ld not rise; we must
turn to the side of the tradesmen's districts, renounce our attempt to
rouse the extremities of the city, and agitate the centre. We were the
Committee of Resistance, the soul of the insurrection; if we were to go
to the Faubourg St. Antoine, which was occupied by a considerable force,
we should give ourselves up to Louis Bonaparte. They reminded me of what
I myself had said on the subject the previous evening in the Rue
Blanche. We must immediately organize the insurrection against the _coup
d'etat_ and organize it in practicable districts, that is to say, in the
old labyrinths of the streets St. Denis and St. Martin; we must draw up
proclamations, prepare decrees, create some method of publicity; they
were waiting for important communications from Workmen's Associations
and Secret Societies. The great blow which I wished to strike by our
solemn meeting at the Salle Roysin would prove a failure; they thought
it their duty to remain where they were; and the Committee being few in
number, and the work to be done being enormous, they begged me not to
leave them.

They were men of great hearts and great courage who spoke to me; they
were evidently right; but for myself I could not fail to go to the
rendezvous which I myself had fixed. All the reasons which they had
given me were good, nevertheless I could have opposed some doubts, but
the discussion would have taken too much time, and the hour drew nigh.
I did not make any objections, and I went out of the room, making some
excuse. My hat was in the antechamber, my _fiacre_ was waiting for me,
and I drove off to the Faubourg St. Antoine.

The centre of Paris seemed to have retained its everyday appearance.
People came and went, bought and sold, chatted and laughed as usual. In
the Rue Montorgueil I heard a street organ. Only on nearing the Faubourg
St. Antoine the phenomenon which I had already noticed on the previous
evening became more and more apparent; solitude reigned, and a certain
dreary peacefulness.

We reached the Place de la Bastille.

My driver stopped.

"Go on," I said to him.

CHAPTER II.

FROM THE BASTILLE TO THE RUE DE COTTE

The Place de la Bastille was at the same time empty and filled. Three
regiments in battle array were there; not one passer-by.

Four harnessed batteries were drawn up at the foot of the column. Here
and there knots of officers talked together in a low voice,--sinister
men.

One of these groups