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The combatants, who had not yet lost a man, received each bullet with a
cry of "Long live the Republic!" but without firing. They possessed few
cartridges, and they husbanded them. Suddenly the 49th regiment
advanced in close column order.
The barricade fired.
The smoke filled the street; when it cleared away, there could be seen
a dozen men on the ground, and the soldiers falling back in disorder by
the side of the houses. The leader of the barricade shouted, "They are
falling back. Cease firing! Let us not waste a ball."
The street remained for some time deserted. The cannon recommenced
fining. A shot came in every two minutes, but always badly aimed. A man
with a fowling-piece came up to the leader of the barricade, and said
to him, "Let us dismount that cannon. Let us kill the gunners."
"
Why!" said the chief, smiling, "they are doing us no harm, let us do
none to them."
Nevertheless the sound of the bugle could be distinctly heard on the
other side of the block of houses which concealed the troops echelloned
on the Square of Saint Martin, and it was manifest that a second attack
was being prepared.
This attack would naturally be furious, desperate, and stubborn.
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