As I passed before Trochu's headquarters at the Louvre I spoke to a captain of the Etat-Major, whom I knew, and whom I saw standing at the gate.

When he heard that I had just come from the Hotel de Ville, he anxiously asked me what was going on there, and whether I had seen Trochu.

General Schmitz, he said, had received an order signed by the mayors of Paris to close the gates of the town, and not on any pretext to let any one in or out.

At the Louvre he said all was in confusion, but he understood that Picard had escaped from the Hotel de Ville, and was organizing a counter-movement at the Ministry of Finance.

Having dined, I went off to the Place Vendome, as the generale was beating.