ed by water, and the enemy was
literally at the gates. The ordinary business of life was suspended. The
greeting in the street was not, "Good-day; how are you?" but, "What of
the Danube?" "Do you know the last reading of the register?" "Does the
water still rise?"

"Still rising"--this was always the answer. On the morning of the 23d
the river had risen upwards of two feet in twenty-four hours. Hundreds
of people now thought seriously of flight from the doomed city. There
was a complete exodus to the heights behind Buda. The suspension bridge
was crowded day and night by the citizens, carrying with them their
wives, their children, and a miscellaneous collection of valuables. In
the town the shopkeepers removed their goods to the upper stories,
plastering up the doors and windows of the basement with cement; and
careful householders laid in provisions for several days' consumption.
The authorities had enough on their hands; amongst other things they had
to provide means of rescue, if necessary, for the inhabitants of Old
Buda, New Pest, and other low-lying quarters. The names of all public
buildings standing on higher levels, or otherwise suitable as places of
refuge, were notified in the event of a catastrophe. Boats also were
drawn up on the Corso and in some of the squares. From the want of these
precautions there had resulted that lamentable loss of life in 1838.

Furthermore, the public were to be informed when the danger became
imminent by the firing of cannon-shots from the citadel on the lofty
Blocksberg, which dominates the town on the Buda side. The day of the
24th had been wild and stormy, the evening was intensely dark; but
notwithstanding, thousands, nay half Pest, crowded the river-bank. For
hours this surging multitude moved hither and thither on the Corso,
drawn together by the sense of common danger and distress.

I was there amongst the rest, peering into the darkness. My brother's
arm was linked in mine, and we stood for some time on the Corso, just
above the fruit-market, facing Buda; but nothing, not even the outline
of the hills, was visible in the thick, black darkness of the night.
"Ah! what is that?--look!" cried my brother, with a pressure of the arm
that sent an electric shock through my body. Yes, sure enough, there was
a flash of fire high up on the Blocksberg that made a rift in the
darkness; and then, before we had time for speech, there came a sharp,
ringing, detonating sound that made