"Yes, that is bad."
"Where are all those prisoners?"
"In the churches."
Then he said, "Do not show so much sympathy--it will only do you harm
and help no one. A great man will be quartered here to-morrow. Do not
let him see you like this; some day when the children are well you will
wish to get away from here."
"But the Russians will have retaken Suwalki long before that day, and
my husband will be here."
"Never, and never, not while there is a German soldier! Now, be brave
and smile, and I will help you as lays in my power."
But that evening I was not "begged" (?) to serve tea! What a night it
was. My boys were so ill, and I could not pray that God save them for
me. I dare not! God knows, I had come to a stone wall. It was not even
possible to feel that somewhere my husband was alive. We were cut off
from the living.
(Madame Turczynowicz, in her tales, "When the Prussians Came to
Poland," vividly describes "The Aeroplane Visits," "The Flight to
Warsaw," "Off to Galicia," "Back to Suwalki," and how she secured her
release and freedom, which finally brought her to America.)