nine o'clock in
the evening
While doing this he had seated Maurice comfortably on the bank ; his plan was to reach the Rue des Orties through the Place de la Concorde and the Rue Saint-Honore . Before proceeding further he climbed alone to the top of the steps that ascended from the _ quai _ to explore the ground , and on witnessing the obstacles they would have to surmount his courage was almost daunted . There lay the impregnable fortress of the Commune , the terrace of the Tuileries bristling with cannon , the Rues Royale , Florentin , and Rivoli obstructed by lofty and massive barricades ; and this state of affairs explained the tactics of the army of Versailles , whose line that night described an immense arc , the center and apex resting on the Place de la Concorde , one of the two extremities being at the freight depot of the Northern Railway on the right bank , the other on the left bank , at one of the bastions of the ramparts , near the gate of Arcueil . But as the night advanced the Communards had evacuated the Tuileries and the barricades and the regular troops had taken possession of the quartier in the midst of further conflagrations ; twelve houses at the junction of the Rue Saint-Honore and the Rue Royale had been burning since nine o'clock in the evening . When Jean descended the steps and reached the river-bank again he found Maurice in a semi-comatose condition , the effects of the reaction after his hysterical outbreak . `` It will be no easy job . I hope you are going to be able to walk , youngster ? ''