urguet and
two or three other noted men who had been taken after the "Hundred
days," and had been forced to remain at Bourges because, as Father
Goulden said, they had too much spirit. That shows plainly that it is
better to keep still at such times, if one does not wish to fight on
either side; for words are of no use, but to get us into difficulty.

But there was something worse still toward the end, when the commandant
commenced to read the decrees.

The first indicated the movement of the troops, and the second,
commanded all Frenchmen to fall upon Bonaparte, to arrest and deliver
him dead or alive, because he had put himself out of the pale of law.

At that moment the commandant, who had until then only laughed when he
read the name of Bonaparte, and whose bony face had only trembled a
little as it was lighted up by the lamp--at that moment his aspect
changed completely, I never saw anything more terrible; his face
contracted, fold upon fold, his little eyes blazed like those of a cat,
and his mustaches and whiskers stood on end; he seized the gazette and
tore it into a thousand pieces, and then pale as death he raised
himself to his full height, extended his long arms, and shouted in a
voice so loud that it made our flesh creep, _Vive l'Empereur!_
Immediately all the half-pay officers raised their three-cornered hats,
some in their hands and some on the end of their sword-canes, and
repeated with one voice, _Vive l'Empereur!_

You would have thought the roof was coming down. I felt just as if
some one had thrown cold water down my back. I said to myself, "It is
all over now. What is the use in preaching peace to such people?"

Outside among the groups of citizens, the soldiers of the post repeated
the cry, _Vive l'Empereur_. And as I looked in great anxiety to see
what the gendarmes would do, they retired without saying a word, being
old soldiers also.

But it was not yet over. As the commandant was getting down from the
table, an officer suggested that they should carry him in triumph.
They seized him by the legs, and forcing the crowd aside, carried him
around the room, screaming like madmen, _Vive l'Empereur_. He was so
affected by the honor shown him by his comrades and by hearing them
shout what he so much loved to hear, that he sat there with his long
hairy hands on their shoulders, and his head above their great hats,
and wept. No one would have believed that such a face could weep; that
alon