Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-04-19
FRENCH GIRL PROTECTS
TEN ENGLISH SOLDIERS
servant In Girls BosrdIng school Hides
britishers From Invading
German Forces.
Especial to The Times-Dispatch.l

Especial to The Times Dispatch.]
PARIS. April lS.-The invaders would
| not have been so charitably disposed TO
French girl had they known that for
three weeks by dint OF all sorts OF cour-
! ageous ruses she had been feeding. con-
| cealing and Keeping from their clutches
| ten English soldiers.
She was Il servant in a girls boarding
school. When war broke ont the pupils
all returned to their homes and she was
| left alone. for her only companion was
an Old deaf and partially paraIyzed
woman. When the uermans entered the
| town they went through the girls
school from attic to basement collect
ing all the linen bedding they could lay
| their hands on. For some reason or
other they did not Install their wounded
| in the main building. but in the chanel
| annex
| These wounded the girl tended with
/ the utmost devotion. In the first place
because she is tendcr-hcartcd. and in
the second because she had every rca-
son TO desire to stand we'll with the in
! Nauers. For her conscience was not
| quite clear She knew that down in the
! erotto at the end of the school gardens
she had concealed ten "Tommies" who
| had come hungry. fOotsore, and worn
! out Just one hour before the Germans
| They Will be here in a moment" the
English officer had said, not wishing TO
put the girl in danger
| Never mind" she said. "Tll hide you
! somewhere. and afterwards we shall
see" So she took them to the protto.
But tn" quarters were narrow, damp,
and intensely uncomfortable. Her heart
bled for her proteges. Then she had an
idea, the very daring OF which was to
ensure it success. She installed her
| ten "Tommies" in the unoccupied top
| floor OF tho school itself. Then came
the question OF tho commissariat At
| irst she gave up her own ration to her
ten refugees-but that was not enough
among so many. So she had to collect
| from her friends and relatives In the
village, here piece OF bread and there
| a vegetable.
HER ENGLISH GUESTS
IN NO DANGER OF STARVING
| When the Germans. seeing her sus-
| piciously laden basket, asked her for
whom were all these provisions, she
would answer, FOR your wounded in
the chapel" Better still. she appoint
! cd herself cook for the German ambu-
lance. and In this capacity was able To
pick up all sorts Of broken vlctuals, so
that her English were In no danger OF
! starving.
| But English soldiers do not live BIZ
food slone-they like their tobacco.
Now, according to the regulations OF
the invaders. each inha bitant of the
place had the right to but two sous
! worth of tobacco day. She found Il
way TO evade this REGULATE and to
keep her ten III smokables. She organ
lied an army OF boys. who, ten or
| twenty times day would purchase at
| different shops the meager pennywOrth
But there was always tire danger that
! the hiding place of the ten might be
| discovered by some German. Fortu-
nately, their dormitory communicate ed
by trap doors with the ground floor of
the building, and precisely with a room
on that ground floor which opened on
! the garden. SO she procured a long
rope. with which she advised her pris-
oners to practice sort Of fire drill She
was enthusiastic over the results
"Just imagine" she said to her in
terviewer. that my Englishmen, after
a few attempts were able. the whole
ten of them, TO strap up their haver-
sacks. get ready for all eventualitics
and slide down the rope noiselcssly in
less than FIVE minutes
But these desperate measures were
not necessary. ON September % the
Germans temporarily evacuated the
place, and the ten English soldiers were
able to regain the allied lines In safety
They have all given her their names
and addresses, and sworn that she must
come to England when the war is over,
| where they promise her royal well
f, come. One Of the grateful ten is a
George-Lord Smith is the name given
| only when the Germans were about TO
| re-enter it, and after the town had been
subjected to fierce bombardment for
| MANY lays