!" returned the soldier; "my name is
Grand-Ferre, and I've got here a better exorciser than any of you can
show."

And significantly grasping the handle of his rapier in one hand, with the
other he twisted up his blond moustache, as he looked fiercely around;
but meeting no glance which returned the defiance of his own, he slowly
withdrew, left foot foremost, and strolled along the dark, narrow streets
with all the reckless nonchalance of a young soldier who has just donned
his uniform, and a profound contempt for all who wear not a military
coat.

In the meantime eight or ten of the more substantial and rational
inhabitants traversed in a body, slowly and silently, the agitated
throng; they seemed overwhelmed with amazement and distress at the
agitation and excitement they witnessed everywhere, and as each new
instance of the popular frenzy appeared, they exchanged glances of wonder
and apprehension. Their mute depression communicated itself to the
working-people, and to the peasants who had flocked in from the adjacent
country, and who, all sought a guide for their opinions in the faces of
the principal townsmen, also for the most part proprietors of the
surrounding districts. They saw that something calamitous was on foot,
and resorted accordingly to the only remedy open to the ignorant and the
beguiled--apathetic resignation.

Yet, in the character of the French peasant is a certain scoffing finesse
of which he makes effective use, sometimes with his equals, and almost
invariably with his superiors. He puts questions to power as embarrassing
as are those which infancy puts to mature age. He affects excessive
humility, in order to confuse him whom he addresses with the very height
of his isolated elevation. He exaggerates the awkwardness of his manner
and the rudeness of his speech, as a means of covering his real thoughts
under the appearance of mere uncouthness; yet, despite all his
self-command, there is something in his air, certain fierce expressions
which betray him to the close observer, who discerns in his sardonic
smile, and in the marked emphasis with which he leans on his long staff,
the hopes that secretly nourish his soul, and the aid upon which he
ultimately relies.

One of the oldest of the peasants whom we have indicated came on
vigorously, followed by ten or twelve young men, his sons and nephews,
all wearing the broad-brimmed hat and the blue frock or blouse of the
ancient Gauls, which the peas