Mary was greatly shocked upon hearing the tragic circumstances that had
occurred at the wedding.
"Who is the man that fired, Cuthbert?"
"His name is Jean Diantre. I heard from Dufaure that he has been a lover
of Minette's; he said she had never given him any encouragement, but
acknowledged that he himself believed she might have taken him at last
if she had not met Dampierre. He said that he had been uneasy for some
time, for the man had become so moody and savage that he had feared ill
would come of it. He was the same man who nearly stabbed me three months
ago, taking me for Dampierre."
"It is shocking to think that you have killed a man, Cuthbert."
"It may be shocking to you, Mary, but the matter does not weigh on my
conscience at all. In the first place I had no idea of killing him, and
in the second, if I had not hit hard and quickly he would have fired
again and killed Arnold; lastly, I regard these Communists as no better
than mad dogs, and the chances are ten to one that he would have been
shot at the barricades, or afterwards, if he had not died when he did."
"It is all very terrible," Mary sighed.
"It has all been terrible from beginning to end, Mary, but as hundreds
of men are killed every day, and there will probably be thousands shot
when the troops enter Paris, I cannot regard the death of a would-be
murderer as a matter that will weigh on my mind for a moment. And now
what has been going on here? I hardly had time to notice whether the
firing was heavy."
"It has been tremendous," she said. "Several houses have been struck and
set on fire lower down but no shells have come this way."
"I have no doubt the troops imagine that all the houses down near Pont
du Jour, are crowded with Communists in readiness to repel any assault
that might be made. The army is doubtless furious at the destruction of
the Column of Vendome, which was in commemoration, not only of Napoleon,
but of the victories won by French armies. Moreover, I know from
newspapers that have been brought in from outside, and which I have seen
at the café, that they are incensed to the last degree by being detained
here, when but for this insurrection, they would have been given a
furlough to visit their families when they returned from the German
prisons. So that I can quite understand the artillerymen taking a shot
occasionally at houses they believe to be occupied by the insurgents.
"You may be sure of one thing, and that is that very little quarter
will be shown to the Communists by the troops. Even now, I cannot but
hope, that seeing the impossibility of resisting many days longer, and
the certainty of a terrible revenge if the troops have to fight their
way through the streets, the Communists will try to surrender on the
best terms they can get. Thiers has all along shown such extreme
unwillingness to force the fighting, that I am sure he would give far
better terms than they could have any right to expect, rather than that
Paris should be the scene of a desperate struggle, and, if the
Communists fulfil their threats, of wholesale destruction and ruin."
Two more days passed. Cuthbert went down each day to his old lodging and
found that Arnold was doing well. On the second day, indeed, he was out
of bed with his arm in a sling and sitting partly dressed in an
easy-chair. Martin Dufaure had left that morning for his own lodging,
having slept for the last two nights on the sofa. Minette had made
everything about the rooms tidy and fresh, the windows were open, and
the distant roar of the bombardment could be plainly heard. She had a
white handkerchief tied over her head, a neat, quiet dress, and was
playing the rôle of nurse to perfection. Cuthbert had been round to
Monsieur Goudé and had told him what had happened, and he had the
evening before dropped in for a talk with Arnold.
"I am getting on wonderfully, Cuthbert," Arnold said, on the latter's
second visit. "Of course it is trying to be sitting here incapable of
taking a part in what is going on."
"You have taken quite enough part, Arnold, and I own I think your wound
at the present moment is a fortunate one, for it will keep you out of
mischief. When the surgeon comes next I should strongly advise you to
get him to write you a certificate certifying that you have been wounded
by a pistol ball, so that if, as is probable, there will sooner or later
be a general search for Communists, you can prove that your injury was
not received in the fighting outside the walls, and you can refer to
Goudé and me as to the fact that you are an art student here. Both
documents had better be made out in another name than your own, for,
unfortunately, yours has been rendered familiar to them by the frequent
notices of your doings and speeches in the papers here."
"I will see about it," Arnold said; "I do not know that I can bring
myself to that."
"You will be very foolish and wrong not to do so, Arnold. You are a
married man now, and have your wife to think about as well as yourself.
You may be sure that there is not a single leader of the insurrection
here who will not endeavor to escape under a false name; besides, even
granting that, as you believe, the cause is a righteous one, you
certainly cannot benefit it in the slightest by sacrificing your life.
Your wife was a Communist Vivandière a few days ago, now she is a quiet
little wife nursing a sick husband." Glancing at Minette he saw an angry
flush on her face, and a look of dogged determination; he made no
remark, however, and after chatting with Arnold for some time returned
to Passy.
"That woman will bring destruction on them both or I am mistaken," he
said to Mary; "fond as she may be of Dampierre, her enthusiasm for the
Commune will take her from his side when the last struggle begins. Do
you know, Mary, my presentiments about her have turned out marvellously
correct." He opened his sketch-book. "Look at that," he said; "at the
time I sketched it she was poised as a Spanish dancer, and had castanets
in her hand; the attitude is precisely that in which she stood as a
model, but it struck me at the moment that a knife would be more
appropriate to her than a castanet, and you see I drew her so, and that
is the precise attitude she stood in, dagger in hand, when I caught her
wrist and prevented her from stabbing the man at her feet."
"Don't show them to me, Cuthbert, it frightens me when you talk of her."
"You must remember that she is a mixture, Mary; she is like a panther,
as graceful, and as supple; a charming beast when it purrs and rubs
itself against the legs of its keeper, terrible when, in passion, it
hurls itself upon him. In the early days the students were, to a man,
fascinated with her. I stood quite alone in my disapproval. Seeing her
as I saw her to-day, I admit that she is charming, but I cannot forget
her fury as she bounded, knife in hand, upon the man I had knocked down.
Listen! do your hear that rattle of musketry down by Pont du Jour? The
troops must be working their way up towards the gate. Possibly, it is
the beginning of the end."
Presently a Communist, with a red sash, rode furiously past, and in a
quarter of an hour returned with a battalion of National Guards who had
been stationed near the Arc de Triomphe.
"Evidently, there is a some sharp business going on, Mary. It is hardly
likely the troops can be attacking at this time of day, they would be
sure to choose early morning, mass their forces under cover of darkness,
and go at the gate at daybreak; still, there is no doubt from that
musketry firing, they must be trying to establish themselves nearer the
gate than before."
The batteries that had all day been playing upon Pont du Jour, had
suddenly ceased firing, but the rattle of musketry in that direction
continued as hotly as ever for another two hours, and a number of
field-guns joined in the conflict on the side of the Communists.
"I really must go and find out what it is all about," Cuthbert said; "if
I could get up near the Viaduct, I should be able to look down into the
bastions at Pont du Jour."
"Don't be away long," Mary urged, "I shall be feeling very nervous till
you get back."
"I won't be long; I shan't stay to watch the affair, but only just to
find out what the situation is. The fact that the Communists have
brought up Field Artillery, shows that it is something more than
ordinary, although, why the batteries opposite should have ceased to
play I cannot make out; they are hard at work everywhere else."
Cuthbert made his way towards the Viaduct, and as he approached it saw
that some of the field-guns he had heard had been placed there, and that
the parapet was lined with National Guards who were keeping up an
incessant fire. Shells from Meudon and Fort Issy were bursting thickly
over and near the bridge, and Cuthbert, seeing that he could not get
further without being exposed to the fire, and might, moreover, get
into trouble with the Communists, made his way down towards Pont du
Jour. Several people were standing in shelter behind the wall of one of
the villas.
"You had better not go farther," one of them said, "a shell burst twenty
yards lower down a few minutes ago. Several of the villas are in flames,
and bullets are flying about everywhere."
"What is going on, gentlemen?" Cuthbert asked, as he joined them.
"The troops have entered Pont du Jour."
"Impossible!" Cuthbert exclaimed, "the firing has been heavy, but no
heavier than usual, and although the village is knocked to pieces, as I
saw for myself yesterday, no great harm was done to the bastions."
"They have entered for all that," one of the gentlemen said. "Several
wounded Communists have come along here, and they have all told the same
story. Of course, they put it down to the treachery of their leaders,
but at any rate, owing to the tremendous fire from the upper batteries
and Issy, it was absolutely impossible to keep men in the bastions, and
they were all withdrawn. A few were left in the houses and gardens, but
the greater part fell back behind the Viaduct, which afforded them
shelter. Somehow or other, the troops in the sap that had been pushed
forward to within fifty yards of the gate must have come to the
conclusion that the bastion was not tenanted, and trying the experiment,
found themselves inside the wall without a shot having been fired. More
must have followed them, at any rate a considerable force must have
gathered there before the Communists found out they had entered. There
can be no doubt that it was a surprise, and not a preconcerted movement,
for the batteries continue to fire on the place for some time after they
had entered.
"In a short time, small bodies of soldiers ran across the open where the
shells were still bursting thickly, established themselves in the ruins
of the village, and, as they received reinforcements, gradually worked
their way forwards. The Communists have brought up strong forces, but so
far, they have been unable to drive back the troops, and, of course,
their chance of doing so grows less and less. We can hear heavy firing
all along to the right, and it seems as if the troops were pushing
forward all along the line from here to Neuilly. Thank God, the end of
this terrible business is approaching, and by to-morrow morning we may
see the troops in Passy, where there is scarce a soul but will welcome
them with open arms. Our battalion of National Guards was one of the
last to accept the orders of the Commune, and as it must be known in
Versailles as well as in Paris, that this quarter is thoroughly loyal,
we need fear no trouble. We are going back there with the news, for we
can see nothing here, and if a battalion of Communists came along
beaten, they would be as likely as not to vent their fury on all whom
they see by their appearance and dress are likely to sympathize with the
troops."
Cuthbert walked back with them to Passy.
"Good news," he exclaimed, as he entered the room, where Mary and the
Michauds were standing at the open window; "the troops are masters of
Point du Jour, and the Communists have tried in vain to drive them back.
No doubt, at present, the whole French army is being brought up, in
readiness to enter as soon as it is dark, and by to-morrow morning this
part of the town at any rate may be clear of the Communists."
Exclamations of delight burst from the others. "I will run up to the
roof," Cuthbert said, "there is heavy musketry fire going on all along
this side, and one may get an idea how matters are going, but we may be
sure that the Communists will all fall back upon the city as soon as
they know the troops have entered here."
Mary went up with him, and they found the astronomer had already his
telescope in position.
"I have good news for you, Monsieur," Cuthbert said; "the troops have
entered Pont du Jour, and although the Communists are opposing them in
great force, they are making their way forward. It has evidently been a
surprise all round, and so far no great body of troops have been brought
up, but no doubt they will soon be ready to advance in force."
"That is good news indeed. I have been watching Asnieres, and as far as
I can make out a large body of troops have crossed the bridge there, and
are skirmishing towards the enciente, and gradually driving back the
Communists. They have advanced too from Neuilly and are pressing forward
towards Porte Maillot. Mount Valerien seems to be firing at Montmartre."
Nightfall brought no cessation of the roar of cannon, and the roll of
musketry seemed to be continuous, both from the left and right. Every
window at Passy was lit up; there was a crowd of women at every shop
where colored materials could be obtained, and in every house the
females were engaged in sewing red, white, and blue stuff of every
description to make the National tri-colored flags, in readiness to hang
out when the troops came along. Occasionally adventurous boys and young
men came in with scraps of news; the Viaduct had been carried before
darkness set in, a heavy column of troops had captured a strong
barricade across the road, and, following the bank of the river, had
taken possession of the bridge of Grenelle. Another division turning to
the left had carried the gas works, while a third had captured the
Asylum of St. Perrine.
It was at the Trocadero that the insurgents were expected to make a
stand in earnest. Here they had erected formidable works, and were
reported to be hard at work mounting guns and mitrailleuses there. The
troops, however, gave them no time to complete their preparations. A
column entered a little before midnight by the gate of Passy, pushed on
to the bridge of Jena, carried it after a sharp fight, and then charged
at the double towards the heights of the Trocadero, where the
Communists, taken completely by surprise, fled precipitously after a
slight resistance, and at one o'clock in the morning the loyalists were
in possession of this important position. At midnight another division
entered at the Porte Maillot, and advancing took possession of the Arc
de Triomphe.
At two o'clock the head of the French column came down the street. In an
instant candles were placed at every window, flags were hung out, and
the inhabitants poured into the street and welcomed their deliverers
with shouts of joy. The troops piled their arms and fell out, and as
soon as they did so, men and women brought out jugs of wine and
provisions of all kinds. In half an hour the inhabitants were ordered to
return to their houses, and the troops wrapping themselves in their
blankets laid down in the roadway to get two or three hours, sleep
before the heavy work expected in the morning. At five they were on
their feet again. Already the din of battle had recommenced. At daybreak
Bruat's division crossed the Seine by the Viaduct, kept along the left
bank, drove the insurgents from the great iron foundry of Cail, and
entered the Champs de Mars.
The Communists fought stubbornly here, but a corps was sent round to
turn their position, and seeing their retreat threatened, they broke and
fled, and the École Militaire was taken possession of without further
resistance. General Cissey's division entered by the gate of Mont Rouge,
where the Communists, threatened in the rear by Bruat's advance, fell
back at their approach. Moving along the Boulevard Mont Rouge they came
upon very strong and formidable barricades, defended by six cannon and
mitrailleuses, supported by musketry fire from the houses. The position
was so strong that even with the assistance of the artillery Cissey was
unable to advance farther in this direction.
Bruat's division met with strong opposition at the Cartridge Factory in
the Avenue Rapp, and the Reds were only driven out at last by artillery
being brought up, and shelling them out. After this Bruat pushed on,
captured and occupied without resistance the Invalides, and the Palais
Legislatif, opposite the Place de la Concorde.
On the right bank the troops advanced from the Arc de Triomphe at the
double and carried the Palais de L'Industrie after a short resistance.
By mid-day the whole of the Champs Elysées as far as the barrier of the
Place de la Concorde were in possession of the troops.
Late in the afternoon the division of General Clinchamp marched down on
the Rue Faubourg St. Honoré, came out upon the Boulevard and took
possession of the Madeleine and the Grand Opera House. While these
operations had been carried on the Communists, batteries on Montmartre
had thrown shells over the whole area occupied by the troops, while Mont
Valerien and the other batteries facing the western side maintained a
heavy fire upon those of Montmartre.
Early in the morning all the members of the National Guard of Passy and
Auteuil were summoned to arms and ordered to assist the troops, and were
specially enjoined to maintain order in their rear as they advanced.
Numbers of Communist prisoners were taken by the troops as they worked
their way forward, and upwards of 8,000 were despatched under a strong
escort to Versailles. The order for the National Guard to assemble was
received with intense satisfaction, the younger and unmarried men had
been forced into the ranks of the Communists, but many had during the
last day or two slipped away and remained in hiding, and all were
anxious to prove that it was loyalty and not cowardice that had caused
them to desert.
Cuthbert was out all day watching, from points where he could obtain
shelter from the flying bullets, the advance of the troops. When he
returned he told Mary that everything was going on well so far, but he
added, "The work is really only beginning; the barrier at the Place de
la Concorde and the batteries on the terrace of the Tuileries are really
formidable positions, and I hear that on the south side the advance has
been entirely arrested by one of the barricades there. The Insurgents
never intended to hold the outlying suburbs, and even the batteries on
the Trocadero were built to aid the Forts and not for fighting inside
the walls. You see every yard the troops gain now drives the Communists
closer and closer together, and renders the defence more easy. It may be
a week yet before the Commune is finally crushed. I should think that
before the troops advance much further on this side they will storm
Montmartre, whose batteries would otherwise take them in rear."
The next day three divisions marched against Montmartre, and attacked it
simultaneously on three sides. The Communists here who had throughout
the siege been the loudest and most vehement in their warlike
demonstrations, now showed that at heart they were cowards. Although
their batteries were armed with over a hundred guns, they offered but a
momentary resistance and fled, panic-stricken, in every direction, some
thousands being taken prisoners by the troops. On the other hand,
throughout the rest of Paris, the fighting became more and more severe
and desperate. The Northern Railway Station was defended successfully
throughout the day. On the south side of the river but little progress
was made by the troops, and they remained stationary also in the Champs
Elysées, the barriers in front being too strong to be stormed without
frightful loss. These, however, would be turned by the divisions who had
captured Montmartre, and the troops descending by different routes to
the Boulevard des Italiennes, worked their way along as far as the Porte
St. Denis, and this threatened the flank of the defenders of the Place
de la Concorde and the Tuileries.
The roar of fire was unbroken all day, the Forts, that had not yet
fallen into the hands of the troops, bombarded all the quarters that had
been captured, and were aided by powerful batteries at Belleville, at
Vilette, and above all by those on the Buttes du Chaumont, where the
Cemetery of Père la Chaise had been converted into an entrenched camp,
the positions here being defended by 20,000 of the best troops of Paris.
In the western quarters things had resumed their normal state; the shops
were opened, children played in the streets, and women gossipped at the
doors, there were men about too, for the order for the reassembling of
the National Guard of this quarter had been cancelled, having met with
the strongest opposition in the Assembly at Versailles.
The astronomer downstairs turned out a very useful acquaintance, for
hearing from Cuthbert, that he was extremely anxious to obtain a pass
that would permit him to move about near the scenes of fighting without
the risk of being seized and shot as a Communist, he said that he was an
intimate friend of Marshal McMahon and should be glad to obtain a pass
for him. On going to the quarters where the Marshal had established
himself, he brought back an order authorizing Cuthbert Hartington, a
British subject, to circulate everywhere in quarters occupied by the
troops.
"It is too late to go down this evening, Mary," he said, "but I expect
that to-morrow a great attack upon the positions round the Tuileries
will take place, and I shall try and get somewhere where I can see
without being in the line of fire. I will take care to run no risk,
dear; you see my life is more precious to me now than it was when I
joined the Franc tireurs des Écoles."
It was difficult to stop quietly indoors when so mighty a struggle was
going on almost within sight, and at ten o'clock in the evening he and
Mary went out to the Trocadero. The flashes of fire from the Loyal and
Communist batteries were incessant. Away on the south side was a
constant flicker of musketry as Cissey's troops struggled with the
defender of the barricades. An incessant fire played along the end of
the Champs Elysées, flashed from the windows of the Tuileries and
fringed the parapet of the south side of the river facing the Palais.
Fires were blazing in various parts of Paris, the result of the
bombardment. The city looked strangely dark, for the men at the gas
works were for the most part fighting in the ranks of the insurgents.
The sky was lined with sparks of fire moving in arcs and marking the
course of the shell as they traversed to and fro from battery to
battery, or fell on the city.
"It is a wonderful sight, Mary."
"Wonderful, but very terrible," she replied; "it is all very well to
look at from here, but only think what it must be for those within that
circle of fire."
"I have no pity for the Communists," Cuthbert said, "not one spark. They
would not pull a trigger or risk a scratch for the defence of Paris
against the Germans, now they are fighting like wild-cats against their
countrymen. Look there," he exclaimed, suddenly, "there is a fire broken
out close to the Place de la Concorde, a shell must have fallen there. I
fancy it must be within the barricades, but none of the batteries on
either side would have been likely to send a shell there at night, as
it is so close to the line of division that the missile would be as
likely to strike friend as foe."
Higher and higher mounted the flames, spreading as they went till a huge
mass of fire lighted up all that part of Paris.
"It must be a great public building of some sort," Cuthbert said.
"See, another building is on fire a short distance away from it; look,
Cuthbert, look is that the reflection of the flames in the windows of
the Tuileries or is it on fire?
"It is fire," Cuthbert exclaimed after a minute's pause; "see the flames
have burst through that window on the first floor. Good heavens, the
Communists are carrying out their threat to lay Paris in ashes before
they yield."
In five minutes all doubt was at an end, the flames were pouring out
from every window on the first floor of the Palais, and it was evident
the fire must have been lighted in a dozen places simultaneously.
By this time the Trocadero was thronged with spectators attracted by the
light in the sky, and by the report that one of the public buildings was
on fire; exclamations of fury and grief, and execrations upon the
Communists rose everywhere, when it was seen that the Tuileries were in
flames. From points at considerable distances from each other fresh
outbreaks of fire took place. Most of those standing round were able to
locate them, and it was declared that the Palace of the Court of
Accounts, the Ministries of War and Finance, the palaces of the Legion
of Honor and of the Council of State, the Prefecture of Police the
Palace de Justice, the Hôtel de Ville and the Palais Royale were all on
fire. As the night went on the scene became more and more terrible.
Paris was blazing in at least twenty places, and most of the
conflagrations were upon an enormous scale. The scene was too
fascinating and terrible to be abandoned, and it was not until the
morning began to break that the spectators on the Trocadero returned to
their homes.