The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-06-03
THE SWORD OF HONOR.

l A Tale of the Franco German War.
 When we knew for certain that the Germans were coming, we moved the matching hens from the henhousei Iinto the house and put them into the wood cellar. You know the window from that cellar opens under the steps | leading up to the big door. We'll, it was 1 from that cellar that T overheard the conversation between two of the Ger man officers quartered with us-we had then a colonel, three other officers, al doctor and more than sixty men on the farm--Not to frighten the hens-whieh, even as it was, were wild enough though we had moved them as care fully as we could, taking them in their nests after 4dark-I did not bring a light into the cellar, but only left the door ajar to the staircase, where the
 day was still lingering. while looked in to see if the poor little disturbed mothers were all in their right places l for the night. The officers were speak ling softly, but when l heard their
 voices I stole nearer the open window, and from there could hear every. word | they were saying. And when I heard what it was about you may be sure | that listened with both my ears open,
 and so I came to know that they were l to break up at 3 o'clock in the morning l to meet some other troops at the cross
 road near Ollerup, and then go on so
 as to be at Kiddelund just before dawn
 that our men quartered there might be
 taken by surprise ,. .@ ! When, I think of it I always won der how the words I heard did away with my body, and, so to speak, set I free my soul or spirit, or whatever it is that am from all considerations of it ljust as you may sometimes to save your skin abandon your clothes to look
 after themselves as best they may. It
 would seem that the body has sepa-
 rate life of it's own, some kind of home rule or self-government by which it is
 preserved, and even makes itself useful when left to itself. Mine did so that
 afternoon. It put the hens into their places, it locked the door and put the key on the proper nail; and then it l called my little help. Grethe, and tcarried me off across the ysrd to the lhenhouse with the evening meal for the
 other hens. And all the time was thinking of nothing but what I. had
 heard and of what I could do to save Il our men, ss -'t 4,s. %,> >ee ; 't. I Now, when my husband left for the
 army some of the very last words he said to me were: If you don't know
 what to do while I aim away, speak to
 Soren.'' Soren had been on the farm
 ever since my husband was a child. He was an invalid now having lost one
 leg in the war of 1S4S, but he could tell
 every mans duty, every beasts right
 and and every things place, so that in
 most cases it was the natural thing for I all of us to turn to him for advice. Be- sides, thought was sure of Soren's sympathy in this case, for. he had a tgood healthy hate of the Germans, such as one can only feel when the enemy is in ones country. It was Soren
 who had said: "I am not bloodthirsty, lbut I could easily hold Bismarck while he was being skinned.'e And I knew he did not boast. So l told Grethe to go and find Soren and send him to me.
 A child of twenty was not a very
 strong head for big place like 'Keik-
 jaergaard, and when my husband was to leave for the army my parents
 thought that it might do as well with
 out me, and that I, should do a
 great deal better at home with them.
 But Bertel and agreed that if we ex-
 pected every one to stop and do their
 duty, we could not very well run, away
 ourselves. And of course you will like
 to serve as we'll as the rest of, us,' he
 had said, and I knew from the way he
 looked at me when he said it that he