in with them into the
courtyard of the palace. The western end, containing the State
apartments, was a mass of fire from end to end, and the flames were
creeping along both wings towards the Louvre. In the palace itself a
battalion of infantry were at work. Some were throwing furniture,
pictures and curtains through the window into the courtyard; others were
hacking off doors and tearing up floors, while strong parties were
engaged on the roofs in stripping off the slates and tearing down the
beams and linings.

Other engines presently arrived, for telegrams had been sent off soon
after the fires broke out to all the principal towns of France, and even
to London, asking for engines and men to work them, and those from
Amiens, Lille, and Rouen had already reached Paris by train.

After working for three hours Cuthbert showed his pass to the officer
and was permitted to pass on, a large number of citizens being by this
time available for the work, having been fetched from all the suburbs
occupied by the troops. Before going very much farther Cuthbert was
stopped by a line of sentries across the street.

"You cannot pass here," the officer in charge said, as Cuthbert produced
his permit, "the island is still in the hands of the Communists, and the
fire from their barricade across the bridge sweeps the street twenty
yards farther on, and it would be certain death to show yourself there;
besides, they are still in force beyond the Hotel de Ville. You can, of
course, work round by the left, but I should strongly advise you to go
no farther. There is desperate fighting going on in the Place de la
Bastille. The insurgent batteries are shelling the Boulevards hotly,
and, worst of all, you are liable to be shot from the upper windows and
cellars. There are scores of those scoundrels still in the houses; there
has been no time to unearth them yet, and a good many men have been
killed by their fire."

"Thank you, sir. I will take your advice," Cuthbert said.

He found, indeed, that there was no seeing anything that was going on in
the way of fighting without running great risks, and he accordingly made
his way back to the Trocadero. Here he could see that a number of fires
had broken out at various points since morning, even in the part of the
town occupied by the troops; and though some of these might be caused by
the Communists' shell it was more probable that they were the work of
the incendiary. He had, indeed, heard from