The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-11-12

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-
ferred the sous you could make by
working in the fields Or the factories.
And for my part reproach myself:
l reproach myself for making you SO
often water my garden when you
should have been studying, and TO,
not hesitating to give you a holiday
when l wanted to go fishing"
And then NJ Harnel spoke to us of
the French language, point by point.
saying that it was the most beautiful
language in the world, the most ex-
presslve, the most virile; that it be-
hooved us to preserve it among US
and never to forget it.
The lesson finished, we took up wri-
ting. For this day, M. 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 were hung from the
rods of our desks, and so 1oated 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
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 N.Y.
self as l listened.
When 1 raised my eyes from the
page in front of me from time to time,
saw M. 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 it! for
40 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
the 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 to and fro in the 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 uuiy
cred so with emotion. and it was so
drol to hear him, that we hardly
knew whether to laugh or to weep.
All, shall never forget that last
class.
Suddenly tho 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,
I-I-"
But something choked him; he
could not finish the sentence. He
turned to the blackboard, and. taking
a piece of chalk, he wrote with all
his strength, as large as he could
''Vive la France!"
He stood there. his head bowed IN
the wall, and, without speaking.
signed to us with his hand: This is
the end. You may 60"