the outposts
morgan pretended not to have noticed that he had passed his own outposts. he continued to advance arm in arm with garat as far as the colonnade. he was one of those rigidly honest men who have confidence in his enemies even, and who believed that, in france at least, courage was the truest prudence.
when he reached the colonnade of the louvre, morgan found himself not more than twenty paces distant from the ranks of the conventionals, and less than ten from the spot where general cartaux stood leaning on his sword. cartaux was magnificently dressed, and wore a hat with a tri-color plume which dangled so low before his eyes that he was greatly annoyed by it.
[pg 321]
"you have a magnificent drum-major there," said morgan; "i congratulate you upon him."
garat smiled. it was not the first time that this mistake had been made, either voluntarily or involuntarily.
"that is not our drum-major," he said, "it is our commander, general cartaux."
"ah! the devil! he is the man who might have taken toulon, and who, instead, allowed it to be captured by a little artillery officer named—what was his name, anyhow?—named bonaparte, i believe. ah! introduce me to this worthy officer; i adore handsome men and particularly handsome uniforms."
"willingly," said garat; and they advanced toward general cartaux.
"general," said garat to the colossus in uniform, "i have the honor to present to you the citizen-president of the section le peletier, who has not only courteously made way for me through his men, but who has accompanied me thus far lest any mishap should befall me."
"citizen," said cartaux, drawing himself up in order not to lose an inch of his height, "i join with citizen-conventional garat in thanking you."
"there is no necessity to do so, general," said morgan, with his accustomed courtesy. "i saw you from a distance and wished to make your acquaintance. besides, i wished to ask you whether you did not think it would be well for you to yield me this post, as you did the other, without bloodshed."
"is that a jest or a proposition?" asked cartaux, his coarse voice growing louder.
"it is a proposition," said morgan, "and a serious one at that."
"it seems to me that you are too much of a soldier, citizen," said cartaux, "not to understand the difference between this position and the other. the other can be attacked on four sides, while this can be reached on two only. now, as you perceive, citizen, here are two guns ready to[pg 322] receive all those who approach by way of the quays, and two more for those who come through the rue saint-honoré."
"but why do you not open fire, general?" asked the president, carelessly. "there is a fine range for cannon between the garden of the infanta and the pont-neuf—scarcely a hundred feet."
"the general, wishing to place all responsibility of bloodshed upon the sectionists, has forbidden us to open fire."
"what general? barras?"
"no. general bonaparte."
"why, is that your little officer of toulon? so he has made his way up until now he is a general like you."
"more of a general than i am," replied cartaux, "since i am under his orders."
"how disagreeable that must be for you, citizen, and what a piece of injustice! you who are six feet tall to have to obey a young man of twenty-four, who, they say, is only five feet one."
"do you know him?" asked cartaux.
"no, i have not the honor."
"well, open fire, and this evening—"
"this evening?"
"this evening you will know him, i promise you."
at that moment the drums were heard beating a salute, and a group of staff-officers emerged through the gate of the louvre, among whom barras was noticeable for the splendor of his uniform and bonaparte for the simplicity of his.
he was, as we have said, short and thin, and as, from where morgan stood, it was impossible to distinguish the fine lines of his face, he looked insignificant, riding as he was behind barras.
"ah," said morgan, "that is something new!"
"yes," replied garat. "see! there is general barras and general bonaparte; they are going to visit the outposts."
"and which of the two is general bonaparte?" asked morgan.
[pg 323]
"the one on the black horse."
"why! he is a child who has not yet had time to grow," said morgan, shrugging his shoulders.
"don't worry," said cartaux, laying his hand on morgan's shoulder, "he will grow."
barras, bonaparte, and the rest of the staff continued to advance toward general cartaux.
"i will stay," said morgan; "i should like to see this bonaparte close at hand."
"then hide behind me, or, rather, behind cartaux," said garat; "you will have more room."
morgan drew back and the cavalcade approached the general. barras drew rein before general cartaux, but bonaparte rode forward a few steps further, and remained alone in the middle of the quay. as he was only half a musket shot from the sectionist ranks, several muskets were aimed at him; whereupon morgan sprang forward, and, with one bound, placed himself between the sectionists and the general's body. then, with a wave of his hat, he commanded them to lower their muskets.
bonaparte rose in his stirrups, apparently unmindful of what had just taken place before him. the pont-neuf, the rue de la monnaie, the quai de la vallée, the rue de thionville, and the quai conti as far as the institute, were thronged with armed men. as far as the eye could reach along the quai de l'école, the quai de la mégisserie, and the quai des morfondus, muskets gleamed in the sun, thick as spears of wheat in a wheat field.
"how many men do you think there are before you, citizen cartaux," asked bonaparte.
"i could not say exactly," replied cartaux. "in open country i could guess within a thousand men, but here in the streets and quays i cannot make even an approximate guess."
"general, if you want to know the exact number," said garat, "ask the citizen who has just prevented those men from firing upon you. he can tell you."
[pg 324]
bonaparte glanced at the young man as if he now saw him for the first time.
"citizen," said he with a slight bow, "will you be good enough to give me the information i desire?"
"i think, monsieur," said morgan, taking care to address the republican general in the manner used before the revolution, "you asked the number of men opposed to you?"
"yes," replied bonaparte, fixing a penetrating eye upon his interlocutor.
"before you, monsieur," resumed morgan, "there are, visible or invisible, some thirty or thirty-two thousand men; ten thousand men in the direction of the rue saint-roch; ten thousand between the place des filles de saint-thomas and the barrière des sergents. in the neighborhood of fifty-six thousand, as you see."
"is that all?" asked bonaparte.
"do you not think that is enough to oppose to your five thousand?"
"you say you are sure of the number?" asked bonaparte without replying to the other's question.
"perfectly so, since i am one of their principal leaders."
a flash gleamed in the young general's eye, and he stared at cartaux.
"how comes it that the citizen-sectionist is here?" he asked; "is he your prisoner?"
"no, citizen-general," replied cartaux.
"did he come under a flag of truce?"
"no."
bonaparte frowned. "but there must be some reason why he is in your ranks," he said.
"citizen-general," said garat, advancing, "i was with one hundred and fifty men, whom i had recruited in the faubourg saint-antoine, when we fell in with citizen morgan and his troops. in order that neither i nor my men should suffer harm, he himself brought me here with a generosity and loyalty deserving of the utmost gratitude. citizen morgan, i thank you for the service you have rendered[pg 325] me, and i assert that not only have we no pretext for detaining you here, but that if we did so it would be in flagrant violation of honor and the rights of man. citizen-general bonaparte, i therefore ask your permission for the citizen to retire."
and garat, advancing toward morgan, clasped his hand, while bonaparte, waving his hand toward the sectionist outposts, made a sign to morgan to return to his men. the latter bowed courteously to bonaparte and walked slowly off, whistling the air of "la belle gabrielle."
