Return to Amiens. 353 



body in it. On examining the patient, I started back rather 

 frightened, when looking in the black face of a Frenchman, 

 left there ill with the small-pox. 



We remained a night and a day in Bapaume, when again 

 came news of an advance of the French, and General Groeben 

 left with his troops. We started several hours after him, and 

 the French arrived, only much later, having ascertained that 

 the Prussians had evacuated the place. 



I returned to Amiens. I found plenty of work in the 

 museum, where we had about live hundred wounded brought 

 from different places, mostly in a st3.te of exhaustion, and 

 the Professor urgently demanded that they should be well 

 nourished and have between their regular meals each, bread 

 and butter, with meat, and a glass of wine, which gave Miss 

 Runkel ancj myself enough to do. 



Poor General Blankensee died, as I mentioned before, and 

 Mrs. von Blankensee wanted to take home his body, Mrs. 

 Captain von Marien had also arrived, accompanied by Mrs. 

 von L , her friend, and a nun, with a letter of recom- 

 mendation from Colonel von Wedell, the staff commander of 

 Cologne, an old friend of mine, who sent everybody to me. 

 Though I had scarcely a minute to spare and my usual duties 

 were fatiguing me to the utmost limit of my strength, I had 

 not only to comfort these poor afflicted wives, but also to ad- 

 vise them and to attend to their most triffling affairs, as they 

 were amongst us like the babes in the wood. 



Mrs. von Marien, who was very delicate and nervous, of 

 course wanted to be with her wounded husband in Albert, but 

 on hearing that it was again occupied by the French, she be- 

 came frightened and undecided, went many times out and in 

 the carriage, until at last her love conquered, and she went off 



with the nun ; her friend Mrs. von L , whose husband was 



also a captain in the cavalry, remained behind, and Count 

 Lehndorf kindly provided quarters for her in the town-hall, 

 where she had the pleasure of seeing her husband, whilst her 

 friend nursed and comforted Captain von Marien, who died 

 however. 



Calling one day on Count Lehndorf on some business, I 

 had a pain in my back and a dreadful headache. The Count 

 on looking in my face exclaimed, quite alarmed, ' For God's 

 sake, Princess, what is the matter with you ? Have you not 



V 



