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"Infamous Bonaparte!" said Tissié. "Poor red breeches! All the same, I
have got a gun."
They emptied the soldier's pouch and knapsack. They divided the
cartridges. There were 150 of them. There were also two gold pieces of
ten francs, two days' pay since the 2d of December. These were thrown
on the ground, no one would take them.
They distributed the cartridges with shouts of "Long live the Republic!"
Meanwhile the attacking party had placed a mortar in position by the
side of the cannon.
The distribution of the cartridges was hardly ended when the infantry
appeared, and charged upon the barricade with the bayonet. This second
assault, as had been foreseen, was violent and desperate. It was
repulsed. Twice the soldiers returned to the charge, and twice they
fell back, leaving the street strewn with dead. In the interval between
the assaults, a shell had pierced and dismantled the barricade, and the
cannon began to fire grape-shot.
The situation was hopeless; the cartridges were exhausted. Some began
to throw down their guns and go away. The only means of escape was by
the Rue Saint Sauveur, and to reach the corner of the Rue Saint Sauveur
it was necessary to get over the lower part of the barricade, which
left nearly the whole of the fugitives unprotected. There was a perfect
rain of musketry and grape-shot. Three or four were killed there, one,
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