Jarrett and Abbey caused the crowd to make way and I got out. But a deputy whose name I cannot make out in my notes (what commendation for my writing!)—a deputy advanced toward me and handed me an address signed by the notabilities of the city. I returned thanks as best I could, and took the magnificent bouquet of flowers that was tendered in the name of the signatories to the address. When I lifted the flowers to my face in order to smell them, I hurt myself slightly with their pretty petals frozen by the cold.
However, I began to feel both arms and legs were getting benumbed. The cold crept over my whole body. That night, it appears, was one of the coldest that had been experienced for many years past.
The women who had come to be present at the arrival of the French company had been compelled to withdraw into the interior of the station, with the exception of Mrs. Joseph Doutre, who handed me a bouquet of rare flowers and gave me a kiss. It was twenty-two degrees below zero. I whispered low to Jarrett:
“Let us continue our journey, I am turning into ice. In ten minutes I shall not be able to move a step.”
Jarrett repeated my words to Abbey who applied to the chief of police. The latter gave orders in English and another police officer repeated them in French. And we were able to proceed for a few yards. But the station was still some way off. The crowd grew bigger, and at one time I felt as though I were about to faint. I took courage, however, holding or rather hanging on to the arms of Jarrett and Abbey. Every minute I thought I should fall, for the platform was covered with ice.
We were obliged, however, to stay further progress. A hundred lanterns, held aloft by a hundred students’ hands, suddenly lit up the place.
A tall young man separated himself from the group and came straight toward me holding a wide unrolled piece of paper, and in a loud voice exclaimed: “To Sarah Bernhardt....” And these are the lines he read:
A Sarah Bernhardt
Salut, Sarah! salut, charmante Doña Sol!
Lorsque ton pied mignon vient fouler notre sol,