Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVII. The tragic week
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
294
THE TRAGIC WEEK [chap. xvii.
His Majesty, a favourable way out of the crisis which
has arisen may still be found, if onty both sides will
display some good will. May he be right! In any case I
have decided to leave out Copenhagen and Christiania,
and to return to Paris at once. I hope that the two
Scandinavian Courts will graciously accept my excuses
conveyed to them by General Brugere, and will not bear
me a grudge, under the circumstances."
I replied to the President that in Denmark and in
Norway the importance and the gravity of what was
occurring must be even better understood than in
Stockholm, and that they would be particularly anxious
to see the Head of the French Government return in
safety, and with all speed to his post. I then talked to
M. Viviani on the same subjects. At this moment the
sound of beautiful voices was heard, and the King and
his guest, remembering the choral societies’ part in the
programme, passed into the adjoining room and listened
to and applauded a few pieces. But all the same, the
pretty popular songs and the beautiful patriotic chants
of Sweden never had such an absent-minded audience
as on this occasion. Every one was in a hurry to have
done with the conventions and fatigues of the official
festivity; and every one heaved a sigh of relief when
the signal for departure was given. A quarter of an
hour later, when I was going along the quay opposite
the Castle landing-stage in my motor, I could see from
afar the beautiful sight of the departure of the French
guests, with the torchlight illumination; the red lights
were reflected in the water and made it look like blood.
" Here indeed is the torch of Bellona ! " I thought, with
an involuntary shudder.
The next day, Sunday, we received the news of the
Serbian answer to the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum,
and of the rejection of this answer. On Monday, when
we received the full text of the Serbian Note in
Stockholm, I was able to realise the gravity of the
danger that the peace of Europe was running. In spite
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
