d aroused him from his slumber? His
recollection suddenly returned to him; he ran to the window to see what
was going on. In the obscurity of the street beneath, where the night
was usually so peaceful, the artillery was passing, horses, men, and
guns, in interminable array, with a roar and clatter that made the
lifeless houses quake and tremble. The abrupt vision filled him with
unreasoning alarm. What time might it be? The great bell in the Hotel
de Ville struck four. He was endeavoring to allay his uneasiness by
assuring himself that it was simply the initial movement in the retreat
that had been ordered the day previous, when, raising his eyes, he
beheld a sight that gave him fresh cause for inquietude: there was a
light still in the corner window of the notary's house opposite, and the
shadow of the Emperor, drawn in dark profile on the curtain, appeared
and disappeared at regularly spaced intervals.

Maurice hastily slipped on his trousers preparatory to going down to the
street, but just then Combette appeared at the door with a bed-candle in
his hand, gesticulating wildly.

"I saw you from the square as I was coming home from the _Mairie_, and
I came up to tell you the news. They have been keeping me out of my bed
all this time; would you believe it, for more than two hours the mayor
and I have been busy attending to fresh requisitions. Yes, everything is
upset again; there has been another change of plans. Ah! he knew what he
was about, that officer did, who wanted to keep the folks in Paris from
getting wind of matters!"

He went on for a long time in broken, disjointed phrases, and when he
had finished the young man, speechless, brokenhearted, saw it all. About
midnight the Emperor had received a dispatch from the Minister of War in
reply to the one that had been sent by the marshal. Its exact terms were
not known, but an aide-de-camp at the Hotel de Ville had stated openly
that the Empress and the Council declared there would be a revolution
in Paris should the Emperor retrace his steps and abandon Bazaine. The
dispatch, which evinced the utmost ignorance as to the position of the
German armies and the resources of the army of Chalons, advised,
or rather ordered, an immediate forward movement, regardless of all
considerations, in spite of everything, with a heat and fury that seemed
incredible.

"The Emperor sent for the marshal," added the apothecary, "and they were
closeted together for near an hour; o