{"product_id":"2940013081246","title":"HISTORICAL ROMANCES OF FRANCE THE INVASION OF FRANCE IN 1814","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE OLD SHOEMAKER AND HIS DAUGHTER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you would wish to know the history of the great invasion of 1814,\u003cbr\u003esuch as it was related to me by the old hunter Frantz du Hengst, you\u003cbr\u003emust transport yourself to the village of Charmes, in the Vosges.\u003cbr\u003eAbout thirty small houses, covered with shingles and dark-green\u003cbr\u003ehouseleeks, stand in rows along the banks of the Sarre: you can see the\u003cbr\u003egables carpeted with ivy and withered honeysuckles, for winter is\u003cbr\u003eapproaching; the beehives closed with corks of straw, the small\u003cbr\u003egardens, the palings, the hedges which separate them one from the other.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo the left, on a high mountain, arise the ruins of the ancient château\u003cbr\u003eof Falkenstein, destroyed two hundred years ago by the Swedes.  It is\u003cbr\u003enow only a mass of stones and brambles; an old \"timber-way,\" with its\u003cbr\u003eworn-out steps, ascends to it through the pine-trees.  To the right, on\u003cbr\u003ethe side of the hill, one can perceive the farm of Bois-de-Chênes--a\u003cbr\u003elarge building, with granaries, stables, and sheds, the flat roof\u003cbr\u003eloaded with great stones, in order to resist the north wind.  A few\u003cbr\u003ecows are grazing in the heather, a few goats on the rocks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEverything is calm and silent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSome children, in gray stuff trousers, their heads and feet bare, are\u003cbr\u003ewarming themselves around their little fires on the outskirts of the\u003cbr\u003ewoods; the spiral lines of blue smoke fade away in the air, great white\u003cbr\u003eclouds remain immovable above the valley; behind these clouds arise the\u003cbr\u003earid peaks of the Grosmann and Donon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou must know that the end house of the village, whose square roof is\u003cbr\u003epierced by two loophole windows, and whose low door opens on the muddy\u003cbr\u003estreet, belonged, in 1813, to Jean-Claude Hullin, one of the old\u003cbr\u003evolunteers of '92, but now a shoemaker in the village of Charmes, and\u003cbr\u003ewho was held in much consideration by the mountaineers.  Hullin was a\u003cbr\u003eshort stout man, with gray eyes, large lips, a short nose, and thick\u003cbr\u003eeyebrows.  He was of a jovial, kind disposition, and did not know how\u003cbr\u003eto refuse anything to his daughter Louise, a child whom he had picked\u003cbr\u003eup among some miserable gypsies--farriers and tin-sellers--without\u003cbr\u003ehouse or dwelling-place, who go from village to village mending pots\u003cbr\u003eand pans, melting the ladles, and patching up cracked utensils.  He\u003cbr\u003econsidered her as his own daughter, and never seemed to remember she\u003cbr\u003ecame of a strange race.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47069823336688,"sku":"2940013081246","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013081246_p0.jpg?v=1763576628","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013081246","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}