"They are sitting still outside, you say?" asked Madame Simon, after
a pause.
"Yes, they are still sitting outside upon the landing, and the
Austrian woman is at this time alone unwatched with her brood, and
she will be alone for two hours yet, for there is no change of guard
till then."
"That is true, yes, that is true," cried the knitter, and her
nostrils expanded like those of the hyena when on the scent of
blood. "They will sit up there two hours longer, playing cards and
singing stupid songs, and wheedling my monkey of a husband with
their flatteries, making him believe that they love him, love him
boundlessly, and they let themselves be locked into the Temple for
his sake, and--oh! if I had them here, I would strangle them with my
own hands! I would make a dagger of every one of my knitting-needles
and thrust it into their hearts! But quiet, quiet," she continued in
a grumbling tone, "every thing must go on in a regular way. Will you
take my place here for half an hour and guard the door? I have
something important to do, something very important."
"It will be a very great honor," replied Madame Tison, "a very great
honor to be the substitute of one so well known and respected as you
are, of whom every one knows that she is the best patriot and the
most courageous knitter, whose eyelashes never quiver, and who can
calmly go on with her stitches when the heads fall from the
guillotine into the basket.
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