Those who had no more powder or balls threw down their guns. Some

wished to reoccupy their position in the Mairie, but it was impossible

for them to maintain any defence there, the Mairie being open and

commanded from every side; they scaled the walls and scattered

themselves about in the neighboring houses; others escaped by the

narrow passage of the boulevard which led into the Rue Saint Jean; most

of the combatants reached the opposite side of the boulevard, while

those who had a cartridge left fired a last volley upon the troops from

the height of the paving-stones. Then they awaited their death. All

were killed.

One of those who succeeded in slipping into the Rue Saint Jean, where

moreover they ran the gauntlet of a volley from their assailants, was

M.H. Coste, Editor of the Evénement and of the Avénement du Peuple.

M. Coste had been a captain in the Garde Mobile. At a bend in the

street, which placed him out of reach of the balls, M. Conte noticed in

front of him the drummer of the Garde Mobile, who, like him, had

escaped by the Rue Saint Jean, and who was profiting by the loneliness

of the street to get rid of his drum.

Keep your drum," cried he to him.

For what purpose?"

To beat the call to arms."

415

The History of a Crime