ogne or Calais; albeit a train of the most inferior
accommodations conceivable and crowded to the utmost by unhappy
travellers, among whom fleeing Americans vastly predominated. Our heavy
luggage was left behind us, abandoned to unsympathetic hands. Of food
seemly to allay the natural cravings of the human appetite there was
little or none to be had, even at augmented prices. Actually one might
not procure so small a thing as a cup of tea.

My trunk, my neatly strapped steamer rug, my large yellow valise, and
sundry smaller articles, were gone, I knew not whither. I did but know
they had vanished utterly; wherefore I adhered with the clutch of
desperation to my umbrella and my small black portmanteau. Even my
collection of assorted souvenir postcards of European views, whereof I
had contemplated making an albumed gift to my Great-Aunt Paulina, on my
return to my beloved native land, was irretrievably lost to me forever.

Still, we moved--haltingly and slowly, it is true, and with frequent
stoppages. None the less, we moved; progress was definitely being made
in the direction of the seaboard, and in contemplation of this fact one
found an infinitesimal measure of consolation, gleaming, so to speak,
against a dark cloud of forebodings, like one lone starry orb in a
storm-envisaged firmament. During the early part of our journey I could
not fail to give heed to the amazing attitude maintained by the young
ladies. Repeatedly, as we paused on a siding to permit the passage of a
laden troop train, I detected them in the act of waving hand or kerchief
at the soldiery.

And once I actually overheard Miss Marble remark to Miss Canbee that
she, for one, was sorry we were going away from hostilities rather than
toward them. One could scarce credit one's ears! Could it be true, as
students of psychology have repeatedly affirmed, that the spirit of
youth is unquenchable, even in the presence of impending peril? Or, had
my own precept and example stimulated these young women into a display
of seeming light-heartedness? Perhaps both--certainly the latter. As
for me, my one consuming thought now was to bid farewell forever to the
shores of a land where war is permitted to eventuate with such
abruptness and with so little consideration for visiting noncombatants.
To those about me I made no secret of my desire in this regard, speaking
with such intensity as to produce a quavering of the voice.

Certain decided views, entirely in acco