ady, but Madeleine Blanchet, with one arm around her waist, received
the blows intended for her.

'Go, go, my poor girl!' Madame Chambert murmured. 'I must die here.
Go away.'

But Madeleine Blanchet refused to leave her, and shouted to the
cowardly ruffians, 'You shall not kill my mistress until you have
killed me!'

Still parrying the blows aimed at her mistress, she implored the men
not to be such cowards as to kill a helpless old lady. This appeal and
her devotion to her mistress touched the hearts of two of the Red
Republicans, who declared that the old lady should not be killed while
they could strike a blow in her defence. Guarded by these two men,
Madeleine Blanchet carried her mistress to a neighbour's house, where a
hiding-place was found for her.

Assured that her mistress was safe from further molestation, Madeleine
Blanchet hurried back to the house, which the rioters were looting, and
saved many treasures from falling into their hands. This dangerous
self-imposed task she performed several times.

The Red Republicans' reign at Buzancais was terrible, but it was short.
Scores of them were arrested, and Madeleine Blanchet was one of the
witnesses for the prosecution. She told of the attack upon her
mistress's house and the murder of her young master, but not a word did
she say concerning her own bravery. The President of the Court had,
however, heard of it, and was determined that her heroism should not be
unknown because of her modesty.

'We have been told,' he said to her, 'that you defended your mistress
with your body from the blows of the murderers, and that you declared
that they should kill you before they killed your mistress. Is that
true?'

Madeleine replied that it was, and the President, after commending her
for her bravery and devotion to her mistress, declared that if there
had been twenty men in Buzancais with the courage she had shown, the
rioters would have been quickly dispersed and the terrible crimes
averted. The story of Madeleine Blanchet's heroism spread rapidly
throughout France, and the Academy made a popular award, when it
presented her with a gold medal and five thousand francs.

HANNAH ROSBOTHAM AND THE CHILDREN OF SUTTON SCHOOL

On October 14, 1881, a gale raged throughout England, and in all parts
of the country there was a terrible destruction of lives and property.
Round our coasts ships were wrecked, and the number of lives lost at
sea on that day wa