Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/116

 gendarmes were searching the Village of Châtou for runaway or secreted insurgents, the celebrated Flourens was tracked to his hiding-place by some soldiers. On entering the room where he had taken refuge, the first gendarme received a bullet in the shoulder, fired from a revolver by Flourens. Before he could draw again, an officer of gendarmes, Captain Desmerest, ran forward and cut the insurgent leader through the skull with a single stroke from his sabre. His aide-de-camp Cypriani, a young Garibaldian, also received a sword-cut on the thigh, and was made prisoner. He was in plain clothes, but wore the képi of a chef-de-bataillon. Flourens was still in military dress, but had with him a leather bag containing private clothes for the purpose of disguising himself.

Thus while the Commune at Paris were posting an account of the success of this leader, his body was being taken to Versailles, where it was deposited in the hospital—a melancholy example of ''universal republicism, cosmopolitan revolutions, and misdirected intellect''.