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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The French Twins
+by Lucy Fitch Perkins
+(#6 in our series by Lucy Fitch Perkins)
+
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+Title: The French Twins
+
+Author: Lucy Fitch Perkins
+
+Release Date: May, 2003  [Etext #4091]
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+[This file was first posted on November 21, 2001]
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of The French Twins
+by Lucy Fitch Perkins
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+Produced for Project Gutenberg by Lynn Hill
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+This PG project is dedicated to the "Twins Team" of Luana,
+Miriam, and DeWayne, who all helped keep me going through thick
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+
+
+To all friends of the brave children of France
+
+Map of the Voyage
+
+THE FRENCH TWINS
+
+by Lucy Fitch Perkins
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+I. THE CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE
+II. ON THE WAY H0ME
+III. THE COMING OF THE GERMANS
+IV. THE RETURN OF THE FRENCH
+V. AT MADAMS COUDERT'S
+VI. THE BURNING OF THE CATHEDRAL
+VII. HOME AGAIN
+VIII. REFUGEES
+IX. THE FOREIGN LEGION
+X. FONTANELLE
+XI. A SURPRISE
+XII. MORNING IN THE MEADOW
+XIII. CHILDREN OF THE LEGION
+
+
+
+I. THE CHURCH AND THE PEOPLE
+
+The sunlight of the clear September afternoon shone across the
+roofs of the City of Rheims, and fell in a yellow flood upon the
+towers of the most beautiful cathedral in the world, turning them
+into two shining golden pillars against the deep blue of the
+eastern sky.
+
+The streets below were already in shadow, but the sunshine still
+poured through the great rose window above the western portal,
+lighting the dim interior of the church with long shafts of
+brilliant reds, blues, and greens, and falling at last in a
+shower of broken color upon the steps of the high altar.
+Somewhere in the mysterious shadows an unseen musician touched
+the keys of the great organ, and the voice of the Cathedral
+throbbed through its echoing aisles in tremulous waves of sound.
+Above the deep tones of the bass notes a delicate melody floated,
+like a lark singing above the surf.
+
+Though the great church seemed empty but for sound and color,
+there lingered among its shadows a few persons who loved it well.
+There were priests and a few worshipers. There was also Father
+Varennes, the Verger, and far away in one of the small chapels
+opening from the apse in the eastern end good Mother Meraut was
+down upon her knees, not praying as you might suppose, but
+scrubbing the stone floor. Mother Meraut was a wise woman; she
+knew when to pray and when to scrub, and upon occasion did both
+with equal energy to the glory of God and the service of his
+Church. Today it was her task to make the little chapel clean and
+sweet, for was not the Abbe coming to examine the Confirmation
+Class in its catechism, and were not her own two children, Pierre
+and Pierette, in the class? In time to the heart-beats of the
+organ, Mother Meraut swept her brush back and forth, and it was
+already near the hour for the class to assemble when at last she
+set aside her scrubbing-pail, wiped her hands upon her apron, and
+began to dust the chairs which had been standing outside the
+arched entrance, and to place them in orderly rows within the
+chapel.
+
+She had nearly completed her task, when there was a tap-tapping
+upon the stone floor, and down the long aisle, leaning upon his
+crutch, came Father Varennes. He stopped near the chapel and
+watched her as she whisked the last chair into place and then
+paused with her hands upon her hips to make a final inspection of
+her work.
+
+"Bonjour, Antoinette," said the Verger.
+
+Mother Meraut turned her round, cheerful face toward him. "Ah, it
+is you, Henri," she cried, "come, no doubt, to see if the chapel
+is clean enough for the Abbe! Well, behold."
+
+The Verger peered through the arched opening, and sniffed the
+wet, soapy smell which pervaded the air. "One might even eat from
+your clean floor, Antoinette," he said, smiling, "and taste
+nothing worse with his food than a bit of soap. Truly the chapel
+is as clean as a shriven soul."
+
+"It's a bold bit of dirt that would try to stand out against me,"
+declared Mother Meraut, with a flourish of her dust-cloth, "for
+when I go after it I think to myself, 'Ah, if I but had one of
+those detestable Germans by the nose, how I would grind it!' and
+the very thought brings such power to my elbow that I check
+myself lest I wear through the stones of the floor."
+
+The Verger laughed, then shook his head. "Truly, Antoinette," he
+said, "I believe you could seize your husband's gun if he were to
+fall, and fill his place in the Army as well as you fill his
+place here in the Cathedral, doing a man's work with a woman's
+strength, and smiling as if it were but play! Our France can
+never despair while there are women like you."
+
+"My Jacques shall carry his own gun," said Mother Meraut,
+stoutly, "and bring it home with him when the war is over, if God
+wills, and may it be soon! Meanwhile I will help to keep our holy
+Cathedral clean as he used to do. It is not easy work, but one
+must do what one can, and surely it is better to do it with
+smiles than with tears!"
+
+The Verger nodded. "That is true," he said, "yet it is hard to
+smile in the face of sorrow."
+
+"But we must smile--though our hearts break--for France, and for
+our children, lest they forget joy!" cried Mother Meraut. She
+smiled as she spoke, though her lip trembled "I will you the
+truth, Henri, sometimes when I think of what the Germans have
+already done in Belgium, and may yet do in France, I feel my
+heart breaking in my bosom. And then I say to myself, 'Courage,
+Antoinette! It is our business to live bravely for the France
+that is to be when this madness is over. Our armies are still
+between us and the Boche. It is not time to be afraid.'"
+
+"And I tell you, they shall not pass," cried Father Varennes,
+striking his crutch angrily upon the stone floor. "The brave
+soldiers of France will not permit it! Oh, if I could but carry a
+gun instead of this!" He rattled his crutch despairingly as he
+spoke.
+
+Mother Meraut sighed. "Though I am a woman, I too wish I might
+fight the invaders," she said, "but since I may not carry a gun,
+I will put all the more energy into my broom and sweep the dirt
+from the Cathedral as I would sweep the Germans back to the Rhine
+if I could."
+
+"It is, indeed, the only way for women, children, and such as I,"
+grieved the Verger.
+
+"Tut, tut," answered Mother Meraut cheerfully, "it isn't given us
+to choose our service. If God had wanted us to fight he would
+have given us power to do it."
+
+The Verger shook his head. "I wish I were sure of that," he said,
+"for there's going to be need for all the fighting blood in
+France if half one hears is true. They say now that the Germans
+are already far over the French border and that our Army is
+retreating before them. The roads are more than ever crowded with
+refugees, and the word they bring is that the Germans have
+already reached the valley of the Aisne."
+
+"But that is at our very doors!" cried Mother Meraut. "It is
+absurd, that rumor. Chicken hearts! They listen to nothing but
+their fears. As for me, I will not believe it until I must. I
+will trust in the Army as I do in my God and the holy Saints."
+
+"Amen," responded the Verger devoutly.
+
+At this moment the great western portal swung on its hinges, a
+patch of light showed itself against the gloom of the interior of
+the Cathedral, and the sound of footsteps and of fresh young
+voices mingled with the tones of the organ.
+
+"It's the children, bless their innocent hearts," said Mother
+Meraut. "I hear the voices of my Pierre and Pierrette."
+
+"And I of my Jean," said the Verger, starting hastily down the
+aisle. "The little magpies forget they must be quiet in the House
+of God!" He shook his finger at them and laid it warningly upon
+his lips. The noise instantly subsided, and it was a silent and
+demure little company that tiptoed up the aisle, bent the knee
+before the altar, and then filed past Mother Meraut into the
+chapel which she had made so clean.
+
+Pierre and Pierrette led the procession, and Mother Meraut beamed
+with pride as they blew her a kiss in passing. They were children
+that any mother might be proud of. Pierrette had black, curling
+hair and blue eyes with long black lashes, and Pierre was a
+straight, tall, and manly-looking boy. The Twins were nine years
+old.
+
+Mother Meraut knew many of the children in the Confirmation
+Class, for they were all schoolmates and companions of Pierre and
+Pierrette. There was Paul, the sore of the inn-keeper, with
+Marie, his sister. There was Victor, whose father rang the
+Cathedral chimes. There were David and Genevieve, and Madeleine
+and Virginie and Etienne, and last of all there was jean, the
+Verger's son--little Jean, the youngest in the class. Mother
+Meraut nodded to them all as they passed.
+
+Promptly on the first stroke of the hour the Abbe appeared in the
+north transept of the Cathedral and made his way with quick,
+decided steps toward the chapel. He was a young man with thick
+dark hair almost concealed beneath his black three-cornered cap,
+and as he walked, his long black soutane swung about him in
+vigorous folds. When he appeared in the door of the chapel the
+class rose politely to greet him. "Bonjour, my children," said
+the Abbe, and then, turning his back upon them, bowed before the
+crucifix upon the chapel altar.
+
+Mother Meraut and the Verger slipped quietly away to their work
+in other portions of the church, and the examination began. First
+the Abby asked the children to recite the Lord's Prayer, the
+Creed, and the Ten Commandments in unison, and when they had done
+this without a mistake, he said "Bravo! Now I wonder if you can
+each do as well alone? Let me see, I will call upon--" He paused
+and looked about as if he were searching for the child who was
+most likely to do it well.
+
+Three girls--Genevieve, Virginie, and Pierrette--raised their
+hands and waved them frantically in the air, but, curiously
+enough, the Abbe did not seem to see them. Instead his glance
+fell upon Pierre, who was gazing thoughtfully at the vaulted
+ceiling and hoping with all his heart that the Abbe would not
+call upon him. "Pierre!" he said, and any one looking at him very
+closely might have seen a twinkle in his eye as Pierre withdrew
+his gaze from the ceiling and struggled reluctantly to his feet.
+"You may recite the Ten Commandments."
+
+Pierre began quite glibly, "Thou shalt have no other gods before
+me," and went on, with only two mistakes and one long wait, until
+he had reached the fifth. "Thou shalt not kill," he recited, and
+then to save his life he could not think what came next. He gazed
+imploringly at the ceiling again, and at the high stained-glass
+window, but they told him nothing. He kicked backward gently,
+hoping that Pierrette, who sat next, would prompt him, but she
+too failed to respond. "I'll ask a question," thought Pierre des
+perately, "and while the Abbe is answering maybe it will come to
+me." Aloud he said: "If you please, your reverence, I don't
+understand about that commandment. It says, 'Thou shalt not
+kill,' and yet our soldiers have gone to war on purpose to kill
+Germans, and the priests blessed them as they marched away!"
+
+This was indeed a question! The class gasped with astonishment at
+Pierre's boldness in asking it. The Abbe paused a moment before
+answering. Then he said, "If you, Pierre, were to shoot a man in
+the street in order to take his purse, would that be wrong?"
+
+"Yes," answered the whole class.
+
+"Very well," said the Abbe, "so it would. But if you should see a
+murderer attack your mother or your sister, and you should kill
+him before he could carry out his wicked purpose, would that be
+just the same thing?"
+
+"No," wavered the class, a little doubtfully.
+
+"If instead of defending your mother or sister you were simply to
+stand aside and let the murderer kill them both, you would really
+be helping the murderer, would you not? It is like that today in
+France. An enemy is upon us who seeks to kill us so that he may
+rob us of our beautiful home land. God sees our hearts. He knows
+that the soldiers of France go forth not to kill Germans but to
+save France! not wantonly to take life, but because it is the
+only way to save lives for which they themselves are ready to
+die. Ah, my children, it is one thing to kill as a murderer
+kills; it is quite another to be willing to die that others may
+live! Our Blessed Lord--"
+
+The Abbe lifted his hand to make the sign of the Cross--but it
+was stayed in mid-air. The sentence he had begun was never
+finished, for at that moment the great bell in the Cathedral
+tower began to ring. It was not the clock striking the hour; it
+was not the chimes calling the people to prayer. Instead, it was
+the terrible sound of the alarm bell ringing out a warning to the
+people of Rheims that the Germans were at their doors.
+
+Wide-eyed with terror, the children sprang from their seats, but
+the Abbe, with hand uplifted, blocked the entrance and commanded
+them to stay where they were.
+
+"Let no one leave the Cathedral," he cried.
+
+At this instant Mother Meraut appeared upon the threshold
+searching for her children, and behind her, coming as fast as his
+lameness would permit, came the Verger. The Abbe turned to them.
+"I leave these children all in your care," he said. "Stay with
+them until I return."
+
+And without another word he disappeared in the shadows.
+
+Mother Meraut sat down on one of the chairs she had dusted so
+carefully, and gathered the frightened children about her as a
+hen gathers her chickens under her wing. "There, now," she said
+cheerfully, as she wiped their tears upon the corner of her
+apron, "let's save our tears until we really know what we have to
+cry for. There never yet was misery that couldn't be made worse
+by crying, anyway. The boys will be brave, of course, whatever
+happens. And the girls--surely they will remember that it was a
+girl who once saved France, and meet misfortune bravely, like our
+blessed Saint Jeanne d'Arc."
+
+The Cathedral organ had ceased to fill the great edifice with
+sweet and inspiring sounds. Instead, there now was only the
+muffled tread of marching feet, the rumble of heavy wheels, and
+the low, ominous beating of drums to break the stillness.
+
+Mother Meraut and the children waited obediently in the chapel,
+scarcely breathing in their suspense, while Father Varennes went
+tap-tapping up and down the aisles eagerly watching for the Abbe
+to reappear. At last he came. Mother Meraut, the Verger, and the
+children all crowded about him, waiting breathlessly for him to
+speak.
+
+The Abbe was pale, but his voice was firm. "I have been to the
+north tower," he said, "and there I could see for miles in every
+direction. Far away to the east and north are massed the hordes
+of the German Army; they are coming toward Rheims as a thunder-
+cloud comes rolling over the sky. Between us and them is our
+Army, but alas, their faces are turned this way. They are
+retreating before the German hosts! Already French troops are
+marching through Rheims; already the streets are filled with
+people who are fleeing from their homes for fear of the Boche.
+Unless God sends a miracle, our City is indeed doomed, for a time
+at least, to wear the German yoke."
+
+He paused, and the children burst into wild weeping. Mother
+Meraut hushed them with comforting words. "Do not cry, my
+darlings," she said. "God is not dead, and we shall yet live to
+see justice done and our dear land restored to us. The soldiers
+now in the streets are all our own brave defenders. We shall be
+able to go in safety, even though in sorrow, to our homes."
+
+"Come," said the Abbe, "there is no time to lose. Our Army will,
+without doubt, make a stand on the plains west of the City, and
+it will not be long before the Germans pass through. You must go
+to your homes as fast as possible. Henri, you remain here with
+your Jean, that you may meet any of the parents who come for
+their children. Tell them I have gone with them myself and will
+deliver each child safely at his own door."
+
+"I can take cart of my own," said Mother Meraut. "You need have
+no fear for us."
+
+"Very well," said the Abbe, and, calling the rest of the children
+about him, he marched them down the aisle and out into the
+street.
+
+Mother Meraut followed with Pierre and Pierrette. At the door
+they paused and stood for a moment under the great sculptured
+arches to survey the scene before them. The great square before
+the Cathedral was filled with people, some weeping, others
+standing about as if dazed by sorrow. Between the silent crowds
+which lined the sidewalks passed the soldiers, grim and with set
+faces, keeping time to the throbbing of the drums as they
+marched. Above the scene, in the center of the square, towered
+the beautiful statue of Jeanne d'Arc, mounted upon her charger
+and lifting her sword toward the sky.
+
+"Ah," murmured Mother Meraut to herself, "our blessed Maid still
+keeps guard above the City!" She lifted her clasped hands toward
+the statue. "Blessed Saint Jeanne," she prayed, "hear us in
+Paradise, and come once more to save our beautiful France!"
+
+Then, waving a farewell to the Verger and Jean, who had followed
+them to the door, she took her children by the hand and plunged
+with them into the sad and silent crowd.
+
+
+
+II. ON THE WAY HOME
+
+For some time after leaving the Cathedral, Mother Meraut and the
+Twins lingered in the streets, forgetful of everything but the
+retreating Army and the coming invasion. Everywhere there were
+crowds surging to and fro. Some were hastening to close their
+places of business and put up their shutters before the Germans
+should arrive. Some were hurrying through the streets carrying
+babies and bundles. Others were wheeling their few belongings
+upon barrows or in baby-carriages. Still others flew by on
+bicycles with packages of clothing fastened to the handle-bars;
+and there were many automobiles loaded to the brim with household
+goods and fleeing families.
+
+Doors were flung open and left swinging on their hinges as people
+escaped, scarcely looking behind them as they fled. These were
+refugees from Rheims itself. There were many others wearily
+plodding through the City, people who had come from Belgium and
+the border towns of France. Some who had come from farms drove
+pitiful cattle before them, and some journeyed in farm wagons,
+with babies and old people, chickens, dogs, and household goods
+mixed in a heap upon beds of straw. In all the City there was not
+a cheerful sight, and everywhere, above all other sounds, were
+heard the rumble of wheels, the sharp clap-clap of horses' hoofs
+upon the pavement, and the steady beat of marching feet.
+
+At last, weary and heartsick, the three wanderers turned into a
+side street and stepped into a little shop where food was sold.
+"We must have some supper," said Mother Meraut to the Twins,
+"Germans or no Germans! One cannot carry a stout heart above an
+empty stomach! And if it is to be our last meal in French Rheims,
+let us at least make it a good one!" Though there was a catch in
+her voice, she smiled almost gaily as she spoke. "Who knows?" she
+went on. "Perhaps after to-morrow we shall be able to get nothing
+but sauerkraut and sausage!"
+
+The shop was not far from the little home of the Merauts, and
+they often bought things of stout Madame Coudert, whose round
+face with its round spectacles rose above the counter like a full
+moon from behind a cloud. "Ah, mon amie," said Mother Meraut as
+she entered the shop, "it is good to see you sitting in your
+place and not running away like a hare before the hounds!"
+
+Madame Coudert shrugged her shoulders. "But of what use is it to
+run when one has no place to run to?" she demanded. "As for me, I
+stay by the shop and die at least respectably among my own cakes
+and pies. To run through the country and die at last in a ditch--
+it would not suit me at all!"
+
+"Bravo," cried Mother Meraut triumphantly. "Just my own idea! My
+children and I will remain in our home and take what comes,
+rather than leap from the frying-pan into the fire as so many are
+doing. If every one runs away, there will be no Rheims at all."
+Then to Pierre and Pierrette she said "Choose, each of you. What
+shall we buy for our supper?"
+
+Pierre pointed a grimy finger at a small cake with pink frosting.
+"That," he said briefly.
+
+His mother smiled. "Ah, Pierre, that sweet-tooth of yours!" she
+cried. "Like Marie Antoinette you think if one lacks bread one
+may eat cakes! And now it is Pierrette's turn; only be quick, ma
+mie, for it is already late."
+
+"Eggs," said Pierrette promptly, "for one of your savory omelets,
+mamma, and a bit of cheese."
+
+The purchases were quickly made, and, having said good-night to
+Madame Coudert, they hurried on to the little house in the Rue
+Charly where they lived. When they reached home, it was already
+quite dark. Mother Meraut hastened up the steps and unlocked the
+door, and in less time than it takes to tell it her bonnet was
+off, the fire was burning, and the omelet was cooking on the
+stove.
+
+Pierrette set the table. "I'm going to place father's chair too,"
+she said to her mother. "He is no doubt thinking of us as we are
+of him, and it will make him stem nearer."
+
+Mother Meraut nodded her head without speaking, and wiped her
+eyes on her apron as she slid the omelet on to a hot plate. Then
+she seated herself opposite the empty chair and with a steady
+voice prayed for a blessing upon the food and upon the Armies of
+France.
+
+When they had finished supper, cleared it away, and put the
+kitchen in order, Mother Meraut pointed to the clock. "Voila!"
+she cried, "hours past your bedtime, and here you are still
+flapping about like two young owls! To bed with you as fast as
+you can go."
+
+"But, Mother," began Pierre.
+
+"Not a single 'but,'" answered his Mother, wagging her finger at
+him. "Va!"
+
+The children knew protest was useless, and in a few minutes they
+were snugly tucked away. Long after they were both sound asleep,
+their Mother sat with her head bowed upon the table, listening,
+listening to the distant sound of marching feet. At last, worn
+out with grief and anxiety, shat too undressed, said her rosary,
+and, after a long look at her sleeping children, blew out the
+candle and crept into bed beside Pierrette.
+
+Silence and darkness settled down upon the little household, and,
+for a time at least, their sorrows were forgotten in the blessed
+oblivion of sleep.
+
+
+
+III. THE COMING OF THE GERMANS
+
+When the Twins opened their eyes the next morning, the first
+thing they saw was the sun shining in at the eastern window of
+the kitchen, and Mother Meraut bending over the fire. There was a
+smell of chocolate in the air, and on the table there were rolls
+and butter. Pierre yawned and rubbed his eyes. Pierrette sat up
+and tried to think what it was she was so unhappy about; sleep
+had, for the time being, swept the terrors of the night quite out
+of her mind. In an instant more the fearful truth rolled over her
+like a wave, and she sank back upon the pillow with a little
+moan.
+
+Her Mother heard and understood. She too had waked from sleep to
+sorrow, but she only cried out cheerfully, "Bonjour, my sleepy
+heads! Last night you did not want to go to your beds at all.
+This morning you wish not to leave them! Hop into your clothes as
+fast as you can, or we shall be late."
+
+"Late where?" asked Pierre.
+
+"To my work at the Cathedral, to be sure," answered Mother Meraut
+promptly. "Where else? Did you think the Germans would make me
+sit at home and cry for terror while my work waits? Whoever rules
+in Rheims, the Cathedral still stands and must be kept clean."
+
+It was wonderful how the dismal world brightened to Pierre and
+Pierrette as they heard their Mother's brave voice. They flew out
+of bed at once and were dressed in a twinkling.
+
+While they ate their breakfast, Pierre thought of a plan. "We
+ought to take a lot of food with us to-day," he said to his
+Mother. "There's no telling what may happen before night. Maybe
+we can't get home at all and shall have to sleep in the
+Cathedral."
+
+"Oh," shuddered Pierrette, "among all those tombs?"
+
+"There are worse places where one might sleep," said the Mother.
+"The dead are less to be feared than the living, and the
+Cathedral is the safest place in Rheims." She brought out a
+wicker basket and began to pack it with food as she talked. First
+she put in two pots of jam. "There," said she, "that's the jam
+Grandmother made from her gooseberries at the farm."
+
+She paused, struck by a new alarm. Her father and mother lived in
+a tiny village far west of Rheims. What if the Germans should
+succeed in getting so far as that? What would become of them? She
+shut her fears in her breast, saying nothing to the children, and
+went on filling the basket. "Here is a bit of cheese left from
+last night. I'll put that in, and a pat of butter," she said;
+"but we must stop at Madame Coudert's for more bread. You two
+little pigs have eaten every scrap there was in the house."
+
+"There are eggs left," suggested Pierrette.
+
+"So there are, ma mie," said her Mother. "We will boil them all
+and take them with us. There's a great deal of nourishment in
+eggs." She flew to get the saucepan, and while the eggs bubbled
+and boiled on the stove, she and the children set the little
+kitchen in order and got themselves ready for the street.
+
+It was after nine o'clock when at last Mother Meraut took the
+basket on her arm and gave Pierrette her knitting to carry, and
+the three started down the steps.
+
+"Everything looks just the same as it did yesterday," said
+Pierrette as they walked down the street. "There's that little
+raveled-out dog that always barks at Pierre, and there's Madame
+Coudert's cat asleep on the railing, just as she always is."
+
+"Yes," said Mother Meraut, with a sigh, "the cats and dogs are
+the same, it is only the people who are different!"
+
+They entered the shop and exchanged greetings with Madame
+Coudert. They had bought a long loaf of bread, and Mother Mcraut
+was just opening her purse to pay for it, when suddenly a shot
+rang out. It was followed by the rattle of falling tiles. Another
+and another came, and soon there was a perfect rain of shot and
+shell.
+
+"It is the Germans knocking at the door of Rheims before they
+enter," remarked Madame Coudert with grim humor. "I did not
+expect so much politeness!"
+
+Mother Meraut did not reply. For once her cheerful tongue found
+nothing comforting to say. Pierre clung to her arm, and Pierrette
+put her fingers in her ears and hid her face against her Mother's
+breast.
+
+For some time the deafening sounds continued. From the window
+they could see people running for shelter in every direction. A
+man came dashing down the street; dodging falling tiles as he
+ran, and burst into Madame Coudert's shop. He had just come from
+the Rue Colbert and had news to tell. "The Boches have sent an
+emissary to the Mayor to demand huge supplies of provisions from
+the City, and a great sum of money besides," he told them, as he
+gasped for breath. "They are shelling the champagne cellars and
+the public buildings of the City to scare us into giving them
+what they demand. The German Army will soon be here."
+
+In a few moments there was a lull in the roar of the guns, and
+then in the distance another sound was heard. It was a mighty
+song of triumph as the conquerors came marching into Rheims!
+
+"There won't be any more shooting for a while anyway," said the
+stranger, who had now recovered his breath. "They won't shell the
+City while it's full of their own men. I'm going to see them come
+in."
+
+All Pierre's fears vanished in an instant. "Come on," he cried,
+wild with excitement; "let us go too."
+
+"I'll not stir a foot from my shop," said Madame Coudert firmly.
+"I don't want to see the Germans, and if they want to see me,
+they can come where I am."
+
+But Pierre had not waited for a reply, from her or any one else.
+He was already running up the street.
+
+"Catch him, catch him," gasped Mother Meraut.
+
+Pierrette dashed after Pierre, and as she could run like the
+wind, she soon caught up with him and seized him by the skirt of
+his blouse. "Stop! stop!" she screamed. "Mother doesn't want you
+to go."
+
+But she might as well have tried to argue with a hurricane.
+Pierre danced up and down with rage, as Pierrette braced herself,
+and firmly anchored him by his blouse. "Leggo, leggo!" he
+shrieked. "I'm going, I tell you! I'm not afraid of any Germans
+alive."
+
+Just then, panting and breathless, Mother Meraut arrived upon the
+scene. While Pierrette held on to his blouse, she attached
+herself to his left ear. It had a very calming effect upon
+Pierre. He stopped tugging to get away lest he lose his ear.
+
+"Foolish boy," said his Mother, "see how much trouble you give
+me! You shall see the Germans, but you shall not run away from
+me. If we should get separated, God only knows whether we should
+ever find each other again."
+
+The music had grown louder and louder, and was now very near.
+"I'll stay with you, if you'll only go," pleaded Pierre, "but you
+aren't even moving."
+
+"Come, Pierrette," said his Mother, "take hold of his left arm. I
+will attend to his right; he might forget again. What he really
+needs is a bit and bridle!"
+
+The three moved up the street, Pierre chafing inwardly, but
+helpless in his Mother's grasp, and at the next crossing the
+great spectacle burst upon them. A whole regiment of cavalry was
+passing, singing at the top of their lungs, "Lieb' Vaterland,
+macht ruhig sein." The sun glistened on their helmets, and the
+clanking of swords and the jingling of spurs kept time with the
+swelling chorus. After the cavalry came soldiers on foot--miles
+of them.
+
+"Oh," murmured Pierrette, clinging to
+her Mother, "it's like a river of men!"
+
+Her Mother did not answer. Pierrette looked up into her face. The
+tears were streaming down her cheeks, but her head was proudly
+erect. She looked at the other French people about them. There
+were tears on many cheeks, but not a head was bowed. Pierre was
+glaring at the troops and muttering through his teeth: "Just you
+wait till I grow up! I'll make you pay for this, you pirates!
+I'll--"
+
+"Hush!" whispered Pierrette. "Suppose they should hear you!"
+
+"I don't care if they do! I wish they would!" raged Pierre. "I'm
+going--"
+
+But the German Army was destined not to suffer the consequences
+of Pierre's wrath. He did not even have a chance to tell
+Pierrette his plan for their destruction, for at this point his
+Mother, unable longer to endure the sight, dragged him forcibly
+from the scene. "They shall not parade their colors before me,"
+she said firmly, "I will not stand still and look in silence upon
+my conquerors! If I could but face them with a gun, that would be
+different!"
+
+She led the children through a maze of small streets by a
+roundabout way to the Cathedral, and there they were met at the
+entrance by the Verger, who gazed at them with sad surprise.
+"You've been out in the street during the bombardment," he said
+reproachfully. "It's just like you, Antoinette."
+
+"Oh, but how was I to know it was coming?" cried Mother Meraut.
+"We left home before it began!"
+
+"It would have been just the same if you had known," scolded the
+Verger. "Germans or devils--it would make no difference to you!
+You have no fear in you."
+
+"You misjudge me," cried Mother Meraut; "but what good would it
+do to sit and quake in my own house? There is no safety anywhere,
+and here at least there is work to do."
+
+"You can go about your work as usual with the noise of guns
+ringing in your ears and the Germans marching through Rheims?"
+exclaimed the Verger.
+
+"Why not?" answered Mother Meraut, with spirit. "I guess our
+soldiers don't knock off work every time a gun goes off or a few
+Germans come in sight! It would be a shame if we could not follow
+their example!" 		`
+
+"Antoinette, you are a wonderful woman. I have always said so,"
+declared the Verger solemnly. "You are as brave as a man!"
+
+"Pooh!" said Mother Meraut, mockingly. "As if the men, bless
+their hearts, were so much braver than women, anyway! Oh, la! la!
+the conceit of you!" She wagged a derisive finger at the Verger,
+and, calling the children, went to get her scrubbing-pail and
+brushes.
+
+All day long, while distant guns roared, she went about her daily
+tasks, keeping one spot of order and cleanliness in the midst of
+the confusion, disorder, and destruction of the invaded city. The
+Twins were busy, too; their Mother saw to that. They dusted
+chairs and placed them in rows; and at noon they found a corner
+where the light falling through one of the beautiful stained-
+glass windows made a spot of cheerful color in the gloom, and
+there they ate part of the lunch which they had packed in the
+wicker basket. During all the excitement of the morning they had
+not forgotten the lunch!
+
+When the day's work was done, they ventured out upon the streets
+in the gathering dusk. They found them full of German soldiers,
+drinking, swaggering, singing, and they saw many strange and
+terrifying sights in the havoc wrought by the first bombardment.
+As they passed the door of Madame Coudert's shop, they peeped in
+and saw her sitting stolidly behind the counter, knitting.
+
+"Oh," said Pierrette, "doesn't it seem like a year since we were
+here this morning?"
+
+Mother Meraut called out a cheerful greeting to Madame Coudert.
+"Still in your place, I see," she said.
+
+"Like the Pyramids," came the calm answer; and, cheered by her
+fortitude, they hurried on their way to the little house in the
+Rue Charly.
+
+Mother Meraut sighed with relief as she unlocked the door.
+"Everything just as we left it," she said. "We at least shall
+have one more night in our own home." Then she drew the children
+into the shelter of the dear, familiar roof and locked the door
+from the inside.
+
+
+
+IV. THE RETURN OF THE FRENCH
+
+One unhappy day followed upon another for the inhabitants of
+Rheims. Each night they went to bed in terror; each morning they
+rose to face new trials and dangers. Yet their spirit did not
+fail. Each day the roar of guns toward the west grew fainter and
+more distant, and the people knew with sinking hearts that the
+Germans had driven the Armies of France farther and farther back
+toward Paris. Each day the conduct of the conquerors grew more
+arrogant. "Our Emperor will soon be in Paris!" they said.
+
+On the public monuments and in the squares of the City appeared
+German proclamations printed upon green paper, warning the people
+of Rheims of terrible punishments which would befall them if they
+in any way rebelled against the will of the victorious invaders.
+It was only with great difficulty that Pierre could be dragged by
+these signs. Each morning as they went to the Cathedral they had
+to pass several of them, and Pierrette and her Mother soon
+learned to take precautions against an outburst of rage which
+might bring down upon his rash head the wrath of the enemy. The
+eye of the Germans seemed everywhere. One of these posters was
+fixed to the window of Madame Coudert's shop. On the morning that
+it first appeared, Pierre in passing made a dash for the gutter,
+picked up a handful of mud, and threw it squarely into the middle
+of the poster.
+
+Madame Coudert saw him, and winked solemnly, but did not move.
+His Mother instantly collared Pierre, and led him up a side
+street just in time to escape the clutches of a German officer
+who had seen him a block away, and came on the run after him.
+When, puffing and blowing, he at last reached the shop there was
+no one in sight except Madame Coudert behind her counter. The
+enraged officer pointed out the insult that had been offered his
+country.
+
+Madame Coudert looked surprised and concerned. She followed the
+officer to the door, and gazed at the disfigured poster. "I will
+clean it at once," she said obligingly. She got out soap and a
+brush immediately, and when she had finished, her work had been
+so thoroughly done that not a spot of mud was left, but
+unfortunately the center of the poster was rubbed through and
+quite illegible, and the rest of it was all streaked and stained!
+"Will that do?" she asked the officer, looking at him with round,
+innocent eyes and so evident a desire to please that, in spite of
+an uneasy suspicion, he merely grunted and went his way.
+
+The first time they came into the shop after this episode Madame
+Coudert gave Pierre a cake with pink frosting on it.
+
+In this way a whole week dragged itself by, and, on the morning
+of the eighth day after the German entry into Rheims, Mother
+Meraut and the Twins left home earlier than usual in order to
+reach the Cathedral before the bombardment, which they had
+learned daily to expect, should begin. They found Madame Coudert
+in front of her shop; washing the window. A large corner of the
+poster was now gone. "It rained last night," she said to Mother
+Meraut, "and the green color ran down on my window. I had to wash
+it, and accidentally I rubbed off a corner of the poster. It
+can't be very good paper." She looked solemly at Pierre. "Too
+bad, isn't it?" she said, and closed one eye behind her round
+spectacles.
+
+"The weather seems to have damaged a good many of them, I
+notice," answered Mother Meraut, with just a suspicion of a
+smile. "The weather has been quite pleasant too,--strange!"
+
+"Weather--nothing!" said Pierre, scornfully. "I'll bet you that--
+"
+
+It seemed as if Pierre was always being interrupted at just the
+most exciting moment of his remarks, but this time he interrupted
+himself. "What's that?" he said, stopping short. Madame Coudert,
+his Mother, and Pierrette, all stood perfectly still, their eyes
+wide, their lips parted, listening, listening! They heard cannon-
+shots, then music--toward the west--coming nearer--nearer.
+
+"It is--oh, it is the Marseillaise!" shrieked Pierrette.
+
+Mother Meraut and the Twins ran toward the sound. Now shouts were
+heard--joyous shouts--from French throats! Never had they heard
+such a sound! People came tumbling out of their houses, some not
+fully dressed--but who cared? The French were returning
+victorious from the battle of the Marne. They were coming again
+into Rheims, driving the Germans before them! Ah, but when the
+red trousers actually appeared in the streets the populace went
+mad with joy! They embraced the soldiers; they marched beside
+them with tears streaming down their cheeks, singing "March on!
+March on!" as though they would split their throats. Pierre and
+Pierrette marched and sang with the others, their Mother close
+beside them.
+
+On and on came the singing, joy-maddened people, right past
+Madame Coudert's shop, and there, standing on the curb, with a
+tray in her arms piled high with goodies, was Madame Coudert
+herself. The green poster was already torn in shreds and lying in
+the gutter. It even looked as if some one had stamped on it, and
+above her door waved the tricolor of France! "Come here," she
+cried to Pierre and Pierrette, "Quick! Hand these out to the
+soldiers as long as there's one left!"
+
+Pierre seized a pink frosted cake, and ran with it to a Captain.
+Pierrette gave a sugar roll to the first soldier she could reach;
+other hands helped. Mother Meraut ran into the shop and brought
+out more cakes. Shop-keepers all along the way followed Madame
+Coudert's example, and soon people everywhere were bringing
+offerings of candy, chocolate, and cigars to the soldiers, and
+the streets suddenly blossomed with blue, white, and red flags.
+At the corner, near Madame Coudert's shop, Pierre had the joy of
+seeing the German officer who had tried to catch him surrender to
+the Captain who had taken the pink cake. Oh, what a moment that
+was for Pierre! He sprang into the gutter as the German passed
+and savagely jumped up and down upon the fragments of the green
+poster! It was a matter for bitter regret to him long after that
+the German did not seem to notice him.
+
+The whole morning passed in such joy and excitement that it was
+nearly noon when at last Mother Meraut, beaming with happiness,
+and accompanied by a radiant Pierre and Pierrette, entered the
+Cathedral. They were astonished to find it no longer the silent
+and dim sanctuary to which they were accustomed. The Abbe' was
+there, and the Verger, looking quite distracted, was directing a
+group of men in moving the praying-chairs from the western end of
+the Cathedral, and the space where they had been was already
+covered with heaps of straw. Under the great choir at the western
+end there were piles of broken glass. Part of the wonderful rose
+window had been shattered by a shell, and lay in a million
+fragments on the stone floor.
+
+Mother Meraut clasped her hands in dismay. "What does it all
+mean?" she demanded of the Verger, as he went tap-tapping by
+after the workmen. "What do you wish me to do?"
+
+"Gather up every fragment of glass," said the Verger briefly,
+"and put them in a safe place. The wounded are on the way, and
+are to be housed in the Cathedral. We must be ready for them.
+There is no time to lose."
+
+As Mother Meraut flew to carry out his directions, the Abbe'
+beckoned to the children. "Can you be trusted to do an errand for
+me?" he said.
+
+"Yes, Your Reverence," answered Pierre.
+
+"Very well," said the Abbe. "I want you to get for the towers two
+Red Cross flags. They must be the largest size, and we must have
+them soon. The wounded may arrive at any moment now, and the Red
+Cross will protect the Cathedral from shell-fire, for not even
+Germans would destroy a hospital." He gave them careful
+directions, and a note for the shop-keeper. "Now run along, both
+of you," he said. "Tell your Mother where you are going, and that
+I sent you."
+
+In two minutes the Twins were on their way, but it was more than
+an hour before they got back. First, the shop-keeper was out, and
+when he got back it took him some time to find large enough
+flags. At last, however, they returned, each carrying one done up
+in a paper parcel.
+
+"Here are the flags," Pierre announced proudly to the Verger, who
+met them at the entrance.
+
+"Yes," said Father Varennes, "here they are, and here you are.
+Come in, your Mother wants to see you." The children followed him
+through the door, and although they had been told that the
+wounded were to be brought to the Cathedral, they were not
+prepared for the sight that met their eyes as they entered. On
+the heaps of straw lay tossing moaning men, in the gray uniforms
+of the German army.
+
+Pierrette seized Pierre's hand. "Oh," she shuddered, "I didn't
+think they'd be Germans!"
+
+"They aren't--all of them," said the Verger, a little huskily.
+"Some of them are French. The Church shelters them all."
+
+Doctors in white aprons were already in attendance upon the
+wounded, and nurses with red crosses on the sleeves of their
+white uniforms flitted silently back and forth on errands of
+mercy. The two children, clinging to each other and gazing
+fearfully about them, followed the Verger down the aisle. As they
+passed a heap of straw upon which a wounded German lay, something
+bright rolled from it to them and dropped at Pierrette's feet.
+Pierre sprang to pick it up. It was a German helmet. Across the
+front of it were letters. Pierre spelled them--"Gott mit uns."
+"What does that mean?" he asked the Verger.
+
+"God with us," snorted Father Varennes. "I suppose the poor
+wretches actually believe He is."
+
+The Abbe' was waiting for them in the aisle, and he took from
+them the flags and the helmet. He had heard the Verger's reply,
+and guessed what the question must have been. "My boy," he said,
+laying his hand gently upon Pierre's head for an instant, "God is
+not far from any of his children. It is they who, through sin,
+separate themselves from Him! But never mind theology now. Your
+Mother is waiting for you. I will take you to her."
+
+The Twins thought it strange that the Abbe' should himself guide
+them to their Mother. They followed his broad back and swinging
+black soutane to the farthest corner of the hospital space.
+There, beside a mound of straw upon which was stretched a wounded
+soldier in French uniform, knelt their Mother, and the Twins,
+looking down, met the eyes of their own Father gazing up at them.
+
+"Gently! my dears, gently!" cautioned their Mother, as the
+children fell upon their knees beside her in an agony of tears.
+"Don't cry! he is wounded, to be sure, but he will get well,
+though he can never again fight for France. We shall see him
+every day, and by and by he will be at home again with us."
+
+Too stunned for speech, the Twins only kissed the blood-stained
+hands, and then their Mother led them away. Under the western
+arches she kissed them good-by. "Go now to Madame Coudert," she
+said, "and tell her your Father is here, and that I shall stay in
+the Cathedral. Ask her to take care of you for the night. In the
+morning, if it is quiet, come again to me."
+
+Dazed, happy, grieved, the children obeyed. They found Madame
+Coudert beaming above her empty counter. "Bless you," she cried,
+when they gave her their Mother's message, "of course you can
+stay! There are no pink cakes for Pierre, but who cares for cakes
+now that the French are once more in Rheims! And to think you
+have your Father back again! Surely this is a happy day for you,
+even though he came back with a wound!"
+
+
+
+V. AT MADAME COUDERT'S
+
+The joy of the people of Rheims was short-lived. The Germans had
+been driven out, it is true, but they had gone only a short
+distance to the east, and there, upon the banks of the Aisne, had
+securely entrenched themselves, venting their rage upon the City
+by daily bombardments. From ten until two nearly every day the
+inhabitants of the stricken City for the most part sat in their
+cellars listening to the whistling of shells and the crash of
+falling timbers and tiles. When the noise ceased, they returned
+to the light and air once more and looked about to see the extent
+of the damage done. Dur ing the rest of the day they went about
+their routine as usual, hoping against hope that the French
+Armies, which were now between Rheims and the enemy, would be
+able not only to defend the City but to drive the Germans still
+farther toward the Rhine.
+
+When the Twins reached the Cathedral the morning after the return
+of the French troops, they found their Father resting after an
+operation which had removed from his leg a piece of shell, which
+had nearly cost his life and would make him permanently lame.
+Their Mother met them as they came in. She was pale but smiling.
+"What a joy to see you!" she cried, as she pressed them to her
+breast. "You may take one look at your Father and throw him a
+kiss; then you must go back to Madame Coudert."
+
+"Mayn't we stay with you and help take care of Father?" begged
+Pierre.
+
+"No," answered his Mother firmly, "the sights here are not for
+young eyes. I can wait upon the nurses and keep things clean: My
+place is here for the present, but tomorrow, if all goes well, we
+will sleep once more in our own little home, if it is still
+standing. In the mean time, be good children, and mind Madame
+Coudert. Now run along before the shells begin to fall."
+
+The Twins obediently trotted away, and regained the little shop
+just as the clock struck ten. The day seemed long to them, for
+their thoughts were with their parents, but Madame Coudert was so
+cheerful herself; and kept them so busy they had no time to mope.
+Pierrette helped make the little cakes, and Pierre scraped the
+remains of the icing from the mixing-bowl and ate it lest any be
+wasted. In some ways Pierre was a very thrifty boy. Then, too,
+Madame Coudert allowed them to stand behind the counter and help
+wait upon the customers. Moreover, there was Fifine, the cat, for
+Pierrette to play with, and the little raveled-out dog lived only
+two doors below; so they did not lack for entertainment.
+
+The next evening their Mother called for them, as she had
+promised to do, and they once more had supper and slept beneath
+their own roof. For three days they followed this routine, going
+with their Mother to Madame Coudert's, where they spent the day,
+returning at night. On the fourth day they were again allowed to
+visit the Cathedral and to see their Father. "It will do him good
+to be with his children," the doctor had said, and so, while
+Mother Meraut attended to her duties, Pierre and Pierrette sat on
+each side of the straw bed where he lay, proud and responsible to
+be left in charge of the patient.
+
+Pierre was bursting with curiosity to know about the Battle of
+the Marne. Not another boy of his acquaintance had a wounded
+father, and though his opportunities for seeing his friends had
+been few, he had already done a good deal of boasting; and was
+pointed out by other boys on the street as a person of special
+distinction. "Tell me about the battle, Father," he begged.
+
+His Father lifted his tired eyes to a statue of Jeanne d'Arc,
+which was in plain sight from where he lay. "Well, my boy," he
+said after a pause, "there is much I should not wish you to know,
+but this I will tell you. On the day the battle turned, the
+watchword of the Army was Jeanne d'Arc. Our soldiers sprang to
+the attack with her name upon their lips, and some have sworn to
+me that they saw her ride before us into battle on her white
+charger, carrying in her hand the very banner which you see there
+upon the altar. I do not know whether or not it is true, but
+certainly the victory was with us, and I for my part find it easy
+to be lieve that our blessed Saint Jeanne has not forgotten
+France." He raised himself a little on his elbow and pointed to a
+place not far distant in the nave. "There," he said, "is the very
+spot upon which she knelt while her king was being crowned here
+in our Cathedral after she had driven our enemies from French
+soil and had given him his throne! The happiest moments of her
+life were here! What place should be revisited by her pure spirit
+if not Rheims? My children, I wish you every day to pray that she
+may come again to deliver France!" Exhausted by emotion and by
+the effort he had made, he sank back upon the straw and closed
+his eyes.
+
+Pierrette took his hand. "Dear papa, she said, "every day we will
+pray to her as you say, and give thanks to the Bon Dieu that your
+life has been spared to us. If only your poor leg--" she stopped,
+overcome by tears.
+
+Her Father opened his eyes and smiled. "Ah, little one, what is a
+leg more or less;--or a life either for that matter,--when our
+France is in danger?" he said. "Is it not so, Pierre?"
+
+Pierre gulped. "France can have all of my legs!" he cried, in a
+burst of patriotism. "And when I'm big enough, I'm going to dig a
+hole in the ground and put in millions of tons of dynamite and
+blow up the whole of Germany! That's what I'm going to do!"
+
+His Father's eyes twinkled. "It seems a long while to wait," he
+said, "because now you are only nine, you see."
+
+Just then their Mother came toward the little group. "Magpies!"
+she cried, " it seems that you are talking my patient to death.
+Run along now to Madame Coudert." At the Cathedral entrance she
+kissed them, and then stood for a moment to watch them as they
+hurried down the street out of sight.
+
+
+
+VI. THE BURNING OF THE CATHEDRAL
+
+On the evening of the 18th of September, Mother Meraut was late
+in leaving the Cathedral, and it was nearly dark when she reached
+Madame Coudert's door. Pierrette sat on the steps waiting for
+her, with Fifine, the cat, in her arms. Madame Coudert was
+knitting, as usual, and Pierre was trying to teach the little
+raveled-out dog to stand on his hind legs. As their Mother
+appeared, the children sprang to meet her.
+
+"How is Father?" cried Pierrette. It was always the first
+question when they saw her.
+
+"Better," answered her Mother. " In another week or two the
+doctor thinks he can be moved."
+
+She was about to enter the shop to speak to Madame Coudert, when
+the air was suddenly rent by a fearful roar of sound. She clasped
+her children in her arms. "It's like thunder," she said, patting
+them soothingly; "if you hear the roar you know at once that you
+aren't killed. Come, we must hurry to the cellar." But before she
+could take a single step in that direction there was another
+terrible explosion.
+
+"Look, oh look!" screamed Pierre, pointing to the Cathedral
+towers, which were visible from where they stood; "they are
+shelling the Cathedral!"
+
+For an instant they stood as if rooted to the spot. Was it
+possible the Germans would shell the place where their own
+wounded lay--a place protected by the cross? They saw the
+scaffolding about one of the towers burst suddenly into flames.
+In another moment the fire had caught and devoured the Red Cross
+flag itself and then sprang like a thing possessed to the roof.
+An instant more, and that too was burning.
+
+"Father!" screamed Pierre, and before any one could stop him or
+even say a word, the boy was far up the street, running like a
+deer toward the Cathedral. Pierrette was but a few steps behind
+him.
+
+When she saw her children rushing madly into such danger, Mother
+Meraut's exhausted body gave way beneath the demands of her
+spirit. If Madame Coudert had not caught her, she would have sunk
+down upon the step. It was only for an instant, but in that
+instant the children had passed out of sight. Not stopping even
+to close her door, Madame Coudert seized Mother Meraut's hand,
+and together the two women ran after them. But they could not
+hope to rival the speed of fleet young feet, and when they
+reached the Cathedral square the flames were already roaring
+upward into the very sky. The streets were crowded by this time,
+and their best speed brought them to the square ten minutes after
+the children had reached the burning Cathedral, and, heedless of
+danger, had dashed in and to the corner where their helpless
+Father lay.
+
+The place was swarming with doctors and nurses working
+frantically to move the wounded. The Abbe' was there, and the
+Archbishop also. Already the straw had caught fire in several
+places from falling brands. "Out through the north transept,"
+shouted the Abbe.
+
+Pierre and Pierrette knew well what they had come to do. For them
+there was but one person in the Cathedral, and that person was
+their Father. They had but one purpose--to get him out. Young as
+they were, they were already well used to danger, and it scarcely
+occurred to them that they were risking their lives. Certainly
+they were not afraid. When they reached their Father's side, they
+found him vainly struggling to rise.
+
+"Here we are, Father," shouted Pierre: "Lean on us!" He flew to
+one side; Pierrette was already struggling to lift him on the
+other. As his bed was the one farthest from the spot where the
+fire first appeared, the doctors and nurses had sought to rescue
+those in greatest danger, and so the children for the time being
+were alone in their effort to save him.
+
+The flames were now leaping through the Cathedral aisles,
+devouring the straw beds as if they were tinder. In vain Father
+Meraut ordered them to leave him. For once his children refused
+to obey. Somehow they got him to his feet, and he, for their
+sakes making a superhuman effort, succeeded in staggering between
+them, using their lithe young bodies as crutches. How they
+reached the door of the north transept they never knew, but reach
+it they did, before the burning flames. And there a new terror
+appeared.
+
+The people of Rheims, infuriated by the long abuse which they had
+suffered, stood with guns pointed at the wounded and helpless
+Germans whom the doctors and nurses had succeeded in getting so
+far on the way to safety. Above the roar of flames rose the roar
+of angry voices. "It is the Germans who burn our Cathedral. Let
+them die with it," shouted one.
+
+Between the helpless Germans and the angry mob; facing their
+guns, towered the figures of the Abby and the Archbishop! "If you
+kill them, you must first kill us," cried the Archbishop. Kill
+the Archbishop and the Abbe'! Unthinkable! The guns were
+immediately lowered, and the work of rescue went on.
+
+Out of the north door crept Father Meraut, supported by his brave
+children. "Bravo! Bravo!" shouted the crowd, and then hands that
+would have killed Germans willingly, were stretched in instant
+sympathy and helpfulness to the wounded French soldier and his
+brave children. Two men made a chair of their arms, and Father
+Meraut was carried in safety to the square before the Cathedral,
+Pierre and Pierrette following close behind. At the foot of the
+statue of Jeanne d'Arc they stopped to rest and change hands, and
+there, frantic with joy, Mother Meraut found them.
+
+"A soldier of France--wounded at the Marne!" shouted the crowd,
+and if he had been able to endure it, they would have borne him
+upon their grateful shoulders. As it was, he was carried in no
+less grateful arms clear to Madame Coudert's door, and there,
+lying upon an improvised stretcher, and attended by his wife and
+children, he rested from his journey, while Madame Coudert ran to
+prepare a cup of coffee for a stimulant. From Madame Coudert's
+door they watched the further destruction of the beautiful
+Cathedral which Mother Meraut had so often called the "safest
+place in Rheims." As it burned, a wonderful thing happened. High
+above the glowing roof there suddenly flamed the blue fleur-de-
+lis of France!
+
+"See! See! " cried Mother Meraut. "A Miracle! The Lily of France!
+Oh, surely it is a sign sent by the Bon Dieu to keep us from
+despair!"
+
+"It is only the gas from an exploding shell, bursting in blue
+flame," said her husband. "Yet--who knows?--it may also be a true
+promise that France shall rise in beauty from its ruins."
+
+
+
+VII. HOME AGAIN
+
+The next day, they were able to move Father Meraut to his own
+home. In spite of the excitement and strain, he seemed but little
+the worse for his experience, and the happiness of being again
+with his family quite offset the effect of his dangerous journey.
+Mother Meraut was a famous nurse, and when he was safely
+installed in a bed in a corner of the room which was their living-
+room and kitchen in one, she was able to give him her best care.
+There he lay, following her with his eyes as she made good things
+for him to eat or carried on the regular activities of her home.
+Pierre and Pierrette sat beside his bed and talked to him, or,
+better still, got him to tell them stories of the things that had
+happened during his brief stay in the Army. Pierre brought the
+little raveled-out dog, with which he was now on the friendliest
+terms, to see him, and Madame Coudert also came to call now and
+then, bringing a cake or some other dainty to the invalid.
+
+If only the Germans had gone from their trenches on the Aisne,
+they and every one else in Rheims would have been quite
+comfortable, but alas! this was not to be. The Germans stayed
+where they were, and each day sent a new rain of shells upon the
+unfortunate City. The inhabitants grew accustomed to it, as one
+grows used to thundershowers in April. "Hello! it's beginning to
+sprinkle," they would say when a shell burst, spattering mud and
+dirt upon the passers-by. Signs appeared upon the street, "Safe
+Cellars Here," and when the bombardment began, people would dash
+for the nearest shelter and wait until the storm was over.
+
+Pierre and Pierrette played out of doors every day, though they
+did not go far from their home, and had no one but each other to
+play with. Pierrette made a play-house in one corner of the
+court. Here in a little box she kept a store of broken dishes,
+and here she sat long hours with her doll Jacqueline. Sometimes
+Pierre, having no better occupation, played with her. He even
+took a gingerly interest in Jacqueline, although he would not for
+the world have let any of the boys know of such a weakness.
+
+When the shells began to fall, they would leave their corner and
+run quickly to the cellar. As Father Meraut could not go up or
+down, his wife stayed in the kitchen beside him. In this way
+several weary weeks went by. Mother Meraut went no more to the
+Cathedral. There was nothing there that she could do. The great,
+beautiful church which had been the very soul of Rheims and the
+pride of France was now nothing but a ruined shell, its wonderful
+windows broken, its roof gone, its very walls of stone so burned
+that they crumbled to pieces at a touch. Even the great bronze
+bells had been melted in the flames and had fallen in molten
+drops, like tears of grief, into the wreckage below. All the
+beautiful treasures--the tapestries, wrought by the hands of
+queens, and even the sacred banner of Jeanne d'Arc itself--had
+been destroyed.
+
+Mother Meraut knew, but she did not tell her children, that
+precious lives had also been lost, and that buried somewhere in
+the ruins were the bodies of doctors and nurses who had given
+their own in trying to save the lives of others, and of brave
+citizens of Rheims who had fallen in an attempt to save the
+precious relics carefully treasured there. Neither did she tell
+them that little Jean, the Verger's son, was one of that heroic
+band. These sorrows she bore in her own breast, but she never
+passed near the Cathedral after that terrible night. Sometimes,
+when a necessary errand took her to that part of the City, she
+would pause at a distance to look long at the statue of Jeanne
+d'Arc, standing unharmed in the midst of the destruction about
+her still lifting her sword to the sky. In all the rain of shells
+which had fallen upon the City not one had yet touched the
+statue. Only the tip of the sword had been broken off. It
+comforted Mother Meraut to see it standing so strangely safe in
+the midst of such desolation. "It stands," she thought, " even as
+her pure spirit stood safe amidst the flames of her martyrdom.
+But I cannot, like her, pray for my enemies while I burn in the
+fires they have kindled."
+
+There was yet another burden which she carried safely hidden in
+her heart. She had not heard from her father and mother since the
+Battle of the Marne. That the Germans had passed through the
+village where they lived she knew, but what destruction they had
+wrought she could only guess. It was impossible for her at that
+time to go to them; so she waited in silence, hoping that some
+time good news might come. The slow weeks lengthened into months,
+and at last Father Meraut was strong enough to get about on a
+crutch like Father Varennes. It was a great day when first he was
+able to hobble down the steps and out upon the street, leaning on
+Mother Meraut's arm on one side, and his crutch upon the other,
+with Pierre and Pierrette marching before him like a guard of
+honor.
+
+It was now cold weather; winter had set in, and life became more
+difficult as food grew scarce and there was not enough fuel to
+heat the houses. School should have begun in October, but school-
+buildings had not been spared in the bombardment, and it was
+dangerous to permit children to stay in them. At last, however, a
+new way was found to cheat the enemy of its prey. Schools were
+opened in the great champagne cellars of Rheims, and Pierre and
+Pierrette were among the first scholars enrolled. Every day after
+that they hastened through the streets before the usual hour of
+the bombardment, went down into one of the great tunnels cut in
+chalk, and there, in rooms deep underground, carried on their
+studies. It was a strange school, but it was safer than their
+home, even though there was danger in going back and forth in the
+streets. By spring the children of Rheims had lived so much in
+cellars that they were as pale as potato-sprouts.
+
+Mother Meraut watched her two with deepening anxiety. Then, one
+day in the spring, a corner of their own roof was blown off by a
+shell. No one was hurt, but when a few moments later a second
+explosion blew a cat through the hole and dropped it into the
+soup, Mother Meraut's endurance gave way.
+
+It was the last straw! She put the cat out, yowling but unharmed,
+and silently cleared away the debris. Then, when the bombardment
+was over, she put on her bonnet and went out. She came back an
+hour later, to find the Twins sitting, one on each side of their
+Father, holding his hands, and all three the picture of despair.
+Mother Meraut stood before them, her eyes flashing, her cheeks
+burning a deep red, and this is what she said: "I will not live
+like this another day. Life in Rheims is no longer possible. I
+will not stay here to be killed by inches. I have made
+arrangements to get a little row-boat, and to-morrow morning we
+will take such things as we can carry and leave this place.
+Whatever may happen to us elsewhere, it cannot be worse than what
+is happening here, and it may possibly be better."
+
+Her husband and children looked at her in amazement. She did not
+ask their opin- ion about the matter, but promptly began the
+necessary preparations and told them what to do. Clothing was
+brought to Father Meraut to be packed in compact bundles and tied
+up with string. Then blankets were made into another bundle; a
+third held a frying-pan, a coffee-pot, and a kettle, with a few
+knives, forks, and spoons, while a fourth contained food. The
+Twins were sent to say good-by to Madame Coudert, and to give her
+a key to the door, and then all the rest of their household goods
+were packed away as carefully as time permitted, in the cellar.
+
+Mother Meraut put the Twins to bed early, but she herself
+remained at work most of the night; yet when morning came and the
+children woke, she was up and neatly dressed, and had their
+breakfast ready. She did not linger over their sad departure, nor
+did she shed a tear as they left the little house which had been
+their happy home. Instead, she locked the door after them with a
+snap, put the key in her pocket, and walked down the steps with
+the grim determination of a soldier going into battle, carrying a
+big bundle under each arm.
+
+
+
+VIII. REFUGEES
+
+The Twins and their Father followed the resolute figure of Mother
+Meraut down the street, not. knowing at all where she was leading
+them, but with implicit confidence that she knew what she was
+about. She was carrying the heaviest bundles, and the Twins
+carried the rest between them, packed in a clothes-basket. On her
+other arm Pierrette bore her dearly loved Jacqueline. Father
+Meraut could carry nothing but such small articles as could be
+put in his pockets, but it was joy enough that he could carry
+himself, and it was quite wonderful to see how speedily he got
+over the ground with his crutch.
+
+Not far from their house in the Rue Charly ran the River Vesle,
+which flows through Rheims, and as the Merauts knew well a man
+whose business it was to let boats to pleasure parties in summer,
+the children were not surprised to see their Mother walk down the
+street toward the little wharf where his boats were kept. He was
+waiting to receive them, and, drawn up to the water's edge was a
+red and white row-boat, with the name "The Ark" painted upon her
+prow. Mother Meraut smiled when she saw the name. "If we only had
+the animals to go in two by two, we should be just like Noah and
+his family, shouldn't we?" she said, as she put the bundles in
+the stern.
+
+In a few moments they were all seated in the boat, with their few
+belongings carefully balanced, and Jacqueline safely reposing in
+Pierrette's lap. The boatman pushed them away from the pier. "Au
+revoir," called Mother Meraut as the boat slid into the stream.
+"We will come back again when the Germans are gone, and in some
+way I shall have a chance to send your boat to you, I know.
+Meanwhile we will take good care of it."
+
+"There will be few pleasure-seekers on the Vesle this summer,"
+answered the boat-man, "and the Ark will be safer with you than
+rotting at the pier, let alone the chance of its being blown up
+by a shell. I'm glad you've got her, and glad you are going away
+from Rheims. It will be easy pulling, for you're going down-
+stream, and about all you'll have to do is to keep her headed
+right. Au revoir, and good luck." He stood on the pier looking
+after them and waving his hat until they were well out in the
+middle of the stream.
+
+Father Meraut had the oars, and, as his arms had not been
+injured, he was able to guide the boat without fatigue, and soon
+the current had carried them through the City and out into the
+open country which lay beyond. Mother Meraut sat in the prow,
+looking back toward the Cathedral she had so loved, until the
+blackened towers were hidden from view by trees along the
+riverbank. They had started early in order to be well out of
+Rheims before the daily bombardment should begin.
+
+Spring was already in the air, and as they drifted along they
+heard the skylarks singing in the fields. The trees were turning
+green, and there were blossoms on the apple trees. The wild
+flowers along the riverbank were already humming with bees, and
+the whole scene seemed so peaceful and quiet after all they had
+endured in Rheims, that even the shell-holes left in the fields
+which had been fought over in the autumn and the crosses marking
+the graves of fallen soldiers did not sadden them.
+
+Mother Meraut sat for a long time silent, then heaved a deep sigh
+of relief. "I feel like Lot's wife looking back upon Sodom and
+Gomorrah," she said. Suddenly her eyes filled with tears and she
+kissed her finger-tips and blew the kiss toward Rheims.
+"Farewell, my beautiful City!" she cried. "It is not for your
+sins we must leave you! And some happy day we shall return."
+
+There was a report, and a puff of smoke far away over the City,
+then the sound of a distant explosion. The daily bombardment had
+begun!
+
+"Your friends are firing a farewell salute," said Father Meraut.
+
+All the morning they slipped quietly along between greening
+banks, carried by the current farther and farther down-stream. At
+noon they drew the boat ashore beneath some willow trees, where
+they ate their lunch, and then spent an hour in such rest as they
+had not had for many weary months.
+
+It was then, and not until then, that Father Meraut ventured to
+.ask his wife her plans. "My dear," he said, as he stretched
+himself out in a sunny spot and put his head in Pierrette's lap,
+"I have great confidence in you, and will follow you willingly
+anywhere, but I should really like to know where we are going."
+
+Mother Meraut looked at him in surprise. "Why, haven't I told
+you? " she said "My mind has been so full of it I can't believe
+you didn't know that we are going to my father's, if we can get
+there! You know their village is on a little stream which flows
+into the Aisne some distance beyond its junction with the Vesle.
+We could drift down to the place where the two rivers join, and
+go on from there to the little stream which flows past
+Fontanelle. Then we could row up-stream to the village."
+
+"It's as plain as day, now you tell it," answered her husband,
+"and a very good plan, too."
+
+"You see," said Mother Meraut, as she packed away the remains of
+the lunch, "I haven't heard a word from them all winter. I don't
+know whether they are dead or alive. I haven't said anything
+about it, because you were so ill and there were so many other
+worries, but this plan has been in my mind all the time. What we
+shall do when we get to Fontanelle I do not know, but we shall be
+no worse off than other refugees, and at any rate we shall not be
+under shell-fire every day."
+
+"If we can't find any place to stay there, why can't we go on and
+on down the river, until we get clear to the sea," said Pierre
+with enthusiasm.
+
+"It's just like being gypsies, isn't it?" added Pierrette.
+
+"So far as I can see," said Mother Meraut, "we've got to go on
+and on! Certainly we can't go back."
+
+"No, we can't go back," echoed her husband, with a sigh.
+
+All the pleasant afternoon they drifted peacefully along, and
+nightfall found them in open country. It began to grow colder as
+darkness came on. "We shall need all our blankets if we are to
+sleep in the fields," said Mother Meraut at last. "It's time for
+supper and bed, anyway. Let's go ashore."
+
+"We'll build a fire on the bank and cook our supper there," said
+her husband.
+
+"What is there, Mother, that we can cook?"
+
+"There are eggs to fry, and potatoes to roast in the ashes," she
+answered, " and coffee besides."
+
+"I am as hungry as a wolf," said Pierrette.
+
+"I'm as hungry as two wolves," said Pierre.
+
+They found a landing-place, and the Ark was drawn ashore. Pierre
+and Pierrette ran at once to gather sticks and leaves. These they
+brought to their Father, and soon a cheerful fire flamed red
+against the shadows. Then the smell of coffee floated out upon
+the evening air, and the sputter of frying eggs gave further
+promise to their hungry stomachs.
+
+Before they had finished their supper the stars were winking down
+at them, and over the brow of a distant hill rose a slender
+crescent moon. Pierrette saw it first. "Oh," she cried, "the new
+moon! And I saw it over my right shoulder, too! We are sure to
+have wonderful luck this month."
+
+Pierre shut his eyes. "Which way is it?" he cried. Pierrette
+turned him carefully about so that he too might see it over his
+right shoulder, and then, this ceremony completed, they washed
+the dishes and helped pack the things carefully away in the
+clothes-basket once more.
+
+They slept that night under the edge of a straw-stack in the
+meadow near the river, and though they were homeless wanderers
+without a roof to cover them, they slept well, and awakened next
+morning to the music of bird-songs instead of to the sound of
+guns and the whistling of shells.
+
+
+
+IX. THE FOREIGN LEGION
+
+Fortunately for our pilgrims the weather remained clear and
+unusually warm for the season of year, and they were able to
+continue their journey the following day in comfort. That night
+they slept in a cowshed, where no cows had been since the Germans
+passed through so many months before, and on the morning of the
+third day they reached the large market town which marked the
+junction of the little river upon which the village of Fontanelle
+was situated with the Aisne.
+
+Mother Meraut was now upon familiar territory, among the scenes
+of her childhood. She had often come here with her father when he
+had brought a load of produce to sell in the town market. Here
+they disembarked, bought a load of provisions, and once more
+resumed their journey. Progress from this point on was slower
+than that of previous days, for now the current was against them.
+Father and Mother Meraut took turns at the oars, and they had
+gone some four or five miles up the stream when they came in
+sight of something quite unfamiliar to Mother Meraut. Stretching
+across the level meadows beside the river, as far, as the eye
+could see, were rows and rows of tents. Companies of soldiers in
+French uniforms were drilling in an open field. Groups of cavalry
+horses were herded in an enclosure, and everywhere there were the
+activities of a great military encampment.
+
+"It's a French training-camp," cried Father Meraut, and he waved
+his cap on the end of an oar and shouted "Vive la France" at the
+top of his lungs. Pierre and Pierrette waved and shouted too, and
+Mother Meraut, caught by the general excitement, snatched up
+Jacqueline, who had been reposing in the basket, and frantically
+waved her. Some soldiers answered their signal, and shouted to
+them.
+
+Father Meraut looked puzzled. "That's not French," he said; "I
+can't understand what they say. But they have on French uniforms!
+I wonder what regiment it can be. I'm going to find out."
+
+"We're not far from Fontanelle now," said Mother Meraut; "don't
+you think we'd better go on?"
+
+"We can't get there without stopping somewhere to eat, anyway,"
+said Father Meraut. "It's already eleven o'clock, and I'd rather
+find out about the soldiers than eat." So they tied the Ark to a
+willow tree and went ashore.
+
+In a moment more they were in a city of soldiers, and Father
+Meraut was making friends with some of the men who were lounging
+near the cook-house, sniffing the savory smell of soup which
+issued from it in appetizing gusts. Pierre and Pierrette sniffed
+too, and even Mother Meraut could not help saying appreciatively,
+"That cook knows how to make soup." Pierre laid his hand upon his
+stomach and smacked his lips. "Pierre," said his mother,
+reprovingly, "where are your manners, child?"
+
+At that moment two soldiers were passing--one a tall, thin man,
+and one much smaller. They paused and laughed, and the tall man
+laid his hand on his stomach, too, and smacked his lips.
+
+"Are you hungry, kid?" he said genially to Pierre. Pierre looked
+blank.
+
+The short man punched the tall man in the ribs. "Don't you see
+he's French," he said derisively. "Did you think you were back
+home in Illinois? Why don't you try some of your parley-voo on
+him? You're not getting on with the language; here's your chance
+for a real Parisian accent."
+
+"Oh, g'wan," answered the tall man. "Try your own French on him!
+I guess it won't kill him; he looks strong."
+
+The short man came nearer to Pierre and shouted at him as if he
+were deaf. "Avvy-voo-doo faim?"
+
+Pierre withdrew a step nearer his mother and Pierrette. "Je ne
+comprends pas!" he said politely. "Pardon."
+
+The tall man took off his cap and rumpled his hair. "Try it
+again, Jim," he said, "even if he is scared. They look to me like
+refugees, and as if a good bowl of soup wouldn't strike their
+insides amiss, but your French would stampede a herd of
+buffaloes!"
+
+"Try it yourself, then," said the short man, grinning.
+
+The tall man sat down on a box at the door of the tent and
+beckoned to Pierre. "I say, kid," he began, "avvy-voo-doo-fam--
+fam?" He rubbed his stomach in expressive pantomime.
+
+"Mamma," cried poor puzzled Pierre, "he asks me if I have a wife,
+and rubs his stomach as if he had a stomach-ache. What does he
+mean?"
+
+Mother Meraut came forward, trying hard not to laugh. "Que voulez-
+vous, Messieurs?" she said politely.
+
+The tall man was on his feet instantly with his cap in his hand.
+"You see, ma'am," he began, "we're from the States-des Etats-
+Unis! We've come here to fight le Boche--savez-vows? --combattre
+le Boche!" He waved his arms frantically and made a motion as if
+shooting with a gun.
+
+A smile broke over Mother Meraut's face, and she held out both
+hands. "Les Americains!"she cried joyfully, "des Etats-Unis, dans
+l'uniforme de la France! Mais maintenant nous exterminons le
+Boche!" She called Pierrette and Pierre to her side. "These are
+Americans," she explained in French, "come from the United States
+of America to fight with us. Shake hands with them."
+
+The Twins obeyed shyly, and when their Father rejoined the family
+a few moments later, their friendship had progressed to such an
+extent that Pierre was seated on one side of the tall man and
+Pierrette on the other, and they were all three studying a French
+phrase-book. The short man, called Jim, was gesticulating wildly,
+and talking to Mother Meraut, and she, good soul, looked so wise,
+and said "Oui" and "Non," and nodded her head so intelligently to
+encourage him, that he never suspected that she did not
+understand one word in ten, and cast triumphant glances at the
+tall man to see if he was observing his success.
+
+At this moment a French Captain came by. The men sprang to their
+feet, clicked their heels together, and saluted. Father Meraut
+stiffened into military position and saluted also. The officer
+returned the salute, then stopped and spoke to him. "You are a
+soldier of France, I see," he said. "Where did you get your
+wound?"
+
+"With Joffre, at the Marne, mon Capitaine," answered Father
+Meraut, proudly. And then he told the Captain of his being
+brought wounded to the Cathedral in Rheims, of its bombardment
+and burning, and of his rescue by Pierre and Pierrette.
+
+The Captain turned to the Americans and said to them in English:
+"We have here three heroes of France instead of one! These
+children have lived under constant fire since last September, and
+they rescued their wounded father from the burning Cathedral of
+Rheims at the risk of their own lives." The Americans saluted
+Father Meraut, then they saluted Pierre and Pierrette, while
+Mother Meraut stood by, beaming with pride.
+
+"We will ask them to dine with us as our guests," said the
+Captain, and, turning to Father Meraut, he spoke again in French.
+"This is the Foreign Legion," he said. "It is made up of friends
+of France, brave men of different countries who came voluntarily
+to fight with us against the Boche. Here they receive special
+training under French officers before going to the front. These
+Americans have only just come. They do not know much French, but
+they wish you to dine with them."
+
+Ah, what a day that was for Pierre and Pierrette! Their story was
+passed about from one to another, and, instead of being homeless,
+wandering refugees, they found themselves suddenly treated as
+distinguished guests, by real soldiers. Pierre swelled with
+pride, and if he had only been able to speak their language, how
+glad he would have been to tell the Americans about the return of
+the French to Rheims, the green poster, Madame Coudert, and many
+other things! Alas, he could only eat his soup and gaze about him
+at all the activities that were going on in camp. When at last it
+was time for them to go, it was with the greatest difficulty that
+Pierre could be torn away from his new-found friends.
+
+"Come again, old pal," said the tall man, slapping Pierre
+cordially on the back as he said good-by. "Come again and see
+your Uncle Sam! Come and bring your family!"
+
+Pierre grinned, although he did not understand a word, shook
+hands, and ran down the river-bank to join his parents and
+Pierrette, who were already climbing into the boat.
+
+"Jim" and "Uncle Sam" looked after them as the Ark swung out into
+the stream. "Au revoir," shouted Pierre, waving his hand. "Vive
+la France!" And back came the reply like an echo, "You bet your
+life, vive la France!"
+
+
+
+X. FONTANELLE
+
+The shadows were beginning to lengthen across the valley as the
+Ark rounded a bend in the stream and the little church spire of
+Fontanelle came into view. "There it is--at last!" cried Mother
+Meraut. "Thank God, something of the village still stands!" She
+gazed eagerly into the distance. "And there is the Chateau," she
+added joyfully, pointing to a large gray stone building half
+hidden by a fringe of trees. "Oh, surely things are not going to
+be so bad as I had feared. Hurry! hurry! It seems as though my
+heart must take wings and fly before my body, now that we are so
+near!"
+
+Father Meraut bent to the oars. "I will stay with the boat while
+you and the children go to the village," he said, when, a few
+moments later, he found a favorable spot to land.
+
+Mother Meraut was out of the boat almost before it was beached,
+the Twins sprang out after her, and the three started up the road
+to the village on a run. Groves of trees just bursting into leaf
+lay between them and the one street of the little town, and it
+was not until they had passed it that they could tell how much
+damage had been done. The sight that met their eyes as they
+entered the village was not reassuring, but, hoping against hope,
+they ran on to the little house which had been Mother Meraut's
+childhood home. At the threshold they paused, and the tears which
+Mother Meraut had resolutely refused to shed when she had said
+good-by to her own home in Rheims fell freely as she gazed upon
+the ruins of the home of her parents. The house was empty, the
+windows were gone, the door was wrenched from its hinges, and the
+roof was open to the sky. The whole village was in much the same
+condition. Every house was empty, the street deserted.
+
+Neither Mother Meraut nor the Twins said a word. With heavy
+hearts they turned from the gaping doorway and started toward the
+Chateau, which lay half a mile beyond the village. Not a soul did
+they meet until they arrived at the great gate which marked the
+entrance to the park, and then they saw that the Chateau too had
+suffered. It had been partly burned out, but as its walls were
+standing and one wing looked habitable, their spirits rose a
+little. At the gate a child was playing. They stopped. "Can you
+tell me, ma petite," said Mother Meraut, her voice trembling,
+"whether there is any one here by the name of Jamart?"
+
+"Mais--oui," answered the child, surveying the strangers with
+curiosity. "Voila!" She pointed a stubby finger toward the
+Chateau, and there, just disappearing behind a corner of the
+wall, was the bent figure of an old woman carrying a pail of
+water.
+
+With a cry of joy, Mother Meraut sprang forward, and Pierre and
+Pierrette for once in their lives, run as they would, could not
+keep up with her. She fairly flew over the ground, and when the
+Twins at last reached her side, the pail of water was spilled on
+the ground, and the two women were weeping in each other's arms.
+An old man now came toward them and the children flung themselves
+upon him. "Grandpere! Grandpere!" they shouted, and then such
+another embracing as there was!
+
+Grand'mere kissed the Twins, and Grandpere hugged Mother Meraut,
+and then, because the tears were still running down their cheeks,
+Grandpere pointed to the overturned pail, and the water flowing
+in little wiggling streams through the dust. "Come, dear hearts,"
+he cried, "are these your tears? Weep no more, then, lest we have
+a flood after our fire! This is a time to rejoice! Wipe your
+eyes, my Antoinette, and tell us how you came here. It is as if
+the sky had opened to let down three angels--and where, then, is
+Jacques?"
+
+By this time a group of people had gathered about them--the
+little remnant of the old prosperous village of Fontanelle. "Here
+we are, you see," said Grandpere, "all that are left of us. Every
+able-bodied young woman was driven away by the Germans to work in
+their fields--while ours lie idle. Every able-bodied man is in
+the army. There are only twenty-seven of us left--old women,
+children, and myself. There you have our history."
+
+Mother Meraut shook each old friend by the hand, looked at all
+the babies and children, and proudly showed her Twins to them in
+return, before she said a word about the sorrows they had endured
+in Rheims, and the desperation which had at last driven them from
+their home. The people listened without comment. They had all
+suffered so much that there was no room left in their hearts for
+new grief, but when she told them of the boat and her lame
+husband they rejoiced with her that she had the happiness at
+least of a united family. There was plenty of room in their
+hearts for joy! "Come with us," they said. "We cannot be poorer.
+Our cattle are driven away; we have no strong laborers to till
+our fields, no seeds to plant in them. We live in one wing and
+the outhouses of the Chateau, but hope is not yet dead, and your
+hands are strong. Your husband, too, can help, and we shall be at
+least no worse off for your being here."
+
+Grand'mere spoke. "We live in the cow-stalls of the stable," said
+she. "It is not so bad; there is still hay in the loft, and there
+are other stalls not occupied."
+
+Mother Meraut crossed herself. "If the Blessed Mother of Our Lord
+could live in a stable," she said, "such shelter is surely good
+enough for us."
+
+Father Meraut, sitting patiently in the boat, was surprise, a
+little later as he looked anxiously toward the village, to see a
+crowd of people coming toward him, waving caps and hands in
+salutation. Before the others ran Pierre and Pierrette, and when
+they reached him they poured forth a jumble of excited words,
+from which he was able to gather that Grandpere and Grand'mere
+were alive and well, and that there was a place for them to stay.
+He got out of the boat to greet the people, and their willing
+hands took the bundles and helped hide the Ark in the bushes, and
+the whole company then started back to the Chateau, Grandpere
+lingering behind the others to keep pace with the slow progress
+of Father Meraut.
+
+When Grand'mere, the Twins, and their Mother reached the stable
+they took their bundles from the hands of their friends, and went
+in to inspect their new home. The stable had been swept and
+scrubbed until it was as clean as it could be made. The large box
+stall served as a bedroom for Grand'mere and Grandpere. Above
+their bed of hay, covered with old blankets and quilts, was hung
+a wooden crucifix. This, with two boxes for seats, was all the
+furniture it contained. A few articles of clothing hung about on
+nails, and in the open space before the stalls a stove was
+placed, the pipe running through a pane of glass in a window near
+by.
+
+When Grandpere and Father Meraut arrived, Mother Meraut met them
+at the door. "Behold our new apartment!" she said, and she led
+her husband to one of the clean stalls, where she had already
+begun to set up housekeeping. The Twins were at that moment in
+the loft overhead, getting hay for their beds, and Jacqueline,
+exhausted by her journey, had been put to bed in the manger.
+
+Father Meraut looked about. "This is not bad for the summer," he
+said, "and who knows what good luck may come to us by fall?
+Perhaps the Germans will be driven out of France by that time,
+and surely we shall be able to do some planting even now."
+
+"We have dug up the ground for gardens as best we could with the
+few tools we have," said Grandpere. "The government would send us
+seeds, but the roads are very bad, and we have no horses, and
+supplies are hard to get even though we have money to pay for
+them. The nearest town where provisions can be obtained lies six
+miles below, at the mouth of the river, and it is very little one
+can carry on one's back."
+
+"Is there no way to get help from the soldiers' camp?" asked
+Father Meraut. "They must get supplies."
+
+"Yes, but they cannot of themselves at this time take care of the
+civilian population," said Grandpere. "There are many villages in
+the same condition, and the soldiers' business is to fight for
+France."
+
+"True," said Father Meraut. Then he exclaimed: "I have it! The
+Ark! It will indeed be our salvation as it was Father Noah's."
+
+Grandpere looked anxiously at Mother Meraut and touched his
+forehead. "He is not mad?" he asked.
+
+She laughed. "The name of our boat is the Ark," she explained.
+"We can use it to go down the river to buy provisions if there
+are any to be had."
+
+Grand'mere, who had been listening, looked cautiously about, then
+felt under the straw of her bed and brought out a stocking.
+"See!" she said. "I have money. The others have money too, but of
+what use is money when there is nothing to buy and no place to
+buy it?"
+
+"We must find a place to buy things," said Mother Meraut with
+decision. "Grandpere and Jacques can take the Ark and go down the
+river on a voyage of discovery, and bring back the supplies that
+we most need."
+
+After supper the whole village gathered about the stable door to
+hear all the news which the Meraut family had brought from the
+outside world. For months they had not seen a newspaper, and
+there had been no visitors in Fontanelle. And when Father Meraut
+had finished telling them all the story of Rheims, of the burning
+of the Cathedral, of the miraculous safety of the statue of Saint
+Jeanne, of his own escape, and the final destruction of the roof
+over their heads, and their flight from the city, the pressing
+needs of the little village and his and Grandpere's proposed
+voyage were discussed, and it was very late when at last the
+people separated and the little village settled down for the
+night.
+
+
+
+XI. A SURPRISE
+
+The next morning the whole village was up early, and plans were
+perfected for the voyage of Father Meraut and Grandpere. A long
+list of necessary articles was made out, and the money for their
+purchase safely hidden away in their inside pockets. They were
+just about to start down the road to the river, when suddenly a
+wonderful thing happened. Right through the great gate of the
+Chateau rumbled a large motor truck with an American flag
+fluttering from the radiator! It was driven by a strange young
+woman in a smart gray uniform. Beside her on the driver's seat
+sat an older woman dressed the same way and carrying in her hand
+a black medicine-case.
+
+The girl stopped her engine, climbed down to the ground, and
+approached the astonished people of Fontanelle: "Bon jour," she
+said, smiling. Then in excellent French she explained her errand.
+"We are Americans," she said, and at that name every face smiled
+back at her. "We have come to help you restore your homes.
+America loves and admires the French people, and since we women
+cannot fight with you, we wish at least to help in the
+reconstruction of your beautiful France. Your government has
+given us permission to start our work here, and has promised help
+from the soldiers whose camp is near. The money we bring from
+America will purchase materials, and with your labor and the help
+of the soldiers we shall soon see what can be done."
+
+For a moment after she had ceased speaking there was silence. The
+people of Fontanelle were too astonished for words. So much good
+fortune after all their sorrow left them stunned. It was Pierre
+who first found his voice. He took off his cap, swung it in the
+air and shouted, "Vive l'Amerique," at the top of his lungs, and
+"Vive l'Amerique," chorused the whole village, relieved to be
+able to vent their feelings in sound.
+
+Mademoiselle laughed. "Vive la France," she answered, and then,
+turning to the truck, she cried, "Come and see what we have in
+our little shop on wheels. But first let me introduce to you Dr.
+Miller. She is an American doctor who has come to take care of
+any who may be sick."
+
+The Doctor had already climbed down from her high seat and was
+opening the back of the truck. She smiled and shook hands with
+the people. "Is there not something here you wish to buy?" she
+asked. "The prices are plainly marked."
+
+Everybody now crowded about the truck, and in it,--oh, wonderful,-
+-piled on the floor and hanging from the top and sides, were the
+very things for which they had been longing so eagerly! There
+were hoes, and shovels, and rakes, and garden seeds of all kinds.
+There were bolts of cloth and woolen garments and wooden shoes,
+and yarn for knitting. There were even knitting-needles! And,
+best of all, there was food, food such as they had not seen in
+many weary months. Ah, it was indeed marvelous what that truck
+contained!
+
+The buying began at once, and never before had any one been able
+to purchase so much for a franc! Soon there was nothing left in
+the truck but some bedding and other articles belonging to the
+Doctor and Mademoiselle, as the people at once began to call her.
+
+"Will you not come with me to my apartment in the stable?" said
+Mother Meraut cordially to the two women. "You must be tired from
+your journey."
+
+"We must first see the Commandant at the camp," said the Doctor,
+"and then we shall be happy if you will find some lunch for us.
+It is necessary to see at once if our houses have come."
+
+"Your houses!" cried Pierre, so surprised that he quite forgot
+his manners. "But, Madame, it is not possible that you carry your
+houses with you like the snails?"
+
+The Doctor laughed. "Not just like the snails," she said; "our
+houses have been sent on ahead of us in sections, with the army
+supplies, and are no doubt here in the care of the Commandant."
+
+"Go, my Pierre, conduct them to the camp," said his Mother, "and
+when you come back," she added, turning to the two women, "I will
+have ready for you the best that my poor house affords." The
+Doctor and Mademoiselle thanked Mother Meraut, and then,
+following Pierre, started down the river road toward the camp a
+mile or more away.
+
+The next few days seemed to Pierre and Pierrette, and indeed to
+all the inhabitants of Fontanelle, little less than a series of
+miracles. In the first place, the Doctor and Mademoiselle had
+scarcely finished the good lunch which Mother Meraut had waiting
+for them on their return from camp, when a great truck, loaded
+with sections of the portable houses, entered the great gate of
+the Chateau. It was followed by a detachment of soldiers from the
+Foreign Legion, sent by the Commandant to erect them. The
+soldiers were also Americans, and Pierre and Pierrctte were
+delighted to find that both "Jim" and "Uncle Sam" were among
+them. Indeed Uncle Sam was in command of the squad, and when he
+presented himself and his men to the Doctor and Mademoiselle, he
+explained that the Commandant had detailed Americans to this
+duty, as he thought that they would more easily understand what
+the ladies wished to have done.
+
+The whole place now swarmed with people working as busily as bees in a hive. By
+night one house was fit to be occupied. The following night two
+more had been erected, and the soldiers had laid tent floors in
+all of them. The day after that six more young women in gray
+came, bringing more supplies. Under the generalship of the
+Doctor, Mother Meraut was installed in the carriage-house which
+opened from the stable, and here she prepared meals for her
+family and for all the new-comers as well. The Doctor established
+a dispensary in one room of the Chateau, and Mademoiselle opened
+a store in the basement, keeping there for sale a large quantity
+of the supplies which had been brought by the six young women.
+Father Meraut and Grandpere worked hard on the gardens, assisted
+by Pierre and Pierrette and any other person in the village who
+was capable of wielding a hoe. Soon people began to come in from
+the neighboring hamlets, bringing their sick babies to the Doctor
+for treatment. The great truck was loaded with supplies received
+through the Army Service and the Red Cross, and the young women
+took turns in driving the "Shop on Wheels" into other, less
+favored districts, to start there work similar to that begun at
+Fontanelle.
+
+Uncle Sam and Jim came so often to the village that they were
+soon on friendly terms with every one in it. They acted as
+emissaries between the camp and the village, and if anything was
+needed which was beyond the power of these determined women to
+supply, Uncle Sam and Jim seemed always by some miracle to
+accomplish it. One day the Doctor said to Jim "I wish there were
+some way of getting a good cow here. These little children cannot
+get rosy and strong without fresh milk, and they haven't had any
+since the Germans drove away their cows."
+
+A week later Jim appeared at the Chateau gate leading a cow!
+There was a card tied to one horn. The Doctor removed it and
+read, "To Dr. Miller for the little children of Fontanelle."
+
+"It's from the Commandant," said Jim, beaming with pride.
+
+The cow proved such a success, and the babies and young children
+showed at once such improvement, that the Doctor determined that
+they should have not only milk but fresh eggs, and Mademoiselle
+was sent to Paris to make investigations, and, if possible, place
+an order for more cows and some hens. Upon her return she
+announced that a load of live-stock from southern France would
+soon arrive at the nearest railroad station, five miles away.
+
+"It's going to be a regular menagerie," said Mademoiselle, when
+she told Mother Meraut about it. "There will be two more cows,
+two pigs, a pair of goats, ten pairs of rabbits, and sixty
+fowls."
+
+"Mercy upon us!" cried Mother Meraut. "Where in the world can we
+put them all? Must we move out of our apartment to admit the
+cows?"
+
+"No," laughed Mademoiselle, "we must find another way to take
+care of them. The cows can stay out of doors now, and there is
+grass to feed them and the goats. They can all be tethered by
+ropes, if necessary, but we must find a secure place to keep the
+pigs and the rabbits, and the chicken-house must be mended and
+put in order for the fowls."
+
+"But Madame Corbeille now resides in the chicken-house. What will
+become of her and her children?" cried Mother Meraut.
+
+"Easy enough," said Mademoiselle; "there is still room in your
+stable, is there not? For example, there is the granary! It will
+do excellently for the Corbeilles. Pierre and Pierrette will help
+build the rabbit-hutch, I know, and there we are, all provided
+for!"
+
+So it was arranged, and that afternoon another family came to
+live under the same roof with the Merauts. Grandpere, with his
+new hammer and some nails, mended the chicken-house, and then
+helped Pierre and Pierrette build enclosures for the rabbits and
+pigs out of stones and rubble from the fallen walls.
+
+At last the day came when all the creatures were to arrive, and
+Mademoiselle arranged that the Twins, Mother Meraut, and four of
+her own party of young women should go to the railroad station to
+get them. The great truck was brought out, ropes were then thrown
+in, and all the people who composed what Mademoiselle called the
+"Reception Committee" climbed in and sat on the floor, while
+Mademoiselle and the Doctor occupied the driver's seat. The
+soldiers had done some work on the roads, so they were not as bad
+as they had been earlier in the spring; but they were still bad
+enough, and the people in the truck were bounced about like
+kernels of corn in a popper.
+
+"Now," said Mademoiselle, when they arrived at the station, "the
+fowls and the rabbits will have to go back in the truck. That
+will be easy, for they came in crates; but the cows, the goats,
+and the pigs must be either led or driven."
+
+"It sounds simple enough," said the Doctor, "but have any of you
+ever known any cows or pigs? Do you know how to manage them?"
+
+
+"I have an acquaintance with cows," said Mother Meraut, "but to
+goats and pigs I am a stranger."
+
+"Very well," said Mademoiselle, "Mother Meraut shall lead the way
+with the cows. You, Kathleen and Louise," she said, turning to
+two of the gray-uniformed girls, "you shall attend the goats.
+Mary and Martha may tackle the pigs. Pierre and Pierrette will
+serve excellently as short-stops in case any of our live-stock
+gets away, and the Doctor and I will bring up the rear."
+
+"It's going to be a regular circus!" said Kathleen. "I feel as if
+we ought to wear spangles and be led by a band."
+
+"We haven't any clown, though," said Martha.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder," said Mary, "if we'd all look like clowns in
+this parade."
+
+The car with the creatures in it was standing on a side track,
+and the station agent, looking doubtfully at the girls, led the
+way to it, and after the rabbits and fowls had been loaded into
+the truck, placed a gangplank for the cows to walk down, and
+opened the door of the car. But nothing happened; the cows
+obstinately refused to step down the plank.
+
+"Here's a rope," said Mademoiselle, at last, throwing one up to
+the agent. "I hoped we shouldn't need it, but I guess we do."
+
+The agent fixed the rope to the horns of one of the cows, and
+threw the other end to Mademoiselle. "Now," said he, "pull gently
+to begin with."
+
+Mademoiselle, pale but valiant, pulled, quietly at first, then
+harder. The cow put her head down, braced her feet and backed.
+
+"Come on," cried Mademoiselle to the others, "we'll all have to
+pull together."
+
+Any one who could get hold of it seized the rope.
+
+"I never played 'pom pom pull away' with a cow before," quavered
+Louise. "I--I--don't feel sure she knows the rules of the game!"
+
+"She'll soon learn," said Mademoiselle, grimly. "Don't welch.
+Now, then, one--two--three--pull!"
+
+At the word, they all leaned back and pulled. The cow, yielding
+suddenly, shot out of the car like a cork out of a champagne
+bottle, and the girls attached to the rope went down like a row
+of bricks. The rope flew out of their hands, and the cow went
+careering down the track with the rope dangling wildly after her,
+while the other cow, fired by her example, came bawling after.
+When they found grass by the roadside they became reasonable at
+once. Mother Meraut then took charge of them, and, as Kathleen
+remarked, "that ended the first movement." The second began when
+the goats were unloaded. Mademoiselle took no chances with them.
+She got the agent to put ropes on them in the first place, and
+Kathleen and Louise, cautiously advancing to the plank, held up
+propitiatory offerings of grass.
+
+"That 's right," laughed Mademoiselle, "leading citizens with
+bouquets! Perhaps a speech of welcome might help. They aren't the
+first old goats to be received that way."
+
+"Hush!" implored Louise. "My knees are knocking together so I can
+hardly stand up now, and suppose they should butt!"
+
+"In the words of the immortal bard 'butt me no butts,'" murmured
+Kathleen, as they reached the gang-plank.
+
+The agent, having attached the rope and released the goats from
+their moorings, stood back and gave them full access to the open
+door, holding the other end of the rope firmly in his hands. "You
+can take the ropes when they are safely down the plank," he cried
+gallantly. "They need a man to handle them."
+
+"Oh, thank you," said Kathleen and Louise with one voice.
+
+The goats accepted the suggestion of the open door at once and
+galloped down the gang-plank with such reckless speed that the
+agent lost his footing and came coasting down after them. "Mille
+tonneurs!" he exclaimed, as he reached the end of the gang-plank
+and struck a bed of gravel. "Those goats are possessed of the
+devil!"
+
+The Doctor was beside him in an instant. "I hope you are not
+injured," she cried. "Is there anything I can do for you? I am a
+doctor."
+
+"No, Madame," said the agent, bowing politely, as he got himself
+on his feet again, "I am hurt only in my pride, and you have no
+medicine for that!"
+
+"Oh," cried Mademoiselle, "how brave it was of you! It's as you
+say--they need a man to manage them!"
+
+The station agent looked at the goats, who were now grazing
+peacefully, attended by Kathleen and Louise, and then, a little
+thoughtfully, at Mademoiselle. "It is indeed better that a man
+should take these risks," he said, throwing out his chest. "And
+there are still the pigs! I doubt not they are as full of demons
+as the Gadarene Swine themselves!"
+
+"What should we do without your help?" said Mademoiselle. "The
+pigs cannot be roped!"
+
+"No," said the agent sadly, "they cannot." He considered a
+moment. Then he motioned to Pierre and Pierrette, who were
+standing with Mary and Martha at a respectful distance. "Come
+here, all of you," he said, addressing them from the top of the
+gang-plank; "pigs must be taken by strategy. I am an old soldier.
+I will engineer an encircling movement. Mademoiselle; will you
+stand here at the left, and, Madame la Docteur, will you station
+yourself at my right? The rest of you arrange yourselves in a
+curved line extending westward from Madame. Then I will release
+the pigs, and you, watching their movements, will head them off
+if they start in the wrong direction. Voila! We will now
+commence."
+
+He went back into the car, and in another moment the pigs,
+squealing vociferously, thundered down the gang-plank, gave one
+look at the "encircling movement," and, wheeling about, instantly
+dashed under the car and out on the other side into an open
+field. It was not until they had made a complete tour of the
+village, pursued by the entire personnel of the "encircling
+movement" that they were at last turned into the Fontanelle road.
+
+"This isn't--the way--this parade--was advertised!" gasped
+Kathleen, as she struggled with her goat in an effort to take her
+appointed place in the caravan. "The--cows--were to--go--first!"
+
+"Never mind," answered Louise cheerfully, as she pulled her goat
+into the road. "A little informality will be overlooked, I'm
+sure."
+
+Mother Meraut followed them with the cows, and last of all
+Mademoiselle and the Doctor climbed into the truck and brought up
+the rear of the procession, with all the roosters crowing at the
+top of their lungs.
+
+There is not time to tell of all the adventures that befell them
+on the eventful journey back to Fontanelle. One can merely guess
+that it must have been full of excitement, since the Reception
+Committee did not reach the village with their charges until some
+time after dark. Mother Meraut was worried because she was not
+home in time to get a hot supper for the tired girls, but when
+they arrived they found that Grand'mere had stepped into the
+breach, and had made steaming hot soup for every one. Grandpere
+and Father Meraut took charge of the live-stock, and Mother
+Corbeille milked the cows.
+
+As they dragged themselves wearily to bed that night, Kathleen
+decorated Mademoiselle with a huge cross,--cut out of paper,--
+which she pinned upon her nightgown. "For extreme gallantry," she
+explained, "in leading your forces into action in face of a
+fierce charge by two goats, and for taking prisoner two
+rebellious pigs!" Then she saluted ceremoniously and tumbled into
+bed.
+
+
+
+XII. MORNING IN THE MEADOW
+
+As summer came on, life seemed less and less sad to the people of
+Fontanelle. With the coming of the Americans the outlook had so
+changed that, although the war was not yet over, they could look
+forward to the future with some degree of hope. The news brought
+from Rheims by occasional refugees was always sad. The Germans
+con tinued to shell the defenseless city, and the Cathedral
+sustained more and more injuries, but the beautiful stained-glass
+windows had been carefully taken down, the broken pieces put
+together as far as possible, and the whole shipped to safer
+places in France. The statue of Jeanne d'Arc within the church
+had also been taken from its niche, while the one before the
+Cathedral doors still remained unharmed by shot and shell.
+
+It comforted Mother Meraut to think of that valiant figure
+standing alone amid such desolation. She had other things to
+comfort her as well. With food and fresh air the roses bloomed
+again in the cheeks of her children. Soon, too, the gardens began
+to yield early vegetables. In the morning, instead of hearing the
+sound of guns, they were awakened by bird-songs, or by the
+crowing of cocks and the bleating of goats. These were pleasant
+sounds to the people of Fontanelle, for they brought memories of
+peaceful and prosperous days, and the promise of more to come.
+
+The rebuilding of the village was begun by the end of June, and
+the sound of saws and hammers cheered them with the prospect of
+comfortable homes before cold weather should come again. The work
+proceeded slowly, for the workers were few, even though their
+good friend the Commandant gave them all the help he could. There
+were now a multitude of little chicks running about on what had
+been the stately lawns of the Chateau, and there were twenty new
+little rabbits in the rabbit-hutch. As the rabbits could not
+forage for themselves, it was necessary for others to forage for
+them, and this work fell to the lot of Pierre and Pierrette.
+
+One summer morning one of the roosters crowed very, very early,
+and the Twins, having no clock, supposed it was time for them to
+get up and go for fresh leaves and roots for the rabbits, as they
+did every day. They rose at once, and the sun was just peering
+above the eastern horizon as they came out of the stable door.
+They went to the rabbit-hutch, and the rabbits, seeing them,
+stood up on their hind legs and wiggled their noses hungrily.
+
+"Rabbits do have awful appetites," said Pierre, a little
+ruefully, as he looked down at the empty food-box. "Just think
+what a pile of things we brought them yesterday."
+
+"There's nothing to do but get them more, I suppose," answered
+Pierrette.
+
+"I know where there's just bushels and bushels of water-cress,"
+said Pierre, "but it's quite a long distance off. You know the
+brook that flows through the meadow between here and camp? It's
+just stuffed with it, and rabbits like it better than almost
+anything." 	
+
+"Let's go and get some now," said Pierrette. "We can take the
+clothes-basket and bring back enough to last all day."
+
+Pierre went for the basket, and the two children started down the
+road which ran beside the meadow toward the camp. It was so early
+that not another soul in the village was up. Even the rooster had
+gone to sleep again after his misguided crowing. One pale little
+star still winked in the morning sky, but the birds were already
+winging and singing, as the children, carrying the basket between
+them, set forth upon their quest.
+
+When they reached the brook, they set down the basket, took off
+their wooden shoes, and, wading into the stream, began gathering
+great bunches of the cress. They were so busy filling their
+basket that they did not notice the sun had gone out of sight
+behind a cloud-bank, and that the air was still with that strange
+breathless stillness that precedes a storm. It was not until a
+loud clap of thunder, accompanied by a flash of light ning,
+suddenly broke the silence, that they knew the storm was upon
+them. When they looked up, the meadow grasses were bend ing low
+before a sudden wind, and the trees were swaying to and fro as if
+in terror, against the background of an angry sky.
+
+"Wow!" said Pierre. "I guess we're in for it! We can't possibly
+get home before it breaks."
+
+"Oh," gasped Pierrette, as another peal of thunder shook the air,
+"I don't want to stay out in it. What shall we do?"
+
+Pierre looked about him. A little distance beyond the brook,
+toward the camp, there was a straw-stack with a rough straw-
+thatched shed beside it, half hidden under a group of small
+trees. Pierre pointed to it. "We'll leave the basket here," he
+said, "and hide under the straw until the storm is over. Then we
+can come back again, get it, and go home."
+
+Another clap of thunder, louder still, sent them flying on their
+way, and they did not speak again until they were under the
+shelter of the shed. The first big drops fell as they reached it,
+and then the storm broke in a fury of wind and water. The
+children cowered against the stack itself as far as possible out
+of reach of the driving rain.
+
+They had been there but a few moments, when they heard a new
+sound in addition to the roar of the wind and the patter of the
+rain upon the leaves. It was the dull tread of heavy footsteps,
+and they were surprised to see a man running toward the straw-
+stack, his head bent to shield his face from the rain, under the
+brim of an old hat. His clothes were rough and unkempt, and
+altogether his appearance was so forbidding that the children
+instinctively dived under the straw at the edge of the stack like
+frightened mice, and burrowed backward until they were completely
+hidden, though they could still peep out through the loose straw.
+
+The man reached the shed almost before they were out of view, but
+it was evident that he had not seen them, for he did not glance
+in their direction. He took off his hat and shook the rain-drops
+from it. Then he wiped his face and neck with a soiled
+handkerchief and sat down on the edge of a bench that had once
+been used for salting cattle. He sat still for a little while,
+with his feet drawn up on the bench and his hands clasping his
+knees, the better to escape the rain. Then he began to grow
+restless. He walked back and forth and peered out into the rain
+in the direction of the camp. The children were so frightened
+they could hear their own hearts beat, but they had been in
+danger so many times, and in so many different ways that they
+kept their presence of mind, and were able to follow closely his
+every move. Soon they heard the sound of more footsteps, and
+suddenly there dashed under the shed a soldier in the uniform of
+France. It was evident that the first man expected him, for he
+showed no surprise at his coming, and the two sat down together
+on the bench and began to talk.
+
+The wind had now subsided a little, and though they spoke in low
+tones the children could hear every word.
+
+"Whew!" said the soldier as he shook his rain-coat. "Nasty
+weather."
+
+"All the better for our purposes," answered the other man.
+"There's less chance of our being seen."
+
+"Not much chance of that, anyway, so early in the morning as
+this," answered the soldier, looking at his watch. "It's not yet
+four o'clock!"
+
+"Best not to linger, anyway," said the other man. "That Captain
+of yours has the eyes of a hawk. I was up at camp the other day
+selling cigarettes and chocolate, and he eyed me as if he was
+struck with my beauty."
+
+"I wish you'd keep away from camp," said the soldier,
+impatiently. "It isn't necessary, and you might run into some one
+who knew you back in Germany. There are all kinds of people in
+the Foreign Legion. I tell you, it isn't safe, and besides, I can
+get all the information we need without it."
+
+"All right, General," responded the other, grinning. "But have
+you _got_ it? That's the question. I expect that buzzard will be
+flying around again over this field in a night or so,--the moon
+is 'most full now, and the nights are light,--and I've got to be
+able to signal him just how to find the powder magazine and the
+other munitions. Then he can swoop right over there and drop one
+of his little souvenirs where it will do the most good and fly
+away home. I advise you to keep away from that section of the
+camp yourself."
+
+"Here is the map," said the soldier, drawing a paper from his
+pocket, "and there are also statistics as to the number of men
+and all I can find out about plans for using them. Take good care
+of it. It wouldn't be healthy to be found with it on you."
+
+The first man pocketed the paper. "That's all, is it?" he asked.
+
+"All for this time, anyway," answered the soldier.
+
+The man looked at him narrowly.
+
+"Well," said the soldier, "what's the matter? Don't I look like a
+Frenchman?"
+
+"You'd deceive the devil himself," answered the man with a short
+laugh. "No one would ever think you were born in Bavaria. Don't
+forget and stick up the corners of your mustache, though. That
+might give you away. When do you think you can get over to see
+that fort?"
+
+"I don't know," answered the soldier sharply, " but I'll meet you
+here day after to-morrow at the same hour. Auf Wiedersehen," and
+he was gone.
+
+After his departure, his companion lingered a moment, lit a
+cigarette, looked up at the sky, and, seeing that the shower was
+nearly over, strolled off in the opposite direction.
+
+The children, looking after him, saw him come upon their basket
+near the brook, examine it carefully, and then look about in
+every direction as if searching for the owners. Seeing no one, he
+gave it a kick and passed on. They watched him, not daring to
+move until he turned toward the river and was out of sight. Later
+they saw a boat come from the shelter of some bushes on the bank,
+and slip quietly down the stream with the man in it.
+
+When they dared move once more they crawled out from under the
+straw, and Pierrette said, "Well, what do you think of that?"
+
+"Think!" Pierre said, choking with wrath. "I think he's a
+miserable dog of a spy! They are both spies! And they are going
+to try to blow up the whole camp! You come along with me." He
+seized Pierrette by the hand, and the two flew over the wet
+meadow toward the distant camp.
+
+"Whatever should we do if we met that soldier?" gasped Pierrette,
+breathless with running and excitement.
+
+"Look stupid," said Pierre promptly. "He didn't see us, and he'd
+never dream we had seen him; but, by our blessed Saint Jeanne,
+this is where I get even with the Germans! Let's find Jim and
+Uncle Sam."
+
+Reveille was just sounding as they entered the camp and presented
+themselves at the door of Uncle Sam's tent. During the weeks that
+had elapsed since their arrival in France, Jim and Uncle Sam had
+acquired a fair working knowledge of the language, and, though it
+still remained a queer mixture of French and English, they and
+the children managed to understand each other very well.
+
+"Bonjour, kids!" cried Uncle Sam in astonishment, when he saw the
+two children at the tent door. "What on earth are you doing here?
+Don't you know visitors are not expected in camp at this hour?"
+
+"Sh--sh!" said Pierre, laying his finger on his lips. "Nobody
+must see us! We have important news!"
+
+Uncle Sam sat up in bed. "Why, I believe you have," he said,
+looking attentively. at their pale faces. "Just wait a minute
+while I get my clothes on. Here, you--Jim," he added, poking a
+recumbent figure in the adjoining cot. "Roll out! It's reveille!"
+
+Jim sat up at once and rubbed his eyes, and, after a hurried
+consultation, the two men turned the two children with their
+faces to the wall in one corner of the tent, while they made a
+hasty toilet in the other.
+
+"Now, then, out with it," said Uncle Sam a few moments later.
+"Que vooly-voo? What's up?"
+
+Jim sat down beside him on the edge of the cot, and the two men
+listened in amazement to the story the two children had to tell.
+When they had finished, Uncle Sam wasted no words. "Come with me
+to the Captain tooty sweet," he said. And Jim added, as he patted
+the Twins tenderly on the head, "By George, mes enfants, you
+ought to get the war cross for this day's work."
+
+A few moments more, and the children and Uncle Sam were ushered
+by an orderly into the presence of the Captain, who was just in
+the act of shaving. Uncle Sam's message to him had been so
+imperative that they were admitted at once to his presence, even
+though his face was covered with lather and he was likely to fill
+his mouth with soap if he opened it. Uncle Sam saluted, and the
+Twins, wishing to be as polite as possible, saluted too. The
+Captain returned the salute, and went on shaving as he listened
+to their story, grunting now and then emphatically instead of
+speaking, on account of the soap. When Pierre came to what the
+soldier had said under the shed, he was so much interested that
+he cut his chin.
+
+"So that's their program, is it?" he sputtered, soap and all,
+mopping his chin. "But how on earth did you happen to be in such
+a place as that at such an hour in the morning?"
+
+Pierre explained about the rabbits and the cress, and Uncle Sam
+added: "They're from Fontanelle. Their father is a soldier
+wounded at the Marne, and they lived under fire in Rheims for
+eight months before coming here. They're some kids, believe me!
+They know what war is."
+
+"Yes," said the Captain, "I remember them; they came up the river
+some weeks ago." Then he turned to the children. "Would you know
+that soldier if you were to see him again?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, yes," said the children.
+
+"Very well," said the Captain, "the men will go to breakfast
+soon. You stay with Sam and watch them, and if you see that man
+go by you step on Sam's foot. No one must see you do it. Be sure
+you don't make a mistake now," he added, "and if you really do
+unearth the rascal, it's the best day's work you ever did, for
+yourselves as well as for France. Sam, you report to me
+afterwards, and be sure you give no occasion for suspicion to any
+one."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Sam, and saluted. Pierre and Pierrette saluted
+also.
+
+The Captain returned the salute with ceremony. "You are true
+soldiers of France," he said to the Twins as they left his tent.
+
+
+If their comrades were surprised to see Uncle Sam standing with
+two children by his side while the others passed into the mess
+tent with cups and plates in hand, no one said anything. It was a
+little irregular to be sure--but then--Americans were always
+unexpected! For a long time the men filed by, and still there was
+no sign of the face they sought. At last, however, Pierre came
+down solidly on Uncle Sam's right foot, and at the same time
+Pierrette touched his left with her wooden shoe. There, right in
+front of them, carrying his plate and cup, and twirling his
+mustache, was the man they sought!
+
+The Twins stood still, and not by the quiver of an eyelash did
+they betray any excitement until the man had passed into the
+tent. Then Uncle Sam said to them, "Now you scoot for home, or
+your Mother will be worried to death! Tell your Father and Mother
+all about it, but don't tell another soul at present." The
+children flew back across the meadow, picked up their basket of
+cress, and when they reached the Chateau, fed the hungry rabbits.
+Then they found their Father and Mother and told them their
+morning's adventures.
+
+
+
+XIII. CHILDREN OF THE LEGION
+
+It must not be supposed, because things were more cheerful for
+the inhabitants of Fontanelle, that they had forgotten the war.
+They were reminded of it every day, not only by the presence of
+soldiers, but by the sound of distant guns, and by the visits of
+German airplanes. Often in the middle of the night an alarm would
+be given, and the people of the village would spring from their
+beds and seek refuge in the cellars of the. Chateau--that is, all
+but Kathleen; she obstinately refused to go, even when the Doctor
+reasoned with her. "Let me die in my bed," she pleaded. "It's
+better form. Our best people have always done it, and besides
+when I'm waked suddenly that way I'm apt to be cross." So, when
+the sound of the buzzing motor was heard in the sky, she simply
+drew the covers over her head, and stayed where she was, while a
+strange, half-clad procession, recruited from stables and
+granary, filed into the Chateau cellar. These raids were likely
+to occur on bright nights, and as the time of the full moon
+approached, the people of the village grew more watchful and
+slept less soundly.
+
+On the night following the adventure of the Twins in the meadow,
+though the moon shone, no aerial visitor appeared, nor did one
+come the next night after. Neither did any news from camp come to
+the village. Pierre and Pierrette longed to tell Mademoiselle and
+the Doctor their secret, but Uncle Sam had told them to share it
+with no one but their parents, and they knew obedience was the
+first requisite of a good soldier; so they said nothing, and
+nearly burst in consequence. They went no more to the meadow
+after cress, however. Mother Meraut saw to that. If they had gone
+there on the morning of the next day but one after their
+encounter with the spies, they would have had a still more
+thrilling expe rience, for at midnight Uncle Sam, Jim, and the
+Captain had quietly stolen away from camp and hidden themselves
+in the straw. There they stayed until in the gray of the early
+dawn they saw a boat come up the river, and the slouching figure
+of the spy stalk across the meadow to his rendez-vous under the
+shed. They stayed there until the soldier appeared, and until
+they had heard with their own ears the plan for signaling the
+German airplane that night, and for giving information which
+would en able the aviator to blow up their stores of powder and
+ammunition. Then, suddenly and swiftly, at a prearranged signal,
+the three men sprang from the straw, and the astonished spies
+found themselves surrounded and covered by the muzzles of three
+guns. They saw at once that resistance was useless, and sullenly
+obeyed the Captain's order to throw up their hands. They were
+then marched back to camp, turned over to the proper authorities,
+and the next morning at sunrise they met the fate of all spies
+who are caught.
+
+That was not the end of the affair, however, for, knowing that
+the airplane which the spy had referred to as the "Buzzard" was
+to be expected that night, and that the German aviator would look
+for signals from the straw-stack, plans were made for his
+reception, and this part of the drama was witnessed from the
+village as well as from the camp. The night was clear, and at
+about eleven o'clock the whirr of a motor was heard in the
+distance. The Doctor, who had returned late from a visit to a
+sick patient in an adjoining village, heard it, and at once gave
+the alarm. Out of their beds tumbled the sleepy people of
+Fontanelle, and, wrapping themselves in blankets or any garment
+they could snatch, they ran out of doors and gazed anxiously into
+the sky.
+
+Pierre and Pierrette, with their parents and grandparents, were
+among the first to appear. They saw the black speck sail swiftly
+from the east, and hover like a bird of ill omen over the
+meadows. No alarm sounded from the camp, but suddenly from the
+shadows three French planes shot into the air. Two at once
+engaged the enemy, while a third cut off his retreat. The battle
+was soon over. There were sharp reports of guns and blinding
+flashes of fire as the great machines whirled and maneuvered in
+the air, and then the German, finding himself outnumbered and
+with no way of escape, came to earth and was taken prisoner.
+
+"Three of 'em bagged, by George," exclaimed Jim to Uncle Sam,
+when the aviator was safely locked up in the guardhouse, "and all
+due to the pluck and sense of those two kids. If it hadn't been
+for them, the chances are we'd all have been ready for cold
+storage by this time. They've saved the camp--that's what they've
+done! There are explosives enough stored here to have blown every
+one of us to Kingdom-come!"
+
+"Right you are, Jim," replied Uncle Sam with hearty emphasis, "we
+surely do owe them something, and that's a cinch. Let's talk with
+the boys."
+
+That night Uncle Sam and Jim made eloquent use of all the French
+they knew as they sat about the camp-fire, and told the story of
+Pierre and Pierrette to their comrades in arms. Not only did they
+tell of their finding the spies and saving the camp from
+destruction, but of their Father, wounded at the Marne, of their
+experience in the Cathedral at Rheims, and of all they had
+suffered there, and especially of their plucky Mother whose
+spirit no misfortune could break. And when they had finished the
+tale, the men gave such a hearty cheer for the whole Meraut
+family that it was heard in the village a mile away, though no
+one there had the least idea what the noise was about.
+
+The next day Uncle Sam and Jim appeared in Fontanelle and told
+the story of the spies to the Doctor and Mademoiselle, and then
+they held a long private conference with Mother Meraut. The
+children were on pins and needles to know what they were talking
+about, and why Mother Meraut looked so happy afterward, but she
+only shook her head when they begged her to tell them, and said,
+"Someday you'll find out."
+
+Two days later an orderly rode into the Chateau gate on
+horseback, and inquired for Pierre and Pierrette Meraut. At the
+moment he arrived the Twins were feeding the rabbits, but they
+came running to the gate when their Mother called them, and the
+orderly handed them an envelope with their names on it in large
+letters. The Twins were so excited they could hardly wait to know
+what was inside. They had never before received a letter. Their
+Mother opened it and read the contents to the astonished
+children. This was the note:--
+
+"The Commandant and men of the Foreign Legion request the
+pleasure of the company of Pierre and Pierrette Meraut, and of
+all the people of Fontanelle at a birthday party to be held at
+Camp (of course the exact name of the camp has to be left out on
+account of the Censor) "on July 14th at 4 o'clock in the
+afternoon. R. S. V. P."
+
+The eyes of Pierre and Pierrette almost popped out of their heads
+with surprise. "Why, Mother," they cried, "that's our birthday!
+And it's Bastille Day too! Do you suppose it is the birthday of
+the Com- mandant also?"
+
+"Maybe," said their Mother, smiling. "Anyway it is the birthday
+of our dear France."
+
+The orderly smiled, too, and touched his hat. "Is there an
+answer?" he asked.
+
+"There will be," said Mother Meraut, "but first the others must
+be told."
+
+The Twins ran with their wonderful letter to the dispensary and
+told the Doctor. Then they found Mademoiselle, who, with
+Kathleen's assistance, was putting a new tire on one wheel of the
+truck. They found Louise mending a chicken-coop, and Mary and
+Martha sorting supplies in the storeroom. They found all the
+other people of the village, some in the garden and some working
+elsewhere, and every single one said they should be delighted to
+go.
+
+"Now," said Mademoiselle, when they returned to her and reported,
+"you must write your acceptance."
+
+The Twins looked blank. "Can't we just tell him?" they asked
+anxiously. "We can't write very well--not well enough to write to
+the Commandant."
+
+"Oh, but," said Mademoiselle, "I'm sure he will expect a letter,
+and you must just write the very best you can, and it will be
+good enough, I'm sure. Get writing-materials, and I will help
+you."
+
+At her direction Pierre brought paper and ink from her little
+house, and the two children sat down on the ground beside the
+truck.
+
+"Now, what shall we say?" asked Pierrette.
+
+"I know," said Pierre; "let's say: 'Thank you for asking us to
+your party. We are all coming. Amen!' Don't you think that would
+do?"
+
+Mademoiselle bent over her tire. "Yes," she said, "I think he
+will like that, but I'd both sign it if I were you."
+
+So the Twins signed it and put it in an envelope and gave it to
+the orderly, who promptly put it in his pocket, saluted, wheeled
+his horse, and galloped away toward camp.
+
+The days before the party were full of excitement for the Twins.
+They thought of nothing else, and how strange it was that
+Bastille Day and the Commandant's birthday both should be the
+same as theirs. Mother Meraut bought some cloth, and made
+Pierrette a new dress, and Pierre a new blouse, to wear on the
+great occasion, and when the day finally came, the children
+searched the fields to find flowers for a bouquet for the
+Commandant; since they had no other birthday gift to offer him.
+
+At three o'clock in the afternoon the whole village was ready to
+start. Mademoiselle drove the truck with the old people and
+little children sitting in it on heaps of straw. Kathleen was the
+driver of the Ford car, and had as passengers Father Meraut,
+because he was lame, and Grandpere because he was Grandpere, and
+the Twins because it was their birthday; and everybody else
+walked.
+
+When they reached the camp, they found Jim and Uncle Sam ready to
+act as guard of honor to conduct them to the Commandant, who,
+with the Captain beside him, waited to receive them beside the
+flagstaff at the reviewing-stand of the parade-ground. It seemed
+very strange to Pierre and Pierrette that they should walk before
+their parents, and even before the Doctor and Mademoiselle, but
+Uncle Sam and Jim arranged the procession, and placed them at its
+head. So, carrying their bouquet of flowers, they followed
+obediently where their escort led. "Now, kids," said Uncle Sam in
+a low voice as they neared the reviewing-stand, "walk right up
+and mind your manners. Salute and give him the bouquet, and speak
+your piece."
+
+"We haven't any piece to speak," quavered Pierrette, very much
+frightened, "except to wish him many happy returns of his
+birthday."
+
+Uncle Sam's eyes twinkled. "That'll do all right," he said; only
+of course he said it in French.
+
+The regiment was massed before the reviewing-stand as the little
+company came forward to meet their host, and when at last Pierre
+and Pierrette stood before the Commandant, with the beautiful
+flag of France floating over them, though they had been fearless
+under shell-fire, their knees knocked together with fright, and
+it was in a very small voice that they said, together, "Bonjour,
+Monsieur le Commandant, accept these flowers and our best wishes
+for many happy returns of your birthday."
+
+The Commandant took the flowers and smiled down at them. "It is
+not my birthday, my little ones," he said gently, "it is the
+birthday of our glorious France and of two of her brave soldiers,
+Pierre and Pierrette Meraut, as well, and the Foreign Legion is
+here to celebrate it! Come up here beside me." He drew them up
+beside him on the reviewing-stand and turned their astonished
+faces toward the regiment.
+
+"Men of the Foreign Legion," he said, "these are the children who
+discovered two spies, and by reporting them saved our camp from
+probable destruction." Then, turning again to the children, he
+said: "By your prompt and intelligent action you have prevented a
+terrible catastrophe. In recognition of your services the Foreign
+Legion desires to make you honorary members of the regiment, and
+France is proud to claim you as her children!" Then he pinned
+upon their breasts a cockade of blue, white, and red, the colors
+of France, and kissed them on both cheeks, the regiment meanwhile
+standing at attention.
+
+When he had finished the little ceremony, the men, responding to
+a signal from the Captain; burst into a hearty cheer. "Vive
+Pierre! Vive Pierrette! Vive tous les Meraut," they cried.
+
+For a moment the Twins stood stunned, petrified with
+astonishment, looking at the cheering men and at the proud
+upturned faces of their parents and the people of Fontanelle.
+Then Pierre was suddenly inspired. He waved his hat in salutation
+to the flag which, floated above them and shouted back to the
+regiment, "Vive la France!" and Pierrette saluted and kissed her
+hand. Then the band struck up the Marseillaise, and everybody
+sang it at the top of his lungs.
+
+It was a wonderful golden time that followed, for when the
+children had thanked the Commandant, all the people of Fontanelle
+were invited to sit on the reviewing-stand and watch the regiment
+go through the regular drill and extra maneuvers in honor of the
+day, and when that was over, the guests were escorted back to the
+mess tent, and there they had supper with the men. Moreover, the
+camp cook had made a magnificent birthday cake, all decorated
+with little French flags. It was cut with the Captain's own
+sword, and though there wasn't enough for the whole regiment,
+every one from Fontanelle had a bite, and Pierre and Pierrette
+each had a whole piece.
+
+When the beautiful bright day was over and they were back again
+in Fontanelle, the Twins found that even this was not the end of
+their joy and good fortune, for Mother Meraut told them that the
+regiment had put in her care a sum of money to provide for their
+education. "Children of such courage and good sense must be well
+equipped to serve their country when they grow up," the
+Commandant had said, and the men, responding to his appeal, had
+put their hands in their pockets and brought out a sum sufficient
+to make such equipment possible.
+
+More than that, Uncle Sam and Jim had two small uniforms made for
+them,--only Pierrette's had a longer skirt to the coat,--and on
+parade days and other great occasions they wore them to the camp,
+with the blue, white, and red cockades pinned proudly upon their
+breasts. Indeed, they became the friends and pets of the whole
+regiment, and were quite as much at home with the soldiers as
+with the people of Fontanelle.
+
+Then one day Uncle Sam had a letter from home in which there was
+wonderful news. It said that the city of Rheims had been
+"adopted" by the great, rich city of Chicago far away across the
+seas, and that some happy day when the war should be over and
+peace come again to the distracted world, Rheims should rise
+again from its ashes, rebuilt by its American friends.
+
+In this hope the Twins still live and work, performing their
+duties faithfully each day, like good soldiers, and praying
+constantly to the Bon Dieu and their adored Saint Jeanne that the
+blessings which have come to them may yet come also to all their
+beloved France.
+
+
+
+PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY
+
+KEY
+
+ale, care, am, arm, ask; eve, end; menu, ice, ill; old, obey,
+orb, odd; food; zh = z in azure; N = the French nasal. ' An
+apostrophe indicates a short sounding of the preceding consonant.
+
+_Proper Names_
+
+Aisne
+Amerique
+Boche
+Charly
+Corbeille
+Coudert
+Fifine
+Jacqueline
+Jacques
+Jeanne d'Arc
+Marseillaise
+Meraut
+Pierre
+Rheims
+Varennes
+Vesle
+
+
+_French Words and Phrases_
+
+Abbe
+
+Bon Dieu (Heavenly Father)
+
+Bonjour (Good-day; hello; how do you do?)
+
+chateau (castle)
+
+combattre le Boche (fight the Boche)
+
+grand'mere (grandmother)
+
+grandpere (grandfather)
+
+"Les Americains des Etats-Unis, duns l'uniforme de la France.
+Mais maintenant nous exterminons le Boche." ("Americans from the
+United States, in the uniform of France. Surely now we shall
+crush out the Boche.")
+
+Mille tonneurs! (Great heavens!)
+
+Que voulez-vous? (What do you wish?)
+
+Verger
+
+Vive (Long live)
+
+Vive la France (Long life to France!)
+
+Vive tous les Meraut (Long life to all the Meraut family.)
+
+"Auf Wiedersehen" (German: "Till we meet again," or "Good-bye.")
+
+"Lieb' Vaterland, macht ruhig sein" (German national anthem:
+"Dear Fatherland, be tranquil.")
+
+
+SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS
+
+The French Twins offers a valuable supplement to the study of
+current events. In the first place, there is no problem of
+arousing interest in the nation which this book represents.
+France and the French people have from the outbreak of the Great
+War compelled new and intense interest and sympathy from all
+Americans; and each fresh insight into the character, life, and
+ideals of the country is eagerly welcomed. Moreover, in any class
+there will be few children who cannot claim either a relative or
+a friend who has served in the War; and many, like Pierre and
+Pierrette Meraut, will have had soldier fathers, thereby creating
+a bond between themselves and the Merauts strong enough to
+guarantee the pupils' interest throughout the reading of the
+book. Like the other books of the "Twins Series," _The French
+Twins_ adapts itself readily to dramatization.
+
+In providing adequate background for the story, the teacher will
+find fertile resources in newspapers and magazines. _The Red
+Cross Magazine_, _The National Geographic Magazine_, the Boy
+Scout and the Girl Scout publications, are readily accessible and
+contain much valuable supplementary material for classroom use.
+The Foreign Legion, the Battles of the Marne, Joffre's visit to
+the United States, Rheims Cathedral, important events near the
+scenes of the story, etc., can be made clear and real to the
+children by the aid of maps, illustrations, and articles in these
+magazines, and by means of picture post-cards, and other material
+from other sources. The story of the founding of the Red Cross,
+the origin of its flag, etc., will help to vivify the incidents
+connected with this organization.
+
+As for French history, the two focus points are the stoniest of
+Joan of Arc and Bastille Day. Both furnish abundance of colorful
+detail and incident upon which to build the pupils' conceptions
+of the spirit and ideals of the French people. In the case of
+Bastille Day, correlation should be made between that day and our
+own Independence Day, comparing the French and American
+Revolutions and indicating the similar circumstances in the two
+movements. Lafayette's part in our War of the Revolution and
+America's payment of our debt to France in the Great War form
+another means of making familiar to the children the story of our
+historic friendship with France.
+
+While _The French Twins_ is a war story, soldiers and trenches
+and battle-fields are nevertheless not the main features; on the
+contrary, _The French Twins_ depicts the necessary part played by
+women, children, and old people during the War, and shows how the
+spirit and aims of the soldiers' families have been the same as
+those of the soldiers themselves. Self-control, endurance, and
+cheerfulness at home are proved to be as much a part of true
+bravery as fearlessness in battle. Since the soldier's part in
+the War has been held closely to everyone's attention, the
+reading of this story will supply a balancing view of the other
+side of war; and the pupils' perspective of the whole cannot fail
+to gain in scope.
+
+Books which may be commended to the teacher, for descriptions of
+various aspects of the Great War, are: Hay's _The First Hundred
+Thousand_; Nicolas's _Campaign Diary of a French Officer_;
+Aldrich's _A Hilltop on the Marne_; Hall's _High Adventure_ and
+_Kitcheners Mob_; Buswell's _Ambulance No. 10_; Haigh's _Life in
+a Tank_; Stevenson's _From "Poilu" to "Yank"_; two anonymous
+books, _The Retreat from Mons_ and _Friends of France_; Paine's
+_The Fighting Fleets_; and Root and Crocker's _Over Periscope
+Pond_.
+
+For children's reading, we suggest Mrs. Perkins's _The
+Belgian Twins_, Sara Cone Bryant's _I am an American_,
+Thwaites and Kendall's _History of the United States_,
+Tappan's _Little Book of the War_, and such compilations
+as _Stories of Patriotism_ and _The Patriotic Reader_.
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The French Twins
+by Lucy Fitch Perkins
+