ater. Then Gablin took him
to a chamber, gave him plain clothes, and locked him in. He fell
asleep upon the bed in a moment.

Le Sage meanwhile had made his way over the roofs of neighboring
houses, and then descended to the Champs Elysees. He was arrested
several times by sentries, but at last made his way to General
Douai. The general heard his story, and then put a paper into his
hand, saying, "The Ministry of Marine is already ours." Admiral
Pothereau himself, at three o'clock in the morning, was looking
towards his old offices and residence from the Champs Elysees.
He remarked to an aide-de-camp and to another officer: "All looks
very quiet. Suppose we go and reconnoitre, and see how near we
can approach my official home." They held their swords in their
hands, and, followed by three gendarmes, cautiously drew near the
Ministry. They met with no opposition, and finally walked in. "Where's
Le Sage?" was the admiral's first question. "He is out looking
for you, M. le Ministre," cried Le Sage's wife, shedding tears of
anxiety.

Thus the Ministry of Marine was captured by the minister; but the
building itself and all its valuable documents had been preserved
by the fidelity of two young men.

As for the Communist officer, when he came to himself he sincerely
repented his connection with the Commune. He was pardoned, became
a respectable citizen, and found a true friend in M. Gablin.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE GREAT REVENGE.

The Commune cost Paris fourteen thousand lives. Eight thousand
persons were executed; six thousand were killed in open fight.
Before the siege Paris had contained two million and a quarter
of inhabitants: she had not half that number during the Commune,
notwithstanding the multitude of small proprietors and peasants
who had flocked thither from devastated homes.

Monday, May 29, found the city in the hands of the Versaillais.
The Provisional Government and its Parliament were victorious. The
army, defeated at Sedan, had conquered its insurgent countrymen.
All that remained of the Commune was wreck and devastation. The
Tuileries, the Column of the Place Vendome, the Treasury, the Palace
of the Legion of Honor, and the Hotel-de-Ville, or City Hall, were
destroyed, besides two theatres, the Law Courts, or Palais de Justice,
the offices of the Council of State and the Court of Accounts,
the State Safe Deposit (Caisse des Depots et de Consignations),
the Library of the Louvre, the manufactory