Page:The four horsemen of the Apocalypse - (Los cuatro jinetes de Apocalipsis) (IA cu31924014386738).djvu/252

 the invincible generals of whom her aunt had been boasting fleeing with their insides in their hands—and bringing up the rear, that fawning lackey who wished to receive the same things as those of highest rank—the uncle from Berlin.… Ay, if she could only get the chance to make these longings a reality!

"You are mad," protested her mother. "Completely mad! How can a ladylike girl talk in such a way?" …

Surprising her niece in the ecstasy of these delirious ravings. Doña Elena would raise her eyes to heaven, abstaining thenceforth from communicating her opinions, reserving them wholly for the mother.

Don Marcelo's indignation took another bound when his wife repeated to him the news from her sister. All a lie!… The war was progressing finely. On the Eastern frontier the French troops had advanced through the interior of Alsace and Lorraine.

"But—Belgium is invaded, isn't it?" asked Doña Luisa. "And those poor Belgians?"

Desnoyers retorted indignantly.

"That invasion of Belgium is treason.… And a treason never amounts to anything among decent people."

He said it in all good faith as though war were a duel in which the traitor was henceforth ruled out and unable to continue his outrages. Besides, the heroic resistance of Belgium was nourishing the most absurd illusions in his heart. The Belgians were certainly supernatural men destined to the most stupendous achievements.… And to think that heretofore he had never taken this plucky little nation into account!… For several days, he considered Liège a holy city before whose walls the Teutonic power would be completely confounded. Upon the fall of Liège, his unquenchable faith sought another handle. There were still remaining