The Chevalier De Maison Rouge Read Online Free

me, then ?" said Maurice.
    " I will tell you all in good time ; but let us first dispose of these tipsy fellows. Then, before we part, I shall
    not bo very sorry to give you a few words of advice."
    " Very well. I will wait."
    Louis then returned to his Xational Guards, who still
    kept the enrolled volunteers at bay.
    / 5 said he, " have you had sufficient ? "
    16 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.
    " Yes, dog of a Girondin ! " replied the chief.
    " You deceive yourself, my friend," said Louis, coolly ;
    " we are better sans-culottes than yourselves, seeing that we belong to the club of Thermopyles, of whose patriotism
    no one, I hope, entertains a doubt. Let go these citizens,"
    continued Louis ; " they resist no longer."
    " It is not the less true that this woman is an object of suspicion."
    " If she were a suspicious character, she would have
    made her escape during this skirmish, and not, as you see
    she has done, waited till it had terminated."
    "Hum!" said one of the volunteers. "What the Citizen Thermopyle observes is quite true."
    " Besides, we shall know, since my friend goes to con-
    duct her to the post, while we go to drink to the health
    of the nation."
    "Are we going to drink ? " said the chief.
    " Certainly ; I am very thirsty, and I know a pretty
    little cabaret at the corner of La Rue Thomas du Louvre."
    " Why did you not say so at once, citizen ? We are
    sorry to have doubted your patriotism ; and, to prove it,
    let us, in the name of the nation and the law, embrace
    one another as friends."
    " Let us embrace," said Louis.
    And the enrolled volunteers and the National Guards
    embraced with warm enthusiasm. At this moment they
    were more anxious to embrace than behead one another.
    " Lot us now go," cried the two united troops, " to the corner of La Rue Thomas du Louvre."
    " And we," said one of the wounded, in a plaintive voice, " do you intend to abandon us here ? "
    "Ah! well, yes," said Louis; "abandon the heroes who have fallen bravely fighting for their country against
    the patriots it is true, by mistake, but still true for all that ; we will send you some wheelbarrows. Meanwhile,
    you can sing the ' Marseillaise,' it will divert you."
    Then, approaching Maurice, who was waiting for him,
    with this unknown, at the corner of La Rue du Coq,
    the National Guards and enrolled volunteers went
    THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 17
    back again arm in arm toward La Place du Palais Ega-
    lite.
    " Maurice/' said he, " I promised you some counsel, and this is it. Be persuaded to accompany us, rather
    than compromise yourself by protecting this young
    woman, who, it is true, is very charming, and on that
    account not the less to DC suspected ; for charming
    women who run about the streets of Paris at mid-
    night "
    " Monsieur," said the young woman, " judgt me not from appearances, I implore you."
    " In the first place, you say monsieur, and that is a
    great fault. Do you understand, citoyenne, what I say ?"
    " Ah, well ! Yes, yes, citizen ; allow your friend to
    accomplish this kind action."
    " What is that ? "
    " By conducting me home, and protecting me on my
    road/'
    " Maurice, Maurice," said Louis, " consider well what you are doing ; you will compromise yourself terribly."
    "I know it well," said the young man; "but what would you have me do ? If I leave the poor woman, she
    will be stopped at every step by the patrols."
    " Oh ! yes, yes, monsieur, while with you while with
    you, citizen, I meant to say I shall be safe."
    "You hear?" said Louis, "safe. She, then, runs great danger ? "
    " My dear Louis," said Maurice, "'let us be just. She must either be a good compatriot or an aristocrat. If
    an aristocrat, we have erred in protecting her ; if a good
    patriot, it is our duty to preserve her,"
    " Pardon, pardon, chcr ami ; I am sorry for Aristotle, but your logic is folly. See what he says :
    4i " Iris my reason steals away,
    And yet she tells me to be wise ;
    Oh ! lady, I can only say,
    Then turn away those glorious