human
Yes, it is I, citizen Bonaparte,
gpt
What wind has blown you to the poor soldier's cell at this hour. A mistral or a sirocco?
human
Mistral, my dear Bonaparte; a mistral of the most violent kind.
gpt
I know something about it, he said.
human
I took a walk through Paris this evening.
gpt
And what is your opinion?
human
It is that, as the Section Le Peletier intimated to the Convention, the storm will burst to-morrow.
gpt
And what were you doing in the meantime?
human
As you see, I was amusing myself by planning what I would do if I, instead of that imbecile Menou, were general of the interior, in order to put an end to all these talkers.
gpt
And what would you do?
human
I would try to secure a dozen cannon which would talk louder than they.
gpt
Did you not tell me one day at Toulon that you had witnessed the rising of the 20th of June from the terrace beside the ornamental waters?
human
Yes, he said,
gpt
I saw your poor King Louis XVI. put on the red cap, which did not prevent his head from falling, and which only disgraced it. And I even said to Bourrienne, who was with me that day, 'How could they admit that rabble to the château? They should have swept four or five hundred out with cannon, the rest would have run out of themselves.'
human
Unfortunately, resumed Barras,
gpt
A difference of number, that is all, he replied;
human
So much so that you were defeating the insurgents when I came in?
gpt
I was making the endeavor.
human
And you had your plan laid out?
gpt
Yes.
human
What is it?
gpt
That depends. How many soldiers can you call upon?
human
Five or six thousand, including the Holy Battalion of Patriots.
gpt
With that number it is useless to think of attacking forty-five or fifty thousand in the streets. I tell you that plainly.
human
Would you evacuate Paris?
gpt
No, but I would convert the Convention into an intrenched camp. I would await the attack of the Sections, and I would annihilate them in the Rue Saint-Honoré, the Place du Palais-Royal, and along the quays and the bridges.
human
Well, said Barras,
gpt
I will adopt your plan. Will you attend to the execution of it?
human
I?
gpt
Yes, you.
human
In what capacity?
gpt
As second general of the interior.
human
And who is to be general-in-chief?
gpt
General-in-chief?
human
Yes.
gpt
Citizen Barras.
human
Then I accept, said the young man, holding out his hand,
gpt
What, you are making conditions?
human
Why not?
gpt
Go on.
human
If we succeed, and order is restored by to-morrow evening, I can count upon you if war is declared with Austria, can I not?
gpt
If we succeed to-morrow, in the first place you shall have all the glory, and I shall ask the chief command of the Armies of the Rhine and the Moselle for you.
human
I will go neither to Holland nor to Germany,
gpt
Why not?
human
Because there is nothing to be done there.
gpt
Where do you wish to go?
human
To Italy. It is only in Italy, on the battlefields of Hannibal, Marius and Cæsar that there is anything to be done.
gpt
If there is war in Italy you shall be placed in charge of it, I give you my word of that.
human
Thank you. And now let us think of to-morrow. There is no time to lose.
gpt
I should think not, he said;
human
How many cannon have you at the Tuileries?
gpt
Six four-pounders, but no gunners.
human
They can be found. Bronze is scarcer than flesh. How many rounds can be fired?
gpt
Oh! eighty thousand at the outside.
human
Eighty thousand--just enough to kill eighty men, supposing that one shot out of a thousand does execution. Luckily we still have three hours of darkness left to us. We must have all the guns brought from the camp at Sablons, so that, in the first place, the enemy cannot seize them, and then because we need them ourselves. We must take enough men from the gendarmerie and from the battalion of '89 to man the guns, and we must send for at least a million cartridges from Meudon and Marly. Finally we must find officers upon whom we can depend.
gpt
We have all those who were deposed by Aubry and who have enlisted in the Holy Battalion.
human
Splendid! They are men of action rather than intelligence, and that is what we need. And the young officer rose, buckled on his sword, buttoned his coat, and blew out his light, murmuring,
gpt
Oh! Fortune, Fortune! do I at last hold you within my grasp?