¶ "Very well, then!" exclaimed M. Thiers, "M. le Comte, as you will! Rob us of our homes!--provinces!--burn down our homes!--strangle our peaceful inhabitants!--in a word, complete your work! We shall fight you as long as our breath remains. Perhaps we shall die--but we shall never be dishonored." ¶ Bismarck seemed touched, but said all he had to do was to obey the orders of the King. Meantime he went out and was closeted again with Moltke and His Majesty. ¶ "I do not believe," said M. Favre, "that any criminal ever waited for the judgment with more feverish anxiety. Motionless, we followed with bewildered gaze the hands of the clock. ¶ "The door opened; Bismarck stood on the threshold, announcing that he would not insist on the German troops entering Paris--provided we gave up Belfort! ¶ "There was a moment of inexpressible agony, but an exchange of glances sufficed. 'We should be wanting in patriotism if we accepted!' exclaimed M. Thiers. The door closed and Bismarck disappeared again. ¶ "At eight o'clock, M. Thiers had reaped the reward of his heroic endeavors. He had saved Belfort, but in all other respects he had absolutely failed to move the man of blood and iron. For five fearful days they had wrestled with the problem of the 5,000,000,000--and had lost! Bismarck had his own banker, the Jew Bleichroder, to show that after all the indemnity would be adding 'only about one-fourth' to France's national debt." ¶ On Sunday, February 26, the preliminaries of peace were signed. As Thiers signed, Bismarck took him by the hand, saying, "You are the last who ought to have been burdened by France with this sorrow--for of all Frenchmen you have the least deserved it!" ¶ Bismarck, radiant with joy, signed the papers with a new golden pen sent him for this express purpose by the ladies of the German town of Pforsheim. * * * * * ¶ Said M. Favre: "The countenance of M. de Bismarck was most happy. With theatrical pomp, he sent for a golden pen.... M. Thiers approached the little table on which lay the documents; he wrote his name without betraying the feelings that tortured him. I tried to imitate him, and we withdrew. The sacrifice was accomplished. ¶ "As a special understanding, it was agreed that the siege should be lifted that morning at four o'clock and that France should fire the last shot. ¶ "What sentiment in this, for Paris! Along then, in the deep night that precedes the dawn, with the sky illuminated by occasional flashes of the siege guns, at last the fire lessened, slackened gradually, and then solemn silence fell. Suddenly, through the night, a loud report was heard from the Paris ramparts, followed by a path of fire through the sky; this immediately died away, and deep silence, now unbroken, continued. ¶ "The long siege was over!" ¶ On the third day after signing the hard conditions, 30,000 German troops made their triumphal entry into Paris, after being reviewed on the plain of Longchamps.