A Girl of the Commune

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XXII.

  The march against Versailles did not take place on the first of April,although the Communists had every reason to believe that they would meetwith no opposition, as on the previous night two regiments of the army,forming the advanced guard between Versailles and Paris, came in,together with a battery of artillery, and declared for the Commune. Thenext morning Cuthbert went up at nine o'clock, as he had arranged totake Mary out early, and to work in the afternoon. Just as he reachedthe house he heard a cannon-shot.

  "Hurry on your things," he said as he met her, "a gun has just fired; itis the first in the Civil War; perhaps the National Guard are startingagainst Versailles; at any rate it will be worth seeing."

  The girl was ready in two or three minutes, and they walked briskly tothe Arc de Triomphe. As they did so they could hear not only the boom ofcannon, but the distant firing of musketry. Around the Arch a number ofpeople were gathered, looking down the long broad avenue running from itthrough the Porte Maillot, and then over the Bridge of Neuilly to thecolumn of Courbeil. Heavy firing was going on near the bridge, upon thebanks of the river, and away beyond it to the right.

  "That firing means that France is saved from the horrors of another redRevolution, Mary," Cuthbert said. "It shows that some of the troops atleast are loyal, and in these matters example is everything. There wasa report that Charrette's Zouaves and the gendarmes have been placed atthe outposts, and if the report is true, it was a wise step, indeed, forMcMahon to take, for both could be relied upon; and now fighting hasbegun, there is hope that the troops behind will stand firm."

  "Why should they, Cuthbert?"

  "Some of the shots from this side are sure to fall among them, and if afew are killed and wounded the rest will get angry, and all idea offraternizing with the men who are firing on them will be at an end. Ishould like to see how that crowd of National Guards are behaving."

  "Shall we go down and look, Cuthbert. See, there is an omnibus goingdown the hill, so I don't suppose there can be much danger."

  "I don't think that there is any danger at present, Mary; the balls willhardly come so far, but if the troops open fire with cannon, they willsend shell right up this avenue."

  "Would you go by yourself if I were not here, Cuthbert?"

  "Well, I certainly should, but that is no reason why I should go withyou."

  "I can see women looking out of the windows," she said, "so we will godown together, Cuthbert. We had the German shell falling near us whilethe siege was going on, and things went on just as usual."

  "Come on then, dear; at any rate it will be only field-guns and notheavy siege artillery, and I dare say we can get into one of the housesand look out from them; a twelve-pounder would scarcely do much harm toone of these solid stone buildings."

  They went quietly down the road. No whiz of bullet or crash of shell washeard, and without interruption they continued their course until theyarrived near the gate. Near it were two battalions of the NationalGuard, who were in a state of utter disorder. Some of the men werequietly walking away with their rifles slung behind them, in spite of aline of sentries placed across the road and the efforts of theirofficers. Cuthbert questioned some of the men, as they came along, as towhat had happened, but the most contradictory answers were given. Theyhad been fired upon from Fort Valerien; they had been attacked fromCourbevoie; they had been betrayed; they had been sent out without anycannon: ammunition was short; they were not going to stay to be shotdown; they were going to the Hotel de Ville to turn out the traitors whohad sent them out without a proper supply of ammunition. That they hadsome ammunition was evident from the fact that several muskets went offaccidentally, the result of nervousness on the part of those that heldthem.

  "We won't stay here to risk being shot by these cowardly fools,"Cuthbert said, "let us get into one of the houses."

  They went back a short distance, and Cuthbert spoke to a man standing athis door. "This lady and myself are English," he said, "would you allowus to go up and stand at one of the windows to see what is going on?"

  The request was at once acceded to, and they were soon posted at awindow on the fifth floor.

  "Look at them," Cuthbert said in disgust, "these are the heroes whoclamored to go out and destroy the Germans."

  The scene below was certainly singular--the bugles and drums sounded theassembly and beat the rappel alternately, but the men paid not theslightest attention to the call, but continued to slink away until thedrummers and buglers remained alone. Of the two battalions, some fiftymen posted at the loop-holes of the crenelated wall by the gateremained; the rest had melted away. From the balcony at the window afine view was obtained across the country. A heavy musket-fire was stillmaintained along the river-side, and there was a continuous roll ofmusketry at Courbevoie, where, as one of the National Guard had toldthem, a battalion which occupied the barracks there had been cut off bythe advance of the troops. Artillery and musketry were both at workthere, but elsewhere there was no artillery fire.

  Close to the bridge at Neuilly the struggle was maintained for a time,and presently a column of troops were seen advancing against the bridge.As it did so the firing there ceased at once, and it was soon evidentthat the troops had gained the position. Numbers of National Guards sooncame trooping in at the gate. A very few remained there; the rest,without waiting for orders, hurried on into Paris. A dark group nowappeared on the road leading up to Courbeil; there was a white puff ofsmoke and a shell exploded a hundred yards on the other side of thegate. A steady fire was now kept up by two guns, the greater part of theshells exploded beyond the outer works; but several came up the avenue,two of them striking houses, and others exploding in the roadway. Eachtime when the whistle of a shell was heard approaching, Cuthbert drewMary back from the balcony into the room.

  "I fancy," he said, "the troops have an idea that there are masses ofthe Communists assembled near the gates in readiness for a sortie, andthey are firing to prevent their coming out, until they have fortifiedthe bridge and the other points they have occupied."

  The firing continued for some time. At other windows the inhabitantswere watching the conflict, and Cuthbert pointed out, to Mary's greatamusement, the precautions that some of them were taking to ensure theirpersonal safety. One woman had drawn down the Venetian blinds, and waslooking between them, another was peering out with a pillow held overher head. The few National Guards who remained at their post were men ofcourage, for they showed no signs of flinching even when shells explodedwithin a few yards of the position they occupied. Presently there was asound of wheels, and two four-pounder guns were brought up and placedone on each side of the gate to sweep the approaches.

  Between one and two o'clock several battalions of National Guards cameleisurely up, piled their arms and sat down under shelter of the wall.It was evident they had no idea of making a sortie, but had been broughtup to defend the gate in case it was attacked. Soon after their arrival,a party that had remained near the river returned and it was clear thatat least a portion of the troops had proved faithless, for with themwere forty or fifty soldiers, who had come over during the fight. Theywere disarmed and then escorted into the town, where, as Cuthbertafterwards learned, they were received with enthusiasm by the mob.

  "It is evident that there is no idea of any attempt being made torecapture the bridge at present, Mary; I don't know how you feel but Iam getting desperately hungry, so I think we may as well be going back.I should like to see what is going on in the city. Will you come withme? I have no doubt we shall be able to get a voiture up at the arch,and we can have lunch there."

  Mary was as anxious to see what is going on as he was, and in a quarterof an hour they alighted in the Rue Rivoli. As yet the population hadheard but vague reports that fighting was going on, and matters werecomparatively quiet, for so many rumors had pervaded the town during thelast few days, that they were not generally believed. Accordingly, afterlunch, Cuthbert took Mary home in a fiacre.

  "I have been quite a
larmed about you, my dear, where have you been?"Madame Michaud said as they entered.

  "We have been seeing the fighting, madame, and the Reds have beenbeaten."

  "I have heard all sorts of stories about it, but most of them say thatthe Versailles people got the worst of it."

  "Then the stories were not true," Mary said, "most of the National Guardwouldn't fight at all, and the regiments all broke away and went intoParis without firing a shot, the troops have taken the bridge ofNeuilly."

  "The good God be thanked," Madame Michaud said piously, "my husband wasafraid the troops would not fight, and that we were going to haveterrible times; but there is a hope now, that the Commune will be putdown."

  "Every hope, madame," Cuthbert said. "I was sure this scum of Pariswould not fight if the troops would do so. They have too much regard fortheir worthless skins. It may be some time before McMahon can get aforce together sufficient to take Paris, but sooner or later he will doso, though it will be a serious business with the forts all in the handsof the Communists. If they had but handed over one or two of the fortsto the gendarmes, or kept a company or two of sailors there, there wouldhave been a line by which the troops could have approached the town, asit is they will have to bring up siege-guns and silence Issy and Vanvesbefore much can be done."

  An hour later Monsieur Michaud arrived; he too had been in the city andwas in ignorance of what had taken place during the morning.

  "That accounts for it," he said, "we are all ordered to be under arms ateight o'clock this evening."

  "But you will not go?" his wife exclaimed anxiously.

  "But I must go, my dear. I have no desire to be shot, and I think thereis much more fear of my being shot, if I don't answer to the call of myname than there will be if I do. In the first place, we may not go outbeyond the wall, in the second place, if there is I may see a chance ofrunning away, for mind you, though I hope I should have fought asbravely as others if the Germans had come, I do not feel myself calledupon to fight against Frenchmen and in a cause I hate."

  "You will find yourself in good company anyhow, Monsieur Michaud,"Cuthbert laughed. "We have seen nineteen hundred and fifty men out oftwo thousand march off without firing a shot to-day."

  "So much the better, monsieur, four out of five of the National Guardshate it all as much as I do. Will you dine with us to-day, monsieur, andthen we can go down together afterwards."

  Cuthbert accepted the invitation willingly. "Yes, you can come down withus, Mary," he went on, in answer to a look of appeal from her. "I willbring her back safely, Madame Michaud, the sight will be well worthseeing. Before I go I will have a look round and see if I can get a bedfor the night, it is a long way out from my lodgings and I should liketo be out here by daylight, for if they mean to march on Versailles theyare sure to start as soon as it is light."

  "We have a spare room," Madame Michaud said, "and it is quite at yourdisposal. It will be doing us a kindness if you will accept it, for whenmy husband is away I always feel nervous without a man in the house, andas it is but ten minutes' walk from here to the Arc de Triomphe, youwill be on the spot, and indeed from the roof of this house you canobtain a view all over the country."

  A great change had taken place in the appearance of Paris when they wentdown in the evening, the town was in a state of the wildest excitement,everywhere drums were beating and trumpets sounding, everywhere NationalGuards mustering. The streets were crowded, the most violent languageuttered by the lower classes, and threats of all kinds poured outagainst the 'butchers of Versailles.' On the walls were red placardsissued by the Commune and headed "Men of Paris. The butchers ofVersailles are slaughtering your brethren!!!"

  "As a rule the brethren decline to be slaughtered, Mary," Cuthbert saidas they read the proclamation. "You see, if the troops fire they arebutchers, if the National Guards fire they are heroes. Considering thatParis has ten armed men to every one McMahon has got, even if all thetroops could be relied upon, the Parisians must indeed be of a mildtemper if they submit to be butchered."

  Monsieur Michaud now left them to take his place in the ranks of hisbattalion. It was not long before the National Guards were in motion,and for hours columns of troops moved up the Champs Elysees. The RueRivoli was actually choked with the men; the mob shouted "Vive laCommune" until they were hoarse, and the battalions from the workingquarters lustily sang the chorus of the Marseillaise.

  At ten o'clock Cuthbert and Mary arrived at the Arc de Triomphe on theirway back. Along the whole line from the Tuileries the National Guardwere bivouacked. The arms were piled down the centre of the road, andmany of the men had already wrapped themselves in their blankets andlain down to sleep with their heads on their knapsacks. The wine-shopsin the neighborhood were all crowded, and it was evident that many ofthe men had determined to keep it up all night.

  Madame Michaud had coffee ready for them on their return, and afterdrinking it they went to their rooms, Mary being completely tired outwith the fatigue and excitement of the day. At five o'clock Cuthbert wasup; he had told Mary the night before that he would return for her ateight. On arriving at the Arc de Triomphe he found the National Guardspouring down the avenue to the Fort Maillot. Three heavy columns weremarching along the roads which converged at the Bridge of Neuilly. HereCuthbert expected a desperate struggle, but a few shots only were fired,and then a small body of troops covered by a party of skirmishers,retired up the hill, and then turning off made their way towards FortValerien.

  The force was evidently insufficient to hold the bridge against themasses of revolutionists advancing against it, and the real resistanceto the forces of the Commune would commence further back. Crossing thebridge the National Guard spread out to the right and left and mountedthe hill, as they did so some eighteen-pounder guns which had been theday before mounted on the Fort, opened fire on the bridge, and for atime the forward movement ceased, and the regiment on their way downtowards the gate were halted. Cuthbert chatted for some time with one ofthe officers and learnt from him that this was not the real point ofattack.

  "It is from the other side of the river that the great stroke againstthe Versaillaise will be struck," he said, "a hundred and fifty thousandNational Guards advanced on that side; they will cross the heights ofMeudon, and move straight to Versailles. We have but some twenty-fivethousand here, and shall advance as soon as the others have attackedMeudon."

  In an hour the forward movement had again commenced, a heavy columnpoured across the bridge, the firing from Valerien having now ceased.Cuthbert watched the black mass advancing up the slope towards Courbeil.It was not until they reached the top of the slope that Valeriensuddenly opened fire. Puff after puff of white smoke darted out from itscrest in quick succession, the shells bursting in and around the heavycolumn. In a moment its character changed; it had been literally cut inhalf by the iron shower. Those in front of the point where the storm hadstruck it, broke off and fled to the village of Nanterre on the left,where they took shelter among the houses. The other portion of thecolumn broke up as suddenly, and became at once a disorganized mob, whoat the top of their speed rushed down to the slope again to the bridgeat Neuilly. Across this they poured in wild confusion and made no haltuntil they had passed the Fort Maillot. There the officers attempted torally them, but in vain; many had thrown their muskets away in theirflight, the rest slung them behind them, and continued their way toParis, all vowing that they had been betrayed, and that they would havevengeance on the Commune. Seeing that there was no more probability offighting on his side, Cuthbert returned to Madame Michaud's.

  "Madame is on the roof," Margot said as he entered; "everyone is upthere: she said I was to give you breakfast when you came in; the coffeeis ready, and I have an omelette prepared, it will be cooked in threeminutes; Madame said that you would be sure to be hungry after being outso long." In a quarter of an hour he ascended to the roof. The residenton the ground-floor had an astronomical telescope with which he was inthe habit of reconnoitring the skies from the gar
den. This he had takenup to the roof, where some twenty persons were gathered. A magnificentview was obtained here of the circle of hills from Valerien round byMeudon, and the whole of the left bank of the river. It needed but aglance to see that the army of the Commune had made but little progress.Although the fighting began soon after two o'clock in the morning, andit was now nearly mid-day, the heights of Meudon were still in the handsof the troops.

  From among the trees by the chateau white puffs of smoke shot out, manyof the shells bursting in and around the fort of Issy, which repliedbriskly. The guns of Vanves joined in the combat, their fire beingdirected towards the plateau of Chatillon, which was held by the troops.Round Issy a force of the National Guard was assembled, but the mainbody was in the deep valley between the forts and Meudon, and on theslopes nearly up to the chateau; the rattle of musketry here wascontinuous, a light smoke drifting up through the trees. After a time itwas evident that the line of musketry fire was lower down the hill,descending, showing that the troops were pressing the Communistsbackwards, and presently one of the batteries near the chateau shiftedits position, and took ground some distance down the hill, and this anda battery near the end of the viaduct by the chateau, opened a heavyfire on the forts.

  A look through the telescope showed that the Communists were crouchingbehind walls and houses, occasionally, when the fire of the guns wassilent, a few of them would get up and advance into the open, but onlyto scamper back into shelter as soon as they reopened fire.

  "That settles it, monsieur," Cuthbert said, to the owner of thetelescope, after taking a long look through it, "hitherto, theCommunists have believed that Versailles was at their mercy, and theyhad but to march out to capture it. They have failed, and failure meanstheir final defeat. They say that the prisoners of war are arriving inVersailles at the rate of two or three thousand a day, and in anotherfortnight, Thiers will have a force sufficient to take the offensive,and by that time, will doubtless have siege-guns in position. I don'tsay that Paris may not hold out for a considerable time, but it mustfall in the long run, and I fear, that all who have got anything to losewill have a very bad time of it."

  "I fear so, monsieur; as these wretches become more desperate, they willproceed to greater lengths. You see they have already insisted that allthe National Guard--whatever their opinions--shall join in the defenceof the city. They have declared the confiscation of the goods of anymember of the Guard who shall leave the town. I hear a decree is likelyto be published to-morrow or next day confiscating all Church property;already they have taken possession of the churches, and turned them intoclubs. If they do such things now, there is no saying to what lengthsthey may go as they see their chances of success diminishing daily."

  Although the artillery fire was maintained for some time longer, it wasby three o'clock evident that the battle was virtually over. The partytherefore descended from the roof, and Cuthbert strolled back to thecentre of Paris. The streets, that evening, presented a very strongcontrast to the scene of excitement that had reigned twenty-four hoursbefore. There was no shouting and singing; no marching of great bodiesof troops. An air of gloom pervaded the lower classes, while thebourgeois remained for the most part in their houses, afraid that thedeep satisfaction the events of the day had caused them, might betrayitself in their faces.

  For the next few days Cuthbert worked steadily, going up late in theafternoon to Passy. The Commune had, on the day after the failureagainst Versailles, issued a decree that all unmarried men fromseventeen to thirty-five, should join the ranks, and a house-to-housevisitation was ordered to see that none escaped the operation of thedecree. One of these parties visited Cuthbert: it consisted of a manwith a red sash, and two others in the uniform of the National Guard. Assoon as they were satisfied of Cuthbert's nationality, they left, havingbeen much more civil than he had expected. He thought it advisable,however, to go at once to the Hotel de Ville, where, on producing hispassport, he was furnished with a document bearing the seal of theCommune, certifying that being a British subject, Cuthbert Hartingtonwas exempt from service, and was allowed to pass anywhere withoutmolestation.

  Equal good luck did not attend the other students, all of whom were, totheir intense indignation, enrolled upon the list of the National Guardof their quarter. Cuthbert had difficulty in retaining a perfectlyserious countenance, as Rene, Pierre, and two or three others came in totell him what had occurred.

  "And there is no getting away from it," Rene said. "If we had thoughtthat it would come to this, of course we would have left Paris directlythis affair began, but now it is impossible: no tickets are issued bythe railways except to old men, women and children, no one is allowed topass through the gates without a permit from the Commune, and even ifone could manage to get on to the wall and drop down by a rope onemight be taken and shot by the Communist troops outside, or, if one gotthrough them, by the sentries of the army of Versailles. What would youadvise us to do, Cuthbert?"

  "I am afraid I can't give you any advice whatever, Rene, it is certainlyhorribly unpleasant being obliged to fight in a cause you detest, but Idon't think there will be a very great deal of fighting till an assaultis made on the city, and when that begins, I should say the Communistswill be too busy to look for absentees from the ranks."

  "We shall be in double danger then," Pierre Leroux put in. "We run therisk of being shot by the Communists for not fighting at the barricades,and if we escape that, we have a chance of being shot by the Versaillaisas Communists. It is a horrible position to be placed in."

  "Well, I should say, Pierre, keep your eyes open and escape if youpossibly can before the assault takes place. I should think some mightmanage to get out as women, but, of course you would have to sacrificeyour mustaches. But if you did that, and borrowed the papers of someyoung woman or other, you might manage it. No doubt it would be awkwardif you were found out, but it might be worth trying. If I cannot leavebefore the assault takes place I mean to go to one of the English hotelshere, Meurice's or the Dover, and establish myself there. During suchfighting as there may be in the streets, there will be very fewquestions asked, and one might be shot before one could explain one wasa foreigner, but the hotels are not likely to be disturbed. Seriously Ishould say that the best thing you can all do when the fighting beginsin the streets, is to keep out of the way until your battalion isengaged, then burn anything in the way of uniform, get rid of your riflesomehow, and gather at Goude's. He could vouch for you all as being hispupils, and as being wholly opposed to the Commune. His name should besufficiently well known, if not to the first officer who may arrive, atleast, to many officers, for his testimony to be accepted. Still, I dothink that the best plan of all will be to get out of the place when youget a chance."

  Some of the students did succeed in getting out. Pierre and two othersmade their way down through the drains, came out on the river at night,and swam across. One of the youngest went out by train dressed as awoman, but the rest were forced to don the uniform and take their placesin the ranks of the National Guard. The question of leaving Paris wasfrequently discussed by Cuthbert and Mary Brander, but they finallydetermined to stay. It was morally certain that the troops would enterParis either at the Port Maillot or at the gate of Pont du Jour; or atany rate, somewhere on that side of Paris. Once inside the walls theywould meet with no resistance there--the fighting would only commencewhen they entered the city itself. Passy was to a large extent inhabitedby well-to-do people, and it was not here that the search for Communistswould begin. The troops would here be greeted as benefactors.

  "I do not think there is the smallest risk, Mary; if there were, Ishould say at once that we had better be off, and I would escort youdown to Cornwall, but as there seems to me no danger whatever, I shouldsay let us stick to our original plan. I own I should like to see theend of it all. You might amuse yourself at present by making agood-sized Union Jack, which you can hang out of your window when thetroops enter. When I see the time approaching, I intend to make anarrangement with the
Michauds to establish myself here, so as toundertake the task of explaining, if necessary, but I don't think anyexplanation will be asked. It is likely enough that as soon as thetroops enter they will establish themselves in this quarter beforemaking any further advance; they will know that they have hard fightingbefore them, and until they have overcome all opposition, will haveplenty to think about, and will have no time to spare in makingdomiciliary visits."