About four o'clock, I left the shop.' "Another witness, one of those who fancied he heard the pistol-shot on Rue de Mazagran, adds:-- "'This shot was a signal to the soldiers for a fusillade on all the houses and their windows, the roar of which lasted at least thirty minutes. The discharge was simultaneous from Porte Saint-Denis as far as the Cafe du Grand Balcon. The artillery soon took part with the musketry.' "Another witness says:-- "'At quarter past three, a singular movement took place. The soldiers who were facing Porte Saint-Denis, suddenly faced about, resting on the houses from the Gymnase, the Maison du Pont-de-Fer, and the Hotel Saint-Phar, and immediately, a running fire was directed on the people on the opposite side of the way, from Rue Saint-Denis to Rue Richelieu. A few minutes were sufficient to cover the pavement with dead bodies; the houses were riddled with balls, and this paroxysm of fury on the part of the troops continued for three quarters of an hour.' "Another witness says:-- "'The first cannon-shots aimed at the barricade Bonne-Nouvelle served as a signal to the rest of the troops, who fired almost simultaneously at every one within range of their muskets.' "Another witness says:-- "'No words are powerful enough to describe such an act of barbarity. One must himself have seen in order to be bold enough to speak of it, and to attest the truth of so unspeakable a deed.' "'The soldiers fired thousands and thousands of shots--the number is inappreciable[1]--on the unoffending crowd, and that without any sort of necessity. There was a desire to produce a deep impression. That was all.' [1] The witness means _incalculable_, but we have preferred to change nothing in the original depositions. "Another witness says:-- "'The troops of the line, followed by the cavalry and the artillery, arrived on the boulevard at a time when the general excitement was very great. A musket-shot was fired from the midst of the troops, and it was easy to see that it had been fired in the air, from the smoke which rose perpendicularly. This was the signal for firing on the people and charging them with the bayonet without warning. This is a significant fact, and proves that the military wanted the pretence of a motive for beginning the massacre which followed.' "Another witness tells the following tale:-- "'The cannon, loaded with grape-shot, cut up all the shop-fronts from the shop _Le Prophete_ to Rue Montmartre. From Boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle they must have fired also on the Maison Billecoq, for it was struck at the corner of the wall on the Aubusson side, and the ball, having traversed the wall, penetrated the interior of the house.' "Another witness, one of those who deny the shot, says:--