ast, his aides standing at attention during the
impressive ceremony. 'Wear it with honor, my son, for our beloved
country.'

"The colonel then kissed the child on both cheeks.

"And Remi the bold, very pale and trembling, stammered his thanks, sat
down heavily, and, burying his face in his hands, burst into tears."

CHAPTER III

THE HEROINE OF FORT MONTERE

"I've been thinking about that boy Remi," said Joe Funk next day when
the children had gathered on the lawn to listen to another story. "Of
course, I know he was a hero, but wasn't he something of a baby to sit
down and cry like that?"

"Are you a baby, Joe?"

"'Course I'm not."

"Very good. You were wiping a tear out of the corner of one eye when I
finished the story," returned Captain Favor dryly.

"I--I guess you are right, sir. Please tell us another one like it."

"Surely; but this one will be about a little French heroine named
Mathilde. Mathilde was of nearly the same age as Remi, very diffident,
like yourself." Joe blushed and hung his head. "She was as timid as
she was diffident, but at heart she was a heroic little French girl.
They are all like Remi and Mathilde over there.

"This little woman lived in a French garrison town. Not more than two
hundred soldiers were stationed there, all the others being at the
front fighting the Germans. Quite near the village was an important
fort, situated on the River Meuse. It was called Fort Montere and was
very carefully guarded by these soldiers.

"The fort was situated about a mile from the village on a rise of
ground. It was the custom of the soldiers there to spend a good part
of their days in the village, never dreaming that they were in the
slightest danger, but the Germans were nearer than they thought.

"One night--it was not far from morning, then--two companies of
mounted Germans rode up to the sleeping village, which they
surrounded. The commanding officer sent an aide to the mayor, ordering
him to see to it that not a person left his home on pain of instant
death. The mayor refused to betray his people or the soldiers on the
hill. The aide shot him then and there. That was nothing new for a
German officer to do. Many worse acts than that have they committed. I
know, for I have fought them, and I have seen many things. The people
were then notified that disobedience meant further that the village
would be burned.

"Not one of the villagers was bold enough to try to warn the French