o cease. The smoke cleared lazily away at last,
and now no living thing was seen to stir in front: the long line of
the Rue St. Honore presented nothing but the bodies of the dead. The
housetops and parapets, too, were speedily deserted; for the houses were
now forced by the infantry of the line, who at every moment appeared at
the windows and waved their shakos in token of victory. As I looked, a
crash recalled my attention behind me; and now the door of the bureau
was in ruins, and four soldiers, with their bayonets at the charge,
dashed forward. On seeing me alone and unarmed, they only laughed, and
passed on to the upper story.

"Are you in charge here?" asked a young corporal of me.

"I belong to the bureau," said I, in reply.

"Place your books and papers under lock and key, then," said he, "and
make your way to headquarters."

"Where?"

"At the Tuileries. There goes the Commander-in-Chief," added he,
mechanically saluting, as a staff of officers rode by beneath.

"Who is that pale man in front, with the long hair?" asked I.

"General Bonaparte," was the answer; "and few can handle artillery like
him."

CHAPTER XXVII. AN EPISODE OF MY LIFE

If I could have turned my thoughts from my own desolate condition, the
aspect of Paris on the morning after the battle might well have engaged
my attention. The very streets presented a scene such as never can
be forgotten! The Government had adventured on the bold experiment
of employing the masses to control the few, and the fruits of this
dangerous alliance might be seen in the various groups that passed
along. Officials wearing their badges of duty, officers in full uniform,
walked arm in arm with leaders of the popular party; men high in the
state talked familiarly in the midst of little groups of working-men;
parties of the popular force, rudely armed, ill-dressed, and disorderly,
presented arms as some officer of rank rode by. All attested the
existence of that strange compact by which the nation was again to be
subjugated, and terror made the active principle of a government. The
terrific songs of the bloody days of the Revolution were once more
heard, and the cruel denunciations of the mob again rang aloud in the
open streets! I heard and saw all these like one in a dream, as, with my
portfolio of office-papers under my arm, I held my way to the Tuileries;
nor was it till I had reached the wooden stockade in front of that
palace that I became collected