"Give me that book," says the representative. The mother hands it to
him; it is the " History of Clarissa Harlowe." The young girl,
extending her hand to receive back the book, adds, undoubtedly with a
smile: "That is not 'suspect.'" Lebon deals her a blow with his fist
on her stomach which knocks her down; both women are searched and he
personally leads them to the guard-room. - The slightest expression,
a gesture, puts him beside himself; any motion that he does not
comprehend makes him start, as with an electric shock. Just arrived
at Cambray, he is informed that a woman who had sold a bottle of wine
below the maximum, had been released after a proc?s-verbal. On
reaching the Hotel-de-ville, he shouts out: "Let everybody here pass
into the Consistory!" The municipal officer on duty opens a door
leading into it. Lebon, however, not knowing who he is, takes alarm.
"He froths at the mouth," says the municipal officer, "and cries out
as if possessed by a demon. 'Stop, stop, scoundrel, you are running
off!' He draws his saber and seizes me by the collar; I am dragged and
borne along by him and his men. 'I have hold of him, I have hold of
him!' he exclaims, and, indeed, he did hold me with his teeth, legs,
and arms, like a madman.
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