At four o’clock in the morning I hear the familiar cry of
“Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle.” I am ready dressed in my Connemara tweed
suit. I rush out. The Job-Lepouses are hanging out of a back bedroom
window. They are bordering on frenzy at the sight of some Hussars
endeavouring to seize their horse and cart.
They implore me to stop the Germans committing such a theft. How can
I prevent these armed men from stealing the entire village if they
wish? Rather a thankless task from my point of view. However, I go into
the yard and translate the wishes of the Job-Lepouse family into very
careful German, adding a bitter comment of my own.
“It’s only for a quarter of an hour, Fräulein,” they say sullenly,
still harnessing the horse.
“Have you orders?”
Silence. Obviously they have no orders....
More soldiers are heard in the street. An orderly rushes into the
yard. “The army is coming,” he says.
The men leave the horse and cart and hasten away. The orderly turns
to us and asks for food. We bring out a few vegetables. He pays with
German money and the usual parrot cry of satisfied complacency, “Alles
wird bezahlt.”
He repeats again, “The army is coming.”