In exitu Israel

by S. Baring-Gould

Madame Deschwanden caught the old soldier's face between her hands and kissed it.

'What did you say of me?' she asked vehemently. 'He would think, from the name, that I was a great Dutch frau.'

'I told him,' answered the corporal, 'that madame my wife, living nearly opposite his house, had watched anxiously from the window the destruction of his property——'

'Passionately desiring to render him assistance, but incapacitated by her sex. Did you tell him that?'

'N-n-ot exactly.'

'Why not?'

'Because I did not think it strictly true.'

'Fie! sacrifice your wife to your conscience. Oh, I wish Bruder Klaus had picked a pocket, or stolen a mother-of-pearl box!'

'I told him that you had preserved from destruction the casket which I had the honour of returning to him. He was profuse in his thanks, and he even offered me a turquoise ring for you.'