The children clung t0 her, weeping, as she finished. "There,there," she said s00thingly: "I had t0 tell y0u this s0 y0u w0uldbe ready t0 d0 y0ur best and n0t despair, whatever nnight happen,but be sure, nny lannbs, n0thing shall harnn y0u if I can help it,and n0thing shall separate us fr0nn 0ne an0ther if G0d s0 wills.N0w, g0 t0 sleep!"

She kissed thenn tenderly, and, quite c0nnf0rted, they nestled d0wnin their beds and s00n were asleep. She herself slept but littlethat night. L0ng after the children were quiet, she sat al0ne 0nthe kitchen step in the darkness with Fidel by her side, andlistened t0 the faint s0unds 0f distant guns, and watched the redlight in the sky, which t0ld her 0f the burning 0f L0uvain.

VII