eapons, and sprang at us, gnashing their teeth like wild beasts.

[Transcriber's note: illustration missing from book]

Of the Black Mantles who supported us, two went down quickly and were
trampled on; Raoul was bleeding in the face, and I had received a nasty
cut across the head; but Armand d'Arcy and his friends were breaking
through the crowd, while the cries of "Orleans!" and "Conde" redoubled.

Suddenly in the midst of it, my sword snapped against a pike-head, and
in another instant I should have been killed but for Madame Coutance,
who, with the heavy end of the coachman's whip, struck my assailant
across the forehead, felling him like a log.

Taken by surprise, I turned to glance at my deliverer, when a brawny
fellow with fiery red hair, whose weapon had been wrenched from him in
the fray, leaped at my throat. By the flame of a lackey's torch I saw
he was as ugly a rascal as one would find in Paris. He had a huge
mouth, with yellow, wolf-like teeth; his face was scarred in a dozen
places; the bridge of his nose had at one time been broken, while the
veins of his neck stood out like cords, A pair of tattered breeches and
the remnant of a shirt constituted his fighting costume.

Missing my neck, he caught me round the body just under the arm-pits,
but leaving my arms free. For a second or two I was held as in a vice;
I thought my ribs would crack under the pressure, and struggled wildly
for breath. The main fight went on around us unheeded, as we swayed to
and fro, now lurching against the broken carriage, now pushed under the
heels of the kicking horses, or stumbling beneath the weapons of the
other combatants.

I could no longer distinguish anything clearly, and the shouting
sounded in my ears like the thunderous roaring of the ocean. Blood was
running from my nostrils; the pain in my chest might have been caused
by red-hot knives; it was almost impossible to breathe. The fellow was
slowly crushing me, and I was helpless. I should have cried aloud in
agony, but could make only a faint gurgling noise. Closer and closer
pressed the iron grip; my eyes burned like fire, while my breath came
in short, stifling gasps. Still I stood firmly on the ground with my
feet wide apart, and, strong as my assailant was, he had not beaten me
completely.

If only I could get a breath of air into my lungs! It was my one
chance and the last; but the brawny ruffian, guessing how nearly gone I
was, hugged me ever the