Subdued lights twinkled like glow-worms in the streets as the maire returned across the square to the Hotel de Ville.  He threaded his way through groups of infantry, narrowly escaped a collision with three drunken soldiers, who were singing “Die Wacht am Rhein” with laborious unction, skirted the park of ammunition waggons, and reached the main entrance.  He had been on his feet for hours visiting the boulangeries, the patisseries, the hay and corn merchants, persuading, expostulating, beseeching, until at last he had wrung from their exiguous stores the apportionment of the stupendous tribute.  It was a heavy task, nor were his importunities made appreciably easier by the receipt-forms tendered, readily enough, by the requisitioning officer who accompanied him, for the inhabitants seemed to view with terror the possession of these German documents, suspecting they knew not what.  But the task was done, and the maire wearily mounted the stairs.

The officer greeted him curtly.  The maire now had leisure to study his appearance more closely.  He had high cheek-bones, protruding eyes, and a large underhung mouth which, when he was pleased, looked sensual, and, when he was annoyed, merely cruel.  The base of his forehead was square, but it rapidly receded with a convex conformation of head, very closely shaven as though with a currycomb, and his ears stood out almost at right angles to his skull.  The ferocity that was his by nature he seemed to have assiduously cultivated by art, and the points of his moustaches, upturned in the shape of a cow’s horns, accentuated the truculence of his appearance.  In short, he was a typical Prussian officer.  In peace he would have been merely comic.  In war he was terrible, for there was nothing to restrain him.

Meanwhile the officer called for a corporal’s guard to place the maire under arrest.  “But you will first sign the following affiche—­by the General’s orders,” he exclaimed roughly.

Le Maire informe ses concitoyens que le commandant en chef des troupes allemandes a ordonne que le maire et deux notables soient pris comme otages pour la raison que des civils aient tire sur des patrouilles allemandes.  Si un coup de fusil etait tire a nouveau par des civils, les trois otages seraient fusilles et la ville serait incendiee immediatement.

Si des troupes alliees rentraient le maire rappelle a la population que tout civil ne doit pas prendre part a la guerre et que si l’un d’eux venait a y participer le commandant des troupes allemandes ferait fusilier egalement les otages.

“One moment,” said the maire as he took up a pen, “‘les civils’!  I ordered the civil population to deposit their arms at the mairie two days ago, and the commissaire de police and the gendarmes have searched every house.  We have no armed civilians here.”

“Es macht nichts,” said the officer; “we shall add ’ou peut-etre des militaires en civil.’”