happened, had not Ludwig himself, who never
lacked personal courage, plunged into the throng and, offering Lola
his arm, escorted her to the Residenz.

The disturbances continued, for tempers had reached fever pitch.
Troops hastily summoned from the nearest barracks patrolled the
streets. A furious crowd assembled in front of the Rathaus; the
burgomaster, fearing for his position, talked of reading the Riot Act;
a number of arrests were made; and it was not until the next afternoon
that the coast was sufficiently clear for Lola to return to the
Barerstrasse, triumphantly escorted by some members of the Alemannia.
When, however, they left her there, they were set upon by detachments
of the Palatia Corps, who still cherished a grudge against them.

Lola's own account of these happenings, and written as if by a
detached onlooker, is picturesque, if somewhat imaginative:

"They came with cannons and guns and swords, with the voices
of ten thousand devils, and surrounded her little castle.
Against the entreaties of her friends, she presented herself
before the infuriated mob which demanded her life.... A
thousand guns were pointed at her, and a hundred fat and
apoplectic voices fiercely demanded that she should cause
the repeal of what she had done. In language of great
mildness--for it was no time to scold--she answered that it
was impossible for her to accede to such a request; and that
what had been done by her had been done for the good of the
people and the honour of Bavaria."

After this "demonstration," there was a calm. But not for long. On the
evening of February 10, a rabble assembled in front of the Palace,
raising cries of: "Down with Lola Montez!" "Down with the King's
strumpet!" As the protestors consisted largely of students (whom
Thiersch, the rector, being no disciplinarian, could not keep in
check), Ludwig's response was drastic. He ordered the University to be
shut, and all its members who did not live in Munich to leave the town
within twenty-four hours. This was a tactical blunder, and was in
great measure responsible for the more serious repercussions of the
following month. Apart, too, from other considerations, the edict hit
the pockets of the local tradesmen, since the absence of a couple of
thousand hungry and thirsty customers had an adverse effect on the
consumption of sauerkraut and beer.

As she was still "news" in Paris, a gossiping c