ruins, and the condition of
the neighbouring houses, which had nearly all of them great black holes
in their fronts. The Federals did not seem at all impressed by their
critical position; sounds of laughter reached me from the interior of a
casemate, from the chimney of which smoke was arising, and guards
running hither and thither were whistling merrily the _Chant du Depart_,
with a look of complete satisfaction.

[Illustration: THE ARC DE TRIOMPHE, EAST SIDE (THE FINEST), UNINJURED.
Damaged on the other side. During the Prussian siege it was defended
from injury, though no shells reached it. Uncovered before the civil
war.]

I managed to reach the Rue du Debarcadere, which is situated close to
the ramparts. An acquaintance of mine lives there. I knew he was away,
but I thought the porter would recognise and allow me to take up a
position at one of the windows. Next door, the corner house, I found a
shell had gone into a wine-merchant's shop there, who could very well
have dispensed with such a visitor, and had behaved in the most unruly
fashion, breaking the glass, smashing the tables and counter, but
neither killing nor wounding anybody. The porter knew me quite well, and
invited me to walk upstairs to the apartments of my friend, situated on
the third floor. From the windows I could not see the bastion, which was
hidden by the station; but to the left, in the distance, beyond the Bois
de Boulogne, wherein I fancied I perceived troops moving between the
branches, but whether Versaillais or Parisians I could not tell, arose
the tremendous Mont Valerien bathed in sunlight. The flashes from the
cannon, which in daylight have a pale silver tint, succeeded each other
rapidly; the explosions were formidable, and the fort was crowned with a
wreath of smoke. They appeared to be firing in the direction of
Levallois, rather than on the Porte Maillot. The Federals did not seem
to attempt to reply. Turning myself towards the right I could scan
nearly the whole length of the Avenue de Neuilly. The bare piece of
ground which constitutes the military zone was completely deserted;
several shells fell there that had been aimed doubtless at the Porte
Maillot or the bastion. The position I had taken up at the window was
rather a perilous one. I was just behind the bastion. Beyond the
military zone most of the houses seemed uninhabited, but I saw
distinctly the National Guards in front of the Restaurant Gilet, making
their soup on th