The whole city was in commotion; men were shouting and dogs barking. Sâfel, who had been wakened by all these noises, went to dress himself in the warm room. I looked very tenderly on this poor little one, his eyes still heavy with sleep; and as I thought that we were to be fired upon, that we must hide ourselves in cellars, and all of us be in danger of being killed for matters which did not concern us, and about which nobody had asked our opinion, I was full of indignation. But what distressed me most was to hear Zeffen sob and say that it would have been better for her and her children to stay with Baruch at Saverne and all die together. Then the words of the prophet came to me: "Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and the uprightness of thy ways? "Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent, or where were the righteous cut off. "No, they that plough iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same. "By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. "But thee, his servant, he shall redeem from death. "Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season." In this way I strengthened my heart, while I heard the great tumult of the panic-stricken crowd, running and trying to save their property. About seven o'clock it was announced that the casemates were open, and that everybody might take their mattresses there, and that there must be tubs full of water in every house, and the wells left open in case of fire. Think, Fritz, what ideas these orders suggested. Some of our neighbors, Lisbeth Dubourg, Bével Ruppert, Camus's daughters, and some others, came up to us exclaiming, "We are all lost!" Their husbands had gone out, right and left, to see what they could see, and these women hung on Zeffen and Sorlé's necks, repeating again and again, "Oh, dear! oh, dear! what misery!" I could have wished them all to the devil, for instead of comforting us they only increased our fears; but at such times women will get together and cry out all at once; you can't talk reason to them; they like these loud cryings and groanings. Just as the clock struck eight, Bailly the armorer came to find his wife: he had come from the ramparts. "The Russians," he said, "have come down in a mass from Quatre-Vents to the very gate, filling the whole plain--Cossacks, Baskirs, and rabble! Why don't they fire down upon them from the ramparts? The governor is betraying us." "Where are our soldiers?" I asked. "Retreating!" exclaimed he. "The wounded came back two hours ago, and our men stay yonder, with folded arms." His bony face shook with rage. He led away his wife; then others came crying out, "The enemy has advanced to the lower part of the gardens, upon the glacis." I was astonished at these things.