CITIZEN BONAPARTE  
Barras closed the door and stepped within the circle of light cast by the lamp. Then only did the young man recognize him.
"Ah! is it you, citizen Barras?" he asked without rising.
Barras shook himself, for he was drenched, and tossed his dripping hat upon a chair. The young man continued to watch him attentively.
"Yes, it is I, citizen Bonaparte," said he.
"What wind has blown you to the poor soldier's cell at this hour. A mistral or a sirocco?"
"Mistral, my dear Bonaparte; a mistral of the most violent kind."
The young man gave a dry, harsh laugh, which showed his small, sharp, white teeth.
"I know something about it," he said. "I took a walk through Paris this evening."
"And what is your opinion?"
"It is that, as the Section Le Peletier intimated to the Convention, the storm will burst to-morrow."
"And what were you doing in the meantime?"
The young man rose, and pointing with his index finger to the map on the table, he said: "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."
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"And what would you do?"
"I would try to secure a dozen cannon which would talk louder than they."
"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?"
The young man shrugged his shoulders contemptuously.
"Yes," he said, "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 chateau? They should have swept four or five hundred out with cannon, the rest would have run out of themselves.'"
"Unfortunately," resumed Barras, "to-day there are five thousand instead of five hundred to be swept out."
The young man smiled carelessly.
"A difference of number, that is all," he replied; "but what ultimate difference, so long as the result is the same? The rest is a mere matter of detail."
"So much so that you were defeating the insurgents when I came in?"
"I was making the endeavor."
"And you had your plan laid out?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"That depends. How many soldiers can you call upon?"
"Five or six thousand, including the Holy Battalion of Patriots."
"With that number it is useless to think of attacking forty-five or fifty thousand in the streets. I tell you that plainly."
"Would you evacuate Paris?"
"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."
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"Well," said Barras, "I will adopt your plan. Will you attend to the execution of it?"
"I?"
"Yes, you."
"In what capacity?"
"As second general of the interior."
"And who is to be general-in-chief?"
"General-in-chief?"
"Yes."
"Citizen Barras."
"Then I accept," said the young man, holding out his hand, "but on one condition."
"What, you are making conditions?"
"Why not?"
"Go on."
"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?"
"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."
Bonaparte shook his head. "I will go neither to Holland nor to Germany," he said.............