been the prime mover in this work of destruction, came to the Brasserie
Saint-Severin from the Brasserie Andler, hard by, to taste the sweets of
his victory. His friend, Chaudey, of the _Siecle_, was no longer with
him. Like Mgr. Darboy, the Abbes Lagarde, Crozes, and Deguerry, he had
been arrested by Raoul Rigault as a hostage, in virtue of a decree by
the Commune, setting forth that every execution of a prisoner of war,
taken by the Versaillais, would be followed by the execution of three
hostages to be drawn by lot.

Jourde did not wear a uniform; at any rate, I never saw him in one. I
happened to remark upon it one evening, and he then gave me a partial
explanation why the others did wear them in so ostentatious a manner.

"It is really done to please the National Guards; they mistrust those
who remain 'in mufti;' they attribute their reluctance to don the
uniform to the fear of being compromised, to the wish to escape
unnoticed if things should go wrong. I grant you that all this does not
warrant the uniforms most of my colleagues do wear, but to the Latin
races the wisdom of Solomon lies in his magnificence, and they trace the
elevation of Joseph to its primary cause--his coat of many colours. I am
not only 'delegate of finances' and paymaster-general, but head cook and
bottle-washer in all that concerns monetary matters to the
Central-Committee. I have very few clerks to assist me in my work, and
fewer still upon whose honesty I can depend; consequently, I am
compelled to do a good deal of drudgery myself. Yesterday I received the
fortnightly accounts of Godillot,[91] the military tailors and
accoutrement manufacturers. They seemed to me simply monstrous, not so
much in respect of the prices charged for each uniform, as in respect of
the number of uniforms supplied. To have sent one of my clerks would
have been of no earthly use; there is an old Normand saying about
sending the cat to Rome and his coming back mewing; the clerk would have
simply come back mewing, saying that there was no mistake, so I went
myself. I saw the chief manager.

[Footnote 91: The word "Godillot" has passed into the French
language, and, at present, means the soldier's shoes.--EDITOR.]

"'I am positive there is no mistake, monsieur,' he said, 'though I may
tell you at once that I made the same remark when I passed the accounts;
the number of uniforms seemed to me inordinately large; mais il faut se
rendre a l'evidenc