eleven o'clock
The foul and fetid scum of the population of Paris , -- this vast mob -- was formed of thieves and abandoned women , who every day tax crime for their daily bread , and every evening return to their lairs with their vicious spoils . -LSB- 1 -RSB- -LSB- 1 -RSB- It is calculated that there are in Paris 30,000 persons who have no other means of existence but theft . The crowd entirely choked up the means of circulation , and , in spite of his gigantic strength , the Chourineur was compelled to remain almost motionless in the midst of this compact throng . He was , however , willing to remain so , as the prince would not pass the barrier of Charenton until eleven o'clock , and it was not yet seven ; and he had a singular spectacle before him . In a large , low apartment , occupied at one end by musicians , surrounded by benches and tables laden with the fragments of a repast , broken plates , empty bottles , etc. , a dozen men and women , in various disguises and half drunk , were dancing with the utmost excitement that frantic and obscene dance called _ La Chahut _ . Amongst the dissipated revellers who figured in this saturnalia , the Chourineur remarked two couples who obtained the most overwhelming applause , from the revolting grossness of their attitudes , their gesticulations , and their language . The first couple consisted of a man disguised as a bear , and nearly covered with a waistcoat and trousers of black sheepskin .