Great was the excitement in the town, but the royalists
were in a feeble minority, and dared not stir. They
cried "Vive le Gouverneur ! " in the taverns. The mob
attempted to plunder the mayor's house, which was situ-
ated on the citi, and the captain had great difficulty in
putting down the disturbance. "Rascals!" cried he to
the fellows who were already breaking in the doors of
the house, " I will have you shot like dogs. Sacrebleu !
you can break open doors ; we shall see whether you have
so much pluck when the Germans come ! Here," added
he, turning to a dozen veterans, who were following him,
"clear the place of this canaille!" and, setting the ex-
ample, he dealt blows in abundance with the flat of his
sword on the backs of the plunderers.
