Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, Volume 26 December, 1880. by Various None (have you read this book txt) 📖
- Author: Various None
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I Would Put It In The Box In The Rue Ponthieu."
"And Did You Post It?"
"No: I Could Not Get To The Rue Ponthieu. They Were Firing Down The
Street, And Now I Dare Not."
"Trust It To Me, Miss Leare, And Promise Me To Send For Me If You Have
Any More Such Errands. You Must Never Run Such Risks Again."
Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 59"I Have To Be The Man Of The Family," She Answered, Almost With An
Apologetic Air.
"Do Not Say That Again. I Shall Come Over Three Times A Day While This
Thing Lasts To See If You Have Any Commissions."
She Smiled And Pressed My Hand As She Turned Into Her Own Porte-Cochere.
Frightened Servants And Their Friends Were In The Porter'S Lodge, Who
Gazed After Her With Exclamations As She Went Up The Common Stair.
The Remainder Of That Day Passed With Very Little Fighting. Up To That
Time It Had Been A Riot Apropos Of A Change Of Ministry, But In The
Night The Secret Societies Met And Flung Aside The Previous Question.
When We Awoke On Wednesday Morning, February 23D, We Were Struck By The
Strange Quiet Of The Streets. No Provisions Entered Paris Through The
Barrier, No Vehicles Nor Venders Of Small Wares. The Absolute Silence,
Save When "Mourir Pour La Patrie" Sounded Hoarsely In The Distance, Was
As Strange As It Was Unexpected. I Had Always Connected An Insurrection
With Noise. It Was Rumored That Guizot The Unpopular Had Been Dismissed,
And That Count Mole, A Man Of Half Measures, Had Been Called To The
King'S Councils. The Affair Looked To Me As If It Were Going To Die Out
For Want Of Fuel. But I Was Mistaken: The Blouses, Who Had Not Had One
Gun To A Hundred The Day Before, Had Been All Night Arming Themselves By
Domiciliary Requisitions. The National Guard Was Not Believed To Be
Firm.
The Night Before, An Hour After I Had Parted With Miss Hermione, I Had
Made An Attempt To See Her And Mrs. Leare, Without Any Success. Not Even
Bribery Would Induce The Concierge To Let Me In. His Orders Were
Peremptory: "_Pas Un Seul, Monsieur, Personne_"--Madame Received Nobody.
Early On Wednesday Morning I Again Presented Myself: The Ladies Were Not
Visible. Later In The Day I Called Again, And Was Again Refused. But
Several Times Amy Had Seen Hermione At A Window, And They Had Made Signs
Across The Street To One Another. I Began To Understand That Mrs. Leare
Was Overwhelmed By The Responsibility She Had Incurred In Opening Her
Salon To Men Whom She Now Perceived To Have Been Conspirators, And That
She Was Obstinately Determined Not To Compromise Herself Further By
Giving Admittance To Any One.
Our Bonne Had Been Able To Ascertain From The Concierge Of The Leare
House That Madame Was Hysterical, And Could Hardly Be Controlled By
Mademoiselle.
I Was In The Streets Till Five O'Clock On Wednesday, When, Concluding
All Was Over, I Came Home, Intending To Make Another Effort To See The
Leares, And If Possible To Take Miss Hermione, With Ellen And Laetitia,
To View The Debris Of The Two Days' Fight--To Let Them Get Their First
Glimpse Of Real War In The Place De La Concorde, Where A Regiment Was
Littering Down Its Horses For The Night, And A Peep Into The Closed
Gardens Of The Tuileries.
When I Got Up To Our Rooms I Found My Sisters At A Window Overlooking
The Courtyard Of Mrs. Leare'S Hotel, And They All Cried Out With One
Voice, "Mrs. Leare'S Carriage Is Just Ready To Drive Away."
Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 60I Looked. A Travelling-Equipage Stood In The Courtyard. On It The
Concierge Was Hoisting Trunks, And Into It Was Being Heaped A
Promiscuous Variety Of Knick-Knackery And Wearing Apparel. A Country
Postilion--Who, But For His Dirt, Would Have Looked More Like A
Character In a Comedy Than A Real Live, Serviceable Post-Boy--Was
Standing In carpet Slippers (Having Divested Himself Of His Boots Of
Office) Harnessing Three Undersized Gray Normandy Mares To An Elegant
Travelling-Carriage.
Hermione Herself, Claribel Her Little Sister, Mrs. Leare And The Old
Colored Nurse Got Quickly In. Mrs. Leare Was In Tears, With Her Head
Muffled In a Yard Or Two Of Green _Barege_, Then The Distinctive Mark Of
A Travelling American Woman. The Child'S-Nurse Had Long Gold Ear-Drops
And A Head-Dress Of Red Bandanna. There Was Not A Man Of Any Kind With
Them Except The Postilion. The Concierge Opened The Gates Of The
Courtyard.
"Stop! Stop!" I Cried, And Rushed Down Our Own Staircase And Out Of Our
Front Door.
As I Ran Past Their Entrance A Woman Put A Paper Into My Hand. I Had No
Time To Glance At It, For The Carriage Had Already Turned Into The Rue
Ponthieu. For Some Distance I Ran After It, Encountering At Every Step
Excited Groups Of People, Some Of Whom Seemed To Me In Search Of
Mischief, While Some Had Apparently Come Out To Gather News. There Were
No Other Carriages In The Streets, And That Alone Enabled Me To Track
The One I Was In chase Of, For Everybody I Met Had Noticed Which Way It
Had Turned. It Wound Its Way Most Deviously Through By-Streets To Avoid
Those In Which Paving-Stones Had Been Torn Up Or Barricades Been Formed,
And The Postilion Made All Possible Speed, Fearing The Carriage Might Be
Seized And Detached From His Horses. But The Day'S Work Was Finished And
The Disorders Of The Night Were Not Begun.
Forced At Last To Slacken My Speed And To Take Breath, I Glanced At The
Paper That I Still Held In My Hand. It Contained A Few Words From
Hermione: "Thank You For All The Kindness You Have Tried To Show Us,
Dear Sir. My Mother Has Heard That All The English In Paris Are To Be
Massacred At Midnight By The Mob, And Directs Me To Give You Notice,
Which Is The Reason I Address This Note To You And Not To Amy. Mamma Is
Afraid Of Being Mistaken For An Englishwoman. We Have Secured
Post-Horses And Are Setting Out For Argenteuil, Where We Shall Take The
Railway. Again, Thank You: Your Kindness Will Not Be Forgotten By H.
Leare."
This Note Reassured Me. I No Longer Endeavored To Overtake The Carriage,
But I Pushed My Way As Fast As Possible Beyond The Nearest Barrier. Once
Outside The Wall Of Paris, I Was In The Banlieu, That Zone Of Rascality
Whose Inhabitants Are All Suspected By The Police And Live Under The
Ban. Of Course On Such A Gala-Day Of Lawlessness This Hive Was All
Astir. At A Village I Passed Through I Tried To Hire A Conveyance To
Argenteuil. I Also Tried To Get Some Railway Information, But Nobody
Could Tell Me Anything And All Were Ravenous For News. I Secured,
However, Without Losing Too Much Time, A Seat With A Stout Young
Country-Man Who Drove A Little Country Cart With A Powerful Gray Horse,
And Was Going In The Direction I Wanted To Travel.
"What Will Be The Result Of This Affair?" I Said To Him When He Had Got
Volume 26 Title 1 (Lippincott'S Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science) Pg 61His Beast Into A Steady Trot.
He Shrugged His Shoulders. A French Workingman Has A Far Larger
Vocabulary At His Command Than The English Laborer. "Bon Dieu!" He
Exclaimed: "Who Knows What Will Come Of It? A Land Without A Master Is
No Civilized Land. We Shall Fall Back Into Barbarism. What There Is
Certain Is, That We Shall All Be Ruined."
At Length, To My Great Relief, We Saw A Carriage Before Us; And We Drove
Into The Railway-Station At The Same Moment As The Leares.
Before The Ladies Could Alight I Was Beside The Window Of Their
Carriage.
"You Here, Mr. Farquhar?" Cried Hermione. "How Good Of You! You Cannot
Guess The Relief. Help Me To Get Them Out, These Helpless Ones."
We Lifted Mrs. Leare On To The Platform Of The Railway, Weeping And
Trembling. The Old Colored Nurse Could Not Speak French, And Seemed To
Think Her Only Duty Was To Hold The Hand Of Little Claribel And To Stand
Where Her Young Mistress Placed Her. All Looked To Hermione. She Carried
A Canvas Bag Of Five-Franc Pieces And Paid Right And Left. I Tried To
Interfere, As She Was Giving The Postilion An Exorbitant Sum.
"No, Hush!" She Whispered: "We Can Afford To Pay, But In Our Situation
We Cannot Afford To Dispute."
She Then Deputed Me To See After The "Baggage," As She Called The
Luggage Of The Party, And Went With Her Mother Into The Glass Cage That
The French Call A _Salle D'Attente_ At A Railway-Station.
We Had Come From The Seat Of War, And Every One Crowded Around Us Asking
For News. I Had Little To Tell, But Replied That I Believed The Affair
Was Nearly Over. I Did Not Foresee That Two Hours Later A Procession
Roaring "Mourir Pour La Patrie" Under The Windows Of The Hotel Des
Affaires Etrangeres Would Be Fired Into By Accident, And That The
_Emeute_ Of February, 1848, Would Be Converted Into A Revolution.
It Was Nine O'Clock In The Evening. The Lamps Were Lighted In The
Station. The Night Was Cloudy, But Far Off On The Horizon We Could See A
Gleam Of Radiance, Marking The Locality Of The Great City.
After An Hour Of Very Anxious Waiting, During Which Mrs. Leare Was
Beside Herself With Nervous Agitation, The Locked Doors Of Our Prison
Were Flung Open And We Were Permitted To Seat Ourselves In a
Railway-Carriage.
Hermione'S Tender Devotion To Her Mother, The Old Servant And The Child
Was Beautiful To Witness. Now That Mrs. Leare Was Helpless On Her
Daughter'S Hands, They Seemed To Have Found Their Natural Relations.
Hermione Said Few Words To Me, But A Glance Now And Then Thanked Me For
Being With Them. The Train Started. For About Three Miles All Went On
Well, Although We Travelled Cautiously, Fearing Obstructions. Suddenly
The Speed Of Our Train Was Checked, And There Was A Cry Of Consternation
As We Rounded A Sharp Curve. The Bridge Over The Seine At Its Third Bend
Was Ablaze Before Us!
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