The dwarf saw the weapon and tried to retreat; but it was too late.

A flash, a scream, and the wretch, shot through the throat, flung up his hands, and fell back into the arms of a lean man in black who had lent him his shoulder to ascend.
For a few seconds the smoke of the pistol filled the window and the room.
There was a cry that the Huguenots were escaping, that the Huguenots were resisting, that it was a plot; and some shouted to guard the back and some to watch the roof, and some to be gone.

But when the fumes cleared away, the mob saw, with stupor, that all was as it had been.

Count Hannibal stood where he had stood before, a grim smile on his lips.
"Who comes next ?" he cried in a tone of mockery.

"I have more pistols!" And then with a sudden change to ferocity, "You dogs!" he went on.