n one direction and with one intent, no
one paid heed to him, or supposed him to belong to the enemy. Some cried
"To the Treille! They are there! To the Treille!" And these wheeled that
way. But more, guided by the sounds of conflict, held on to the point
where the short, narrow street of the Tertasse turned left-handed out of
the equally narrow Rue de la Cite--the latter leading onwards to the
Porte de la Monnaye, and the bridges. Here, at the meeting of the two
confined lanes, overhung by timbered houses, and old gables of strange
shapes, a desperate conflict was being fought. The Savoyards, masters of
the gate, had undertaken to push their way into the town by the Rue
Tertasse; not doubting that they would be supported by-and-by, upon the
entrance of their main body through the Porte Neuve. They had proceeded
no farther, however, than the junction with the Rue de la Cite--a point
where darkness was made visible by two dim oil lamps--before, the alarm
being given, they found themselves confronted by a dozen half-clad
townsfolk, fresh from their beds; of whom five or six were at once laid
low. The survivors, however, fought with desperation, giving back, foot
by foot; and as the alarm flew abroad and the city rose, every moment
brought the defenders a reinforcement--some father just roused from
sleep, armed with the chance weapon that came to hand, or some youth
panting for his first fight. The assailants, therefore, found themselves
stayed; slowly they were driven back into the narrow gullet of the
Tertasse. Even there they were put to it to hold their ground against an
ever-increasing swarm of citizens, whom despair and the knowledge that
they were fighting on their hearths, for their wives, and for their
children, brought up in renewed strength.

In the Tertasse, however, where it was not possible to outflank them,
and no dark side-alley, vomiting now and again a desperate man, gave one
to death, a score could hold out against a hundred. Here then, with the
gateway at their backs--whence three or four could fire over their
heads--the Savoyards stood stubbornly at bay, awaiting the
reinforcements which they were sure would come from the Porte Neuve.
They were picked troops not easily discouraged; and they had no fear
that aught serious had happened. But they asked impatiently why
D'Albigny with the main body did not come; why Brunaulieu with the
Monnaye in his hands did not see that the time was opportune. They
chafe