Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

Page 13 text:

Love ' s Sacrifice. On the 4th of August 1914, he German army crossed the ilgian frontier, scarcely a sy hsd elapsed before the Blgiana ceme from every corner f the country to swell the snks of the army. The king Saeed himself at the head of ze army in the field. The old an, women, and children took aeir bewildered flight to the la of the Belgian army. For sys, like huge birds of prey, sroplanes hovered over the city. a the 19th, the Germans ar- Lved in considerable force and imedietely the siege began. Marguerite Delvaux, a besu- Lful, lovable girl of twenty immers, was industriously pro ding the evening meal for a father, four brothers, and l valid mother. Suddenly, ' the use was surrounded by thirty - Lx husky ' German soxdie ' rs. le father and the other two ns were driven before the •oops and finally shot for jf using to salute the German .ag. The mother was dragged •om her bed and pierced with bayonet, before her daugh- sr ' s eyes. The daughter, .most mad with fright, in ppany with many other girls ] the village, was. made to irround the Germans to save iose devilish beings from the .re of the Belgians guns. ie hundred inhabitants were id. to a meadow where they urere lied either by rifle or bay- tet. Almost miraculously, irguerite Delvaux escaped ■om the Germans and hid in ie cellar of a ruined chateau. ; was here that she was found ie next day by an old Belgian i man who took Marguerite to tr little cottage which had o ed ruin. For days, the for revenge was so strong he ri that she dared J.st herself. The picture of her mother ' s death was branded on her heart forever. On the 12st of August, the town was again raided and hardly a house was left standing. At six o ' clock in the evening, the women and children of the village were lined up against a wall and imme- diately the firing-squad received the order to fire. Dead and wounded fell in confusion. For greater certainty, the Germans fired again into the heap of bodies. Eouever, a few victims had escaped. At nightfall they fled to the hills. There, these people, among whom liarguerite Delavux, fell in with the French army. In the nearby town of Malonne, she, with the help of many other women refugees, started a hospital in a large forsaken chateau,. Before this hospital was entirely completed, a terrific battle occurr- ed only twenty miles away. For days, the wounded bodieswere brought in un- ceasingly. There were not beds enough for all, L and some of the soldiers, less seriously hurt than others, were placed in rows on the floor. liarguerite Delvaux was f girl of strong passions. She could hate but she could also lovt She loved right and would have given her. own life to defend it. Among the wounded brought in during those first days weta Carton de Mares. He was extremely good- lookong and at once de a place in liarguerite (a heart. There had never been any one in all thw twenty years of her life whom she loved as she did this man. His wound was severe and, after weeks had elapsed, he showed no signs of improvement. One night when sll was still in Marguerite ' s ward she sat down by Carton ' s bed. His face was burning with fever and, although his eyes were closed and his mouth firmly set, from the expression on his face he was suffering. Marguerite had learned something tbout this man from one of the other nurses. He was a Frenchman by birth but his mother w- s e German noble-woman. He was