prisoners
to a small cafe in the market-place, and there kept them closely
watched.

The insurrectionary army would have avoided marching through Plassans
if its leaders had not decided that a little food and a few hours' rest
were absolutely necessary for the men. Instead of pushing forward
direct to the chief town of the department, the column, owing to the
inexcusable weakness and the inexperience of the improvised general who
commanded it, was now diverging to the left, making a detour which was
destined, ultimately, to lead it to destruction. It was bound for the
heights of Sainte-Roure, still about ten leagues distant, and it was
in view of this long march that it had been decided to pass through
Plassans, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour. It was now half-past
eleven.

When Monsieur Garconnet learnt that the band was in quest of provisions,
he offered his services to procure them. This functionary formed, under
very difficult circumstances, a proper estimate of the situation. Those
three thousand starving men would have to be satisfied; it would never
do for Plassans, on waking up, to find them still squatting on the
pavements; if they withdrew before daybreak they would simply have
passed through the slumbering town like an evil dream, like one of those
nightmares which depart with the arrival of dawn. And so, although he
remained a prisoner, Monsieur Garconnet, followed by two guards, went
about knocking at the bakers' doors, and had all the provisions that he
could find distributed among the insurgents.

Towards one o'clock the three thousand men began to eat, squatting on
the ground, with their weapons between their legs. The market-place
and the neighbourhood of the town-hall were turned into vast open-air
refectories. In spite of the bitter cold, humorous sallies were
exchanged among the swarming multitude, the smallest groups of which
showed forth in the brilliant moonlight. The poor famished fellows
eagerly devoured their portions while breathing on their fingers to warm
them; and, from the depths of adjoining streets, where vague black forms
sat on the white thresholds of the houses, there came sudden bursts
of laughter. At the windows emboldened, inquisitive women, with silk
handkerchiefs tied round their heads, watched the repast of those
terrible insurgents, those blood-suckers who went in turn to the market
pump to drink a little water in the hollows of their hands.

While the town-hall w