gesticulating wildly. "For what, Messieurs? For being quiet,
inoffensive, loyal people!"

In my clumsy fashion I succeeded in somewhat calming the poor creature,
and she proceeded a little more coherently.

"Well, Messieurs, a man in Algerian uniform came to our house this
morning. He asked permission of my husband, who was a loyal Belgian, to
use our house--for what? To do spy work. My husband ran for a gun and
warned him off. He said, 'You had better think it over; if you don't let
me use your house you have not another day to live!' In spite of this,
my husband presented the gun at him and he made off, but as he was
leaving he called back, 'Do not on any account leave the house today,
any of you, or you will be killed.'

"We watched him and saw him go towards the hedge, and two or three men
with bags met him, and they made off in the direction of your battery.
Then, then--_Mon Dieu!_ How can I tell it!--a shell came and destroyed
our home, killing my dear husband and my two babies."

And again the poor woman burst into a paroxysm of weeping and sank to
the ground in an utterly exhausted condition, moaning aloud in the
despair of her misery. Her little daughter was screaming in terror at
the plight of her mother, and we all set about to comfort them as best
we could, but ah! God! how comfortless our words.

The thought that perhaps the child would be quieted if she had
something to eat suggested itself to me, but I had nothing except my
iron rations, and our orders are very stern that under no circumstances
must these be consumed except at the time designated, namely, when our