Let it be so," said I.

But," asked Girard of me, "what will you do, Monsieur Victor Hugo?"

I took my scarf of office from a cupboard, and showed it to him.

He understood.

We shook hands.

As he went out Carini entered.

Colonel Carini is an intrepid man. He had commanded the cavalry under

Mieroslawsky in the Sicilian insurrection. He has, in a few moving and

enthusiastic pages, told the story of that noble revolt. Carini is one of

those Italians who love France as we Frenchmen love Italy. Every

warm-hearted man in this century has two fatherlands--the Rome of

yesterday and the Paris of to-day.

Thank God," said Carini to me, "you are still free," and he added, "The

blow has been struck in a formidable manner. The Assembly is invested. I

have come from thence. The Place de la Révolution, the Quays, the

Tuileries, the boulevards, are crowded with troops. The soldiers have

their knapsacks. The batteries are harnessed. If fighting takes place it

will be desperate work."

I answered him, "There will be fighting."

The History of a Crime