Then he heard
her say to Hamilton, while she slowly swayed the rippling flag
back and forth:
"I said, as you will remember, Monsieur le Gouverneur, that when
you next should see this flag, I should wave it over your head.
Well, look, I am waving it! Vive la republique! Vive George
Washington! What do you think of it, Monsieur le Gouverneur?"
The poor little hunchback Jean took off his cap and tossed it in
rhythmical emphasis, keeping time to her words.
And now from behind the hollow square came a mighty voice:
"C'est moi, Gaspard Roussillon; me voici, messieurs!"
There was a spirit in the air which caught from Alice a thrill of
romantic energy. The men in the ranks and the officers in front of
them felt a wave of irresistible sympathy sweep through their
hearts. Her picturesque beauty, her fine temper, the fitness of
the incident to the occasion, had an instantaneous power which
moved all men alike.
"Raise her flag! Run up the young lady's flag!" some one shouted,
and then every voice seemed to echo the words. Clark was a young
man of noble type, in whose veins throbbed the warm chivalrous
blood of the cavaliers. A waft of the suddenly prevailing
influence bore him also quite off his feet. He turned to Beverley
and said:
"Do it! It will have a great effect. It is a good idea; get the
young lady's flag and her permission to run it up.
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