The Story of the Red Cross as told to The Little Colonel | Page 2

Little Colonel
CHAPTER I
LLOYD MEETS HERO
It was in Switzerland in the old town of Geneva. The windows of the
big hotel dining-room looked out on the lake, and the Little Colonel,
sitting at breakfast the morning after their arrival, could scarcely eat for
watching the scene outside.
Gay little pleasure boats flashed back and forth on the sparkling water.
The quay and bridge were thronged with people. From open windows
down the street came the tinkle of pianos, and out on the pier, where a
party of tourists were crowding on to one of the excursion steamers, a
band was playing its merriest holiday music.
Far away in the distance she could see the shining snow crown of Mont
Blanc, and it gave her an odd feeling, as if she were living in a
geography lesson, to know that she was bounded on one side by the
famous Alpine mountain, and on the other by the River Rhône, whose
source she had often traced on the map. The sunshine, the music, and
the gay crowds made it seem to Lloyd as if the whole world were out
for a holiday, and she ate her melon and listened to the plans for the
day with the sensation that something very delightful was about to

happen.
"We'll go shopping this morning," said Mrs. Sherman. "I want Lloyd to
see some of those wonderful music boxes they make here; the dancing
bears, and the musical hand-mirrors; the chairs that play when you sit
down in them, and the beer-mugs that begin a tune when you lift them
up."
Lloyd's face dimpled with pleasure, and she began to ask eager
questions. "Could we take one to Mom Beck, mothah? A lookin'-glass
that would play 'Kingdom Comin',' when she picked it up? It would
surprise her so she would think it was bewitched, and she'd shriek the
way she does when a cattapillah gets on her."
Lloyd laughed so heartily at the recollection, that an old gentleman
sitting at an opposite table smiled in sympathy. He had been watching
the child ever since she came into the dining-room, interested in every
look and gesture. He was a dignified old soldier, tall and
broad-shouldered, with gray hair and a fierce-looking gray moustache
drooping heavily over his mouth. But the eyes under his shaggy brows
were so kind and gentle that the shyest child or the sorriest waif of a
stray dog would claim him for a friend at first glance.
The Little Colonel was so busy watching the scene from the window
that she did not see him until he had finished his breakfast and rose
from the table. As he came toward them on his way to the door, she
whispered, "Look, mothah! He has only one arm, like grandfathah. I
wondah if he was a soldiah, too. Why is he bowing to Papa Jack?"
"I met him last night in the office," explained her father, when the old
gentleman had passed out of hearing. "We got into conversation over
the dog he had with him--a magnificent St. Bernard, that had been
trained as a war dog, to go out with the ambulances to hunt for dead
and wounded soldiers. Major Pierre de Vaux is the old man's name.
The clerk told me that when the Major lost his arm, he was decorated
for some act of bravery. He is well known here in Geneva, where he
comes every summer for a few weeks."

"Oh, I hope I'll see the war dog!" cried the Little Colonel. "What do
you suppose his name is?"
The waiter, who was changing their plates, could not resist this
temptation to show off the little English he knew. "Hes name is Hero,
mademoiselle," he answered. "He vair smart dog. He know evair sing
somebody say to him, same as a person."
"You'll probably see him as we go out to the carriage," said Mr.
Sherman. "He follows the Major constantly."
As soon as breakfast was over, Mrs. Sherman went up to her room for
her hat. Lloyd, who had worn hers down to breakfast, wandered out
into the hall to wait for her. There was a tall, carved chair standing near
the elevator, and Lloyd climbed into it. To her great confusion,
something inside of it gave a loud click as she seated herself, and began
to play. It played so loudly that Lloyd was both startled and
embarrassed. It seemed to her that every one in the hotel must hear the
noise, and know that she had started it.
"Silly old thing!" she muttered, as with a very red face she slipped
down and walked hurriedly away. She intended to go into the
reading-room, but in her confusion turned to the left instead of the right,
and ran against