two o’clock
Abandoned to its fate and shuddering with alarm the town lay there like some prey which would prove the reward of the victorious party . The strollers on the Cours Sauvaire were ever swaying between fear and hope according as they fancied that they could see the blouses of insurgents or the uniforms of soldiers at the Grand ' - Porte . Never had sub-prefecture , pent within tumble-down walls , endured more agonising torture . Towards two o'clock it was rumoured that the Coup d'Etat had failed , that the prince-president was imprisoned at Vincennes , and that Paris was in the hands of the most advanced demagogues . It was reported also that Marseilles , Toulon , Draguignan , the entire South , belonged to the victorious insurrectionary army . The insurgents would arrive in the evening and put Plassans to the sword . Thereupon a deputation repaired to the town-hall to expostulate with the Municipal Commission for closing the gates , whereby they would only irritate the insurgents .