The treasures had been taken away from me. The
things planned couldn't be done. War had snatched something from me
personally.
Next, I took solace in the streets. I had to walk. Paris went mad with
official speed--commandeered motors flashed officers down the boulevards
under martial law. They must get a nation ready, and Paris was the
capital. War made itself felt, still more, because we had to go through
endless lines,--_permis de sejours_ at little police stations--standing
on line all day, dismissed without your paper, returning next morning.
Friends began to leave Paris for New York. I was considered queer for
wishing to stay on. The chance to study in Paris was the dream of a
lifetime. But, now, the sound of the piano was forbidden in the city,
and that made the desolation complete. Work and recreation had been
taken away, and only war was left. And when Marie, our favorite maid in
the club, sent her husband, our doorkeeper, to the front, that brought
war inside our household.
As the Germans drew near Paris, many of the club girls thought that they
would be endangered. Every one was talking about the French Revolution.
People expected the horrors of the Revolution to be repeated. Jaures had
just been shot, the syndicalists were wrecking German milk shops, and at
night the streets had noisy mobs. People were fearing revolution inside
Paris, more than the enemy outside the city gates.
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