Vergniaud heard, and gave one swift glance at Cardinal Bonpre who,
though startled by the rapidity and excitement of the scene that had
occurred, was equal to the occasion, and understood his friend's
appeal at once, even before he said hurriedly,
"Monseigneur! Tell them to let him go!--or--bring him face to face
with me!"
The Cardinal endeavoured to pass through the crowd, but though some
made way for him on account of his ecclesiastical dignity, others
closed in, and he found it impossible to move more than a few steps.
Then Vergniaud, moved by a sudden resolve, raised himself a little,
and resting one hand on the shoulder of Manuel, who still remained
on the steps of the pulpit in front of him, he called,
"Let Monsieur the assassin come here to me! I have a word to say to
him!"
Through the swaying, tumultuous, murmuring throng came a sudden
stillness, and everyone drew back as the gendarmes responding to
Abbe Vergniaud's command, pushed their way along, dragging and
hustling their prisoner between them,--a young black-browed, black-
eyed peasant with a handsome face and proud bearing, whose defiant
manner implied that having made one fierce struggle for liberty and
finding it in vain, he was now disdainfully resigned to the
inevitable.
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