The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1919-02-28

r6NKATO FREE PHkss
tales they toidsbf their hardshlp - and
suffering after. thirteen days On the
road were blood curdling.
Can Never Forget or Forgive.
ALREADY hear talk Of forgiving
and forgetting said Madame Hnard.
with fire flashing in her eyes.
II heard talk of forgiying, and for
those who lived that war
can never forgive or forget"
In spite Of repeated warnings she
would not leave her home and the
people who needed her, although she
was convinced that the Germans
were really coming nearer and near
err. She was warned that there was
fighting at Chateau Thierry, hut as
her old horse was lame, and she was
afraid he would not be able to travel
she went to bed that night the same
as usual. About 1880 that night she
was awakened by an unearthly
racket and went to her window to
discover that the town above was
moving by, many in their night !.
clothes. She retired again and about
midnight was awakened by dogs
bowling and bells ringing and upon
going to the window was told by the
boy who was ringing the bell that he
brought her news Of her husband.
On the piece of paper which the boy
had been heavily bribed to bring to
her the baroness read a few lines
from her husband entreating her to
"move south at once. but not to
Paris" y
Given Marching Orders.
She had received her marching or
ders and hesitated no longer. The
old horse, lame from running a rusty
nail in his foot, was hitched I'D, the
little sick girl who was a member of
the household was loaded on to the
wagon, together, with blankets. and
what dry groceries the baroness could
find in the house. She then took the
road map from the wall for guide,
and in twenty minutes from the time
she received her husbands note she
turned the key in the lock 3 of her
beautiful home and walked. out. That
home was later used as German
headquarters for nine days. and was
practically ruined, all articles of value
being stolen, and the place left in a
condition of filth, beyond the imagin-
alton.
The baroness with her Red Cross
nurse, the children, and the old horse
fled southwark and crossed the Marine
before breaking camp. AT last they
reached the village where her notary
lived, and he told her that he would
make aer party comfortable, but even
as they talked his home was billeted
to hold army officers. The baroness
heard of hospital across the wa.
and with the Red Cross nurse vent
there at once. Here she saw the
first wounded man brought in, then
another, and another, until there were
seven. These men were given first
aid attention and them there was a
respite. The baroness met a soldier
who was mad with grief at. the
thought Of what the Germans We're
doing in his home town, which they
had captured and where his wife and
sister lived. The impotent grief of
the man was almost driving him mad.
The baroness and her party contin-
ued to move south, but the war wave
followed them closely At one place
they picked up a wounded man, the
back of whose head had been shat
tered land who was irterrihle pain.
With indomitable courage the baro :
nccr. with the aid of revolver and
a little oral persuasion. induced q
man in the village to lend his horse
and rig to take the wounded man
south to a hospital. She sent her
own party ahead and followed with
the wounded man. The Germans were
close behind them but they escaped
by running into some British soldiers,
who by a clever ruse made the ad-
vancing Germans think that their
force. was large one. The German
scouts retreated and the baroness and
her party and the British soldiers
escaped.
Party Was in Despair.
In disnair of ever reaching the
hospital so many miles away the bar
oness, forged doggedly ahead. All at
once she heard the whirr of a motor.
car coming behind them and saw a
large car approaching in which a wo-
man and a man were seated. She
drove her rig across the road and
halted them They angerily inquired
why she did so and she told them
she had a wounded man who must be
taken to a hospital. The woman
screamed and said she would faint at
the sight of blood, and the baroness
coldly told her to close her eyes. !, 1t,
developed that the woman was, the
wife of the wealthy man who had
sent his chauffeur to bring her IN
Paris and they refused to be both
cred with the wounded man, until the
baroness used the persuasive argu-
ment of her revolver The driver was
sorced to take her and the wounded
man to the town eighty miles away.
where she finally found a hospital
for the injured man, and brayely
stayed to help the surgeon with mum
erous painful operations performed on
wounded soldiers, as there was no
one else to help him. For five days
the baroness did interpretative duty
for English soldiers, and at last news
came of the victory of the Marine,
which was given a joyful reception.
s Germans Forced Back. !.
AS the Germans had been forced
back the baroness decided to return to
her home, and followed closely on the
heels of the victorious army. She
described the devastation and ruins