"tut! nonsense, sir! and, my dear charles," said mr. lorry, glancing at the house again, "you are to remember, that getting things out of paris at this present time, no matter what things, is next to an impossibility. papers and precious matters were this very day brought to us here (i speak in strict confidence; it is not business-like to whisper it, even to you), by the strangest bearers you can imagine, every one of whom had his head hanging on by a single hair as he passed the barriers. at another time, our parcels would come and go, as easily as in business-like old england; but now, everything is stopped."