Mrs. Dundas

“ Katherine quickly left what she was doing to help her husband, and whilst so engaged, she asked him by what name they should call their adopted child.
"Shall we call it 'Francis,' after our little one," said he, "and try to look upon it as indeed our own?"
The good woman, with tears in her eyes, readily assented; and taking the infant in her arms, she tenderly kissed it, saying as she did so,—"Poor little one! I will love you for my little Francis' sake."
Gaspard was soon ready, and hastened away to his post, desiring his two boys to help their mother in his absence. ”

“ Winter had now set in, snow was already whitening the ground, and he knew not where or how to provide a shelter for them. He returned with a heavy heart to Katherine. The poor woman bore the intelligence better than he expected; she had dreaded being separated from her husband, and, but for her children, would never have consented to being so. There seemed now no alternative; and in reply to her husband's inquiry as to what was to be done, she said, firmly and resolutely—"Dear Gaspard, I will go with you; we will not be separated; we have shared every danger, we will share this one." ”

“ The good Baron may yet be alive; but if not, we will do our best. Yes," she added, clasping the little one in her arms, "you shall be in the place of my little Francis."
"Dear wife!" exclaimed Gaspard, interrupting her, "I ought not to have doubted you; but I felt half-afraid I had added to your cares and troubles by bringing this poor little one to you."
"No, no," cried Katherine, "we must never repent of doing a good action;—our adopted child may yet bring us a blessing." ”

“ I am not hurt, but I have had to defend myself, not only against the enemy, but a terrible fire, by which at one time I was almost surrounded, and which scorched my face and hands, as you see, and blackened me from head to foot; but I brought away a birthday present for you, Katherine, which I hope may bring a blessing with it." So saying, he unfolded the mantle, and displayed to his wife's astonished eyes the lovely infant he had so wonderfully and humanely rescued. ”

“ Katherine placed her hand fondly on the bright curls, though her tears still fell fast.
It was not long before Gaspard and his two boys returned; they had luckily obtained shelter during the storm.
On learning the cause of his wife's distress, the poor man, though equally fearing the consequences which might result from what had occurred, at once re-assured her by saying,—
"Dear wife, whatever may happen, you have done right; we must keep that cap. It alone can ever lead to any discovery of the parents of our little Francis. We should do wrong to part with it." ”

“ Gaspard, smiling, pointed to the child on his mother's lap. "John, John!" cried the boy, "father has brought back our little brother!"
John, having embraced his good father, ran to look as Michael desired.
"Yes, yes," said he, "our little Francis is come back; the good God has given him to us again. Oh, what pretty blue eyes and curling hair!"
The two boys kissed the child, thus offering to it the love they had for their little brother. Poor Katherine's tears fell fast as the loss of her little one was thus recalled to her. ”

“ The little stranger slept as soundly on Katherine's humble bed as on the rich couch on which Gaspard had found it. John and Michael soon followed its example, and then Katherine had leisure to seat herself by her husband's side, and talk over the events of the day.
"How I pity that poor little infant's parents," said she. "Their sorrow must be greater than ours when we lost our little Francis. We knew he was safe with God, whilst they cannot know what has become of their little one. I wonder if any marks on its clothes could lead to any trace of who are its parents ”

“ Katherine rejoiced almost more over this tribute to her husband's worth than she did at the step he had gained.
The men had also received their arrears of pay, so that the good couple now felt they had wherewithal to provide for the future for some time to come. They retired to rest that night with hearts filled with gratitude for the mercies they had received. In this world, however, unalloyed happiness is the lot of none. The following day Gaspard returned from his duty sad and cast down, the cause of which was the sudden disappearance of his young captain, Otto de Helfenstein. ”

“ Time passed on, Gaspard and Katherine faithfully fulfilling the duties of the humble position in which God had placed them, and bringing up their children to follow their example. In the midst of the disasters and disturbances of war, they lived in peace and happiness in their little home.
The good soldier had vainly endeavoured to trace the parents of the little Francis, and had at last given up the search.
Nothing had been heard of the young Baron Otto de Helfenstein. The siege of Metz still continued, the Emperor, Charles V., being determined to regain it at any price. ”

“ Near the house, or rather cottage, ran a clear stream, which bounded some meadows, also belonging to Gaspard.
Full of hope and thankfulness, the good soldier and his family took possession of their new home. With the little money Gaspard had saved, a cow was bought; the horse was likely to be too useful to be parted with.
Michael and John were old enough to help their father in cultivating the land and garden, whilst Katherine undertook the care of the poultry-yard, an occupation in which the little Francis was her constant companion. ”

“ Had our brave soldier been alone, he would have feared nothing; he only dreaded fatigue and hardship for the dear ones who were accompanying him; he therefore clung to the hope that, if he could but discover his sister, they might obtain shelter under her roof, whilst he pursued his way for the purpose of seeing the Count, and putting before him his sad case, and the cruel injustice with which he had been treated, and which he well knew the Count would never otherwise be informed of. ”

“ The small property left to Gaspard was near Feldsberg, seated on the river Joya. The castle and large domain around was the property of one of those rich and powerful nobles who, in those days, exercised almost sovereign sway, not only over those actually dependent on them, but on all who were unable to dispute their will, or resist their tyranny. ”

“ Little now remained to be told or learnt, save that the "little cap," which had so providentially led to the recovery of the lost child, had been sent by the wife of the steward of Feldsberg to her sister at Sternfelden, as a gift to her firstborn. That which the unfeeling woman had so eagerly coveted, and which she had obtained by such unjustifiable means, may possibly have become a source of trouble instead of gratification to her. She could, it may be supposed, scarcely look at the little cap, so prized by those from whom she had torn it, without some feelings of self-reproach ”

“ Don Leva arrested their triumphal return, and was guilty of an unpardonable act of injustice to the German soldiers. The Spaniards, unfairly claiming the honour of the day's success, laid claim to the booty resulting from it; their commander yielded it to them, wholly setting aside the joint right of the Germans to share the spoil. They had borne the first dangers of the assault, and had carried all before them; and whilst engaged in pursuing the enemy, the Spaniards entered the castle, laid hands on all they could find, and spent the time in plundering and destroying. ”

“ Gaspard felt sad, as the day drew near, to think he should be unable to offer his beloved Katherine his customary gift.
Meantime, he found that his regiment had received orders to join a part of the Spanish army, for the purpose of endeavouring to take by assault a post of some importance about two leagues from Metz, occupied by the French. As soon as Gaspard was informed of this, he hastened back to the hut occupied by his family. In those days the huts, or cabins, in which soldiers were obliged to live during a campaign were miserable enough. ”

“ The poor travellers, on first starting, trusted to the well-known hospitality of their countrymen, and neither food nor shelter were ever denied them; such kind help, in some measure, lightened the fatigue and hardship of their weary journey.
On reaching the small town of Ponnering, Gaspard resolved without delay to seek his sister ”

“ It will easily be believed that it cost our little party many a pang to leave their home, and to part with all they cared for. The cross alone remained to them, and this Gaspard committed to the care of the good Christine, with the hope that he might one day be able to reclaim it. ”

“ Help me to get my things in order, for they are sadly the worse for yesterday's rough work. It is well that I am not the worse myself," he added, with a smile, as he affectionately kissed his good wife. ”

“ His good wife was readily interested in the little party, and felt for their distress; so sure it is that help, in some shape or other, comes, when most needed, from One who never wholly forsakes those who are His.
Gaspard gratefully endeavoured to repay the good farmer's kindness by doing such work as he was capable of, and he and Michael were daily helping at the farm, whilst Katherine tended the sick child and the little Francis. ”

“ The evening of the ninth day, when the snow was falling fast around them, and the hearts of the poor wanderers sank within them at the prospect of passing the night without food or shelter, a peasant overtook them as he was going to call in his goats from the hills. ”

“ Meanwhile the steward's wife exerted all her influence to exasperate her husband against Gaspard, relating what had occurred when she was driven to take shelter in his cottage, and falsely accusing Katherine of insolence and rudeness. She wickedly resolved to wreak her vengeance on the unhappy family, and to obtain by force what she could not possess herself of in any justifiable way. ”

“ It was near Metz that you were taken from us. You wore this little cap the day we lost you. Oh! you will try and love us, now you are restored to us."
Then, taking the astonished child by the hand, the Countess approached the altar, and, kneeling on the steps, appeared to be engaged in silent prayer. Gaspard and his wife followed her example at a little distance; their hearts were also overflowing with thankfulness.
On rising from this act of devotion, the Countess turned to the good soldier, saying, as she did so—
"May heaven reward you, and your good wife! I cannot ”