most picturesque old chateau; and every farm and cottage for miles round contained soldiers. My first duty, after finding a corner for myself, was to establish the carriage and horses safely, and provide forage for the latter a difficult matter when it was not served out as part of the army rations. However, it was generally possible to buy this, if not from the French, from the Germans; but the hour was usually late before I was free of this care, and able to make myself comfortable. Upon the night in question, I was in despair. For more than an hour did I wander in the darkness: the night was bitterly cold; it was snowing heavily; and my dinner, for which I was famishing, was yet in the remote distance. After vainly passing door after door, only to find the chalk inscription denoting the officers or men who were lodged within, I stumbled, in a retired retired lane, upon a hovel rather than a cottage, consisting apparently of only one room, with a window upon each side of a low door, upon which nothing was written. I determined, as it was locked, to break in here; but on the bare chance of there being inmates, although there was no glimmer of light, I first knocked loudly. I was just proceeding to more vigorous measures, when I heard a whispering, so I called out to those within to save me the trouble of bursting in the door by opening it. After a little delay I heard the key turn, and a woman's voice timidly inquired what what I wanted. I said I would explain as soon as I was let in, and, pushing the door open, I found myself in a room lighted only by the dying embers of a fire. Striking a lucifer match, I became aware of the presence of two young women, aged eighteen or twenty, shivering with terror, one of them weeping bitterly. These I attempted to re

assure by the most dulcet tones and pacific gestures. I explained my forlorn condition, expressed my willingness to sleep under a hedge rather than cause them one moment's uneasiness, painted in strong language the dangers which surrounded them in the absence of any protector, declared my willingness

nay, my anxiety-to constitute myself their protector, expatiated on my harmless and generally innocent disposition where the fair sex was concerned, and the lengths to which my chivalry was capable of carrying me when they were in peril, and finally, succeeded in extorting an invitation to become their guest. I declined to force myself upon them, and would only stay if asked. They said they had no male protectors: one of them was married, but her husband had left on the approach of the Germans, and the other was her sister; and they threw themselves upon my mercy. My mercy received them with the tenderness of a feather-bed. I asked them if they had any provisions in the house, but the supply was so small that, after chalking my designation on the door, to prevent the room being occupied in my absence, I started off to bring my traps from the carriage, and any provender I could lay my hands on. I came in for a slice of beef, while the distribution was being made to some soldiers, and was soon comfortably established by the side of a roaring fire broiling a steak, and most eagerly waited upon by my two charming hostesses. I soon after won their complete confidence by turning off a rather noisy band of soldiers who came looking for quarters, and listened sympathetically to the long tale of sorrows which they poured into my ear. They were very poor, and there was literally only one room in the

house. This contained two beds, one of which was usually occupied by the young married couple, while her sister slept in the other. They were hung with heavy blue curtains, which completely enveloped them. The sheets were coarse, but clean; and I had a good supply of my own rugs. When the cravings of my appetite had been appeased, I suggested in the most delicate manner that I should go to bed first, pull the curtains together, and put my head under the bed-clothes, while they went to rest in the bed appropriated to the married couple. This arrangement suited them perfectly; and I shortly afterwards received a fresh mark of their confidence by hearing one of them snore. The weather was so boisterous on the following day, that it was impossible to continue the march, so I brought enough provisions to my hut for all three, and paid for my accommodation so liberally when I left the day after, as I felt it was an act of charity which would be highly applauded by the proprietors of the journal I served, and out of whose pockets it came,--that I have every reason to hope that the two poor girls look back to the days when their village was occupied by the Germans as among the pleasantest and most profitable of their lives.

A couple of days after this we again found ourselves in the presence of the enemy. I had established myself in a low wine shop, which only contained one good bed: the husband, as usual, had decamped for fear of the Germans, and his wife was the solitary occupant. She found a nest for herself somewhere in a loft. I started off early to go to the front, telling her to expect me back late, and have dinner ready for me. This all but turned out quite an unnecessary order, and I was very nearly pre

vented by a serious accident from ever dining again in this world. The adventure happened in this wise. I had as usual driven as near the front as was prudent, and had then got out to pursue my investigations on foot. I ultimately arrived at a farmhouse in a wood where a general of brigade and his staff had established themselves, whom I happened to know. While chatting with them on the chances of a skirmish before nightfall, and on the proximity of the enemy, a young officer came in saying that from a point he had just left he could look right down into a part of the French position. This point he described to me as occupied by half-a-dozen men, who had crept as far to the front as possible, and were now hiding behind an old ruined wall, and watching the enemy unobserved. As he was going back there, I offered to accompany him, and we crept through the brushwood, and then made a quick run across a piece of open, to a most picturesque fragment of ruin, which dominated the valley some three or four hundred feet below, in which is situated the village of Fréteval, then occupied, as well as the heights behind, by the French army. Peeping through the chinks of the ruin, I could see a French regiment marching along a road beneath us, within very comfortable rifle shot, apparently unaware of our proximity. I remained here jotting down notes for nearly an hour, and then, hearing some firing at a distance, determined to return to the carriage in order to go and see what it was. This I could either do by keeping in the woods all the time, which involved a long round, or by crossing an open ploughed field, which was a saving of half the distance. As everything seemed quiet where I was, I determined on this latter

course, and was labouring through the soft land ankle-deep in mud, when bang came a round shot, apparently aimed at me, and buried itself about twenty yards in the rear. To say that I took to my heels is a figure of speech; I had no heels. I had two mountains of mud clinging to my feet, which rendered running almost impossible. How ever, I did my best; and in the agony of my effort I sprawled headlong on my face at the very moment when another shot, better aimed, covered me with dirt. For at least ten minutes more was my solitary figure a target for that miserable French battery. I ceased to wonder that the French lost battles when they could waste valuable ammunition in this ridiculous way. I heard shouts of laughter proceed from a German regiment hidden in the wood for which I was making, as they saw my frantic efforts to increase my speed as each whistling, shrieking ball warned me not to dally. Once they actually expended a shell upon me, but it cracked in the air a hundred feet above me. At last, panting with fatigue, I scrambled into the wood, and I must say that I was most sympathetically and kindly received by the Germans as a return for the amusement I had afforded them. There was skirmishing after this till nightfall, but I kept at a discreet distance for the future; and hungry and tired as usual, I reached my humble lodging a little after dark my imagination pleasantly toying with the prospect of the dinner which was in store for me. Alas! how vain one's anticipations often prove of pleasures to come! I found all dark, groped my way up-stairs to my bedroom, and was startled as I reached the threshold -I could see nothing by the feeble pipe of an infant's wail, fol

lowed by the moan of a grown-up person, proceeding apparently from the direction of my bed. I struck a match, and there in my bed was my hostess, and by her side an infant that moment born! Not an

other soul was in the room. She explained in a feeble voice that, having no bed of her own, but only a miserable grabat in a loft, "she had taken the liberty to be confined in the bed of monsieur, and would I be so kind as toand here she proceeded to enlist my services. But I am travelling out of the legitimate functions of journalism. I only mention the incident to show what may at times be required of a war correspondent, and how careful editors should be to select men of varied acquirements and vast experience in all the walks of life.

The terror which the news of the approach of the Germans inspired, and which, in the case of the two girls with whom I lodged, and in the instance of the poor mother I have just narrated, induced the husbands to desert their wives, was by no means justified by the conduct of the invading army. Excepting in the case of requisition for transport purposes, the people were nearly always paid for what was taken from them; and when we entered small towns, the charcuterie shops might invariably be seen filled with a crowd of soldiers paying across the counter for all they took. Many a tradesman lost the chance of making money by secreting his stores, locking up his shop, and decamping. One night I was a witness of a little episode in which something more dangerous than comestibles were being hidden away. I had arrived among

the first in a small town, secured my quarters, and was looking out of the window of my room over a back garden belonging to an adjoining

house. Presently I saw an old man emerge stealthily with a spade. With this he dug what appeared to be a grave behind some bushes. He then returned, and shortly after reappeared, accompanied by a younger man. Each was carrying at least half-a-dozen rifles. These they rapidly buried, taking great care afterwards to replace the earth in such a manner as to show as little disturbance of the soil as possible; and both, profoundly unconscious that all their proceedings had been observed by one who, if he had given information, could have got them into trouble.

One of the most severe trials of the war correspondent is when his best letters fail to reach the journal to which they are addressed. This was the case on the occasion of my entry into Châteaudun. It was rapidly growing dark, and there was a nasty cold drizzle when I reached the advanced post of the army, and found, seated in a field near a camp fire, the same general who had commanded in the farmhouse at the battle of Patay, and whom I had not seen since that occasion. I asked him where he intended to pass the night: he pointed to a small cottage by the roadside as his own quarters, and to the surrounding wet field as the bivouac - ground of his soldiers. At this point we were about four miles distant from Châteaudun. I asked him whether that town was still in the possession of the French. He replied that a squadron of cavalry had gone forward to reconnoitre, and that if I liked to take the chance of finding out for myself, there was a bare possibility of its having been already evacuated; but that there was no certainty on the subject, and I must take the risk. This I determined to do. The prospect of sleeping in a good hotel was so much more tempting

The

than passing the night in a wet field, that any momentary hesitation was speedily overcome. As I drove rapidly along, I asked the few people I saw if they had observed any German cavalry pass, and was by no means reassured by an invariable reply in the negative. In less than half an hour I found myself on the outskirts of the town; and with my Orleans experience fresh in my recollection, I determined to exercise the utmost caution. I therefore left the carriage and walked along like a private citizen, my plain clothes exciting no suspicion. The fact that the coachman was a Frenchman was an advantage on this occasion, as I could trust him, if he was cross-examined, to concoct a plausible story to account for his presence. picturesque situation of Châteaudun, with its castle perched on an overhanging bluff under which my road passed, enhanced the romance of the scene,-all was so still, so solemn and grand in the darkness, with now and then a gleam of moonlight breaking through the clouds, and dimly defining the rugged outline of the cliff. There was not a soul to be seen in the street, and I did not dare to knock at a door and ask if the French were in the town or not. At last I met a timid-looking wayfarer, who declared he knew nothing. He had apparently, from some cause or other, lost his head through fear. Then I met another, who told me the French had evacuated the town at least two hours before. On this intelligence I went back to the carriage, and drove briskly on. Then the coachman, who was in mortal fear lest he should drive into the arms of his own countrymen, came to a stop, and refused to go on until the matter was put beyond a doubt. Soon a man came running past us with consternation

depicted on his countenance: him we hailed, and without waiting to hear what we had to say, he called out, in an agitated voice, "Les Prussiens sont entrés !" This was enough. In a few moments more we heard their bugles, and drove into the square, just as the cavalry was forming in it, and playing a fanfare of triumph, to announce the capture of the place. It was a most exciting moment. They had come by another road, and hence we had made our entry into the town almost simultaneously.

I drove rapidly off to the best hotel, and as I sat down to my comfortable dinner in a warm room, waited upon in the most obsequious manner by the proprietor himself, I thought of the poor fellows camping out only four miles distant, and felt that, after all, the lot of a war correspondent in the field, and the independence he enjoyed, possessed advantages denied occasionally to a general of division. My campaign was now drawing to a close, and I have only one more adventure of interest to narrate. Experience had made me tolerably bold in the matter of forcing myself upon reluctant hosts, and claiming their hospitality. I had put up with well-to-do farmers, with humble peasants, with unprotected girls, with priests, with a lyric artist, with a retired naval surgeon, with shopkeepers, tavern keepers, citizens, and bourgeois of all grades, but I had not yet been a guest of the aristocracy. The army was quartered in a miserable village one night, when I ventured to push ahead and look for better accommodation than it afforded. I went for nearly a mile beyond the advanced outposts, and was just making up my mind to present my. self at the door of a cottage when I observed a handsome and venerable pile of buildings to my right, a little off the road, and evidently the residence of a noble of high de

gree. Here I determined to risk a reception. Of course all the proprietor had to do, if he did not fancy my appearance, or approve of my occupation, was to make a prisoner of me, and forward me on without delay to the nearest French post. At the same time the Germans were not a mile of,-some of them would probably be quartered upon him the following day; and I knew that this prospect was so demoralising to the ordinary French mind, that the chances were a thousand to one in favour of the greatest politeness being extended towards me, unless, indeed, which was still more probable, the family had evacuated the premises. I therefore drove boldly up the short avenue, and was about to knock at the door, when a respectable looking, white-headed old man, the seneschal, apparently, of the castle, came out of a cottage at the entrance to a well-laid-out garden, and asked me what I wanted. I promptly replied, board and lodging for myself, and stabling and forage for my horses for the night. This, he regretted, was impossible: the family were away, and he had strict orders not to admit any one in their absence. I told him he might obey his orders by watching me break in; but as the Prussians would certainly occupy the premises the following day, and as they were now in the neighbouring village, he had better save me the trouble, and preserve the locks, by turning the key in them. I, moreover, announced my intention of paying him for everything I took, besides giving him a liberal douceur, and a good character to my German friends. This settled the question. He begged me to remain outside while he went into the castle to make some necessary preparations; and a quarter of an hour afterwards he returned, and opening the front door, led me into a handsome hall,