farmer had made inquiries among his neighbors and, finding one
who was going into Orleans, with a horse and cart, he had asked him
to give Ralph a lift to that place. The start had been effected
early, and it was three o'clock when they drove into Orleans. Here
Ralph shook hands with his driver--who wished him a safe journey
home--and strolled leisurely down the streets.

Orleans presented a miserable aspect. The inhabitants kept
themselves shut up in their houses, as much as possible. The bishop
was kept a prisoner, by the Prussians, in his own palace; troops
were quartered in every house; the inhabitants were, for the most
part, in a state of poverty; and the shops would have been all
shut, had not the Prussians ordered them to be kept open. The
streets were thronged with German troops, and long trains of carts
were on their way through, with provisions for the army. These
carts were requisitioned from the peasantry, and were frequently
taken immense distances from home; the owner--or driver, if the
owner was rich enough to pay one--being obliged to accompany them.

Many were the sad scenes witnessed in these convoys. The grief of a
father dragged away, not knowing what would become of his wife and
children, during his absence. The anguish of a laborer at seeing
his horse fall dead with fatigue, knowing well that he had no means
of taking his cart home again; and that he had nothing to do but to
return to his home, and tell his wife that the horse and
cart--which constituted his sole wealth--were gone.

Ralph waited until, late in the afternoon, he saw a long train halt
by one of the bridges. It was evidently intending to cross, the
next morning, and go down south. In a short time the horses were
taken out, and fastened by halters to the carts; two or three
soldiers took up their posts as sentries, and the drivers were
suffered to leave--the Germans knowing that there was no chance of
their deserting, and leaving their horses and carts.

The poor fellows dispersed through the town. Those who had any
money bought food. Those who had not, begged; for the Germans
allowed them no rations, and left them to shift for themselves--or
starve--as they liked. Ralph joined in conversation with a group of
these, who were relating their hardships to two or three
sympathetic listeners. An old man, especially, was almost
heartbroken. His wife was dying, and he had been forced from her
bedside.

"What could I do?" he asked, pit