esteemed her the more because
she had suffered wrong, Elodie entertained no such high claims; however,
take him as he was, she loved him, and admired the brilliant artistic
genius she divined in him.

As they left the Luxembourg, they came upon crowds thronging the Rue de
l'Egalite and the whole neighbourhood of the Theatre de la Nation. There
was nothing to surprise them in this; for several days great excitement
had prevailed in the most patriotic Sections; denunciations were rife
against the Orleans faction and the Brissotin plotters, who were
conspiring, it was said, to bring about the ruin of Paris and the
massacre of good Republicans. Gamelin himself a short time back had
signed a petition from the Commune demanding the expulsion of the
Twenty-one.

Just before passing under the arcade, joining the theatre to the
neighbouring house, they had to find their way through a group of
citizens _en carmagnole_ who were listening to a harangue from a young
soldier mounted on the top of the gallery. He looked as beautiful as the
Eros of Praxiteles in his helmet of panther-skin. This fascinating
warrior was charging the People's Friend with indolence:

"Marat, you are asleep," he was crying, "and the federalists are forging
fetters to bind us."

Hardly had Elodie cast eyes on the orator before she turned rapidly to
Evariste and begged him to get her away. The crowd, she declared,
frightened her and she was afraid of fainting in the crush.

They parted in the Place de la Nation, swearing an oath of eternal
fidelity.

* * * * *

That same morning early the _citoyen_ Brotteaux had made the _citoyenne_
Gamelin the magnificent present of a capon. It would have been an act of
indiscretion for him to mention how he had come by it; as a fact, he had
it of a _Dame de la Halle_ at the Pointe Eustache for whom he sometimes
acted as amanuensis, and as everybody knows, these "Ladies of the
Market" cherished Royalist sympathies and were in correspondence with
the _emigres_. The _citoyenne_ Gamelin had received the gift with
heartfelt gratitude. Such dainties were scarce ever seen then; victuals
grew dearer every day. The people feared a famine; the aristocrats, they
said, wished it, and the "corner" makers were at work to bring it about.

The _citoyen_ Brotteaux, being invited to eat his share of the capon at
the midday dinner, appeared in due course and congratulated his hostess
on the rich aroma