Chapter 3 THE HEROINE OF FORT MONTERE

"I've been thinking about that boy Remi," said Joe Funk next day when the children had gathered on the lawn to listen to another story. "Of course, I know he was a hero, but wasn't he something of a baby to sit down and cry like that?"

"Are you a baby, Joe?"

"'Course I'm not."

"Very good. You were wiping a tear out of the corner of one eye when I finished the story," returned Captain Favor dryly.

"I-I guess you are right, sir. Please tell us another one like it."

"Surely; but this one will be about a little French heroine named Mathilde. Mathilde was of nearly the same age as Remi, very diffident, like yourself." Joe blushed and hung his head. "She was as timid as she was diffident, but at heart she was a heroic little French girl. They are all like Remi and Mathilde over there.

"This little woman lived in a French garrison town. Not more than two hundred soldiers were stationed there, all the others being at the front fighting the Germans. Quite near the village was an important fort, situated on the River Meuse. It was called Fort Montere and was very carefully guarded by these soldiers.

"The fort was situated about a mile from the village on a rise of ground. It was the custom of the soldiers there to spend a good part of their days in the village, never dreaming that they were in the slightest danger, but the Germans were nearer than they thought.

"One night-it was not far from morning, then-two companies of mounted Germans rode up to the sleeping village, which they surrounded. The commanding officer sent an aide to the mayor, ordering him to see to it that not a person left his home on pain of instant death. The mayor refused to betray his people or the soldiers on the hill. The aide shot him then and there. That was nothing new for a German officer to do. Many worse acts than that have they committed. I know, for I have fought them, and I have seen many things. The people were then notified that disobedience meant further that the village would be burned.

"Not one of the villagers was bold enough to try to warn the French garrison of the peril that awaited them, for it was plain that the Germans were planning to lay in wait for the Frenchmen when they came to the village on the following morning.

"Soon German soldiers began entering the houses, one soldier to each house, in which he took his station, cowering the occupants by terrible threats.

"Little Mathilde, when she heard the soldier assigned to their home bang on the door with the butt of his rifle, fled to the kitchen, where she stood listening and watching. She nearly cried out when the soldier thrust the bayonet of his rifle at her father, and all the resentment of her race at such injustice rose up within her.

"'I shall save them,' she breathed.

"Mathilde slipped out through the kitchen door into the walled garden, and, climbing the wall, peered over. She could see German horsemen and German infantrymen everywhere, the moonlight flashing on their helmets and rifles as they moved rapidly about. How she should be able to get over the wall without discovery she did not know. A heavy black cloud at this moment drifted across the sky, hiding the face of the moon for a few moments, and when the cloud had passed Mathilde was no longer on the garden wall. She lay prone on the ground in a field on the opposite side of the wall. Horsemen were all about her. Now and then a horse narrowly missed stepping on her, and those Uhlans must have wondered that night why their horses were so skittish.

"Every time she saw an opening the little heroine would dart ahead; each time a cloud passed between earth and moon she gained a little distance. Once a Uhlan's horse jumped clear over her and kicked viciously at her after it had landed on its feet. You see, the grass in the fields was high, there being no men to cut it. Had it not been for the grass, Mathilde never could have accomplished what she did.

"At last she was clear of them, and then how she did run; she fairly flew up the hill, stopping only when a French sentry halted her to demand what she wanted.

"'I would speak with your captain,' panted Mathilde.

"The sentry laughed.

"'Think you my captain sits awake all night that he may receive calls from the villagers?' he demanded.

"'But,' begged the girl, 'the Uhlans have come. They are even now in the houses that they may come out and shoot you down when you go to the village tomorrow.'

"'You are dreaming, my pretty miss. Go back to your sleep. It is a nightmare you are telling me. Return and dream no more.'

"Mathilde begged and pleaded, to the great amusement of the sentry. The child grew angry. She stamped and raged. Then she adopted a new plan. Throwing herself on the ground the little girl rolled and screamed and screamed.

"'Stop it! You'll wake the garrison,' he commanded.

"'That is what Mathilde is trying to do,' answered the girl, then screamed louder than ever, and the sentry turned out the corporal's guard. The corporal sent a messenger to the village to see if the child was right.

"'If you believe me not, look yonder in the valley,' exclaimed the girl, impatiently. 'What see you?'

"'Nothing. Wait! I see the moonlight glistening on something, I should say on a tin sign on a tree.'

"Mathilde laughed ironically. 'It is indeed a sign, a bad sign, monsieur Corporal. What you see is the moonlight reflected on the helmet of a German Uhlan. Ha! Now believe you the little Mathilde?'

"'Call the captain,' commanded the corporal.

"The commanding officer came hurrying out. He questioned the child and ere he had finished the messenger came running back.

"'The Germans are in force in the village,' cried the messenger. 'They hide in the houses and their sentries guard the approaches to the village.

"'Summon the garrison to arms!' commanded the captain. 'You are a noble child, Mathilde.'

"While a small force was left to guard the fort the others of the garrison went down and surrounded the village. They surprised and captured the sentries without firing a shot. These prisoners were taken to the fort and locked up, after which the French in the village fired a volley into the air. As they expected, the Prussians guarding the houses rushed out and began shooting, but coming from the lighted houses into the darkness of the early morning, their eyes were not keen and only one volley from the French was necessary to fill the Germans with fear. The Germans very soon laid down their arms and surrendered. While some of the invaders were wounded, no one was killed. The entire German force was captured and marched, humiliated, to the fort on the hill.

"Next day, when the villagers came to a realization of what Mathilde had done, a purse was made up, every one giving of his little savings. This purse was presented to the child by the captain, in the presence of all his officers and many of his soldiers.

"Mathilde's eyes were bright. She held the bag of money in her arms for a moment, then, kissing it, placed it in the hands of the captain.

"'And I, monsieur le Capitaine, give it to our beloved France. She needs it more than does the Little Mathilde, and with it Mathilde sends her love to the brave poilus of her beautiful France.'"