They love it as a sailor loves his ship.

"If I were near enough," said a girl near me, "I would kiss it." "Let me carry your kiss to it," replied a Mobile, and the pair embraced, amid the cheers of the people round them.

At Auteuil there were _fiacres_ full of sightseers, come to watch the Prussian batteries at Meudon, which could be distinctly seen.

Occasionally, too, there came a puff of smoke from one of the gunboats.
_September 26th._ Do the Prussians really mean to starve us out?
The Government gave out a fortnight ago that there was food then within the city for two months' consumption for a population of two millions.

It is calculated that, including the Mobiles, there are not above 1,500,000 mouths at present to feed, so that with proper care the supplies may be made to last for three months.