MOBILE DIGITAL LIBRARY - SOCIETY OF YOUNG NIGERIAN ...

Was the door of her grandfather's bedroom open? In thinking it all over afterward, Iremember that this evening his face wore a very striking expression. Probably he hadoverheard us; but while we were talking of the entry of the Prussians, the old gentlemanwas thinking of the triumphant return of the French troops, for which he had so long beenwaiting—Mac Mahon marching down the avenue in the midst of flowers, his son at themarshal's side, and he himself on his balcony wearing his full dress uniform as he did atLutzen, saluting the riddled flags and the powder-blackened eagles.Poor old Jouve! No doubt he thought that we did not want him to participate in thisreview of our troops in the fear that his emotion would be too much for him, so hecarefully avoided speaking of it. But the next day, at the very minute when the Prussianbattalions started on their march from the Porte Maillot to the Tuileries,[274-1] thewindow up there opened gently and the Colonel appeared on the balcony wearing hishelmet, his saber and all the old-fashioned but still glorious regalia of one of Milhaud'scuirassiers.I still wonder what will power, what spurt of vitality it had taken to put him on his feetagain in all the trappings of war. At all events, there he was, standing erect behind therail, surprised to find the avenues so large, so silent, the window curtains down, and Parisas gloomy as a great pesthouse; flags everywhere, but such strange flags bearing a redcross on a white field, and no crowd to meet our soldiers.