This is a story by Alphonse Daudet of the entry of the Prussians into Paris, in 1871. An aged French Colonel, being very ill, has been deceived by his granddaughter and his doctor about the defeat of the French army. On the day that the Prussians enter Paris, he is told that Berlin has fallen. Unfortunately, he is left alone in the room when the Prussians begin to march past his window in the Champs Elysees....