them from the other end of the salon!"

"M. Thiers, like the worldly-wise and selfish man he is, has held
himself aloof from the banquet, and even declined the invitation
accepted by a hundred of his party; to-day he was absent from the
Chamber and to-night from the conclave, all with the aspiring, yet vain
hope, that the King will send for him to form a Ministry."

"And yet, in the Chamber, a few days ago, he said that he was of the
party of the revolution in Europe."

"True, but he added that he wished the revolution carried on by its
moderate supporters, and that he should do all he could to keep it in
the hands of the moderate party."

"'But if it should pass into the hands of a party not moderate,'
continued the crafty ex-Minister, 'I shall not abandon the cause of the
revolution. I shall be always of the party of the revolution.' But see,
he singles out Marrast, of all others!"

"And his old colleague of 'Le National' seems to give him no very
cordial reception," added the Deputy. "But let us move up and hear the
determination of the opposition relative to the banquet."

"That's the very question the little historian has just propounded to
the great journalist. Now for the answer."

"The opposition decide, Monsieur, to abandon the banquet," was the angry
reply of the editor to the ex-Minister.

"Indeed!" was the bland rejoinder; "and has a manifesto of this decision
been issued to the people?"

"It has; and it instantly called forth a counter manifesto from the
electoral committee of the Twelfth Arrondissement, expressing very
natural astonishment that, at the same time the opposition abandoned the
banquet, they had not abandoned their seats in the Chamber, and inviting
them so to do at once."

"And the Ministry?" anxiously asked M. Thiers.

"Will to-morrow be impeached, Monsieur!"

"Ah! indeed! indeed!" cried the smart little aspirant, gleefully
rubbing his hands.

At that moment General Lamoriciere, the brother-in-law of Thiers, who
owed so much to the house of Orleans, hastily approached.

"I come straight from the Tuileries," he said, with considerable
excitement. "General Jacqueminot has just issued an order of the day, as
commander-in-chief of the National Guard, appealing to them as the
constitutional protectors of the Throne to take no part in the banquet.
Orders have, also, been issued for the rappel to be beaten at dawn, in
the Quartier St. Honore, the scene of the contemplated processi