us beast, was thrown three times
in front of the army; but he got up again without injury, and
this was regarded as a favourable omen. The burgomaster, the
counsellor, the civil commissary, the chief justice, the
school-teacher, the banker, the rector,--in short, all the
notabilities of the town,--marched at the head. There were no tears
shed, either by mothers, sisters, or daughters. They urged on their
husbands, fathers, brothers, to the combat, and even followed
them and formed the rear-guard, under the orders of the
courageous Madame Van Tricasse.

The crier, Jean Mistrol, blew his trumpet; the army moved off,
and directed itself, with ferocious cries, towards the Oudenarde
gate.

******

At the moment when the head of the column was about to pass the
walls of the town, a man threw himself before it.

"Stop! stop! Fools that you are!" he cried. "Suspend your blows!
Let me shut the valve! You are not changed in nature! You are
good citizens, quiet and peaceable! If you are so excited, it is
my master, Doctor Ox's, fault! It is an experiment! Under the
pretext of lighting your streets with oxyhydric gas, he has
saturated--"

The assistant was beside himself; but he could not finish. At the
instant that the doctor's secret was about to escape his lips,
Doctor Ox himself pounced upon the unhappy Ygene in an indescribable
rage, and shut his mouth by blows with his fist.

It was a battle. The burgomaster, the counsellor, the
dignitaries, who had stopped short on Ygene's sudden appearance,
carried away in turn by their exasperation, rushed upon the two
strangers, without waiting to hear either the one or the other.

Doctor Ox and his assistant, beaten and lashed, were about to be
dragged, by order of Van Tricasse, to the round-house, when,--

CHAPTER XV.

IN WHICH THE DENOUEMENT TAKES PLACE.

When a formidable explosion resounded. All the atmosphere which
enveloped Quiquendone seemed on fire. A flame of an intensity and
vividness quite unwonted shot up into the heavens like a meteor.
Had it been night, this flame would have been visible for ten
leagues around.

The whole army of Quiquendone fell to the earth, like an army of
monks. Happily there were no victims; a few scratches and slight
hurts were the only result. The confectioner, who, as chance
would have it, had not fallen from his horse this time, had his
plume singed, and escaped without any further injury.

[Illustration: The whole army o