his attention to their commander.  He represented to him that the Versaillais were close at hand, and promised him safety and a handsome reward if he would not set fire to the building.  “But I have my orders!” objected the half-tipsy officer.  “I have the order you had better obey,” replied Gablin, pointing a pistol at his head.  “Now, shall I fire, or shall I reward you?” The officer gave in.  He helped M. Gablin to pour the buckets of coal-oil into the gutters in the courtyard, to clear away the powder, and to drench the floors with water.  Then Gablin took him to a chamber, gave him plain clothes, and locked him in.  He fell asleep upon the bed in a moment.

Le Sage meanwhile had made his way over the roofs of neighboring houses, and then descended to the Champs Elysees.  He was arrested several times by sentries, but at last made his way to General Douai.  The general heard his story, and then put a paper into his hand, saying, “The Ministry of Marine is already ours.”  Admiral Pothereau himself, at three o’clock in the morning, was looking towards his old offices and residence from the Champs Elysees.  He remarked to an aide-de-camp and to another officer:  “All looks very quiet.  Suppose we go and reconnoitre, and see how near we can approach my official home.”  They held their swords in their hands, and, followed by three gendarmes, cautiously drew near the Ministry.  They met with no opposition, and finally walked in.  “Where’s Le Sage?” was the admiral’s first question.  “He is out looking for you, M. le Ministre,” cried Le Sage’s wife, shedding tears of anxiety.

Thus the Ministry of Marine was captured by the minister; but the building itself and all its valuable documents had been preserved by the fidelity of two young men.

As for the Communist officer, when he came to himself he sincerely repented his connection with the Commune.  He was pardoned, became a respectable citizen, and found a true friend in M. Gablin.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE GREAT REVENGE.

The Commune cost Paris fourteen thousand lives.  Eight thousand persons were executed; six thousand were killed in open fight.  Before the siege Paris had contained two million and a quarter of inhabitants:  she had not half that number during the Commune, notwithstanding the multitude of small proprietors and peasants who had flocked thither from devastated homes.

Monday, May 29, found the city in the hands of the Versaillais.  The Provisional Government and its Parliament were victorious.  The army, defeated at Sedan, had conquered its insurgent countrymen.  All that remained of the Commune was wreck and devastation.  The Tuileries, the Column of the Place Vendome, the Treasury, the Palace of the Legion of Honor, and the Hotel-de-Ville, or City Hall, were destroyed, besides two theatres, the Law Courts, or Palais de Justice, the offices of the Council of State and the Court of