d in
the morning, but this did not appear in any way to diminish the zest of
the sport. At least twenty soldiers ran the gauntlet whilst I was there,
but not one of them was wounded. As well as I could make out, the damage
done to St. Cloud by the bombs of Mont Valerien is very inconsiderable.
A portion of the Palace and a few houses were in ruins, but that was
all. There is a large barrack there, which the soldiers assured me is
lit up every night, and why this building has not been shelled, neither
they nor I could understand. The newspapers say that the Prussians have
guns on the unfinished redoubt of Brinborion; it was not above 1,000
yards from where I was standing, but with my glass I could not make out
that there were any there. Several officers with whom I spoke said that
it was very doubtful. On my return, my cabman, who had got over his
liquor, wanted double his fare. "For myself," he said, "I am a
Frenchman, and I should scorn to ask for money for running a risk of
being shot by a _canaille_ of a German, but think of my horse;" and then
he patted the faithful steed, whom I may possibly have the pleasure to
meet again, served up in a sauce piquante. The newspapers, almost
without exception, protest against the mediation of England and Russia,
which they imagine is offered by these Powers. "It is too late," says
the organ of M. Picard. "Can France accept a mediation which will snatch
from her the enemy at the moment when victory is certain?"

_October 25th._

Has General Trochu a plan?--if so, what is it? It appears to me, as Sir
Robert Peel would have said, that he has only three courses to pursue:
first, to do nothing, and to capitulate as soon as he is starved out;
this would, I reckon, bring the siege to an end in about two months:
secondly, to fight a battle with all his disposable forces, which might
be prolonged for several days, and thus risk all upon one great venture:
thirdly, to cut his way out of Paris with the line and the Mobiles. The
two united would form a force of about 150,000 men, and supported by 500
cannon, it may reasonably be expected that the Prussian lines would be
pierced. In this case a junction might be effected with any army which
exists in the provinces, and the combined force might throw itself upon
the enemy's line of communications. In the meantime Paris would be
defended by its forts and its ramparts. The former would be held by the
sailors and the mobilized National Guards