until this woman, already toiling beyond her strength to support her
other children, sat down one day and wrote to the boy's commanding
officer asking him to permit no more leaves of absence, as the ordeal
was too much for both of them.

The third story was of a woman whom the Mayoress had often
entertained in her homes, both official and private. When this
woman, who had lived a life of such ease as the mother of eleven
children may, was forced to take over the conduct of her husband's
business (he was killed immediately) she discovered that he had been
living on his capital, and when his estate was settled her only
inheritance was a small wine-shop in Paris. She packed her trunks,
spent what little money she had left on twelve railway tickets for
the capital, and settled her brood in the small quarters behind the
estaminet--fortunately the lessee, who was unmarried, had also been
swept off to the Front.

The next morning she reopened the doors and stood smiling behind the
counter. The place was well stocked. It was a long while before she
was obliged to spend any of her intake on aught but food and lights.
So charming a hostess did she prove that her little shop was never
empty and quickly became famous. She had been assured of a decent
living long since.


IV


When I arrived in Paris in May (1916) a little girl had just been
decorated by the President of the Republic. Her father, the village