The things we do!

They have robbed and burned, and are to be found at every
insurrection. Now that the police force no longer puts them down,
they show themselves instead of keeping themselves concealed. They
have only to lie in wait and come forth in a band, and both life and
property will be at their mercy. - Deep anxiety, a vague feeling of
dread, spreads through both town and country: towards the end of
July the panic, like a blinding, suffocating whirl of dusts,
suddenly sweeps over hundreds of leagues of territory. The brigands
are coming! They are burning the crops! They are only six leagues
off, and then only two - the refugees who have run away from the
disorder prove it.
On the 28th of July, at Angoul?me,[11] the alarm bell is heard about
three o'clock in the afternoon; the drums beat to arms, and cannon
are mounted on the ramparts. The town has to be put in a state of
defense against 15,000 bandits who are approaching, and from the
walls a cloud of dust on the road is discovered with terror.


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