I remembered the remark of the woman
regarding her husband when she saw him go: "After all, I am only his
wife. France is his mother"; and I hoped these poor men, to whom Fate
seemed not to have been very kind, had at least that thought in the back
of their minds.
I found Paris quiet, and every one calm--that is to say, every one but
the foreigners, struggling like people in a panic to escape. In spite
of the sad news--Brussels occupied Thursday, Namur fallen Monday--there
is no sign of discouragement, and no sign of defeat. If it were not for
the excitement around the steamship offices the city would be almost as
still as death. But all the foreigners, caught here by the
unexpectedness of the war, seemed to be fighting to get off by the same
train and the same day to catch the first ship, and they seemed to have
little realization that, first of all, France must move her troops and
war material. I heard it said--it may not be true--that some of the
consular officers were to blame for this, and that there was a rumor
abroad among foreigners that Paris was sure to be invested, and that
foreigners had been advised to get out, so that there should be as few
people inside the fortifications as possible.
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