Some cried "To the Treille! They are there! To the Treille!" And these wheeled that way.

But more, guided by the sounds of conflict, held on to the point where the short, narrow street of the Tertasse turned left-handed out of the equally narrow Rue de la Cite--the latter leading onwards to the Porte de la Monnaye, and the bridges.

Here, at the meeting of the two confined lanes, overhung by timbered houses, and old gables of strange shapes, a desperate conflict was being fought.

The Savoyards, masters of the gate, had undertaken to push their way into the town by the Rue Tertasse; not doubting that they would be supported by-and-by, upon the entrance of their main body through the Porte Neuve.

They had proceeded no farther, however, than the junction with the Rue de la Cite--a point where darkness was made visible by two dim oil lamps--before, the alarm being given, they found themselves confronted by a dozen half-clad townsfolk, fresh from their beds; of whom five or six were at once laid low.