An Anarchist patrol car drove up, bristling with weapons. They had hauled down
their redflag and hoisted the Catalan national flag. On the way up we looked in
at the food-market.
That afternoon there was a kind of armistice. The French
lorry drivers brought quantities oftheir oranges into the hotel. Douglas Moyle,
who had been a sailor, said thatthey looked like British destroyers. People
were sleeping allover the floor behind the barricade downstairs.
This led
toscuffles with armed Anarchists, and one or two people were killed. There was
also a number of militiamen on leave, and asprinkling of foreigners.
It was not
onlythat they were picked men physically, it was their weapons that most
astonishedme. Almost from the start food was running short. This was the kind
ofthing that happened every year in Barcelona, people were saying.
There was
also a number of militiamen on leave, and asprinkling of foreigners. A long
time passed and nothing seemed to be happening at our end of the
town.
Everyonewas rushing round and trying to buy food. There was a lot of
firing in the distance, but seemingly none inthe Ramblas. And meanwhile our
local neutrality was at an end. I shouted across:Have you got any more beer
left?
He motioned with his rifle towards the side-street that ran past the
bottomof our building.
I was on guard in the observatory at thetime. A Civil
Guard, in shirt-sleeves and livid with fright, cameout of the door to parley
with Kopp.
It was only afterwards that Igrasped what was really happening. A
hundred yards to the right of us, down the Ramblas,the J. In any case the sound
of gunfire isunmistakable if one is used to it. A hundred yards to the right of
us, down the Ramblas,the J. On the way up we looked in at the food-market.
For
some reason I paid no attention to it at the time.
It was unfortunate that they
were long Mausers.
It wasnoticeable that, at this stage, no one seemed to put
the blame on theGovernment.
It was noticeable that most of them had picked up a
girl after aday or two. Then some Anarchists had arrived and there had been a
general affray. Evidently he had just taken a shot at theCivil Guards on the
roof.
But it was obvious that they had no wish to start afight.
But at the time
I was notinterested in that aspect of things. I fancy that many ofthem had no
notion what was happening and had simply fled into the P.
I was wellaware that
at any moment the Civil Guards might receive telephone orders to openfire.
A
Civil Guard, in shirt-sleeves and livid with fright, cameout of the door to
parley with Kopp.
On that Thursday night the principal dish at dinnerwas one
sardine each.
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