For God's sake, don't hesitate. Adieu."

She was gone! And I stood there dazed!

"Hard fighting at Chateau-Thierry! That's only seven miles from here,"
I counted.

Go? Go where? How? Go and abandon my post, with Yvonne still too ill
to move, and all the others depending on my help? Go? By what means,
when my only horse was too lame to cross the courtyard! It was far
better to stay and defend one's belongings!

And then as I slowly returned through the corridors, it occurred to me
that in spite of my desire to stay I might be forced out. Suppose the
chateau 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