Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs)Leighton, John
History
Paris under the Commune: The Seventy-Three Days of the Second Siege; with Numerous Illustrations, Sketches Taken on the Spot, and Portraits (from the Original Photographs)
Leighton, John
Paris (France) -- History -- Commune, 1871
Never have I seen the dawn break with greater pleasure. Almost everyone
has some time in his life passed such sleepless nights, when it seems
to him that the darkness will never disappear, and the desire for light
and day becomes a fearful longing. Never was dawn more grateful than
after that wretched night. And yet the fear of a disastrous collision
did not disappear with the night. It was even likely that the Federals
might have waited for the morning to begin their attack, just when
fatigue is greatest, sleep most difficult to fight against, and
therefore discipline necessarily slackened. Anyhow, the light seemed to
reassure us; we could scarcely believe that the crime of civil war
could be perpetrated in the day-time. The night had been full of fears,
the morning found us bright and happy. Not all of us, however. I smile
as I remember an incident which occurred a little before daylight. One
of our comrades, who had been lying near me, got up, went out into the
street, and paced up and down some time, as if to shake off cramp or
cold. My eyes followed him mechanically; he was walking in front of the
houses, the backs of which look out upon the Passage des Panoramas, and
as he did so he cast furtive glances through the open doorways. He went
into one, and came out with a disappointed expression on his face.
Having repeated this strange manoeuvre several times, he reached a
_porte-cochère_ that was down by the side of the Restaurant Catelain.
He remained a few minutes, then reappeared with a beaming countenance,
and made straight for where I was standing, rubbing his hands
gleefully.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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