The Indiana State sentinel., 1880-05-19
THE SIEGE OF BERLIN.

Translated from the French of Alphonse Daudet.l ]
We were walking up the avenue of the
Champes Elysees with Doctor v, gather
ing from the walls shattered by the bombs
and the pavements torn by the shot the his
tory of besieged Paris, when, Just before we
reached the Rond Point de fEtoile, the Doc
tor paused and pointed out to me one of those
tall corner houses so pompously grouped
around the Arc de Triomphe..
ado you see," said he, 'those four closed
windows up there upon that balcony? Early
in the month of August-that terrible month
of August of last year, so full of troubles
and disasters-I was summoned there to look
after frightful case of apoplexy. The vic
tim was Colonel Jouve, a cuirassier of the
First Empire, an old fellow we'd
ded to glory and patriotism, who at the com
menceneRt of the war had come to
live in the Champs Elysees in an apartment
with a balcony. Can you guess what for?
To witness the triumphal return of our
troopsi Poor old man The news of Wis
semburg reached him as he was rising from
table When he read Napoleon's name
signed to that bulletin of defeat he fell as if
stricken by thunderbolt.
al found the old cuirassier stretched out
Der, his face bloody and inert, as if he had
been hit on the head with club. Standing
ne must have been very tall; lying dewn, he
seemed gigantic. He had fine features, su-
perb teeth and fleece of white hair all in
curls Eighty years of age, he did not look
more than sixty. Beside him, upon ner
kzees and bathed in tears, was AIS grand
daughter. She resembled him. Seeing them
side by side one might have called them two
beautiful Greek medals stamped with the
same image-One, however, antique, earthly,
somewhat efaced at the edges; the other
shining and sharply defined, with all the
brilliancy and gloss of the recent impression.
''The grief of the child touched Inc. She
was the daughter ss well as the granddaugh-
ter of a soldier Her father was on Mac Ma
hons staff, and the sight of that tall old man
stretched out before her evoked in her mind
another vision not less terrible. i reassured
her the best could, but in nay heart i had
little hope. We had to deal with serious case
of hemiplegy and at eighty one can not be
restored For three days, in fact, the atient
remained in the same state of immobility
and stupor Meanwhile the news Of Reischof-
fen reached Paris-you remember in what
strange fashion. Until evening we all be-
heEed in a great victory-20o 600 Prussians
slain and the Prince Royal prisoner. /
know not by what miracle, by what magnetic
earrent an echo Of the national Joy found its
VaT through the paralysis Of our poor deaf
mute, but certain it is that that evening
when / came to his bedside, L found him
quite another man. His eye was almost
bright, his tongue less thick. He had the
strength to smile upon Inc and twice faltered
out
4"'Vic-to-ryp
"'Yes, Colonel, great victGyP
sAnd, as / gave him the details OF Mac Ma
hons glorious success, j saw his features un-
bend. his face light up.
when i came out Of the room the young
girl was waiting for me at the door. She
stood hhere pale as death. She was sobbing.
"sBRt he is savedp cried, taking her
hands IN mine.
The unhappy child had scarcely the cour-
age to speak. They had just pested up the
true bulletin from Reischoffen-Ma Mahon
in fight, the whole army crushed. We
looked at each other in CONSERVATION. She
we2t as she thought of her father. As for
me, tre1nbled at the thought of the old man.
Susely he never would be able to withstand
this new shock. But what were we to do2
Leave hinl his Joy, the illusions that had
bro0xht him back to lifei But then we
must iei
Very well, I will liep said the heroic
child, IS she quickly wiped away her tears,
and with a radiant face she entered her
grandksthersehamber
at was a hard task that she had under
taken. At first things went on swimnaingly.
The old mans head was weak, and he al
lowed himself to be deceived like an infant.
But with health bis ideas becameclearer. 1t
was necessary to keep him posted as to the
movements of the armies-to prepare Rlili-
tary bulletins for himv Ii was truly pitiful
to see that beautiful chikd bent night and
day over her map of Germany, picking it
with little fags and striving to combine
upon Berlin, Proisssrt in Bavaria, MacMahOn
st the Baltic. In al this she asked my ad-
vice, and helped her to the best of my abil-
ity; nut it was the grandfather who served
US most in this imaginary invasion. He had
conquered Germany so many times during
the arst Empire that he knew everything in
advance! Now they viii 60 in this direc-
tion-thisis what they are going 10 dop And
his predictions were always realized, which
made him excessively proud.
ssUnhappily, no matter how many towns
we took, how many battles we gained, we
could not get on rapidly enough for the old
man. He was insatiablel Each day, when
1 arrived, I learned OF some new feat of
arms.
"Doctor, we have captured Mayence,'
said tie young girl, coming to meet me with