The Representative Labrousse, seated at a table of the cafe, had witnessed this conspirators’ parley.

Each of the two Commissaries was followed by that species of police agent which is called “the Commissary’s dog.”

At the same time strange warnings reached the Committee; the following letter[18] was brought to our knowledge.

  “3d December.

  “MY DEAR BOCAGE,

  “To-day at six o’clock, 25,000 francs has been offered to any one who
  arrests or kills Hugo.

  “You know where he is.  He must not go out under any pretext whatever.

  “Yours ever,

  “AL.  DUMAS.”

At the back was written, “Bocage, 18, Rue Cassette.”  It was necessary that the minutest details should be considered.  In the different places of combat a diversity of passwords prevailed, which might cause danger.  For the password on the day before we had given the name of “Baudin.”  In imitation of this the names of other Representatives had been adopted as passwords on barricades.  In the Rue Rambuteau the password was “Eugene Sue and Michel de Bourges;” in the Rue Beaubourg, “Victor Hugo;” at the Saint Denis chapel, “Esquiros and De Flotte.”  We thought it necessary to put a stop to this confusion, and to suppress the proper names, which are always easy to guess.  The password settled upon was, “What is Joseph doing?”

At every moment items of news and information came to us from all sides, that barricades were everywhere being raised, and that firing was beginning in the central streets.  Michel de Bourges exclaimed, “Construct a square of four barricades, and we will go and deliberate in the centre.”

We received news from Mont Valerien.  Two prisoners the more.  Rigal and Belle had just been committed.  Both of the Left.  Dr. Rigal was the Representative of Gaillac, and Belle of Lavaur.  Rigal was ill; they had arrested him in bed.  In prison he lay upon a pallet, and could not dress himself.  His colleague Belle acted as his valet de chambre.

Towards nine o’clock an ex-Captain of the 8th Legion of the National Guard of 1848, named Jourdan, came to place himself at our service.  He was a bold man, one of those who had carried out, on the morning of the 24th February, the rash surprise of the Hotel de Ville.  We charged him to repeat this surprise, and to extend it to the Prefecture of Police.  He knew how to set about the work.  He told us that he had only a few men, but that during the day he would cause certain houses of strategical importance on the Quai des Cevres, on the Quai Lepelletier, and in the Rue de la Cite, to be silently occupied, and that if it should chance that the leaders of the coup d’etat, owing to the combat in the centre of Paris growing more serious, should be forced to withdraw the troops from the Hotel de Ville and the Prefecture, an attack would be immediately commenced on these two points.  Captain Jourdan, we may at