-a constant scene of bustle,
hurry, and commotion. As de Sigognac and the tyrant strolled
slowly along they were beset by beggars, more or less impudent and
pertinacious, and by all sorts of odd characters, plying various
extraordinary vocations for the amusement of the passers-by, for
which they seemed to be liberally enough remunerated. Here was an
improvisatore, singing, not unmelodiously, his rather clever verses;
there a blind man, led by a stout, jolly-looking old woman, who recited
his dolorous history in a whining voice, and appealed to the charity of
the ever-changing multitude; farther on a charlatan, loudly claiming
to be able to cure "all the ills that flesh is heir to" by his magical
compound--and finding plenty of dupes; and next to him a man with a
monkey, whose funny tricks caused much merriment. Suddenly a great
tumult arose near the other end of the bridge, and in a moment a
compact crowd had gathered around four men, who, with loud cries and
imprecations, were fighting with swords--apparently with great fury,
though in reality it was only a mock combat, probably intended to give a
good chance to the thieves and pickpockets in the throng, with whom they
were in league; such tactics being very common, as well as successful.
By Herode's advice, de Sigognac refrained from mingling with the crowd
immediately around the combatants, so he could not get a very good view
of them; but he was almost sure that they were the very men he had met
first in the streets of Poitiers, to their great discomfiture, and had
seen again the previous night at the hotel in the Rue Dauphine, where
they certainly had gained no advantage to make up for their former
defeat. He communicated his suspicions to the tyrant, but the rascals
had already slipped away, and it would have been as useless to attempt
to find them in the throng as to look for a needle in a haystack.

"It certainly is possible," said Herode, thoughtfully, "that this
quarrel was gotten up with a view to involving you in it, by some means
or other, for we are undoubtedly followed and watched by the emissaries
of the Duke of Vallombreuse. One of the scoundrels might have made
believe that you were in the way, or that you had struck him, and
falling upon you suddenly, before you had time to draw your sword, have
given you a thrust that would have done for you; and if he failed to
wound you mortally; the others could have pretended to come to their
comrade's aid, and