They were not mistaken. It was well defended. We have already said that

there were only six men in this barricade, the six workmen who had built

it. Of the six one only had three cartridges, the others had only two

shots to fire. These six men heard the regiment advancing and the roll

of the battery which was followed on it, and did not stir. Each remained

silent at his post of battle, the barrel of his gun between two

paving-stones. When the soldiers were within range they fired, and the

battalion replied.

That is right. Rage away, Red Breeches," said, laughingly, the man who

had three shots to fire.

Behind them, the men of the Petit Carreau were crowded round Denis and

Jeanty Sarre, and leaning on the crest of their barricade, stretching

their necks towards the Mauconseil redoubt, they watched them like the

gladiators of the next combat.

The six men of this Mauconseil redoubt resisted the onslaught of the

battalion for nearly a quarter of an hour. They did not fire together,

"in order," one of them said, "to make the pleasure last the longer."

The pleasure of being killed for duty; a noble sentence in this

workman's mouth. They did not fall back into the adjoining streets until

after having exhausted their ammunition. The last, he who had three

cartridges, did not leave until the soldiers were actually scaling the

summit of the barricade.

In the barricade of the Petit Carreau not a word was spoken; they

505

The History of a Crime