r chameleon, which had been the indirect
cause of her death. Before leaving the bivouac, where she had committed
her crime, she had picked it out of the glowing embers, and brought it
into the cradle, and that is why her little fingers were burned. Since the
beginning of the meningitis the major had never been able to explain the
cause of these burns."

Robert was silent for an instant, then murmured: "Poor little one! I feel
remorseful. If I had not given her that blow.... who knows?... she would
perhaps be living still....

"My story is sad, is it not? Ah, well, it is still the sweetest of my
African memories. War is beautiful! Eh?"

And Robert shrugged his shoulders....

THE LAST LESSON

BY ALPHONSE DAUDET

I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread of a
scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would question us
on participles, and I did not know the first word about them. For a moment
I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so
warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in
the open field back of the saw-mill the Prussian soldiers were drilling.
It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the
strength to resist, and hurried off to school.

When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of the
bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had come from
there--the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the commanding
officer--and I thought to myself, without stopping:

"What can be the matter now?"

Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, Wachter, who
was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, called after me:

"Don't go so fast, bub; you'll get to your school in plenty of time!"

I thought he was making fun of me, and reached M. Hamel's little garden
all out of breath.

Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard
out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in
unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears to understand better, and
the teacher's great ruler rapping on the table. But now it was all so
still! I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk without being
seen; but, of course, that day everything had to be as quiet as Sunday
morning. Through the window I saw my classmates, already in their places,
and M. Hamel walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler und