nals,
not one of them here, have three hundred fusils but then no powder;
besides one is not sure, only morally-certain. Drouet, as an adroit
Old-Dragoon of Conde does what is advisablest: privily bespeaks Clerk
Guillaume, Old-Dragoon of Conde he too; privily, while Clerk Guillaume
is saddling two of the fleetest horses, slips over to the Townhall to
whisper a word; then mounts with Clerk Guillaume; and the two bound
eastward in pursuit, to see what can be done.

They bound eastward, in sharp trot; their moral-certainty permeating
the Village, from the Townhall outwards, in busy whispers. Alas! Captain
Dandoins orders his Dragoons to mount; but they, complaining of long
fast, demand bread-and-cheese first;--before which brief repast can
be eaten, the whole Village is permeated; not whispering now, but
blustering and shrieking! National Volunteers, in hurried muster, shriek
for gunpowder; Dragoons halt between Patriotism and Rule of the Service,
between bread and cheese and fixed bayonets: Dandoins hands secretly his
Pocket-book, with its secret despatches, to the rigorous Quartermaster:
the very Ostlers have stable-forks and flails. The rigorous
Quartermaster, half-saddled, cuts out his way with the sword's edge,
amid levelled bayonets, amid Patriot vociferations, adjurations,
flail-strokes; and rides frantic; (Declaration de La Gache in
Choiseul, p. 134.)--few or even none following him; the rest, so
sweetly constrained consenting to stay there.

And thus the new Berline rolls; and Drouet and Guillaume gallop
after it, and Dandoins's Troopers or Trooper gallops after them;
and Sainte-Menehould, with some leagues of the King's Highway, is
in explosion;--and your Military thunder-chain has gone off in a
self-destructive manner; one may fear with the frightfullest issues!

Chapter 2.4.VII.

The Night of Spurs.

This comes of mysterious Escorts, and a new Berline with eleven horses:
'he that has a secret should not only hide it, but hide that he has it
to hide.' Your first Military Escort has exploded self-destructive;
and all Military Escorts, and a suspicious Country will now be up,
explosive; comparable not to victorious thunder. Comparable, say rather,
to the first stirring of an Alpine Avalanche; which, once stir it, as
here at Sainte-Menehould, will spread,--all round, and on and on, as far
as Stenai; thundering with wild ruin, till Patriot Villagers, Peasantry,
Military Escorts, new Berline and Royalty are