not even so much as a crumb. Take it if you will, for you are strong
while I am but a weak woman.'

"'Woman, you speak truly; we are strong, and we shall take, but for
this resistance you shall suffer. See what a Prussian does to such
dogs of French as oppose him!'

"With that the captain struck Pierre's mother with the flat of his
hand, hurling her clear across the room. She staggered against the
wall and sank moaning to the floor.

"The captain evidently had overlooked the wounded French sergeant, who
lay on a cot in the shadows, and his men were too fully occupied with
helping themselves to food to take heed of anything else. As for
little Pierre, the lad stood trembling with rage. He was not afraid,
but he was filled with righteous indignation.

"The sergeant's eyes were blazing as he fixed his gaze on the face of
the German captain.

"'You Prussian fiend!' shouted the sergeant.

"'What!' The captain wheeled like a flash.

"'For that you die! And ere the German could utter another word, the
soldier leveled his revolver at the officer and fired. There followed
a loud report, and Pierre's mother was avenged, for the Prussian
captain lay dead on the floor.

"For a few seconds following the shot the Prussian soldiers stood
mute, then, with one accord, they threw themselves upon the helpless
sergeant who already had twice fired his revolver at them, but without
effect. They beat him cruelly and dragged him out and before another
captain, to whom they told the story of what had occurred in Pierre's
home.

"The unfortunate sergeant was ordered to be taken to the village
square, where a dozen old men of the village were being held by the
Germans under sentence of death on the flimsy charge of having
resisted the Prussians. One by one these unhappy Frenchmen were being
lined up before a firing squad and shot down. The sergeant, who, of
course, was to share a like fate, was reserved for the last that he
might have more time for fear to sink into his heart while watching
the execution of the others. The sergeant neither asked for nor
expected mercy. Well did he know what the penalty was for such an act
as his, and he was willing to die for his country as well as for the
sake of the woman who had nursed him through so many dark days of
suffering.

"They tied him to a tree while engaged in their cruel work of shooting
the accused old men, where the sergeant hung weak from loss of blood,
for, under their rough hand