Page:Napoleon (O'Connor 1896).djvu/156

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
140
Napoleon.

one among the rascals whose abominable rôle I have described. They were designated by the name of 'moutons,' a name consecrated by prison slang. Every afternoon he would thus take a turn in the yard, and it was for him the occasion of passing in review, so to speak, the flock which he was gradually sending to the slaughterhouse. Woe unto him who seemed to hide or to avoid his look! Such a one was immediately noted, and he could be sure that his turn would come next. Many a gallant man's death became a settled thing because he was a few minutes late in coming down into the yard and passing under the fellow's notice. The surrendering of oneself to his discretion was apparently a way of imploring mercy at his hands. We went through the formality, and it constituted a scene which I can never forget. I can still see him, a man four feet seven or eight inches high, hump-backed and twisted form, bandy-legged, and as red-headed as Judas. He was completely surrounded by prisoners, some of whom walked backward in his presence, earnestly soliciting a look from him."

The fall of Robespierre brought the release of Pasquier as well as others; and thus his sufferings ended. From this time forward he had a prosperous career, for he hailed the accession of Napoleon as the end of Anarchy, and soon was enrolled in the ranks of that lucky adventurer's chief officials.