At this he jumped up,
and raising a curtain, saw the crowd rushing about the square in a state
of terror. What a thunderbolt! In less than a second he pictured himself
ruined, plundered, and murdered; he cursed his wife, he cursed the whole
town. Then, as he looked behind him in a suspicious manner, seeking
some means of escape, he heard the mob break out into applause, uttering
shouts of joy, making the very glass rattle with their wild
delight. Then he returned to the window; the women were waving their
handkerchiefs, and the men were embracing each other. There were some
among them who joined hands and began to dance. Rougon stood there
stupefied, unable to comprehend it all, and feeling his head swimming.
The big, deserted, silent building, in which he was alone, quite
frightened him.

When he afterwards confessed his feelings to Felicite, he was unable to
say how long his torture had lasted. He only remembered that a noise of
footsteps, re-echoing through the vast halls, had roused him from his
stupor. He expected to be attacked by men in blouses, armed with scythes
and clubs, whereas it was the Municipal Commission which entered, quite
orderly and in evening dress, each member with a beaming countenance.
Not one of them was absent. A piece of good news had simultaneously
cured all these gentlemen. Granoux rushed into the arms of his dear
president.

"The soldiers!" he stammered, "the soldiers!"

A regiment had, in fact, just arrived, under the command of Colonel
Masson and Monsieur de Bleriot, prefect of the department. The
gunbarrels which had been observed from the ramparts, far away in the
plain, had at first suggested the approach of the insurgents. Rougon was
so deeply moved on learning the truth, that two big tears rolled down
his cheeks. He was weeping, the great citizen! The Municipal Commission
watched those big tears with most respectful admiration. But Granoux
again threw himself on his friend's neck, crying:

"Ah! how glad I am! You know I'm a straightforward man. Well, we were
all of us afraid; it is not so, gentlemen? You, alone, were great,
brave, sublime! What energy you must have had! I was just now saying to
my wife: 'Rougon is a great man; he deserves to be decorated.'"

Then the gentlemen proposed to go and meet the prefect. For a moment
Rougon felt both stunned and suffocated; he was unable to believe
in this sudden triumph, and stammered like a child. However, he drew
breath, and went