CHAPTER X IN FIRE AND WAR My student adorers—I meet with some curious criticism—Gloomy presentiments—My apartments are burned—Saving my grandmother—Ruin and devastation—My benefit—Patti sings for me—My new home—Discomfort and worry—The delayed insuring—Kind words from friends—An insulting proposition—Evil days—Rumors of war—The nineteenth of July—I am taken from Paris—War news—Success of the German arms—I return to Paris under difficulties—I come across a relative—Into the siege 146–164 CHAPTER XI I ESTABLISH MY WAR HOSPITAL Paris in war times—My _ambulance_ at the Odéon—The changes brought by war—Getting supplies—The Prefect’s coat—The lady of the Palais de l’Industrie—Provisions for my hospital—My hospital staff—Heroines of the siege—Cowards and heroes—Christmas 165–177 CHAPTER XII MORE HOSPITAL DAYS Sufferings from cold and hunger—Struggles for food and fuel—The bombardment of the city—The ravages of fighting—The wounded—The _ambulance_ is fired upon—The bargaining of the children—Toto—The inventor of balloons—The burial of the _maigrotte_—I receive news from my family—The horrors of night-time—My fowls—The end of the siege 178–194 CHAPTER XIII A WARTIME JOURNEY I find a companion for my flight from Paris—We start on our journey—Trouble at the city gates—Unwelcome acquaintances—The young cripple—A tedious railway trip—A German inn—Crowded out of a hotel—We find shelter—Some wounded admirers and a dead adorer—The cry of the woman—We start on again 195–206 CHAPTER XIV HOMBOURG AND RETURN At the station—German insolence—The crowd in the railway carriage—The surgeon major who was bound to smoke—We are wrecked—A dismal prospect—A dreary search for shelter—The wheelwright’s colt—Expensive hospitality—I turn cook—Crossing a battlefield by night—The robbers of the dead—The capture of a thief—Rest at Cateau—Confusion at Cologne—German kindness—How I make myself sleep—We arrive at Hombourg and start back again for Paris—Home again 207–226