It dashed its harsh sounds down upon the trembling city, till the air heaved, and the houses about us rocked.

It made in an instant a pandemonium of the quiet night.
We turned and hurried instinctively from the place, crouching and amazed, looking upwards with bent shoulders and scared faces.

"What is it?
What is it ?" I cried, half in resentment; half in terror.

It deafened me.
"The bell of St.Germain l'Auxerrois!" he shouted in answer.

"The Church of the Louvre.