The Count of Monte Cristo

Back Forward Menu

rapidity, without the police interfering in the matter. The pedestrians
ranged themselves against the walls; then the trampling of horses and
the clashing of steel were heard. A detachment of carbineers, fifteen
abreast, galloped up the Corso in order to clear it for the barberi.
When the detachment arrived at the Piazza di Venezia, a second volley of
fireworks was discharged, to announce that the street was clear. Almost
instantly, in the midst of a tremendous and general outcry, seven
or eight horses, excited by the shouts of three hundred thousand
spectators, passed by like lightning. Then the Castle of Saint Angelo
fired three cannon to indicate that number three had won. Immediately,
without any other signal, the carriages moved on, flowing on towards the
Corso, down all the streets, like torrents pent up for a while, which
again flow into the parent river; and the immense stream again continued
its course between its two granite banks.

A new source of noise and movement was added to the crowd. The sellers
of moccoletti entered on the scene. The moccoli, or moccoletti, are