Soon the mob returned, and made a rush at both the doors; for the one which had been open had been closed in the interval.
This one they were unable to force, but the other, winch leads up a flight of steps into the great covered court in the middle of the building, yielded to the pressure, and through it I passed with the crowd; whilst from the windows above slips were being thrown out with the words "Commune decretee--Dorian president" on them.

The covered court was soon filled.

In the middle of it there is a large double staircase leading to a wide landing, from which a door and some windows communicate with a long salle.
This, too, was invaded, and for more than two hours I remained there.
The spectacle was a curious one--everybody was shouting, everybody was writing a list of a new Government and reading it aloud.

In one corner a man incessantly blew a trumpet, in another a patriot beat a drum.

At one end was a table, round which the mayors had been sitting, and from this vantage ground Felix Pyat and other virtuous citizens harangued, and, as I understood, proclaimed the Commune and themselves, for it was impossible to distinguish a word.