xcepted, saw the King take it, in his

carriage in the street, sitting beside the Queen. It is Defarge whom

you see here, who, at the hazard of his life, darted out before the

horses, with the petition in his hand.”

“And once again listen, Jacques!” said the kneeling Number

Three: his fingers ever wandering over and over those fine nerves,

with a strikingly greedy air, as if he hungered for somethingthat

was neither food nor drink; “the guard, horse and foot,

surrounded the petitioner, and struck him blows. You hear?”

“I hear, messieurs.”

“Go on then,” said Defarge.

“Again; on the other hand, they whisper at the fountain,”

resumed the countryman, “that he is brought down into our

country to be executed on the spot, and that he will very certainly

be executed. They even whisper that because he has slain

Monseigneur, and because Monseigneur was the father of his

Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics

tenantsserfswhat you willhe will be executed as a parricide.

One old man says at the fountain, that his right hand, armed with

the knife, will be burnt off before his face; that, into wounds which

will be made in his arms, his breast, and his legs, there will be

poured boiling oil, melted lead, hot resin, wax, and sulphur;

finally, that he will be torn limb from limb by four strong horses.

That old man says, all this was actually