ck along the line, until Germans were dropping by the dozen at the
sides of the little straight road. Then the column broke ranks wildly
and fled back into the shelter of the road from Luneville.

A half hour later a detachment of cavalry suddenly rounded the corner
and charged straight for the barricade. The seventy-five were ready for
them. Some of them got half way across the bridge and then tumbled into
the river. Not one got back around the corner of the road to Luneville.

There was another half hour of quiet, and then from the Luneville road a
battery of artillery got into action. Their range was bad, so far as any
achievement against the seventy-five was concerned, so they turned their
attention to the chateau, which they could easily see from their
position across the river. The first shell struck the majestic tower of
the building and shattered it. The next smashed the roof, the third hit
the chapel--and so continued the bombardment until flames broke out to
complete the destruction.

Of course the Germans could not know that the chateau was empty, that
its owner was in Paris and both her sons fighting in the French Army.
But they had secured the military advantage of demolishing one of the
finest country houses in France, with its priceless tapestries, ancient
marbles and heirlooms of the Bourbons. A howl of German glee was heard
by the seventy-five chasseurs crouching behind their barricades. So
pleased were the invaders with their achievement, that next they bravely
swung out a battery into the road leading to the bridge, intending to
shell the barricades. The Captain of chasseurs again waved his hand.
Every man of the battery was killed before the guns were in position. It
took an entire company of infantry--half of them being killed in the
action--to haul those guns back into the Luneville road, thus to clear
the way for another advance.

From then on until 1 o'clock in the afternoon there were three more
infantry attacks, all failing as lamentably as the first. The
seventy-five were holding off the 12,000. At the last attack they let
the Germans advance to the entrance of the bridge. They invited them
with taunts to "avancez." Then they poured in their deadly fire, and as
the Germans broke and fled they permitted themselves a cheer. Up to this
time not one chasseur was killed. Only four were wounded.

Shortly after 1 o'clock the German artillery wasted a few more shells on
the ruined chateau and the