I saved myself, carrying my two little boys in my
arms, while my daughter and little Beatrice Aufiero ran
along holding on to my skirt. As we were crossing the
Rougeval brook, which runs near my house, the Bavarians
fired on us. My little Jean, whom I was carrying, was struck
by three bullets, one in the right thigh, one in the ankle,
and one in the chest. The thigh was almost shot away, and
from the place where the bullet through his chest came out
the lung projected. The poor child said, "Oh, Mother, I have
a pain," and in a moment he was dead. At the same time
little Beatrice had her arm broken so badly that it was
attached to her shoulder only by a piece of flesh, and
Angele Aufiero, a boy of nine years, who followed a short
distance behind us, was wounded in the calf of the leg.
Little Beatrice suffered cruelly and wept bitterly, but she
did not fall down, continuing to go along with me.
While these things were taking place, the Perignon family,
which lived next door to us, was massacred.
When they were no longer shooting at us, I tried to wash my
baby, who was covered with blood, in the brook; but a
soldier prevented me, shouting, "Get away from there.
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