ch was well received. His cause seemed won.

Next, followed by the troops, but exciting little enthusiasm in
the streets of Strasburg as he passed along them in the gray dawn
of a cloudy day, Louis Napoleon made his way to the quarters of
General Voirol. The general emphatically refused to join the movement,
and a guard was at once set over him.

Up to this moment all had smiled upon the enterprise. The printing
of the proclamations was going rapidly on, the third regiment of
artillery was bringing out its guns and horses, and the inhabitants
of Strasburg, roused from their beds, were watching the movement
as spectators, prepared to assist it or to oppose it, according
as it made its way to success or failure.

The prince, and the troops who supported him, next marched to the
barracks of the infantry. On their road they lost their way, and
approached the barracks in such a manner that they left themselves
only a narrow alley to retreat by, in case of failure.

On the prince presenting himself to the guard, an old soldier of
the army of Napoleon kneeled and kissed his hand, when suddenly
one of the officers, who had his quarters in the town, rushed upon
the scene with his sword drawn, crying: "Soldiers, you are deceived!
This man is not the nephew of the Emperor Napoleon, he is an
impostor,--a relative of Colonel Vambery!"

This turned the tide. Whilst the soldiers stood irresolute, the
colonel of the regiment arrived. For a few moments he was in danger
from the adherents of the prince. His own soldiers rushed to his
rescue. A tumult ensued. The little band of Imperialists was surrounded,
and their cause was lost.

Louis Napoleon yielded himself a prisoner. One or two of the
conspirators, among them Madame Gordon, managed to escape; the rest
were captured.

News was at once sent by telegraph to Paris; but the great wooden-armed
telegraph-stations were in those days uncertain and unmanageable.
Only half of the telegram reached the Tuileries, where the king and
his ministers sat up all night waiting for more news. At daybreak
of October 30 a courier arrived, and then they learned that the
rising had been suppressed, and that the prince and his confederates
were in prison.

Meantime the young officer in charge of Louis Napoleon's two letters
to Queen Hortense had prematurely come to the conclusion that the
prince was meeting with success, and had hurried off the letter
announcing the good news to his mother.

H