Page:The Rise and Fall on the Paris Commune in 1871.djvu/448

 reserved for those to whom liberty was given in such a moment, remained in the prison, where one of the keepers, a compatriot, protected him.

On the morning after the departure of the prisoners, the Citizen Gareau, director of Mazas, came to inform the keepers that, by order of the Commune, the prison was to to be set on fire, and that all the administration must immediately withdraw.

M. Bacon then learned that the evening before the keeper Collin had buried in the garden the barrels of powder which had been placed in the sewers of the prison. By his advice the brigadier keeper was prevailed on to close the gates to prevent the director from leaving the building, and to await events, confident as they were that the prison could not be blown up.

The Director Gareau was, in fact, kept as hostage, and notwithstanding the incessant shots directed by the insurgents from without, through the crenelated openings in the walls, the place was held until nine in the morning, when the 35th of the line, which had crossed the Seine at Bercy, arrived and took possession of the prison.

The Director Gareau, creature of the Commune, was placed in a cell by order of the commandant, and all the buildings were occupied by the troops.

In the Rue de Bercy the troops had met with a most obstinate resistance, but had conquered here as elsewhere, and had then marched to the relief of Mazas. It was in the Rue de Bercy that Vincent, delegate to the Committee of the Rue d'Aligre, had been arrested. Vincent had formerly been concierge in the Hotel de la Dordogne, situated in the Rue de Bercy. Having been dismissed by the proprietor, M. Conderc, he resolved to be revenged.

On Thursday morning M. Conderc was standing in the midst of a group in the Avenue Millaud, when a ball whistled by, and struck a National Guard a few feet off.