Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-02-16

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sashes under their arms in that style of
awkward stiffness which was the grace
of 1906 good colonel! it was this at
mosphere of victory and conquest, rather
than all we could say, which made him
believe so naiveiy in the siege of Berlin.
''From that day our military operations
became much simpler. Taking Berlin
was merely matter of patience Every
now and then, when the old man was
tired of waiting, a letter from his son was
read to him-an imaginary letter, of
course, as nothing could enter Paris and
as, since Sedan, MacMahon's aide-de-
camp, had been sent to a German for
tress. Can you not imagine the despair
Of the poor girl, without tidings of her
father, knowing him to be prisoner. de-
prived of ali comforts, perhaps i'll, and vet
obliged to make him speak in cheerful
letters, somewhat short, as from soldier
in the field, always advancing on a con-
Quered country? Sometimes when the in
valid was weaker than usual, weeks
passed without fresh news. But was he
anxious and unable to sleep, suddenly y
letter arrived from Germany, which she
read gayly at his bedside, struggling hard
with her tears. The colonel listened re-
ligiously, smiling with an air of superior
ity, approving, criticising, explaining; but
it was in the answers to his son that he
was at his best. Never forget that YOU
are a Frenchman, he wrote, be generous
to these poor people. Do not make the
invasion too hard for them His advice
was never-ending, edifying sermons about
respect of property, the pOlitenesS due to
ladies, in short, quite code of military
honor for the use of conQuerors. With
all this, he put IN some general reflections
on politics and the conditions of the peace
to be imposed on the vanQuished. With
regard to the latter, [ must say he was
not eXacting.
The war indemnity and nothing else.
1t is not we'll to take provinces. Can
one turn Germany into France?
He dictated this with so firm voice,
and one felt so much sincerity in his
words, so much patriotic faith, that it was
impossible to listen to him unmoved.
meanwhile the siege went On-not the
siege Of Berlin, alas, We were at the worst
period of cold, Of bombardment, &C cpl
demic, of famine. But thanks to OH
care and the interchangeable tenderness
which surrounded him, the old mans
serenity was never for a moment
disturbed. Up to the end I was
able to procure white bread and fresh
meat for him, but for him only. You
could not imag CINE anything more touching
than those breakfasts Of the grandfather,
so innocently egotistic, sitting up III bed,
fresh and smiling, the napkin tied under
his chin, at his side his granddaughter,
pale from her privations, guiding his
hands, making him drink, helping him to
eat all these good, forbidden things.
Then, revived by the repast IN the COM
fort of his warm room, with the Wintry
wind shut out and the snow eddying about
the window, the old cuiraSSier would re-
call his Northern campaigns and would
relate to us that disastrous retreat in Rus
STA. where there was nothing to eat but
frozen biscuit and hOrsedesh.
"'Can you understand that, little one!
We ate horsehesh.'
IT H. i Il 4
For two months she had tasted nothing
else. As convalescence approached, our
task increased daily III difficulty. The
numbness Of the colonefs senses, as well
us Of his limbs, which had hitherto helped
us SO much was beginning to pass away.
Once or twice already those terrible vol
leys at the Porte Maillot had made him
start and prick up his ears like a war
horse; we were obliged to invent recent
victory Of Bazaines before Berlin and
salvOs fired from the Invalides in honor
of it. Another day (the Thursday of
Buzenval, | think it was) his bed had
been pushed to the window, whence he
saw some of the National guard massed
upon the Avenue de la Grande Armee.
what soldiers are those?' he asked,
and we heard him grumbling beneath his
teeth:
BADLY drilled, badly drilled
Nothing came of this, but we under
stood that hencefOrth greater precautions
were necessary. Unfortunately, we were
not careful enough.
Zone evening | was met by the child,
in much trouble.
1T is tomorrow they make their en-
try she said.
Gould the grandfather's door have
been open? In thinking of it since, l re-
member that all that evening his face
wore an extra ordinary expression. Prob
ably he had overheard us; only we spoke
of the Prussians, and he thought of the
French of the triumphal entry he had
SO long expected, MacMahon descending
the avenue amidst flowers and flourish
of trumpets, his own son riding beside
the marshal, and he himself on his bal
cony, in full uniform as at Lutzen, salut-
ing the ragged colors and the eagles
blackened by powder.
poor Col. Jouve He no doubt mag
ined that we wished to prevent his assist
ing at the defle of our troops, lest the
| emotion should prove too strong FOR him.
and therefore took care to say nothing to
us, but the next day, just at the time
the Prussian battalions cautiously en-
tered the long road leading from the
Porte Maillot to the Tuileries, the win
dow up there was softly opened and the
colonel appeared on the balcony with his
helmet, his sword, all his long-unused but
glorious apparel of Milhaud's cuirassiers
fort of will, what sudden impulse of fad
ing vitality, had placed him thus erect in
harness.
Cali we know is that he was there.
standing at the railing wondering to find
the wide avenues so silent, the shutters
all closed, Paris like a great lazaret, flags
everywhere, but such strange ones, white
with red crosses and no one to meet our
soldiers.
''For moment he may have thought
himself mistaken.
''But no! there, behind the Arc de
Triomphe, there was a confused sound a
black line advancing in the growing day
light-then, little by little, the spikes of
the Uhlans' helmets glistened, the little
Prussian drums begin to beat, and under
the Arch of the Star. accompanied by
the heavy tramp of the troops, by the
clatter of sabers, bursts forth Schubert's
'Triumphal March,
in the dead silence of the street was
heard a cry-a terrible cry:
To arms!-to arms-the Prussiansr
And the four Uhlans of the advance
guard might have seen up there, on the
balcony, tall old man stagger, wave his
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