At five o'clock in the morning the signal was given. The soldiers
of the fourth regiment of artillery were roused by the beating of the
_assemblée_. They rushed, half-dressed, on to their parade-ground.
Louis Napoleon, whose fate it was never to be ready, was not prompt
even on this occasion; he was finishing two letters to his mother.
One was to be sent to her at once if he succeeded, the other if
he failed.

On entering the barrack-yard he found the soldiers waiting, drawn
up in line. On his arrival the colonel (Vambéry) presented him to
the troops as the nephew of Napoleon. He wore an artillery uniform.
A cheer rose from the line. Then Louis Napoleon, clasping a gilt
eagle brought to him by one of the officers, made a speech to the
men, which was well received. His cause seemed won.

Next, followed by the troops, but exciting little enthusiasm in
the streets of Strasburg as he passed along them in the gray dawn
of a cloudy day, Louis Napoleon made his way to the quarters of
General Voirol. The general emphatically refused to join the movement,
and a guard was at once set over him.

Up to this moment all had smiled upon the enterprise. The printing
of the proclamations was going rapidly on, the third regiment of
artillery was bringing out its guns and horses, and the inhabitants
of Strasburg, roused from their beds, were watching the movement
as spectators, prepared to assist it or to oppose it, according
as it made its way to success or failure.

The prince, and the troops who supported him, next marched to the
barracks of the infantry. On their road they lost their way, and