oment, that sounded
strangely enough to me. They spoke of Fraternity--of that brotherhood
which linked man to man in close affection; of Equality--that made all
sharers in this world's goods; of Liberty--that gave freedom to every
noble aspiration and generous thought; and, for an instant, carried away
by the glorious illusion, I even forgot my solitary condition, and felt
proud of my heritage as a youth of France I looked around me, however,
and what faces met my gaze! The same fearful countenances I had seen
around the scaffold: the wretches, blood-stained, and influenced by
passion, their bloated cheeks and strained eye-balls glowing with
intemperance; their oaths, their gestures, their very voices having
something terrible in them. The mockery soon disgusted me, and I moved
away, again to wander about without object or direction through the
weary streets. It was past midnight when I found myself, without knowing
where I was, in a large open space, in the midst of which a solitary
lamp was burning. I approached it, and, to my horror, saw that it was
the guillotine, over which, in mournful cadence, a lantern swung,
creaking its chain as the night-wind stirred it. The dim outline of the
fearful scaffold, the fitful light that fell upon the platform, and the
silence, all conspired to strike terror into my heart; all I had so
lately witnessed seemed to rise up again before me, and the victims
seemed to stand up again, pale, and livid, and shuddering as last I saw
them.

I knelt down, and tried to pray, but terror was too powerful to suffer
my thoughts to take this direction, and, half-fainting with fear and
exhaustion, I lay down upon the ground and slept--slept beneath the
platform of the guillotine. Not a dream crossed my slumber, nor did I
awake till dawn of day, when the low rumbling of the peasants' carts
aroused me, as they were proceeding to the market. I know not why or
whence, but I arose from the damp earth, and looked about me with a more
daring and courageous spirit than I had hitherto felt. It was May; the
first bright rays of sunshine were slanting along the "Place," and the
fresh, brisk air felt invigorating and cheering. Whither to? asked I of
myself, and my eyes turned from the dense streets and thoroughfares of
the great city to the far-off hills beyond the barrier, and for a moment
I hesitated which road to take. I almost seemed to feel as if the
decision involved my whole future fortune--whether I sho