uld move him. He never granted a pardon; he
never allowed his heart to be touched with compassion; and when one
reads his history, it is hard to decide which is most horrible, the acts
of his life or the spirit of fanaticism that inspired them. Vauquelas
understood the character of the man with whom he had to deal, and felt
that there was no hope of exciting Robespierre's pity by the recital of
the misfortunes of Philip and Dolores, or by an explanation of the
embarrassing position in which he found himself; so he finally decided
to resort to strategy to obtain what he desired.

When he reached the house, he found that Robespierre had just gone out.
Vauquelas did not seem at all annoyed. He entered the office--that dread
place from which emanated those accusations that carried death and
despair to so many households. The visitor was well-known to the
servants of the household and he was permitted to roam about at will. As
he declared his intention of awaiting Robespierre's return, the servant
who ushered him into the room withdrew, leaving him quite alone. He
hastened to Robespierre's desk and began rummaging among the papers with
which it was strewn, keeping one eye all the while upon the door lest
some one should enter and detect him. There were intended orders, lists
of proscriptions, documents and reports from the provinces, as well as
police reports, but Vauquelas paid no attention to these. He continued
his search until Robespierre's signature on the bottom of a blank sheet
of paper met his eyes, and drew from him an exclamation of joy.

This sheet was the last belonging to a police report which had been
approved by the committee, and the only one upon which the clerk to whom
the copying of the document had been entrusted had as yet written
nothing. It was upon this sheet that Robespierre had placed his
signature. His name, written by his own hand and ornamented with the
flourish which he always appended to his signature, lay upon the
immaculate whiteness of the paper like a blood stain. Without the
slightest hesitation, Vauquelas tore this precious page loose from the
others; then in a feigned hand he wrote these words "Permission to leave
the prison is hereby granted to the man and woman bearing this order."
These lines written above the signature transformed the paper into the
safe-conduct which Coursegol had demanded. Greatly agitated by the
audacious act he had just accomplished, Vauquelas placed the document