to use the telephone which was in the dining-room, nor the automobile
which belonged to the officers; nor one of their horses which were
in his stable. The only other beast left there was a small and very
antique donkey which the children used to drive. In a dilapidated
go-cart, drawn by this pattering nag, the baron made such haste
as he could along twelve miles of stony road to the district
headquarters. There he told his story simply to the commandant and
begged protection for his beloved trees.

The old general was of a different type from the fire-eating dandies
who played the master at Azan. He listened courteously and gravely.
There was a picture in his mind of the old timbered house in the
Hohe Venn, where he had spent four years in retirement before the
war called him back to the colors. He thought of the tall lindens
and the spreading chestnuts around it and imagined how he should
feel if he saw them falling under the axe.

Then he said to his petitioner:

"You have acted quite correctly, _Monsieur le Baron,_ in
bringing this matter quietly to my attention. There is no military
necessity for the destruction of your fine trees. I shall put a
stop to it at once."

He called his aide-de-camp and gave some instructions in a low tone
of voice. When the aide came back from the telephone and reported,
the general frowned.

"It is unheard of," he muttered, half to himself, "the way those
titled young fools go beyond their orders."