shock it
had sustained, was less eager to get away. He had halted in front of
his dyehouse and was conversing with the concierge, who had come for a
moment to the door of the room she occupied in the _rez-de-chaussee_.

"My poor Francoise, you had better come along with us. A lone woman
among such dreadful sights--I can't bear to think of it!"

She raised her trembling hands. "Ah, sir, I would have gone when the
others went, indeed I would, if it had not been for my poor sick boy.
Come in, sir, and look at him."

He did not enter, but glanced into the apartment from the threshold, and
shook his head sorrowfully at sight of the little fellow in his clean,
white bed, his face exhibiting the scarlet hue of the disease, and his
glassy, burning eyes bent wistfully on his mother.

"But why can't you take him with you?" he urged. "I will find quarters
for you in Sedan. Wrap him up warmly in a blanket, and come along with
us."

"Oh, no, sir, I cannot. The doctor told me it would kill him. If only
his poor father were alive! but we two are all that are left, and
we must live for each other. And then, perhaps the Prussians will be
merciful; perhaps they won't harm a lone woman and a sick boy."

Just then Weiss reappeared, having secured his premises to his
satisfaction. "There, I think it will trouble them some to get in now.
Come on! And it is not going to be a very pleasant journey, either; keep
close to the houses, unless you want to come to grief."

There were indications, indeed, that the enemy were making ready for
another assault. The infantry fire was spluttering away more furiously
than ever, and the screaming of the shells was incessant. Two had
already fallen in the street a hundred yards away, and a third had
imbedded itself, without bursting, in the soft ground of the adjacent
garden.

"Ah, here is Francoise," continued the accountant. "I must have a look
at your little Charles. Come, come, you have no cause for alarm; he will
be all right in a couple of days. Keep your courage up, and the first
thing you do go inside, and don't put your nose outside the door." And
the two men at last started to go.

"_Au revoir_, Francoise."

"_Au revoir_, sirs."

And as they spoke, there came an appalling crash. It was a shell,
which, having first wrecked the chimney of Weiss's house, fell upon the
sidewalk, where it exploded with such terrific force as to break every
window in the vicinity. At first it was impossible