ance?

It seemed to me at that moment that the Republic raised its brow, and
that the _coup d'etat_ hung its head.

Meanwhile Charamaule said to me, "You are recognized."

In fact, near the Chateau d'Eau the crowd surrounded me. Some young men
cried out, "Vive Victor Hugo!" One of them asked me, "Citizen Victor
Hugo, what ought we to do?"

I answered, "Tear down the seditious placards of the _coup d'etat_, and
cry 'Vive la Constitution!'"

"And suppose they fire on us?" said a young workman.

"You will hasten to arms."

"Bravo!" shouted the crowd.

I added, "Louis Bonaparte is a rebel, he has steeped himself to-day in
every crime. We, Representatives of the People, declare him an outlaw,
but there is no need for our declaration, since he is an outlaw by the
mere fact of his treason. Citizens, you have two hands; take in one your
Right, and in the other your gun and fall upon Bonaparte."

"Bravo! Bravo!" again shouted the people.

A tradesman who was shutting up his shop said to me, "Don't speak so
loud, if they heard you talking like that, they would shoot you."

"Well, then," I replied, "you would parade my body, and my death would
be a boon if the justice of God could result from it."

All shouted "Long live Victor Hugo!"

"Shout 'Long live the Constitution,'" said I.

A great cry of "Vive la Constitution! Vive la Republique;" came forth
from every breast.

Enthusiasm, indignation, anger flashed in the faces of all. I thought
then, and I still think, that this, perhaps, was the supreme moment. I
was tempted to carry off all that crowd, and to begin the battle.

Charamaule restrained me. He whispered to me,--

"You will bring about a useless fusillade. Every one is unarmed. The
infantry is only two paces from us, and see, here comes the artillery."

I looked round; in truth several pieces of cannon emerged at a quick
trot from the Rue de Bondy, behind the Chateau d'Eau.

The advice to abstain, given by Charamaule, made a deep impression on
me. Coming from such a man, and one so dauntless, it was certainly not
to be distrusted. Besides, I felt myself bound by the deliberation which
had just taken place at the meeting in the Rue Blanche.

I shrank before the responsibility which I should have incurred. To have
taken advantage of such a moment might have been victory, it might also
have been a massacre. Was I right? Was I wrong?

The crowd thickened around us, and it became difficult to go forward