hen I turned round again, and saw the cause
of their reluctance to move. The Imperial Guard was being massed in
front of the principal door leading from the private gardens into the
palace. 'My dear Ramail,' I said to myself, 'you stand a very good
chance of having a bullet through your head before you are ten minutes
older; because, at the slightest move of the crowd among which you now
stand, the guard will fire.' I own that I was scarcely prepared to face
death for such a trivial cause as this; and I was quietly edging my way
out of the crowd, which was beginning to utter low ominous growls, when
a voice, ringing clear upon the air, shouted, 'Citoyens!' I stopped,
turned round once more, and stood on tiptoe.

"The speaker was a tall, handsome fellow, young to all appearance, and
with a voice like a bell. He looked a gentleman, but I have never seen
him before to my knowledge. His companion I knew at once; it was
Victorien Sardou. There is no mistaking that face. I have heard some
people say that it is not a bit like that of the great Napoleon, while
others maintain that, placing the living man and the portrait of the
dead one side by side, one could not tell the difference. I'll undertake
to say this, that if M. Sardou had donned a uniform, such as the
lieutenant of artillery wore at Arcola, for instance, he might have
taken the Empress by the hand and led her out safely among the people,
who would have believed in some miraculous resurrection.

"To come back to my story. 'Citoyens,' repeated M. Sardou's companion,
'I do not wonder at your surprise that the garden should not be open to
you and its ingress forbidden by soldiers. The Tuileries belong to the
people, now that the Empire is gone; for gone it is by this time, in
spite of the Imperial Guard massed before yonder door. Consequently, my
friend and I propose to go and ask for the withdrawal of these soldiers.
But, in order to do this, you must give us your promise not to budge;
for the slightest attempt on your part to do so before our return may
lead to bloodshed, and I am convinced that you are as anxious as we are
to avoid such a calamity.'

"If that young fellow is not an actor, he ought to be. Every word he
said could be heard distinctly and produced its effect. The crowd
cheered him and promised unanimously to wait. Then we saw him and M.
Sardou take out their handkerchiefs and tie them to the end of their
sticks. Perhaps it was well they did, for as I