to carry, early the next morning,
a despatch to M. de Bismarck, and to get it into his hands before
daybreak. No one was to know of this despatch except the German
officer bearing a flag of truce, to whom I was to give it with
my own hand. 'Then all is over?' I said to Jules Favre. 'Yes,' he
answered, 'we have only bread enough for a few more days. God only
knows what the people of Paris may do to us when we are forced to
let them know the truth. We must do our best to guard against the
disastrous consequences of their strong feeling of patriotism. The
Government does not intend to rid itself of its responsibilities,
but its first duty is to provide bread for the capital.'

"With some difficulty," continued d'Herisson, "I reached Sevres,
and the next morning before daybreak gave Jules Favre's letter
to the Prussian officer. I sent back an express to Jules Favre
with the news, and then went to Baron Rothschild's desolated villa
at Suresnes to wait the answer. Two hours later, came a message
from the French officer commanding the nearest outpost to say that
a flag of truce had brought word that M. de Bismarck would see M.
Jules Favre, and that a carriage would be in waiting on the left
bank of the Seine to take him to headquarters."

This knowledge of the negotiation at the French outposts was a
disclosure that Jules Favre had desired to avoid.

"When I brought Jules Favre the news," continues d'Herisson, "he
was greatly moved. His hands trembled so that he could hardly break
the seal of the letter."

[Illustration: _JULES FAVRE_.]

Seeing that news of what was passing would most certainly be brought
in from the outposts, it seemed best that the French Minister for
Foreign Affairs should start at once for the interview. There was
in the courtyard a _coupe_ with a handsome horse, once belonging
to Napoleon III., and driven by one of his former coachmen. Jules
Favre at once got into it, with his son-in-law and M. d'Herisson.
They passed with some difficulty through the Bois de Boulogne, the
roads having been torn up and trees felled in every direction. On
reaching a French outpost Jules Favre, afraid of being recognized,
concealed his face. Their only means of crossing the Seine at Sevres
was to take a small boat which had served General Burnside a few days
before. But the Prussians had been making a target of it ever since,
and it was riddled with bullets. Having bailed it out, however,
with an old saucepan, they st