Chapeau and four others had gone
upstairs; and those below were not kept waiting long, before the heavy
tread of the men descending was heard on the stairs, as though they were
carrying down a weight among them. Such was the case: Henri stepped
forward and opened the door; and as he did so, the men staggered into
the room with their burden, and then gently dropped upon the floor the
dead body of the republican General. The unfortunate man had shot
himself.
Henri turned out of the shop without saying a word; and as the others
prepared to follow him, one of the men knelt down beside the body, and
wrenched from the hand, which still held it fast, the fatal pistol which
had so lately done its work. "At any rate," said he," there is no use
in leaving this behind us; I doubt not but I can make a better use of
it than General Lechelle has done."
The Chevalier had said but the truth, in declaring that Adolphe Denot's
wound was mortal; the musket ball had passed right through his lungs,
passing out between his shoulders; and his limbs had been dreadfully
torn and bruised by the feet of the horses which had passed over him.
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