spicions ascertained. At the
same instant the friends of Drouet rushed into the town, knocked at the
doors, mounted the belfry, and rang the alarm-bell. The affrighted
inhabitants awoke, the national guards of the town and the adjacent
villages hastened one after another to M. Sausse's door; others went to
the quarters of the troops, to gain them over to their interest, or to
disarm them. In vain did the king deny his rank--his features and those
of the queen betrayed them. He at last discovered himself to the mayor
and the municipal officers, and taking M. de Sausse's hand, "Yes," said
he, "I am your king, and in your hands I place my destiny, and that of
my wife, of my sister, and of my children; our lives, the fate of the
empire, the peace of the kingdom, the safety of the constitution even,
depends upon you. Suffer me to continue my journey; I have no design of
leaving the country; I am going in the midst of a part of the army, and
in a French town, to regain my real liberty, of which the factions at
Paris deprive me, and from thence make terms with the Assembly, who,
like myself, are held in subjection through fear. I am not about to
destroy, but to save and secure the constitution; if you detain me, the
constitution, I myself, France, all are lost. I conjure you as a father,
as a husband, as a man, as a citizen, leave the road free to us; in an
hour we shall be saved, and with us France is saved; and if you guard in
your hearts that fidelity your words profess for him who was your
master, I order you as your king."

XIII.

The men, touched by these words, respectful even in their violence,
hesitated, and seemed touched. It is evident, by the expression of their
features, by their tears, that they are wavering between their pity for
so terrible a reverse of fortune and their conscience as patriots. The
sight of their king, who pressed their hands in his, of their queen, by
turns suppliant and majestic, who strives by despair or entreaties to
wring from them permission to depart, unmanned them. They would have
yielded had they consulted the dictates of their heart alone; but they
began to fear for themselves the responsibility of their indulgence; the
people will demand from them their king, the nation its chief. Egotism
hardened their hearts; the wife of M. Sausse, with whom her husband
repeatedly exchanged glances, and in whose breast the queen hoped to
find pity and compassion, was the least moved of any. Whil