bloody wound was found, which the doctor hastily bound. The balls still constantly whizzed round us; one struck the doctor's helmet, and immediately I felt a violent blow on the left arm. Another wound! With difficulty I was turned round, to look for the outlet of the bullet; but it was still in my body, near the spine. At last it was cut out. 'Is the wound dangerous?' I asked. 'I hope not.' 'Pray tell me the truth.' 'Not very dangerous, it is to be hoped ;' and fixed on my family. Gradually I got accustomed to the danger which surrounded me, and only when too much sand from the striking bullets was thrown on my body did I remember my little enviable position. At last, after long, long waiting, the sanitary detachment came to me." The writer then describes his lingering agony as he lay in a stable surrounded by other wounded, with the emphasised 'very' my hopes melted. They were going away-The wound in the arm, doctor.' This, fortunately, was looked for in vain; the ball had merely caused a blue spot, and had sunk into the ground harmlessly. I extended my hand to the doctor, and thanked him, as also the attendant, whom I commissioned to ask the sergeant to send word to my family. The doctor had carefully laid me on my cloak, with my helmet firmly on my head, in order, in some measure, to protect me from the leaden hail. Thus I lay alone with my own thoughts, amid the most terrible fire, perhaps for an hour and a half. All my thoughts, as far as pain and increasing weakness allowed, were and attended by an old woman who did not understand German. None of the soldiers but this particular one understood a word of French; so that the narrator was obliged to act as interpreter for all, and found enough to do in his then weak condition. He was ultimately removed by railway into the Palatinate, where he slowly recovered. It is when brought in contact with individual suffering like this that we perceive the enormous misery of war, too often forgotten in the glare and picturesqueness of military actions. CHAPTER XVIII. Monotonous Days in Metz-Spy-hunting-Numerous Arrests in the Streets-Imprisonment of Innocent Persons-Career of Nicholas Schull, a Spy-Hitter, the Leader of the Metz Guerillas-Condition of the City-Affair at Ladonchamps-Perilous Expeditions- The Sortie of October 7th-Scene of the Operations-Fighting at Ladonchamps-Contradictory StatementsAdvance of the French through the Valley of the Moselle-Fierce Struggle at Les Grandes Tapes-Polish LandwehrProgress of the Sortie on the Left and Right Banks of the Moselle-Singular Effect in the Midst of the Battle-Difficult Position of the French-The Retreat-Charge of the Prussian Landwehr-Fight at the Château of LadonchampsIsolated Struggles-Bazaine's Alleged Design-Results of the Action-Hunger and Disease in Metz-Economising of Bread-Orders of the Authorities-The Food of the Townspeople-The Army Commissariat-Arbitrary Suppression of Newspapers. AUTUMN wore on heavily at Metz. There was | days in the military prison, and then released, on the innocence of his intentions being made manifest. Other cases of the same kind occurred, and a great deal of hardship was suffered in this way. But it is certain that Prussian spies really did get into the city, and conducted their inquiries with astonishing boldness. The Prussian army has a regularly organised "Intelligence Department," and the disgrace of acting as a spy is lost in the credit of being connected with a branch of the military service. little to be done; there was less to be hoped; there was much to be feared. To calculate the duration of the food supply; to speculate on what Bazaine was doing, or meant to do; to build frail anticipations on the prospect of a relieving army, and to find them crumble into ruins; to make paper balloons, which, with their freight of letters, frequently fell into the hands of the enemy; to split into coteries, and wrangle about the future of France; to hunt down spies, to vex the Prussian outposts, and occasionally to engage in sorties-these were now the sole resources of the beleaguered citizens and army. The weather was often rainy and cold, and the spirits of the people were depressed by the sense of confinement and the monotony of existence. The Prussians were in no hurry; they could very well afford to let the Metzers wear themselves The Metzers fretted against the manacles that bound them, but fretted in vain. Every day brought the end nearer; yet still the way seemed long and wearisome. The citizens felt that they were shut up in a large prison, under sentence of being slowly starved; and they knew that their fate had been decreed by a Power which never faltered in its will or failed in its resources. out. Spy-hunting was, perhaps, the chief resource of the townsfolk. Arrests were frequently made; in one week alone there were as many as sixty-six. People were seized in the streets, and sometimes so roughly handled that they would have been killed on the spot but for the interposition of the gendarmes. Several were kept in prison for days, and ultimately released on its being discovered that there was not the least evidence against them. A Mr. Hamilton, the English tutor at the Jesuit College, and the only resident Englishman in the town, was detained five days in gaol, whither he had gone to act as interpreter to another Englishman who did not understand French. A Dane who had fought on the side of France, and who was taken prisoner by the Germans, and afterwards exchanged, fell under the suspicion of the authorities for having rendered some small civilities to a Prussian captive at Metz. He was kept for ten One of the German spies had the misfortune to be caught, and, like Hart at Paris, he paid the penalty of his life. His name was Nicholas Schull; he was a Hungarian of high family, educated at Vienna, and acquainted with many parts of the world. While in the United States he had caused himself to be naturalised; and he served in Mexico as a partisan of the Emperor Maximilian, from whom he received the order of Guadaloupe. His career as a spy puts his conduct in no favourable light, even if we allow that the profession which he followed may be honourably pursued. It seems unquestionable that he took money from both sides, and it is therefore likely that he was a faithful servant of neither. Schull appears to have been one of those "citizens of the world" who interpret their superiority to national predilections as a license to prey equally on all people with whom they come in contact. In the early days of the war he was presented to General Ducrot at Strasburg, and, having described himself as a foe to Prussia and a friend to France, was engaged on secret service, and despatched in the direction of the German forces. After a time he returned with some information, and received 800 francs in German cash, to enable him to enter the Prussian camp. He seems then to have been employed by the Germans, for, on his arrest by the French, he was found to be in possession of a pass from Soleski, the Quartermaster-General of the army at Mayence, requiring the military authorities to let him go where and when he would; also, of the medal furnished by the Prussians to all members of the Intelligence Department, as a voucher. A thousand was condemned to death by a council of war. "Schull," relates Mr. Robinson, in the work already cited, "heard his sentence without betraying any emotion, and demanded a council of revision with a calm tone, as though it were an ordinary request. This appeal-the right of all condemned to death in France-was immediately accorded; but it was of no avail. His sentence was approved of by the council of revision, and at five o'clock that Sunday morning, in a drizzling rain, his prison door opened for the last time for him. He ended his life records that he rode right through Metz in the uniform of a sub-intendant, "asking all sorts of questions about the supplies, and only betraying himself by inquiring where the bread for the army was baked-a question so needless for a commissariat officer to make, and which so utterly astonished the gendarme to whom it was put, that before he could reply the clever Prussian had read the history of the mistake he had made, and decamped. Orders were sent round to all the gates to let no sub-intendant out that night without strict examination, and those who found themselves in the town had to prove themselves to be themselves before they were allowed to join their quarters; but the spy was a great deal too clever for the gendarmes." The affairs with Prussian outposts furnished plenty of excitement. One of the most daring leaders of the French guerillas was a man with the suggestive name of Hitter. He was a good shot, and used to bring down the Prussian videttes and sentinels with deadly skill. He used also to intercept convoys of provisions and forage, and ultimately he organised a regular body of sharpshooters for night service. A great deal of execution was done on a small scale, and Hitter became so popular in Metz that Marshal Bazaine offered to decorate him. The blunt patriot, however, said that if he was forced to accept the decoration he would wear it on his back, and very low down too; and the Marshal, of course, thereupon ceased to insist. A few particulars as to the state of Metz about this time were given in the Journal d'Amiens, which derived them from a man who had just escaped from the town. They do not in all respects correspond with other accounts, but are worth reproduction, as presenting a distinct view of the case. The writer says, referring to the commencement of October : "The situation is extremely good. Bread costs 20 c. the half kilogramme, and wine 75 c. the litre. In the hotels a tolerable dinner may be had for 3 fr., and a good dinner for 5 fr., if you are somewhat of an epicure. Beef is very scarce, and only within reach of the wealthy. Horse-flesh is at a reasonable price, and is what is principally consumed; and I assure you that every one likes it and enjoys it heartily. It is called 'cavalry beef.' Mutton and pork are not scarce. Coffee, chocolate, sugar, haricots, and fruit are abundant, and have not risen in price. The Moselle furnishes good fish, both large and small, which form no small portion of the food of the place. The want of salt has been spoken of; there is no deficiency, since at the time of my departure every one was provided with it; but if the supply should fail there would be no difficulty on that score, as there is in Metz itself an inexhaustible salt spring. In passing through the streets of Metz no one asks you for alms. To sum up, provisions are not failing, and I presume, along with persons worthy of credit, that so far as they are concerned Metz may hold out for some months yet, without feeling a want of them. The army of Bazaine reckons at the present moment about 100,000 men," resolute, ardent, and patriotic. The proclamation of the Republic was well received, and above all with great calmness. Bazaine has lost in all about 30,000 This appears to be understated. men hors de combat. The three days of the 14th, 16th, and 18th of August have given us about 15,000 wounded in all. Among these wounded we had about 1,000 Prussians. Small sorties are made daily, either to procure forage, which is wanting (as they only give a kilogramme of hay and half a kilogramme of oats daily for each horse), or to carry off a train of provisions, which often succeeds. The Prussians do not acknowledge their defeats and their losses; but I assure you I have often seen them. Two-thirds of the 15,000 wounded are able to rejoin their respective corps. We have lost about seven per cent. Owing to the want of surgeons, many have succumbed from delay in at tending to their needs." The Prussians occasionally endeavoured to re-take some of the positions which the French had seized in the course of their sorties. On the 1st of October they made a night attack on Lessy, and some severe fighting took place; but the French succeeded in retaining the position. The same day witnessed a singular affair at Ladonchamps. This was a position of importance to both sides, and the French determined they would secure it, if possible. The Prussians had seized on the old château at this place in the early days of the blockade; but the French now brought a field battery against it, and opened fire. To the surprise of the assailants, there was no reply. Several guns were visible, together with a sentinel; but nothing was done. In a little while, smoke rose from behind the château: the farm had caught fire, and, as the château itself was valued on account of its historical associations with the time of the Emperor Charles V., a rush was made to save it. A few musket-shots were then fired by the Prussians, but still no big guns. The Prussians evacuated the place, and the French entered; and it then appeared that the seeming guns were only portions of the trunks of poplar trees mounted on the wheels of broken carts, and that the sentinel was a lay figure. The fire of a mitrailleuse afterwards dispersed, with deadly effect, a group of officers who used to hold a daily meeting in front of the château, at a point on the road to Thionville; and next day, at two o'clock in the morning, two battalions of French infantry occupied the position. At eight o'clock A.M. the Prussians established a battery at Les Petites Tapes, and shelled the French, in the hope of driving them out of Ladonchamps; but the French battery at the farm of St. Eloy replied so briskly that the enemy was compelled to retire. Mr. Robinson, from whom we have derived so much information with regard to the siege of Metz, and to whom all future historians will be equally indebted, relates that the French were always well |