ards the window, which I opened, to admit through the
bars a little fresh air. I then perceived a poor woman who
knew us, and who was making a number of signs, which I could
not at first understand. She constantly held up her gown
(_robe_); and seeing that she had some object in view, I
called out _robe_; to which she answered _yes_. She then
lifted up a stone, and put it into her lap, which she lifted
a second time. I called out _pierre_. Upon this, she evinced
the greatest joy at perceiving that her signs were
understood. Joining then the stone to her robe, she eagerly
imitated the motion of cutting off the head, and immediately
began to dance and evince the most extravagant joy.

"This singular pantomime awakened in our minds a vague hope
that possibly Robespierre might be no more.

"At this moment, while we were vacillating between hope and
fear, we heard a great noise in the corridor, and the
terrible voice of our jailer, who said to his dog, giving
him at the same time a kick, 'Get in, you cursed
Robespierre.'"

This speech told them they were saved.

Through the influence of Barras, a portion of her husband's property, in
which Malmaison was included, was restored to Josephine. In this
favorite abode she amused herself in exercising her taste in the
embellishment of the grounds, and in the pursuit of botany; but her
chief enjoyment was in the society and instruction of her children, to
whom she was passionately attached. Their amiable dispositions and their
talents were a source of the most exquisite pleasure to her, not,
however, unmingled with regret at finding herself without the means of
conferring on them the advantages of which they were so deserving.
However, a better time was to come. Madame Tallien and several of
Josephine's friends, after a time, prevailed on her to enter into
society, and the fair associates became the principal ornaments of the
dictatorial circle. Through their influence revolutionary manners were
reformed, and all the power which their charms and their talents gave
them was exerted in the cause of humanity.

Napoleon's acquaintance with Josephine arose from the impression made on
him by her son, Eugene Beauharnais, then a little boy. He came to
request that his father's sword, which had been delivered up, might be
restored to him. The boy's appearance,--the earnestness with which he
urged