When a Cobbler Ruled a King

"Hurry along, Yvonne! Why do you lag behind so!""Oh, Jean! I am doing my best, but your legs are so long, and you take such great strides that I can scarcely keep up!"Two children, a well-grown, long-limbed boy of twelve, and a little girl of scarcely more than seven, were hurrying hand-in-hand along the Rue St. Honoré, on a brilliant May morning in the year 1792. Paris on that day resembled, more than anything else, a great bee-hive whose swarming population buzzed hither and thither...
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"Hurry along, Yvonne! Why do you lag behind so!""Oh, Jean! I am doing my best, but your legs are so long, and you take such great strides that I can scarcely keep up!"Two children, a well-grown, long-limbed boy of twelve, and a little girl of scarcely more than seven, were hurrying hand-in-hand along the Rue St. Honoré, on a brilliant May morning in the year 1792. Paris on that day resembled, more than anything else, a great bee-hive whose swarming population buzzed hither and thither under the influence of angry excitement and general unrest. The two youngsters were bubbling over with the same eager restlessness that agitated their elders. They pushed their way through throngs of men in red liberty-caps, soldiers in uniforms of the National Guard, and women in tri-coloured skirts and bodices. Poor little Yvonne, panting and tired, struggled to keep up with the striding gait of her larger companion."If you don't hurry," said Jean, "we shall not see the little 'Wolf-Cub' out for his walk, and I want a look at him!""Is he very dreadful to look at?" queried Yvonne, innocently."I don't know,-I've never seen him," answered Jean, "but he must be pretty ugly if he's the son of a monster,-and that's what they call our Citizen King!"They turned into a narrow lane with but few houses on either side. At one end stood the church of St. Roch, and at the other lay the park of the Tuileries, in the centre of which rose the royal palace."This is called the Rue du Dauphin because the little monster comes through it when he goes to church," remarked Jean."Well, I think he can't be so very dreadful if he goes to church," protested Yvonne.