Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1892-08-25

was wearied too much, we read him
q letter from his son, an imaginary
letter, Of course. You can readily
imagine the despair of the poor
child, without news Of her father,
knowing him to be . prisoner, de-
prived Of everything and perhaps
sick, and at the same time having
to read letters from him. at last
her determination failed her. No
news came to the colonel for some
weeks, and finally he grew very rest
less and could sleep no longer. I'm
mediately a letter from Germany,
and she read 1t to him gayly, at the
same time struggling to keep back
her tears. The colonel listened at-
tentiyely, smiled in an appreciative
manner, approved, criticised and
explained to us the meaning Of the
troublesome passages. But he cs-
pecially enjoyed the answers which
he sent to bis son.
Never forget thas yon are a
Frenchman, said he once. BE
generous to the unfortunate people,
DO not let the invasion bear too
heavily upon them. And then
would come ome recommendations,
some delightful precepts on the
respect which We owe to woman. II
was indeed true military code Of
honor for the use Of conquerors.
With these he also intermlngled
some general considerations on po-
litical matters, on tho conditions Of
peace which should beimposed upon
the conquered country, and here he
was not oxacting,
The indemnity Of war, nothing
more. What good would Il do 70
take their provinces from them?
Can We make a new France out Of
Germany
he said this in firm voice, and
there seemed to be 10 much candor
il his words, such beautiful, pa
triotic faith, that It was impossible
not to be moved.
During al this time lhe siege
was gong "a, but aos inc siege Of
Berlin, unfortunately The wealth
er was severe, and the misery was
intersiGed by bombardments, cpl
denies and famine. Nevertheless,
thanks 70 our care and efforts, and
to the indefatigable tenderness that
was shown him by every one, the
old soldiers peace was not disturb
Cd for a moment. Until the end !
was able to procure him white bread
and fresh meat. There was only
enough for him, however, and you
can imagine nothing more touching
than those rcpasts Of tho poor old
grandfather, SO ;nnocently selfish.
he on his bed laughing happily, and
beside him his dear granddaughter,
somewhat pale because Of her pri-
yations, guiding bis hand, helping
him to drink, and assisting him al
everything Then, strengthened
BY the meal, amid Che comforts Of
his warm room, the cold wintry
wind and the snow beating against
the Windows, the old cuirassier
would tell Of bis campaigns in tho
North, aud relate for the hundredth
time the story Of that unfortunate
retreat from Russia, when they had
nothing to eae but frozen bread and
horseAcsh.
Do you realize it, my childs he
said. We actually had to eat the
flesh Of horsesv
She did, indeed, understand it
we'll. For two months she had not
eaten anything else. AS the days
wene BY, our task increased in pro-
portion to the gaining strength Of
our patient. The enfcebled state Of
his mind and body, which had help
ed us so much until now, began to
disappear. Two Or three times al
ready the terrible volleys upon the
Maillot gate had caused him to
jump, his ear having become as
keen as that of a hunting-dog.
We had to invent a second victory
81 Bazaiue at Berlin, and tell him
that the cannon were being fired
from the Inyalides as a salute in
honor Of the victory. One day,
when we had pushed his bed close
to the window, he saw the National
Guards assembling on the avenue.
sWhat are those troona doino