Note 6 — Chapter VI · THE BESIEGED RESIDENT

I quote a few lines—the only legible ones—from a letter, addressed to his mother, which Labouchere sent out of Paris, fastened between the double sole of a man's boot. It looks as if the bearer must have waded through water, and the marks of the cobbler's nails are visible all over it. "November 6, 1870. This goes out in a citizen's boot. If he is caught, he will be shot, which is his affair—only you will not get it. The position is utterly hopeless. We shall be bombarded in a week. This hotel has two hundred wounded in it. I got into the Hôtel de Ville on Monday with the mob. Such a scene. I have got a pass from General Vinoy, so I get a good view of all the military operations.... I do not know if my letters to the D. N. arrive...."