_Cautiously and tenderly leading her to a seat._ Sit down, child, take a rest, my dear, give your poor feet a rest. Pierre, her feet are wounded, yet she wants to walk all the time. ELDERLY WOMAN I wanted to stop her, Monsieur Pierre, but it is impossible to stop her. If we close the door before her the poor girl beats her head against the walls, like a bird in a cage. Poor girl! _Dries her tears. François enters from the garden and occupies himself again with the flowers. He glances at the girl from time to time. It is evident that he is making painful efforts to hear and understand what is going on._ GIRL It is time for me to go. JEANNE Rest yourself, here, my child! Why should you leave? At night it is so terrible on the roads. There, in the dark air, bullets are buzzing instead of our dear bees; there wicked people, vicious beasts are roaming. And there is no one who can tell you, for there is no one who knows how to go to Lonua. GIRL Don't you know how I could find my way to Lonua? PIERRE _Softly._ What is she asking? Emil GRELIEU Oh, you may speak louder; she can hear as little as François. She is asking about the village which the Prussians have set on fire. Her home used to be there--now there are only ruins and corpses there. There is no road that leads to Lonua! GIRL Don't you know it, either? No one knows. I have asked everybody, and no one can tell me how to find my way to Lonua. I must hurry. They are waiting for me there. _She rises quickly and walks over to François._ Tell me; you are kindhearted! Don't you know the way to Lonua? _François looks at her intently. Silently he turns away and walks out, stooping._ JEANNE _Seating her again._ Sit down, little girl. He does not know. GIRL _Sadly._ I am asking, and they are silent. EMIL GRELIEU I suppose she is also asking the bodies of the dead that lie in the fields and in the ditches how to go to Lonua. JEANNE Her hands and her dress were bloodstained. She was walking all night. Take a rest, my little one! I will hold you in my arms, and you will feel better and more comfortable, my little child. GIRL _Softly._ Tell me, how can I find my way to Lonua? JEANNE Yes, yes, come! Emil, I will go with her to my room. There she will feel more comfortable. Come along, my dear. I'll hold you. Come! _They go out. The other women follow them. Emil Grelieu and Pierre remain._ EMIL GRELIEU Lonua! A quiet little village which no one ever noticed before--houses, trees, and flowers. Where is it now? Who knows the way to that little village? Pierre, the soul of our people is roaming about in the watches of the night, asking the dead how to find the way to Lonua! Pierre, I cannot endure it any longer! I am suffocating from hatred and anger! Oh, weep, you German Nation--bitter will be the fate of your children, terrible will be your disgrace before the judgment of the free nations! _Curtain_ SCENE III