eir opinions--shall join in the defence
of the city. They have declared the confiscation of the goods of any
member of the Guard who shall leave the town. I hear a decree is likely
to be published to-morrow or next day confiscating all Church property;
already they have taken possession of the churches, and turned them into
clubs. If they do such things now, there is no saying to what lengths
they may go as they see their chances of success diminishing daily."

Although the artillery fire was maintained for some time longer, it was
by three o'clock evident that the battle was virtually over. The party
therefore descended from the roof, and Cuthbert strolled back to the
centre of Paris. The streets, that evening, presented a very strong
contrast to the scene of excitement that had reigned twenty-four hours
before. There was no shouting and singing; no marching of great bodies
of troops. An air of gloom pervaded the lower classes, while the
bourgeois remained for the most part in their houses, afraid that the
deep satisfaction the events of the day had caused them, might betray
itself in their faces.

For the next few days Cuthbert worked steadily, going up late in the
afternoon to Passy. The Commune had, on the day after the failure
against Versailles, issued a decree that all unmarried men from
seventeen to thirty-five, should join the ranks, and a house-to-house
visitation was ordered to see that none escaped the operation of the
decree. One of these parties visited Cuthbert: it consisted of a man
with a red sash, and two others in the uniform of the National Guard. As
soon as they were satisfied of Cuthbert's nationality, they left, having
been much more civil than he had expected. He thought it advisable,
however, to go at once to the Hotel de Ville, where, on producing his
passport, he was furnished with a document bearing the seal of the
Commune, certifying that being a British subject, Cuthbert Hartington
was exempt from service, and was allowed to pass anywhere without
molestation.

Equal good luck did not attend the other students, all of whom were, to
their intense indignation, enrolled upon the list of the National Guard
of their quarter. Cuthbert had difficulty in retaining a perfectly
serious countenance, as Rene, Pierre, and two or three others came in to
tell him what had occurred.

"And there is no getting away from it," Rene said. "If we had thought
that it would come to this, of course we would have