These were some of the messages
found in the pockets of the imprisoned or dead:--"Don't show any pity
for the red pantaloons. Kill WHOMEVER YOU CAN, and show no mercy even to
the little ones." . . . "We would thank you for the shoes, but the girl
cannot get them on. Those French have such ridiculously small feet!"
. . . "Try to get hold of a piano.". . . "I would very much like a good
watch." . . . "Our neighbor, the Captain, has sent his wife a necklace
of pearls. . . . And you send only such insignificant things!"
The virtuous German had been advancing heroically with the double desire
of enlarging his country and of making valuable gifts to his offspring.
"Deutschland uber alles!" But their most cherished illusions had fallen
into the burial ditch in company with thousands of comrades-at-arms fed
on the same dreams.
Desnoyers could imagine the impatience on the other side of the Rhine,
the pitiful women who were waiting and waiting. The lists of the dead
had, perhaps, overlooked the missing ones; and the letters kept coming
and coming to the German lines, many of them never reaching their
destination. "Why don't you answer! Perhaps you are not writing so as to
give us a great surprise. Don't forget the necklace! Send us a piano.
A carved china cabinet for the dining room would please us greatly. The
French have so many beautiful things!" .
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