the journey
four carriages, or, rather, four boxes on wheels, inclosed on all sides with iron bars, which bruised the prisoners at every jolt, received the exiles. four of them were placed in each cage, and no attention was paid either to their weakness or their wounds. some of them had received sabre cuts; others had been wounded, either by the soldiers who had arrested them or by the mob, whose opinions always will be that the conquered do not suffer enough.
there was a keeper for each wagon and each group of four men, who had the care of the key of the padlock which closed the grating which served in lieu of a door.
general dutertre commanded the escort, which consisted of four hundred infantry, two hundred cavalry, and two cannon.
every time the exiles got in or out of the cages, the two pieces were trained diagonally upon the carriages, while gunners stood ready, with lighted matches in their hands, to fire the cannon, should any of them attempt to escape, both upon those who made the attempt and upon those who did not.
[pg 554]
the condemned men began their journey on the 22d fructidor (8th of september) in the midst of a terrible storm. they had to cross the whole length of paris, starting with the temple, and leaving the city through the barrière d'enfer, to take the road to orléans. but instead of following the rue saint-jacques, the escort, after crossing the bridge, turned to the right and led the procession to the luxembourg. here the three directors, or rather barras, who was the three in himself, was giving a ball.
barras, when notified, hastened to the balcony, followed by the guests, and pointed out pichegru, three days earlier the rival of moreau, hoche, and bonaparte, and with him barthélemy, his former colleague, villot, delarue, ramel—in short, all those whom the turn of fortune's wheel or the forgetfulness of providence had put in his power. the exiles heard barras, amid noisy bursts of laughter and joy enjoin dutertre, augereau's man, "to take good care of these gentlemen." to which dutertre replied: "never fear, general."
we shall soon see what barras meant when he said "take good care of these gentlemen."
in the meantime the people who were coming out of the odéon club surrounded the wagons; and being refused permission to do what they urgently demanded to do—to tear the exiles to pieces—they consoled themselves by throwing fireworks which enabled them to see the prisoners without any trouble.
finally the procession passed through the rue d'enfer to the accompaniment of fierce cries for their death and howls of rage, and left paris. at two o'clock in the afternoon, having made only twenty-four miles, they reached arpajon. barthélemy and barbé-marbois, the weakest of the exiles, were lying upon their faces, apparently exhausted.
when they heard that the day's journey was ended, the prisoners hoped that they would be conducted to some suitable place where they could take a little rest. but the commander of the escort took them to the prison reserved[pg 555] for thieves, eagerly examining their faces and showing the utmost delight when they manifested repulsion and disgust. unfortunately, the first wagon to be opened was the one in which pichegru had travelled; his impassive face did not betray the least emotion. he merely said as they approached the hole: "if it is a stairway, give me a light; if it is a well, tell me so at once."
it was a staircase, of which several steps were missing. this calmness exasperated dutertre.
"ah, rascal," he said, "you think you can defy me; but we shall see one of these days whether i cannot find the end of your insolence."
pichegru, who reached the bottom first, called out to his companions that some one had been thoughtful enough to spread straw for them, and thanked dutertre for the attention. but the straw was soaking wet and the cell was foul.
barthélemy came next, gentle, calm, but exhausted and aware that he could not expect an instant's repose. lying half in the icy water, he raised his hands murmuring: "my god! my god!"
then came barbé-marbois, who was upheld by the arms. at the mephitic odor which arose from the cell, he drew back and said: "shoot me, and spare me the horror of such agony."
but the jailer's wife who stood behind him answered: "you are very particular. better men than you have gone down there without making such a fuss." and with a vigorous shove she sent him head first from top to bottom of the stairs.
villot, who was next, heard barbé-marbois cry out, and the answering cry of his comrades who darted forward to seize him as he fell, and grabbing the woman by the neck, he said: "upon my word, i have a good notion to strangle you. what do you all say?"
"leave her alone, and come down here with us," answered pichegru.
they had raised barbé-marbois. his face was bruised,[pg 556] and his jawbone broken. the three exiles who were safe and sound began to cry: "a surgeon! a surgeon!"
there was no answer. then they asked for water to bathe their comrade's wounds; but the door was closed and it did not open until two hours later, and then only to pass in their dinner, consisting of a loaf of bread and a pitcher of water.
they were all very thirsty, but pichegru, accustomed to all sorts of privations, immediately offered his portion of the water to bathe barbé-marbois's wound. the other prisoners, however, would not permit this sacrifice. the necessary amount of water was taken from the general fund; and as barbé-marbois could not eat, his portion was divided among the others.
on the next day, 23d fructidor (9th of september), they started again at seven in the morning. no inquiries were made as to how the exiles had passed the night, and the wounded man was not allowed to see a surgeon. they reached etampes at noon. dutertre ordered a halt in the middle of the square, and exposed the prisoners to the insults of the crowd, who were permitted to surround the wagons, and who took advantage of the permission to hoot, curse, and bespatter with mud the men of whose crime they were ignorant, and who were prisoners in their eyes simply because they were prisoners. the exiles insisted that they go on, or be allowed to leave the wagons. both requests were refused. one of the exiles, tron?on de coudray, was deputy for the department of the seine-et-oise, which includes etampes, and which was then the very canton whose inhabitants had supported his candidacy with the most enthusiasm.
he resented this ingratitude and desertion of his people therefore all the more keenly. rising suddenly, as if he had been in the tribune, and replying to those who had called him by name, he said:
"yes, it is i—i myself, your representative! do you recognize him in this iron cage? it is i, whom you have in[pg 557]trusted with your rights, which are being violated in my person. i am dragged to punishment without having been tried, without even having been accused. my crime is that i have protected your liberty, your property, your persons; that i have wished to give peace to france, and by so doing to return to you your children who are being slaughtered by the enemy's bayonets. my crime is that i have been faithful to the constitution to which we have sworn allegiance, and to-day, as a reward for my zeal in defending you, you join the ranks of my executioners! you are wretches and cowards, unworthy to be represented by a man of heart."
and he relapsed into his apparent indifference once more. the crowd was for a moment crushed and awed by this attack; but they soon renewed their insults, which became more outrageous than ever when the condemned men were given their dinner, which consisted of four loaves of bread and four bottles of wine. this exhibition lasted three hours.
that evening they stopped for the night at angerville, and dutertre wished to put the prisoners together in one cell, as he had done the night before. but an adjutant-general, who by an odd coincidence was named augereau, took it upon himself to lodge them in an inn, where they passed a comfortable night, and where barbé-marbois was able to secure the services of a surgeon.
on the 24th fructidor (10th september) they reached orléans early, and passed the rest of that day and the following night in a house of confinement which had formerly been an ursuline convent. this time the deputies were not guarded by their escort, but by gendarmes, who, while obeying orders, treated them with the utmost consideration. they quickly recognized in the two servants who had been sent to help them, in spite of their disguise of coarse clothing, two ladies of rank who had sought this opportunity to offer help and money. they even promised villot and delarue to assist them to escape. they could facilitate the escape of two prisoners, but no more. villot and delarue re[pg 558]fused, fearing that their flight would aggravate the fate of their two companions. the names of these two angels of charity have never been known. to name them at that time would have been to denounce them.
history has from time to time such moments of regret which give rise to a sigh.
the next day the party reached blois. a crowd of boatmen were waiting for them on the outskirts of the town in the hopes of breaking open the wagons and murdering the prisoners. but the captain of cavalry commanding the detachment, whose name was gautier—history has preserved his name, as it has that of dutertre—signalled to the exiles that they need have no fear.
then he took forty men and routed the rabble. but insults were nevertheless lavished upon them. the names of rascals, regicides, and panders were hurled blindly at them by the furious crowd, through the midst of which they passed on their way to a damp little church, where the prisoners found a small quantity of straw strewn upon the floor.
as they entered the church, the people crowded near enough for pichegru to feel some one slip a little note into his hand. as soon as they were alone, pichegru read the little note. it contained these words:
general, it only depends on yourself to leave your prison, mount a horse, and escape under an assumed name by means of a passport. if you consent, as soon as you have read this note, approach the guard who is watching you, taking care to leave your hat on your head; this will mean that you consent. then, from midnight until two o'clock be dressed and on the alert.
pichegru walked toward the guard bareheaded. the man who had endeavored to save him cast a glance of admiration at him and walked away.
