Page:Helen Leah Reed - Napoleons young neighbour.djvu/39

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
GREAT NEWS
17

"But it is, indeed it is!"

"I wish people wouldn't crowd so."

"They've got to move back. I'm glad of it. The sentries are standing with fixed bayonets to keep more people from rushing down from the town."

If Napoleon had landed earlier in the day, he would have been greeted by an even greater crowd, for people had been gathering on the Marina from the earliest hours; but disappointed that he was not to land until after sunset, most of them had gone home. Still, however, a large enough crowd had gathered to make it necessary for the sentries to use some force to keep them in order.

In spite of the crowd, the sisters felt that they had been rewarded for their trouble, for when they reached home they learned that the little man in the green coat was indeed the dreaded monster.