ng down their arms, to embrace those who came to
seduce them with the most irresistible of all seductions--refreshment,
when they were nearly exhausted by the want of it.

I shall begin to consider myself half a heroine, after an exploit I
performed this evening. The men who shared our dinner having gone out
to observe what was passing, I determined, _coute que coute_, to pay a
visit to my friend Madame Craufurd. I attired myself as simply as
possible, and, attended by a _valet de pied_, sallied forth. Having
traversed the short distance that separates this house from the Rue
St.-Honore, I arrived at the barricade erected in front of the entrance
to the Rue Verte, and I confess this obstacle seemed to me, for the
first minute or two that I contemplated it, insurmountable. My servant,
too, expressed his belief of the difficulty, if not impossibility, of
climbing over this mountain of loose stones, that I felt half disposed
to retrace my steps.

The shouts of a mob approaching along the Rue St.-Honore quickly
decided me on the course to pursue; I clambered up as best I could, not
without considerable risk; nor was the danger and difficulty of the
descent on the other side of this rude pyramid less imminent. The
evening was more sultry than I ever experienced an evening to be, even
in Italy; the houses were all closed, the streets deserted, except when
a few occasional stragglers rushed along, glancing at me with surprise,
and uttering their comments on my courage. Now and then a dog ran by,
with a terrified air and drooping tail, keeping close to the houses as
if for protection. One might have fancied oneself in some city ravaged
by the plague, and the burning heat of the atmosphere, and lurid red of
the clouds, might have strengthened the notion.

It more than once occurred to me how singular it was for me, a woman
and a stranger, to find myself with only one attendant in the streets,
on foot, in a city declared to be in a state of siege, and with the
noise of firing in the distance, and the shouts of the populace,
continually breaking on my ears.

Having passed the Rue de la Ville-l'Eveque, and entered the Rue
d'Anjou, I soon reached the _porte-cochere_ of my friend. My servant
knocked, and very loudly, but before the Swiss porter would open the
door, he reconnoitred from the window in the _entresol_ of his lodge.
He could hardly credit his eyes when he saw me; and while he unbolted
and unchained the door, an operat