She looked a little surprised: said her mother wished to do the same,
but that her only brother was with the colors; that he had confided his
young wife and two babies to her, and that the Germans were so brutal to
children that she did not dare risk it.

"Of course, you know," she added, "that every one has left Couilly; all
the shops are closed, and nearly every one has gone from Voisins and
Quincy. The mayor's wife left last night. Before going she came to us
and advised us to escape at once, and even found us a horse and
cart--the trains are not running. So mother thought that, as you were a
foreigner, and all alone, we ought not to go without at least offering
you a place in the wagon--the chance to go with us."

I was really touched, and told her so, but explained that I should stay.
She was rather insistent--said her mother would be so distressed at
leaving me alone with only a little group of women and children about
me, who might, at the last moment, be panic-stricken.

I explained to her as well as I could that I was alone in the world,
poor myself, and that I could not see myself leaving all that I
valued,--my home; to have which I had made a supreme effort, and for
which I had already a deep affection,--to join the band of refugies,
shelterless, on the road, or to look for safety in a city, which, if the
Germans passed here, was likely to be besieged and bombarded. I finally
convinced her that my mind was made up. I had decided to keep my face
turned toward Fate rather than run away from it. To me it seemed the
only way to escape a panic--a thing of which I have always had a horror.

Seeing that nothing could make me change my mind, we shook hands, wished
each other luck, and, as she turned away, she said, in her pretty
French: "I am sorry it is disaster that brought us together, but I hope
to know you better when days are happier"; and she went down the hill.

When I returned to the dining-room I found that, in spite of my orders,
Amelie was busy putting my few pieces of silver, and such bits of china
from the buffet as seemed to her valuable,--her ideas and mine on that
point do not jibe,--into the waste-paper baskets to be hidden
underground.

I was too tired to argue. While I stood watching her there was a
tremendous explosion. I rushed into the garden. The picket, his gun on
his shoulder, was at the gate.

"What was that?" I called out to him.

"Bridge," he replied. "The English divis