teau should suddenly become the target for the German guns? Well, we
could all take to the cellars, as the others had done in 1870. But--and
here was the point--suppose the French took possession and gave us women
but a few minutes to leave before the battle began. Then what! Here
was food for reflection. I resolved to take Madame Guix and the two
boys into my confidence. Four heads were better than one!

They received the news calmly, and I almost caught a glimpse of a
twinkle in George's and Leon's eyes. The excitement pleased them.

If what Mademoiselle Mauxpoix had said was true, the Germans were now on
their way to Villiers. It was evident that the French were putting up a
stubborn resistance, but there was little hope of their stopping them
before they reached our vicinity. Battle meant destruction of lives and
property. Well, since we still possessed the former, it was high time
to think of saving the latter. The sun was fast sinking behind the pine
trees. In an hour it would be dark. What I decided to do must be done
at once.

"George and Leon, bring down my two big trunks, and tell Nini to hitch
the donkey to his flat cart and drive to the side door." I had resolved
to save what I could of H.'s work, and going to the studio closet, I
began selecting the portfolios containing mounted drawings and etchings.
It was useless to think of the paintings. They were too big. The
trunks were full in no time. I had no other receptacles, so reluctantly
closed the but half empty cupboards, consoling myself with the thought
that all this was possibly useless preparation, and praying Heaven that
I had made a good choice among the portfolios in case the worst came.

The boys put the trunks onto the cart and set off in the direction of a
sand quarry, where I knew we could dig in safety, and easily cause a
miniature landslide, which would cover all traces of our hidden
treasure. I promised to join them in an hour--the time I judged it
would take them to make so large an excavation, and returning to my
room, gathered my jewels and papers into a little valise, and put them
beside my fur coat and my kodak. A few other trinkets and innumerable
photographs were locked away in my desk, and perceiving that it would be
utterly impossible to carry them with me, I wondered how on earth I
might protect them. Suddenly I bethought me of a tiny silk American
flag that my mother had given me years before, when as a child I