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

der, When some ono called me:
"Uey! Father Moses"
j turned aud saw ouT sergeant
We'll said he. laughing you have mad
your first attack you have brought us bacl
some provisions, Well and good !"
YES sergeant, but IT Is very sad"
"What, sad ? Thirty oxen, forty-fve COWS
some pigs and goats--it 10 magnifcentW
"To De sure, but If you had heard the crie
"Bahi bah :" said he. primo, Fathe
Moses, soldiers must live men must have
their rstions if they are going to fight hav,
often seen these things done in Germany and
SPAN and Italy; we must be strict "
We have been, sergeant" replied "but
if had been master, we should not have
| robbed these poor wretches they are in pi e.
| able condition enough already"
| You are too compassionate, Father Moses
| and you think that others are like yourself
! But we must remember that peasants, citizens,
civilians, live only by the soldiers, and have
all the profit without wanting to pay any OF
the cost. If we followed your advice we
| should die of hunger in this little town our
| peasants would support the Russians, the
Austrians, and Bavarians at our expense. This
pack of scoundrels would be having o good
| time from morning to night, and the rest of
us would be as poor as church mice. That
would not do-there is no sense in it ~
He laughed aloud. We had now come into
our passage, and went up stairs.
"Is it thou, Moses 7" asked Sorle in the dark
ness. for il was nightfall.
Yes, the sergeant and l."
"Ah, good!" said she; 81 expecting
you
Madame Moses" exclaimed the sergeant,
"your husband can boast now of being a real
soldier he has not yet seen fire, but he has
charged with his bay yonet."
An" said Sorle, ~ am very glad to see him
back"
In the room, through the little white door
curtains, we saw the lamp bnrning and smelt
+ tho soup.-f nc 5rrgcunt vent to hrs rooru Rs
usual, and we into ours. Sorle looked at mo
with her great black eyes, she saw how pale l
tuna nr,i hnf p,aa h iv,1yi I,.,.,
She took from my cartridge box, and
placed my musket in the closet.
"Where is Ssfel 7" / asked.
"lIe must be in the square. sent him to
see II you had come back. Hark! There he is
coming up!"
Then heard the child come up the stairs
he opened the door at once and ran joyfully to
We sat down to dinner, and in spite of
my trouble, ate with good appetite, having
taken nothing since morning.
Suddenly Sorle said: "If the invoice does
not come before the city gates are closed we
shall not have to pay anything, for goods are
at the risk of the merchant until they are de-
livered. And we have not received the in
"Yes," replied, ''you are right; NJ. Qaat-
ava, instead of sending US the spirits of wine
at once, waited a week before answering us.
If he had sent the twelve pipes that day or tb .
The delay is not our fault"
You see, Fritz, how anxious we were but, |
as the sergeant came to smoke his pipe at the |
corner of the stove, usual, we said no more
about it.
spoke only OF my fears in regard to Zeffen,
Baruch, and their children, in an exposed |
town like Saverne. The sergeant tried to put
my nina at ease, and said that in such places |.
they made to be sure, oil sorts of acquisitions
N wines, brandies, provisions. carriages carts,
and horses, but, except in case of resistance,
the people were let alone, and the soldiers
sven tried TO keep on good terms with them.
We kept on talking till nearly ten o'clock;
then the sergeant, VINO had to keep guard at
jhe German gate, went away, and We went to
bed.
This was the night of the twenty- second aud
tw wenty-thIrd of December, a very cold night
The next morning, when 1 threw back the
shutters of our room, everything was white
with snow the old eIms Of The square, the
street, the roofs of the mayoralty and market
md church. Some of our neighbors. Rocco the
amman, Spick the baker, aud old Durand the
mattress maker opened their doors and looked
Is If daZzied, while they exclaimed:
He! Winter has Gomez
Although We see Ia every year, yet it ia like
new e&lsterce. We breathe better out of
loors, aud within il is pleasure to sit in the
efheF of the fireplace ttd ptuuke our pipes; |
While we watch the cracking of the red fire
les, nave always telt so for seventy-ti
ears, and feel 50 still!
had scarcely opened the shutters when Safel {
praDg from his bed like squirrel, and came
nd hattened his nose against pane of glass.
is long hair disheveled and his legs bare.
We can have some slidesT Ii
Sorle, in the next room, made haste to dress
erself and run in. We all looked out for some |
minutes; then l went to make the fire, Sorle l
vent to the kitchen, Safel dressed himself {
astily, and everything fell back into the ordi- ]
ary channel.
Notwithstanding the falling snow, it was
cry cold. You need only to see the fire kindle I
t once, and hear it roar in the stove, to know ]
hat it was freezing hard. Ii
As we were eating our soup, said to Sorle,
The poor sergeant must have passed dread.
nj night. His little glass of cherry-brandy
Till taste good"
Yes" she said, I" it is we'll you thought of i
She went to the closet, and filed my little
ooket flask from the bottle of cherry brandy. | !
You know, Fritz that we do not like to 90 {
nto public c-houses when we are on our way to
ur own business. Each of us carries his own
title bottle and crust of bread.
Sorle then filled my flask, and put it in my l
ocket, under my great-ooat, to go to the |
,uard house. Safel wanted to follow me, but
s mother told him to stay, and went down
lone, we'll pleased at being able to do the
ergeaot kindness.
1t was about seven o'clock. The snow fall
ng from the roofs at every gust of wind was ,
L..