Sicardot alone was obstinate; he wanted to fight, asserting that twenty men would suffice to bring these three thousand villains to reason.

At this Monsieur Garconnet shrugged his shoulders, and declared that the only step to take was to make an honourable capitulation.

As the uproar of the mob increased, he went out on the balcony, followed by all the persons present.

Silence was gradually obtained.

Below, among the black, quivering mass of insurgents, the guns and scythes glittered in the moonlight.
"Who are you, and what do you want ?" cried the mayor in a loud voice.
Thereupon a man in a greatcoat, a landowner of La Palud, stepped forward.
"Open the doors," he said, without replying to Monsieur Garconnet's question.