The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-02-10

wrnE LED face, hi 3 pointed nose, long chin an
yr,low eyes. l shall always sac him ridn
like the wind, then stopping his rearing bors
under the arch in front of as, and calling on
to MS with voice like trumpet: Where
the governors house, sergeantf"
The iirst house at the right, quar- ter. m asteI
What is the newsW
-" The enemy is in Alsace!"
Those who have never seen such men-m Or
can have no idea of them. And then if yol
had heard the exclamation, THE enemy is IL
Alsace " it would have made you tremble.
The veterans had gone away; the sergeant
| as he saw the hussar fasten his horse at th,
governors door, and said to me: Ah, we'll
Father Moses, now we shall see the whites O
| their eyes ln
| He laughed, and the Others seemed pleased
AS for myself, set forth quickly, with my
| head bent, and in my terror repeating to my
self the words of the prophet:
" One post shall run to meet another, and one
messen ger to meet another, to show the king
| that his passages are stopped, and the reeds
they have burned with fire, and the men OF
war are affrighted.
they have remained in their holds, their might
hath failed, and the bars are broken.
Set ye mp standard in the land, blow the
trumpet among the nations, prepare the ma
tions against her, call together against her the
Kingdoms, appoint o captain against her.
And the land shall tremble and sorrow for
every purpose of the Lord shall be pei formed,
to make the land desolation without an in
habitantW
1 saw my ruin at hand-the destruction of
my hopes.
saw me come back, What is tine matter 7
Y0ur face is all drawn up. Something dreadful
has happened"
g Yes, Sorle," l said, as 1 sat down !; " the
time OF trouble has come Of which the prophet
spoke: The king of the south shall push at
attttT and htnE, of-ttt north shall come
against him like whirlwind: and he shall
enter into the countries and shall overflow and
pass over.'"
Tits ! said with my hands raised towards
heaven. Little Safel squeezed himself betwee
my knees, while Sore looked on, not knowing
what to say; and l told them that the Austrians
were in Alsaoe that the Bavsrians, swedes
russians and Russians were coming by hun
dreds of thousands; that a hussar had come
to announce all these calamities; that our
spirits OF wine were lost, and ruin was threat
ening us.
shed few tears, and neither Sorle nor safel
could comfort me.
1t was eight O'Clock. There was q great
commotion in the city. We heard the drum
beat and proclamations read it seemed as if
the enemy were already there.
One thing which l remember especially, for
governor ordered the inhabitants to empty
immediately their barns and graneries; and
that. while we were listening, large Alsatian
" sgon with two horses, with Baruch sitting on
the pole, and Zetfen behind on some straw
her infant in her arms, and her other child at
her side-turned suddenly into the street.
Ihey weIo coming to us for safety
The sight of them upset me, and raising nv
hands, exclaimed:
Lord, take from me all weakness! Thou |
'eest @ that need to live for the sake of these |
little ones. There fore be thou my strength, |
and let me not be cast DOWN. !
And l went down at once to receive them, |
Sorle and Safel following me. 1 took my
iauS Shter in my arms, and helped her to the |
ground, while sorle took the children, and Ba |
ruch exclaimed:
:" We came at the last minute The gate was |
closed as soon sc We had come in. There were
many others from Quatre-Vents and Saverne |
Tho had to stay outside"
God be praised, Baruch !" replied. "You |
ire all welcome, my dear children! / have |
lot much, am not rich hut what have, you |
iaVe-lt ls all yours. Come in -
And we went up stairs Zeffen, Sorle and |
AIRY ing the children, while Baruch stayed to
axe their things out of the wagon, and tber
10 came up.
The etroet was now full of straw and hay,
brown ont from tho lofts; there was ro wind,
nd the snow had stopped falling In q little
Vhile the shouts and proclamstions ceased.
Sorle hastened to serve up the remains of
ur reakfast, with bottle of wine and
'aruch' white he was eatiug1 told that there
Tas panic in Alsace, that the Austrians had
uraed Basic, and were advancing by forced
1arches upon Schlestadt, Neuf Brisach and
after having surrounded Hunin-
uen.
Everybody is escaping" said he. "They
re heeing TO tie mountain, taking their valu-
nto the woods. There is a rumor already that
ands of Cossacks have been seen at Mutzig,
ut that is hardly possible, as the army Of
tarshal Victor is on the Upper Rhine, and
ragoons are passing every day to join him.
low could they pass his lines without giving
sttleW
We were listening very attentively to these
hinge when the sergeant came in. He was
ust OFF duty, and stood outside of the door,
ooking at US with sstonishment.
took Zeffen by the hand, and said: "Ser.
cant, this is my daughter, this is my son-in-
aw, and these are my grandchildren, about
7hom l have told you. They know you, for 1
ave told them in my letters how much we
hink of you"
The sergeant looked at Zsffen. Father
loses" said he, "you have a handsome
and your son-in-law looks like
Then he took little Esdras from Zeffen's
rms, and lifted him up, and made q face at
i'm at which the child laughed, and every
ody was pleased. The other little one open
his eyes wide and looked on.
Ny children have come to stay with me-"
aid to the sergeant "you will excuse them
they make little noise in the hourf"
How Father Noses" he exclaimed. 81
7ill excuse everything Do not be concerned;