of your friends, who says to you, "My
dear fellow, how anxious you must be?" You must answer, "Anxious! oh,
not at all. On the contrary, I never felt more free of care in my
life."--"Oh! I thought your aunt was ill, and as you do not receive any
letters ..."--"Not receive any letters!" you continue in the same
strain, "who told you that? Not receive any letters! why, I have more
than I want! what an idea!"--"Then you must be strangely favoured," says
your mystified companion; "for since Citizen Theiz[45] has taken
possession of the Post-office, the communications are stopped."--"Don't
believe it. It is a rumour set on float by the reactionists. Why, those
terrible reactionists go so far as to pretend that the Commune has
imprisoned the priests, arrested journalists, and stopped the
newspapers!"--"Well, you may say what you please, but a proclamation of
Citizen Theiz announces that communication with the departments will not
be re-established for some days."--"Nothing but modesty on his part; he
has only to show himself at the Post-office, and the service, which has
been put out of order by those wretched reactionists, will be
immediately reorganised."--"So I am to understand that you have news
every day of your aunt."--"Of course."--"Well, I am delighted to hear
it; for one of my friends, who arrived from Marseilles this morning,
told me that your aunt was dead."--"Dead, good heavens! what do you
mean? Now I think of it, I did not get a letter this morning."--"There
you see!"

You must not, however, allow your sorrow to carry you away, at the risk
of your personal safety, but answer readily. "I see it all, for a wonder
I did not get a letter this morning; Citizen Theiz is a kind-hearted
man, and did not want to make me unhappy."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 45: A working chaser, and one of the most active and
influential members of the International Society. He was among the
accused who were tried in July, 1870, and was condemned to two years'
imprisonment. On the formation of the Central Committee, he was
appointed Vice-President. It was Theiz who saved the General Post
Office, Rue J.J. Rousseau, from the total destruction decreed by other
members of the Commune. His fate is not well known. Director of the
General Post-office in the Rue J.J. Rousseau, he is said to have saved
that important establishment, doomed to destruction by the Commune.
Theiz escaped from Paris to London on the 29th of July; he took an
active part