nation to belong to what ever party got the upper hand. As we
drove into Orgon we saw at a glance that the whole town was simmering
with excitement. Everybody's face expressed anxiety. A man who, we were
told, was the mayor, was haranguing a group. As everyone was listening,
with the greatest attention, we drew near and asked them the cause of
the excitement.

"'Gentlemen,' said he, 'you ought to know the news: the king is in his
capital, and we have once more hoisted the white flag, and there has not
been a single dispute to mar the tranquillity of the day; one party
has triumphed without violence, and the other has submitted with
resignation. But I have just learned that a band of vagabonds, numbering
about three hundred, have assembled on the bridge over the Durance, and
are preparing to raid our little town to-night, intending by pillage or
extortion to get at what we possess. I have a few guns left which I am
about to distribute, and each man will watch over the safety of all.'

"Although he had not enough arms to go round, he offered to supply us,
but as I had my double-barrelled pistols I did not deprive him of his
weapons. I made the ladies go to bed, and, sitting at their door, tried
to sleep as well as I could, a pistol in each hand. But at every instant
the noise of a false alarm sounded through the town, and when day dawned
my only consolation was that no one else in Orgon had slept any better
than I.

"The next day we continued our journey to Tarascon, where new
excitements awaited us. As we got near the town we heard the tocsin
clanging and drums beating the generale. We were getting so accustomed
to the uproar that we were not very much astonished. However, when we
got in we asked what was going on, and we were told that twelve thousand
troops from Nimes had marched on Beaucaire and laid it waste with fire
and sword. I insinuated that twelve thousand men was rather a large
number for one town to furnish, but was told that that included troops
from the Gardonninque and the Cevennes. Nimes still clung to the
tricolour, but Beaucaire had hoisted the white flag, and it was for
the purpose of pulling it down and scattering the Royalists who were
assembling in numbers at Beaucaire that Nimes had sent forth her
troops on this expedition. Seeing that Tarascon and Beaucaire are only
separated by the Rhone, it struck me as peculiar that such quiet should
prevail on one bank, while such fierce conflict was raging