"They seized the City at eleven o'clock this morning. The Green there is
full of them. They have captured the Castle. They have taken the Post
Office."

"My God!" said I, staring at him, and instantly I turned and went
running towards the Green.

In a few seconds I banished astonishment and began to walk. As I drew
near the Green rifle fire began like sharply-cracking whips. It was from
the further side. I saw that the Gates were closed and men were standing
inside with guns on their shoulders. I passed a house, the windows of
which were smashed in. As I went by a man in civilian clothes slipped
through the Park gates, which instantly closed behind him. He ran
towards me, and I halted. He was carrying two small packets in his hand.
He passed me hurriedly, and, placing his leg inside the broken window
of the house behind me, he disappeared. Almost immediately another man
in civilian clothes appeared from the broken window of another house. He
also had something (I don't know what) in his hand. He ran urgently
towards the gates, which opened, admitted him, and closed again.

In the centre of this side of the Park a rough barricade of carts and
motor cars had been sketched. It was still full of gaps. Behind it was a
halted tram, and along the vistas of the Green one saw other trams
derelict, untenanted.

I came to the barricade. As I reached it and stood by the Shelbourne
Hotel, which it faced, a loud cry came from the Park. The gates opened
and three men ran out. Two of them held rifles with fixed bayonets. The
third gripped a heavy revolver in his fist. They ran towards a motor car