The Lamar register., 1909-11-03

ishments. the cuts h d receivs cd from
his ruler. were forgotten. Poor man!
1t is to the honor OF the c.ass onsthis
last day that they were on their best
behavior.
Soon ] comprehended why the ED
ers of the village had come to sit at
the end of the room; 1t was as II to
express regret at not having visited
the school more often; 1t was. too. a
way of rewarding our master for his
40 years of good service. and Of pay
ing their respects to the fatherland
TO which he was going.
In the midst OF my meditations
heard my name called; 1t was my turn
to recite. What would not have CIV
en- to be able to repeat, loud and with
out mistake, the whole of that IA
nous rule for the participles! But
bungled the first words, and stood
wriggling in my place. heavy-hearted.
not daring to raise my head. Then l
heard NJ. Hamel speak to me:
Il will not reproach you, my boy;
you are sufficiently punished as 1t is.
You see now how 1t is; you have said
to yourself day by day: oh, have
| plenty OF time; / will learn it to-mor-
| row. and then you see what to-mor-
low brings when 1t comes. All, that
las been the great misfortune of our
Alsace. putting on its instruction un-
| til tomorrow. And soon 1t will be Just
| or them to say to us: What! you
pretend to be French, when you can
neither speak nor write your own
language!'
But with It all. you are no worse
than the rest Of us; we all deserve a
full share of the blame. Your par
ents have not been sufficiently anxious
to have you educated. They have pre-
| ierred the sous you could make by
working in the fields or the factories.
And for my part l reprolch myself;
| reproach myself for making you SO
often water my garden when you
she Id have been studying. and for
not hesitating to give you a holiday
when I wanted to go fishing"
And then NJ. Hamel spoke to US of
The French language. point by point.
saying that 1t was the most beautiful.
language in the world, the most ex-
pressive. the most virile; that 1t be-
hoovcd us to preserve 1t among us
and never to forget 1t, because that
even when a people fell into slavery.
long as they kept their language
intact. they held the key to their pris-
| On. Then he took a grammar and read
| IS our lesson. and I was astonished to
lind how well understood 1t; all he
told us seemed easy. very easy.
believe too that I had never listened
% well. and that he had never ex-
| ilained SO patiently. II seemed as
.hough the poor man wished before
he went to put into our heads at one
effort all he knew.
The lesson finished, we took up wri
ting. For this day. NJ. Hamel had pre-
pared entirely new copies. on which
was written in beautiful round-hand.
France. Alsace. France. Alsace:"
these were made in the shape OF lit
tie flags, which we're hung from the
| rods OF our desks. and SO hoated on
all sides Of the class. You should
have seen how everyone applied him.
self. And such silence! one could
hear nothing but the scratching of
pens upon paper. Even when cock
chafers buzzed into the room no one
4 paid any attention to them, not even
the smallest children. who applied
themselves as industriously as though
their pot-hooks were also French.
| Upon the roof OF the school the pi-
geons cooed softly. "will not they
too have to use German?" asked my
self as listened.
| When I raised my eyes from the
page In front Of me from time to time.
saw NJ. Hamel sitting motionless in
his seat. gazing long at the objects
about him. as though he would take
away in his memory all the little
schoolhouse. Think Of II! for
10 years he had been there in the
same place opposite his courtyard.
facing classroom which had
changed In appearance only in that
the benches and desks had become
shiny. polished by use. The walnut
trees In the courtyard had grown. and
fhe hop-vine he had planted himself
had by this time festooned the win
dows up to the roof. What a heart
breaking thing It must have been for
the poor man to turn his back on all
these things, and to hear his sister
| Walking 10 anu ITO IN tue room be-
yond. packing their baggage. for they
must go away tomorrow forever.
Nevertheless. he had the courage to
keep the class up to the last moment.
After the writing exercise. we had our
history lesson; and then the little chill
dren sang their "ba. be. bi. DO. bu" In
concert And old Hauser. who sat at
the end of the room. putting on his
spectacles and holding his primer
with both hands. repeated the letters
with them. One could see that he was
in deadly earnest; but his voice. quiz
cred SO with emotion, and It was SO
droll to hear him. that we hardly
knew whether to laugh or to weep.
All. I shall never forget that last
class.
Suddenly the church clock struck
midday, then the Angelus. At the
same moment the trumpet-call of the
Prussians, who were returning from
their drill. burst through our windows.
NJ. Hamel raised himself, deathly
pale. in his seat. Never had he
seemed SO grand.
MY friends" said he; my friends,
IL"