noon
Close upon them stumbled the infantry ; here a skeleton of a regiment marching with a desperate attempt at order , there a riotous mob of Mobiles crushing their way to the streets , then a turmoil of horsemen , cannon , troops without , officers , officers without men , then again a line of ambulances , the wheels groaning under their heavy loads . Dumb with misery the crowd looked on . All through the day the ambulances had been arriving , and all day long the ragged throng whimpered and shivered by the barriers . At noon the crowd was increased ten-fold , filling the squares about the gates , and swarming over the inner fortifications . At four o'clock in the afternoon the German batteries suddenly wreathed themselves in smoke , and the shells fell fast on Montparnasse . At twenty minutes after four two projectiles struck a house in the rue de Bac , and a moment later the first shell fell in the Latin Quarter . Braith was painting in bed when West came in very much scared .