was so moved by it that he became quite excited and called in the
neighbours. The instrument was wheeled out into the garden, and in the
open air young de Lisle sang the song that was to become the national
air of his country to this local audience. The effect upon them was
"terrific," and from that moment the song became the rage. It seemed to
embody the whole spirit of the Revolutionists, and spread like wildfire
throughout France. It was to this song that the unbridled spirits of
Marseilles marched to Paris, hence its name, "The Marseillaise." Shortly
after this, de Lisle received a letter from his mother, the Baroness,
dated from her chateau, saying, "What is this dreadful song we hear?"
Fearing that his own life might be in danger, he being an aristocrat and
a suspect, he had before long to take flight across the mountains. As he
went from valley to crag, and crag to valley, he time after time heard
the populace singing his song, frequently having to hide behind rocks
lest they discovered him. It sounded to him like a requiem, for he knew
that many of his friends were being marched to the scaffold to his own
impassioned strains.

[Illustration: QUAYSIDE, MARSEILLES.]




CHAPTER III.

FROM MARSEILLES TO ARMENTIÈRES.


The incidents of the railway journey from Marseilles to Etaples, _en
route_ to Armentières, told in detail, would fill a book. It was made in