The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-23

his face, the deep lines telling of a
grieyous illness which was fast bring
ing him to the grave. But the mental
suffering of the day was greater.
| Followed by the officers Of his staff,
| Napoleon III entered the salon of the
| chateau, where the Prussian leaders
| awaited him. The German officers
| arose courteously. as custom dictated.
| faced them. The king of Prussia
| alone remained seated. Arrogantly he
| looked up at the man whose honored
| guest he had been in Paris not long
| before.
Bent with pain. Napoleon III drew
his blade and presented the hilt.
Sire. here is my sword" he said.
It take it," the churlish Prussian
answered. Then he added: Il give it
back to you"
The officers of the emperor's staff
drew deep breaths. and their eyes
flashed fire. 1t was the tone of the
speech that stung them.
He clearly meant I'll take care of
you,'" said one of the emperor's staff,
years afterward. The officer was al
most boy at the time of the surren-
der, fresh from St. Cyr, the West
able heart the scene at Chateau Belle
vue burned itself. He never forgot 1t,
nor the words of the Prussian king.
The king was grandfather of Will
liam Hohenxollerh, former kaiser of
Germany.
The Fall of 1918!
Searchlights play upon a crossroads
not far from Sedan. Into the zone of
light three limousines come creeping
under white flags of truce. They bear
German delegation seeking an ar
mistice.
The Germans are met with every
courtesy. French officers enter their
cars to guide them over the dark roads
until Chateau Frankfort. in the forest
OF Compiegne, is reached. There a
stop Is made for the night.
And the next day they move to Sem
lis. where, in railway car. sits the
maker of history.
AS the Germans enter the car he
rises to meet them.
What do you wish. gentlemen?"
His voice is tense, but calm.
I'VE have come. marshal, to ar
range terms Of an armistice.''
His reply We do not know. 1t may
have been:
The terms, gentlemen. already
have been arranged"
Then he reads to them the program
agreed upon by the allies No more
crushing ultimatum ever had been de-
livered to Power by its triumphant
enemies.
AS he read there was no tone OF
exultation in the voice of this wiry,
silver haired man.. There was no at
tempt at vain triumphing. But way
down in his heart was stamped the
burning picture of another surrender,
when he had stood among the van
pushed. For the man who read to
Germany the terms of surrender
which she must accept, and the fresh
peror's staff at Sedan, was the same
Ferdinand Foch, today a marshal of
France and generalissimo of allied
armies.
The first picture, that OF Chateau
Bellevue, was drawn by Foch himself
many years ago, while CHI; ting in a
has resided in the French capital the
last 80 years. The second might have
been seen last Saturday at Foch's
headquarters near Compiegne.
Never has the hand Of fate done its
work better. For nearly SO years the
young officer who had witnessed the
humiliating surrender at Sedan had
been working to save France from an
other such scene. "Revanche" had
been his wa chword. the burning rec
| lessor in the military college,, and
placed in the minds of his pupils the
| ideals that stood in his own.
Finally. came the great war. Many
| Of the French officers, a whole gem
| Grafton of them, had been trained
| under Fech. and had been trained
| we'll. For four years, Under the h av.
lest attacks known. the French stood
like wall. They had been pushed
back, they had been defeated on many
fields, but they had not lost heart
With the roar of German guns sound
ing at the gates of Paris last spring,
there came a new hope. Foch, who
had been almost forgotten. by many,
was given the supreme command.
The schoolmaster was In the sad
die. He began to act out his class
/ re ON theories. How well they worked
the world now knows. Never before
had such a Campaign been fought. In
four months victory was wrested
I. ON defeat. and the memory of the
| dark days of Sedan was wiped out
last Saturday at Senlis.-Boston
Globe.