might bring down upon his rash head the wrath of the enemy. The
eye of the Germans seemed everywhere. One of these posters was
fixed to the window of Madame Coudert's shop. On the morning that
it first appeared, Pierre in passing made a dash for the gutter,
picked up a handful of mud, and threw it squarely into the middle
of the poster.

Madame Coudert saw him, and winked solemnly, but did not move.
His Mother instantly collared Pierre, and led him up a side
street just in time to escape the clutches of a German officer
who had seen him a block away, and came on the run after him.
When, puffing and blowing, he at last reached the shop there was
no one in sight except Madame Coudert behind her counter. The
enraged officer pointed out the insult that had been offered his
country.

Madame Coudert looked surprised and concerned. She followed the
officer to the door, and gazed at the disfigured poster. "I will
clean it at once," she said obligingly. She got out soap and a
brush immediately, and when she had finished, her work had been
so thoroughly done that not a spot of mud was left, but
unfortunately the center of the poster was rubbed through and
quite illegible, and the rest of it was all streaked and stained!
"Will that do?" she asked the officer, looking at him with round,
innocent eyes and so evident a desire to please that, in spite of
an uneasy suspicion, he merely grunted and went his way.

The first time they came into the shop after this episode Madame
Coudert gave Pierre a cake with pink frosting on it.