ed on his big
waistcoat, crying:

"Joseph, it has come."

He rolled down the stairs, as it were, and from seeing him in such a
hurry the desire to hear the news seized me, and I followed him. We
had hardly reached the street when the coach came through the dark
gateway, with its two red lanterns, and rushed past us like a
thunder-bolt. We ran after it, but we were not alone; from all sides
we heard the people running and shouting, "There it is, there it is!"
The post-office was in the rue des Foins, near the German gate, and the
coach went straight down to the college and turned there to the right.
The farther we went the greater was the crowd; it poured from every
door.

[Illustration: People were heard shouting, "There it is, there it is!"]

The old mayor, Mr. Parmentier, his secretary, Eschbach, and Cauchois,
the tax-gatherer, and many other notables were in the crowd, talking
together and saying:

"The decisive moment has come."

When we turned into the Place d'Armes, we saw the crowd already
gathered in front of the postoffice; innumerable faces were leaning
over the iron balustrade, one trying to get before the other, and
interrogating the courier, who did not answer a word.

The postmaster, Mr. Pernette, opened the window, which was lighted up
from the inside, and the package of letters and papers flew from the
coach through this window into the room; the window closed, and the
crack of the postilion's whip warned the crowd to get out of the way.

"The papers, the papers!" shouted the crowd from every side. The coach
set off again and disappeared through the German gate.

"Let us go to Hoffman's cafe," said Mr. Goulden. "Hurry! the papers
will go there, and if we wait we shall not be able to get in."

As we crossed the square we heard some one running behind us, and the
clear, strong voice of Margarot, saying:

"They have come, I have them."

All the half-pay officers were following him, and as the moon was
shining we could see they were coming at a great pace. We rushed into
the cafe and were hardly seated near the great stove of Delft ware,
when the crowd at once poured in through both doors. You should have
seen the faces of the half-pay officers at that moment. Their great
three-cornered hats, defiling under the lamps, their thin faces with
their long mustaches hanging down, their sparkling eyes peering into
the darkness, made them look like savages in pursuit of something.
Some of them