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CHAPTER XII.
THE BARRICADE OF THE MAIRIE OF THE FIFTH ARRONDISSEMENT
National Guards in uniform filled the courtyard of the Mairie of the
Fifth Arrondissement. Others came in every moment. An ex-drummer of the
Garde Mobile had taken a drum from a lower room at the side of the
guard-room, and had beaten the call to arms in the surrounding streets.
Towards nine o'clock a group of fourteen or fifteen young men, most of
whom were in white blouses, entered the Mairie, shouting, "Long live
the Republic!" They were armed with guns. The National Guard received
them with shouts of "Down with Louis Bonaparte!" They fraternized in
the courtyard. Suddenly there was a movement. It was caused by the
arrival of the Representatives Doutre and Pelletier.
"
What is to be done?" shouted the crowd.
Barricades," said Pelletier.
"
They unharnessed the horses, which the carter led away, and they turned
the cart round without upsetting it across the wide roadway of the
faubourg. The barricade was completed in a moment. A truck came up.
They took it and stood it against the wheels of the cart, just as a
screen is placed before a fireplace.
The remainder was made up of casks and paving-stones. Thanks to the
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