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the unexpected and the unknown. They seemed to perceive some mysterious
will in the background. But after all they were strong; they were the
Republic, they were Paris; what was there to fear! Nothing. And they
cried, "Down with Bonaparte!" The troops continued to keep silence, but
the swords remained outside their scabbards, and the lighted matches of
the cannon smoldered at the corners of the streets. The cloud grew
blacker every minute, heavier and more silent. This thickening of the
darkness was tragical. One felt the coming crash of a catastrophe, and
the presence of a villain; snake-like treason writhed during this
night, and none can foresee where the downward slide of a terrible
design will stop when events are on a steep incline.
What was coming out of this thick darkness?
[
23] 16,410 men, the figures taken from the Ministry of War.
441
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