In their efforts to escape the flames the
inhabitants climbed the walls.
"My mother and servants," says a witness, "had to do the same
and took refuge at Monsieur A.'s, whose cellars are vaulted
and afforded a better protection than mine. A little later we
withdrew to Monsieur A.'s stables, where about thirty people
who had got there by climbing the walls were to be found. Some
of these poor wretches had to climb twenty walls. A ring came
at the bell. We opened the door. Several civilians flung
themselves under the porch. The Germans were firing upon them
from the street. Every moment new fires were lighting up,
accompanied by explosions. In the middle of the night I heard
a knock at the outer door of the stable which led into a
little street, and heard a woman's voice crying for help. I
opened the door, and just as I was going to let her in a rifle
shot fired from the street by a German soldier rang out and
the woman fell dead at my feet. About 9 in the morning things
got quieter, and we took the opportunity of venturing into the
street.
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