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Show H f LHH fc' ' '&& xfilfiffl H 1 fV ONN'ENSTRAHL couldn't rt- Hj ( . member the time when thcr . M j iSSL wa n0 constAnt roaring of STJ huge guns. It was merely . M ''vnV a part of 1,cr da"v "fe" Somc- M V times the roar was morcly a . -N distant thunder, while again fl , i r y IL was much closer. But It H mattered not to her whether It were far or M , near. It all was a part of her dally life, and M moant no more to hor than the rattling o M cars and tho Usual street noises to tho average H ' city child. H Nor could sho remember tho time when she M was not tho pet of the soldiers. In fact, sho H , couldn't remember any other men hut soldiers. M If she happened to see a man In civilian clothes H - Kite would havo stared at him with nstonlsh- H .., ment. AH tho men In her life were soldiers. H ' A-nd all the woman wcro olthor peasant women, . H U)o hor mother, or nurses In tho big hospital H . ' hear tho cottage where sho lived with her H mother and her grandmother. H Sho always accompanied her pretty Utile H ' peasant mother to, tho hospital, whoro they H t Bold tho vegotablca from thqlr Uttlo plot of H , ground and milk and eggs, and to tho soldiers' barrack:), whore thoy Bold cakes her mother innd grandmother made. Sho didn't know that all those friends wofo In reality her onomlca, Sho didn't know that tho men who wero so H I fond of her and who would plcK hor up in their H 1 arms and caroSB her were Invaders of tho soil H j of hor native land. She didn't know, and she H j wouldn't havo understood If somo ono had tried H ; to explain to hor. For sho was only 4 years H ' old, and she know naught of cnomlcs. She H , only knew Uiat they all lovod hor and that Hj j pbe loved thorn, and that thoy woro good to her H , I nnd her mother whon thoy visited the hospital H , ' or tho barracks. H At first Tier mother held aloof from the ln- H vtdors. But nho soon learned that tho soldiers H Cor tho most part woro simple, kindly folk, just H I aa horaolf. It was only a few miles to tho bor- 11 ' dor, and thoro was little differenco botweon tho H ' thrifty peasants on cither sldo of tho border. J : 1 Sonnonstrahi, meaning sunbeam, tho soldlorn fl Boon namod Uio Uttlo maiden with the soft M j curls, and so friendly wore they all that in a H J Uttlo whllo Sonnonstrahi spoko moro German H j ( than Fronoh, much to tho horror of her gTand- 1,1 tnothor, -who had a hard tlmo reconciling her- H ; Bolf to tho now order of things. H And tlien ono day Sonnonstrahi and her H tnothor and Mario wont to noil cakes to tho H ' ' poldlors in tho barracks In the woods. It was H rather quiet that day. Far, far oft one caught B Uio occasional roar of heavj' artlllorj'i but Shear by tho German guns, hidden in tho rccoasou of tho woods, wero nllent, and the Fronch guna Hiij Woro also resting. Hu "WTiIlo her mother was standing talking-with H J B steward at tho door of a huge barracks, 8on- H j nenstrahl wandered toward tho edgo of the H woodn. She met no ono, and when sho carao to H the edgo of tho woods sho sat down beneath a" H't treo, a tree half of which had been killed by & H(l Bhell the previous winter. Now In tho early H 'J Bpring, half of it was budding out in green H ti while tho other half was gaunt and baro and H j black. M fl 8onncnstrahl, nittlng quietly thore with Marie in her arms, glanced down a Uttlo slop and Hij oxperienced a thrill of surprlso whon she dis- H'i covcrod Bho was but a few yards away from 3 tho network of zigzag trenches, tho forbiddon Hi land. Sho could seo a few men, but none of H$j$ them "wore very near. It was a quiet time, and Hllil wany of them woro quietly sleeping, except np HU ) thero in tho front lino, whoro no ono over slept. Hh Cautiously sho crept forward and almost bo- h ;! foro oho know It nho wao in tho maze of nar- 1), ! row ditchoo, which appeared liko cannon to H;;! hor. And thon sho ran Into tho flrit group of ) uoldlor. Thoro woo a nhout of uurprlwe. Hj'; "8onnnHtrahl, SonnontruhI," wu tho cry, Hfl Rnfl 'n moment iho waa easorly welcomed, p noyalty could not havo unkod a moro cordial i reception. Sho inaUUd on aolnjr further Into Hj' lo maze. Thoro won no officer noor by to for- H j; bid H, and tho mon, although thoy krunv nh H i whould not havo been allowed thoro, moroty H laufthcd. Thoro won no dansor, and Hho wan hav- H X Jnc such a (food tlmo, Bho pooped In ths llttto 7 cavcB or dutfoutfl in tho bWcb of tho trmcii4 H ' whoro tho mon lopt whllo on tronoh duty, nd H I whoro thoy dodged when x nholl camo tholf H way, and Nho declared hor Intention oi llvinc H '. in ono of thorn with Mnrlo, Hj:'' "Vn1 than uuddonly ho wan In thD mcfmd ij, lino of tranche, and thero was IZmoaU liin H ' (turn wont whllo as p-oon aa Uq eHmpmd lw, H .una ho tuilz&l har abruptly from tho arms of J . tho matt who hold her, Hl ,r1frhat dofla Uilfl mamf ho roared to fh$ j1 men who hod brought har, and than ha fltarta'j, H back with Uvr in tho dlrfletlm sUd haJ wnw, H J?ut Honnontrahl rs&ntd his munnor, mvi H .. , lliaiwitict hlu aoilona, ana hft iroamd her ro H pentment in tm uticerUln tzrmy, ho foiiU HI with her bolovod Marie, and as ho stood upright up-right with her, tho doll flow out of hor hands and fell a dozen feet away on lovol gTound. Ernoit paid no attention, for at that moment tho gunn, tho Fronch guns, across on the op-ponlto op-ponlto ldo, bognn roaring and, seizing hor firmly In hi arm, ho bent far ovor and ran with her through tho zigzag lines until he rtaohed tho last lino of tronohow. Tharo ho found a whlto-facod woman whom ft couple of soldloro woro forcibly preventing from ontorlntr tho tronohow, "Bho Jfl unhurt," oxolalmod JOrnost, quietly, n ho placed har In har mothofu arms, "Put haoUn qulokly baok for thoro a danger." And ho started back Into tho tronoh, "ICrnoHtl M' bat?', my Mario JWmj hor to mo!" Boroamod tho Uttlo Hormanwtrahl m ho loft thom, Ho pauflod ft mowofit, "I'll brlwj hor back!" ho orJod, and wont hla wwy, AU through tho day aod fur Into tho nltfht tho tettlo mod aion? tho lino, whllo BonHonatrahl my In hor luo bod and wopt for hor lost. Mario, Tlw rofirtng- of tho ftKMorr did wt worry bar, but omy tho fttto of iforlo, Onoo or twloo hof mothof wont te tho door of tho oolituso nun lookod Bonthward tewHrd ttio traneheB, f RWy tf omM Boo the rod qlaro wlileh told hop of tho ho wbloh wai? raging Uo Ungw that thoro woo RaiidrtoMmnd limiting for sho hoard im fiharp, njifni rotnrto of rUlofi nnd theWJnr lwretlnr hand gFondes,. Htw knewr eertnin "And Ernest appeared before them." Ilaphus that liquid flro was aloo peln usad, and sho whuddured and nrossad Jtorealf vlillo &w broalhod a prayer, For whom? Hhe hardly real-iBd real-iBd lntU fht) found herself muttarJng hlfl name, ond thyii pJi lluahod In tho darUnesH ad thon fllRhod ao phe Uioiiffht Of tho husband Wo oar' Jy two yoara bgforo had Iot hlo Hfo whilo dght-fn dght-fn Pfffllnat tho InvodoTO, Wos olw disloyal to him pTid, liop oounlry? g'n did not try to anewo" Newt dtiy she went- ta thg Iwpuai snd fomd it Jilbjd to its6npaetF,.-wl)n9 -twfno of -flmnu- i lancau wero bearing moro wounded to tho hou-pltalo hou-pltalo furthor to tho rear. Thore wn a lull in thu flghtlnir than and ono-of tho utowards told hor of tho Ueroo flghtlna of tho night boforo; of how the Franoh had went uhowro of Bholla down on the Qormatj Irancihoa; had attackod and fiolxod tho flrpt and ocond JInoa and then how In tho nltfht tlmo (ho (iHrmano had drlvou thm out and roooaupled tholr old pooltlona, 1I lohi her of tho hndrto,hand strutfEr, of the liquid flro-and tfio-h&nd grenodos-wnd tho bayonets thnt had been used In tho fearful battle, She did not ask for any certain one, and sho did not lnarn who had been wounded' or killed She waited, And about oandownwhen thoro wao only tho fumble of far-off artillery, uhe stood In front of hor Uttlo ootta&u with flonnonstrahl in her armo and Idrneat appeared boforo thorn, A groat Joy overspread hor face and a light loapod Into hor eyes, uuoh 00 ho had nover soon thore boforo Ho pauged a moment and tho ohlW uttered a . CIr, 3r aS Sh he,d OUt her arm3 to h,m- ' hcre is Marie? Give mo my baby!" eh cried. , He did not look at her, but ho gently" placed : nis arms about her and her mothor and drew ,-. them into his ombrnco. . "She should havo romalnod at home," sho told rncat. gravely. "Little girls who go out Into V tho trenches shoukl bo whipped, and I may punish pun-ish my child after while." J And Ernest laughed and patted her on tho cneok and called hor tho llttlo sunbeam of the fc;" trencheo. Ernest did not tell it, but' ono of the other tZ??1 next day toW her mother some of the dotaili, of tho fighting; of how, after the - Germans hod retaken tholr second line of f tronchoH, thoy had roatod thero and it looked as 1 trJV ?UW not flBht their way to tho L 1Z ? "' und th0n ,n th" Ktaro of a bursting L Itrlv h? lnUa out to BrnoBt Sonnon- ? stmhi do,, Wng lhorj Jn thj opon ground And fleai !'!;, throuh e wounding of tho of- , I " TZn?Tlatfily oVor hlm waa In command of K' ani 1 ! mfln httd "Pn'mr out of the trench fe- bC 1,1? d fr tho nrMt 1,no' followed closely oL Ln'T": And CiH ho mn wlth his baj'onot In K. and v,n m, lma Htod and seized tho doll I V ' ho a nT ,V BtUrrod " ,nto hi Pocket, and then UK and Sii men hud iump6a ,nto th flrat lino M. buck nn,LUt lho " 1-fought them m buok to tholr own lines, V |