The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-02-13
SHAKE AND GOLF.
- to Blanche s.


Anglers, May IL, 1871.
Here we are, my dear Blanche, comfort
ably established in a country house near
Anglers belonging to Mere Ste. Ursule's
brother-in-law, and have been here for the
past week. But I am still SO bewildered
by all that has happened that feel as II
awakening from dream. As yon know,
remained at the convent at NeuiIly with
my little sister Lii and six other boarders,
orphans like ourselves, or whose parents
living In foreign parts, could not come to
take them away, There were in all four
little and four large girls At first all
went smoothly--no more lessons or tasks;
only short recitation in the afternoon
for fun. We spent the day in the park,
playing or reading amusing books. But
the mothers looked sad and worried, and
to be sure our quiet did not last long.
Although you have been q year in So
ciety, you have not, am sure, forgotten
one Of the oldest customs at the dear old
convent.
Every little while, you remember, dur
ing recreation one Of the mothers crossed
the court and sounded her clapper.
This was signal - stop our play and
remain silent while the mother repeated
verse or two of the gospel Or the "Imita-
tiop."
Then the clapper sounded again and rec
reation was resumed. This was to remind
us that we have souls to save and that
our games Of croquet or ball must not
make us forget 1t.
Well, one day-the 2bth of March, re-
member--we were about to play hide and
seek, when Mere Ste. Angelo came out
with her clapper. Clack, clack! Every
body stood still. The mother began, What
shall it profit man If he gain the whole
world"-
Boum, boum 1t was shell, my dear,
thrown by the commune. 1t burst In
tree not ten feet away. Mere Ste Al
gele had not the courage to finish her SEN
tence The clapper fell from her hand
The little ones began to cry. l took Lili
in my arms and we ran TO the study room.
The rest of the day and the night passed
without incident, and we began to quiet
down. bnt when we were in the refractory
and the soup had just been served:
Boum, boum! A shell burst on the roof
Of an adjoining house.
ITO the cellars, children, quick, quick"
cried the superior, Mere Ste. Ursule
Take your plates and napkinsp' And
down the stairs we rushed, plate in hand,
spilling half our soup on the steps The
little ones thought 1t very amusing this
time, and Lii was delighted.
Into the coal eellar--that Is safestr
cried the mother superior from above.
The lay sisters spread sheets on the ground,
and we seated ourselves on sticks of wood
thrown down here and there and finished
this highly dramatic breakfast right mer-
riiy. Not the least sign of shell till night
fall. We went to bed in the dormitory,
as usual; but, as you may suppose, we did
not sleep much, excepting Lii, whom I
had taken into my little bed. The lights
had been extinguished, and we were much
more afraid in the dark. About 10 o'clock
a great blaze of light suddenly illumined
our windows. Almost at the same moment
the glass was shiyered to atoms by vio-
lent explosion.
"Jesus--Marial" cried Mere Ste. Ur-
sule whose bed was near ours Quick,
to the parlor, children" A new process
sion was formed, more melancholy than
that Of the morning. The lay sisters fol-
lowed, carrying our mattresses, while we
dragged our sheets and coverlids along by
the light Of the dim lantern.
l carried Lii, for in all this noise and
confusion she had Weakened only moment
and had fallen asleep again at once. We
our beds in the great parlor and
lay down as we were told to do.
But further explosions were heard near
by.
ITO the cellars, to the cellars!' cried
the superior again. "You will be safer
there. Be good little girls and pray to
Godv'
We staid there fortnight. The noise
Of firing was almost continuous We saw
through the loopholes the beautiful trees
In our park shattered by shells. We read,
we played games, even blind mans buff
and hide and seek, for there were good
hiding places behind the piles of wood and
rubbish, only, unfortunately, we knew
them all in few days. The little ones
grew very weary, and the big girls cried
now and then. controlled myself not to
alarm little Lii. Sometimes between
noon and o'clock there was little lull,
and we stole cautiously out and picked up
pieces of exploded shells in the garden.
The time was very long. Fat Mere
Ste. Felicite-you remember her, she who |
went through the Crimean war-could not |
bear the stiAing air Of the cellar and said
quite seriously to the mother superior,
Pray, mother, let me go out; will take
m umbrella" We had been four or five
lays in hiding, when a company Of Yer
'atlles soldiers took possession Of the con.
vent. The captain paid us visit to en-
courage us, as he said, but partly, fancy,
% crafty his curiosity. He was very nice
indeed, this captain, and quite aristocrat-
Q looking. Not very good looking, per-
asps, but with slender, graceful figure