The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1901-11-21


Caesars and unto God the things that are Gods"
THE clocks in Paris were striking
half-past-three as the conscript
looked out over the field of
Waterloo. A huge smoking
plain stretching to the hills on the
horizon; on the distant heights of
Hugomont and st. Jean, dense columns
of smoke floating slowly upward to the
heavens; long string of wounded
and manned crawling slowly to the
rear. Between the hills and the place
where the Old Guard was waiting, long,
yellow streaks stretched athwart the
plain, with here and there a yellow
splotch. Trenches and rifle pits. In
the yellow trenches and rifle pits little
black and white figures, like so many
insects, hurried and shouted con-
tinually and fired tiny muskets wildly
into space. French troops.
On the distant heights flag fluttered,
f1uttered, fluttered in the evening sun.
A bold. arrogant flag with curious red
and white cross. The flag of England
Up from the plain and down from the
heights came the continual, menacing
roar of many guns. At intervals a
great cannon would moan on the
English earthworks, then black dot
would describe swift arc in the sky
nd h,,r in ho
English shell.
On the French side the roar of the
artillery was. deafening. From horizon
to horizon the barking and growing of
the guns went up in one vast chorus.
1t was the orchestra of France playing
a grand symphony while the nations
listened.
Such was the scene the conscript
looked upon on the evening of June IS,
1916. The cOnscript was only a boy.
He had cut his way through a line of
the enemy's troops at Lutzen and was
promoted to the guard for his heroism.
Since daybreak and the beginning of
the battle the guard had been held in
reserve. They chafed and fumed and
filled the air with cOpious streams of
French profanity. "Curse it all say"
shouted one old veteran to the conscript,
"'we shall miss all the fun you know"
And he munched piece of black
bread and glared malevolently at the
British earthWOrks,
The conscript hardly noticed what
the veteran was saying. He was alb
'sorbed in the fight. "What horror" he
murmured, "what horror!" "Ah, mon
garcOn," said the old fellow, as he took
a swallow from his canteen and re-
placed the half eaten piece of bread in
his haversack, "you should have seen
Leipsic or Moscow" The conscript
noticed the veteran replace the bread.
-"Why do you save the bread?" he
asked, "why do you save the bread? If
the guard goes in you will not need it
again." "Devil take you," said the
veteran, 81 shall be hungry after we
have whipped the English" Suddenly
an officer came running up. "Fall inw
he shouted, "fall in FOR action, my
braves" The bugles sang the Garde a
Vous. A cry of "Vioe J. Empereatr"
swept down the line, and the guard
formed up quickly.
No finer body of fighting men ever
trod the surface of this earth than those
who stood there on that beautiful June
day. The summer wind softly tossed
their plumes. "Em AUantw came the
order, and the Old Guard began to move
into action. The finest body of cavalry
in the world was about to make it's last
charge. Alexander's cavalry crushing
their way across the Granicus, or
through the Persian hosts at Issus or
Arbella; Leonidas holding the Pass of
ThermOpylae; the Greeks crushing
Xerxes at Marathon; Achilles at the
siege OF Troy; Hannibal's march on