thers
answered, three or four men fell, and lay there weltering in their blood.
Out of this confused uproar the word "Waterloo" emerged distinct; and
with this unfamiliar name pronounced for the first time in the resounding
voice of history, the news of the defeat of the French army and the
triumph of the Allies spread apace. Then General Verdier, who held the
chief command in the absence of Marshal Brune, tried to harangue the
people, but his voice was drowned by the shouts of the mob who had
gathered round a coffee-house where stood a bust of the emperor, which
they insisted should be given up to them. Verdier, hoping to calm, what
he took to be a simple street row, gave orders that the bust should be
brought out, and this concession, so significant on the part of a general
commanding in the emperor's name, convinced the crowd that his cause was
lost. The fury of the populace grew greater now that they felt that they
could indulge it with impunity; they ran to the Town Hall, and tearing
down and burning the tricoloured, raised the white flag. The roll of the
generale, the clang of the tocsin were heard, the neighbouring villages
poured in their populations and increased the throng in the streets;
single acts of violence began to occur, wholesale massacres were
approaching. I had arrived in the town with my friend M____ the very
beginning of the tumult, so we had seen the dangerous agitation and
excitement grow under our eyes, but we were still ignorant of its true
cause, when, in the rue de Noailles, we met an acquaintance, who,
although his political opinions did not coincide with ours, had always
shown himself very friendly to us. 'Well,' said I, 'what news?' 'Good
for me and bad for you,' he answered;' I advise you to go away at once.'
Surprised and somewhat alarmed at these words, we begged him to explain.
'Listen,' said he; 'there are going to be riots in the town; it is well
known that you used to go to Brune's nearly every evening, and that you
are in consequence no favourite with your neighbours; seek safety in the
country.' I addressed some further question to him, but, turning his back
on me, he left me without another word.

"M______ and I were still looking at each other in stupefaction, when the
increasing uproar aroused us to a sense that if we desired to follow the
advice just given we had not a moment to lose. We hastened to my house,
which was situated in the Allees de Meilhan. My wife was just