In a Battle, 341 



halted. All waggons and carriages were ordered to the rear, 

 I would not part with mine, and I had my will as usual ; the 

 aides-de-camp having no time to persuade me. The' French 

 had taken advantage of the fog, and attacked us. At last I 

 had my wish, I was in a battle ; but, alas, I did not see it ; I 

 only heard the din of battle and the strange noise of the shells, 

 and the malicious sharp sound of the chassepot bullets. Our 

 triend from the staff, Major von Strantz, arrived in hot haste. 

 ' Princess,' he cried, 'away, away, in the name of God, or you 

 are lost !* I could not see it, and did not go ; but we were 

 ordered to a near place behind a cluster of bushes in a dell, 

 where we might be considered comparatively secure, but where 

 we saw less than nothing. My brother-in-law's blood was up, 

 however. He wanted to' see the battle, and cantered off to- 

 wards the front, allured and guided by the roll of musketry. 

 If he was killed or wounded they at home would have charged 

 me with his misfortune, I knew, and as his idle curiosity in 

 that fog was foolish I sent an orderly after him to beg him to 

 return ; but he pshawed and got indignant at the presumption 

 of restricting his liberty of making a target of himself, and went 

 on. 



Meanwhile, poor Jimmy was a picture of despair. That he 

 did not die of fright was a wonder ; he drew in his tail as close 

 as possible, and took shelter between my feet. 



My pet pigeon began fluttering in its basket, and I took i': 

 out on my fingers ; but on hearing all the strange noises ir 

 flapped its wings and looked alarmed ; I therefore put it again 

 in its travelling place. 



I ha^e not yet said a word about my pigeon, which was a new- 

 pet of mine, called by some a new nuisance, on account of its 

 harpying habits I got it in a manner which is worth relating. 

 An officer from Dresden, Lieutenant von Lavilre, had been 

 dangerously wounded, and his arm had been amputated. 

 Miss Runkel and myself nursed the poor boy, and she wrote 

 letters home for him, etc. He was very much affected by our 

 manner of treating him, and he expressed to Miss Runkel his 

 wish to show me in some manner his gratitude. His landlord 

 had presented him with a young pigeoH ; he had nothing else, 

 and sent it to me — for breakfast. Had it been dead I would 

 have eaten this sacrifice in a goddess-like manner ; but as it 

 was sent alive I could not kill it, though at that time 1 might 



