de-camp, the position for which he had been
destined from the first. Whatever was the general's understanding of
the situation, that of the aide was clear--that he was to be his own
master.[53]

[Footnote 53: My account of this momentous crisis in
Buonaparte's life was written after a careful study of
all the authorities and accounts as far as known. The
reader will find in the monograph, Zivy: Le treize
Vendemiaire, many reprints of documents and certain
conclusions drawn from them. The result is good as far
as it goes, but, like all history written from public
papers solely, it is incomplete. Buonaparte was only one
of seven generals appointed to serve under Barras. It
seems likewise true that his exploits did not bring him
into general notice, for Mallet du Pan speaks of him as
a "Corsican terrorist" and Remusat records her mother's
amazement that a man so little known should have made so
good a marriage. But, on the other hand, Thiebault
declares that Buonaparte's activities impressed every
one, Barras's labored effort is suspicious, and then, as
at Toulon, there are the results. Some people in power
gave him credit, for they bestowed on him an
extraordinary reward. Then, too, why should we utterly
discard Buonaparte's own evidence, which corroborates,
at least as far as the text goes, the evidence drawn
from other sources?]

Not a moment was lost, and throughout the night most vigorous and
incessant preparation was made. Buonaparte was as much himself in the
streets of Paris as in those of Ajaccio, except that his energy was
proportionate