Friends, strangers, people not at all known to the family, elbowed each other and waited in silence.

But the silence of a crowd is not much less noisy than the rolling of the sea.

Fat Doctor Martout, apparently overwhelmed with responsibility, showed himself from time to time, and surged through the waves of curious people like a galleon laden with news.

Every one of his words circulated from mouth to mouth, and spread even through the street, where several groups of soldiers and citizens were making a stir, in more senses than one.

Never had the little "Rue de la Faisanderie" seen such a crowd.