and thrown at first upon a
pile of corpses, her body was afterwards despoiled of its clothing and
exposed to the view of an infamous mob. One of the bandits dared to
separate from this poor body, defiled with mud, and later by the hands
of its murderers, the lovely head that had surmounted it; others,
dividing it with a brutality that nothing could soften, quarrelled over
the bleeding fragments. Then began a frightful massacre. Like wild
beasts, bearing these spoils of the head as trophies of victory, the
band of assassins rushed down the Rue de Sicile to carry terror to the
heart of Paris.

It was nearly noon when Coursegol and Dolores, having passed the
Bastile, entered the Rue Saint Antoine to find a dense crowd of men,
women and ragged children yelling at one another and singing coarse
songs. Some of the National Guard were among the throng; and they were
stopped every few moments by the people to shout: "Vive la Nation!" the
patriotic cry that lent courage to the hearts of the soldiers of the
Republic nobly fighting for the defence of our frontiers, but which had
been caught up and was incessantly vociferated by the ruffians who
inaugurated the Reign of Terror. All carriages that attempted to pass
through this moving crowd were stopped, and their occupants were obliged
to prove their patriotism by mingling their acclamations with those of
the mob. The audacity and brutality of the sans-culottes knew no bounds.
Woe to him who allowed his face to betray his sentiments, even for a
moment! Terror, pity, sadness, these were crimes to be cruelly expiated.

Coursegol had hesitated to enter the Rue Saint Antoine. He feared to
come in contact with this excited multitude, but the more alarming the
great city which she saw for the first time appeared to Dolores, the
more anxious she was to find shelter at Bridoul's house. But Bridoul's
house was in the Rue Saint Antoine; and, to reach it, it was absolutely
necessary to make their way through the crowd, or to wait until it had
dispersed. But when would it disperse? Was it not dangerous to remain
much longer without an asylum and a protector? This thought terrified
Dolores, and, longing to reach her place of destination, she urged
Coursegol to proceed.

At first, they advanced without much difficulty, following the throng
that seemed to be wending its way in the same direction as themselves;
but when they had passed the Palais-Royal, they were obliged to slacken
their pace,