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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12185 ***
+
+MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOUR
+
+BY FRANCES WILSON HUARD
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The third week in July found a very merry gathering at the Chateau de
+Villiers. (Villiers is our summer home situated near Marne River, sixty
+miles or an hour by train to Paris.)
+
+Nothing, I think, could have been farther from thoughts than the idea of
+war. Our May Wilson Preston, the artist; Mrs. Chase, the editor of a
+well-known woman's magazine; Hugues Delorme, the French artist; and
+numerous other guests, discussed the theatre and the "Caillaux case"
+from every conceivable point of view, and their conversations were only
+interrupted by serious attempts to prove their national superiority at
+bridge, and long delightful walks in the park.
+
+As I look back now over those cheerful times, I can distinctly remember
+one bright sunny morning, when after a half-hour's climbing we reached
+the highest spot on our property.  Very warm and a trifle out of breath
+we sought shelter beneath a big purple beech, and I can still hear H.
+explaining to Mrs. Chase:
+
+"Below you on the right runs the Marne, and over there, beyond those
+hills, do you see that long straight line of trees?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, that's the road that lead's from Paris to Metz!"
+
+At that moment I'm confident he hadn't the slightest _arriere pensee_.
+
+On Monday, the 27th, Mrs. Preston, having decided to take her leave, I
+determined to accompany her to Paris.  Several members of the house
+party joined us, leaving H. and a half-dozen friends at Villiers.  We
+took an early morning train, and wrapped in our newspapers we were
+rolling peacefully towards the capital when someone called out, "For
+Heaven's sake, look at those funny soldiers!"
+
+Glancing through the window, I caught sight of numerous gray-haired,
+bushy-bearded men stationed at even distances along the line, while here
+and there little groups beneath or around a tent were preparing the
+morning meal.
+
+What strange looking creatures they were; anything but military in their
+dirty white overalls--the only things that betrayed their calling being
+their caps and their guns!
+
+"What on earth are they?" queried an American.
+
+"Oh, only some territorials serving their last period of twenty-nine
+days.  It's not worth while giving them uniforms for so short a time!"
+
+"Bah!" came from the other end of the compartment.  "I should think it
+was hot enough in the barracks without forcing men that age to mount a
+guard in the sun!"
+
+"It's about time for the _Grand manaeuvres_, isn't it?"
+
+And in like manner the conversation rose and dwindled, and we returned
+to our papers, paying no more attention to the territorials stationed
+along the rails.
+
+A theatre party having been arranged, I decided to stop over in Paris.
+The play was _Georgette Lemeunier_ at the Comedie Francaise.  The house
+was full--the audience chiefly composed of Americans and tourists, and
+throughout the entire piece even very significant allusions to current
+political events failed to arouse any unwonted enthusiasm on the part of
+the French contingent.  Outside not even an _edition speciale de la
+Presse_ betokened the slightest uneasiness.
+
+The next day, that is, Tuesday, the 28th, I had a business meeting with
+my friends, Mr. Gautron and Mr. Pierre Mortier, editor of the _Gil
+Blas_.  Mr. Gautron was on the minute, but Mr. Mortier kept us waiting
+over an hour and when finally we had despaired of his coming I heard
+someone hurrying across the court, and the bell was rung impatiently.
+Mr. Mortier rushed in, unannounced, very red, very excited, very
+apologetic.
+
+"A thousand pardons.  I'm horribly late, but you'll forgive me when you
+hear the news.  I've just come from the Foreign Office.  All diplomatic
+relations with Germany are suspended.  War will be declared Saturday!"
+
+Mr. Gautron and I looked at each other, then at Mr. Mortier, and smiled.
+
+"No, I'm not joking.  I'm as serious as I have ever been in my life. The
+proof: on leaving the Foreign Office I went and had a neglected tooth
+filled, and on my way down, stopped at my shoemaker's and ordered a pair
+of good strong boots for Saturday morning.  I'll be fit then to join my
+regiment."
+
+Our faces fell.
+
+"But why Saturday?"
+
+"Because Saturday's the first of August, and the idea of keeping the
+news back is to prevent a panic on the Bourse, and to let the July
+payments have time to be realized."
+
+"You don't really believe it's serious, do you?"
+
+"Yes, really.  I'm not fooling, and if I've any advice to give you it's
+this: draw out all the money you can from your bank, and take all the
+gold they'll give you. You may need it.  I've telephoned to the _Gil
+Blas_ for them to do as much for us. The worst of all though is, that
+every man on my paper is of an age bound to military service.  War means
+that when I leave, staff, printers and all will have to go the same day
+and the _Gil Blas_ shuts its doors.  We cease to exist--that's all."
+
+Somewhat disconcerted by this astonishing news, we had some little
+difficulty getting down to facts, but when we did business was speedily
+dispatched and Mr. Mortier took his leave.  Mr. Gautron carried me off
+to luncheon.
+
+"You must come," he protested when I pleaded an engagement.  "You must
+come, or my wife and the boys will never believe me."
+
+We found Madame Gautron and her two splendid sons waiting rather
+impatiently. We told our news.
+
+"Come, come now.  You can't make us take that as an excuse!"
+
+We protested our sincerity, and went in to luncheon which began rather
+silently.
+
+I questioned the boys as to their military duties.  Both were
+under-officers in an infantry regiment--bound to join their barracks
+within twenty-four hours after the call to arms.
+
+We did not linger over our coffee.  Each one seemed anxious to go about
+his affairs.  I left the Gautron boys at the comer of their street, each
+carrying his army shoes under his arm.
+
+"To be greased--in case of accident," they laughingly explained.
+
+That was the last time I ever saw them.  They fell "on the Field of
+Honour" both the same day, and hardly a month later.
+
+But to return to my affairs.
+
+A trifle upset by what Mr. Mortier had told me, I hurried to the nearest
+telephone station and asked for Villiers.  When after what seemed an
+interminable time I got the connection, I explained to H. what had
+happened.
+
+"For Heaven's sake leave politics alone and take the five o'clock train
+home! We need you to make a second fourth at bridge."  H.'s
+lightheartedness somewhat reassured me, though for prudence's sake I
+went to my bank and asked to withdraw my entire account.
+
+"Why, Madame Huard," said the clerk in surprise, "you   mean to say you
+are frightened?"
+
+I explained what I had heard in the morning.
+
+"_Pensez-vous?  Non!_  We would be the first to be notified.  We were
+ever so much closer to war two years ago--at Agadir!  There is no cause
+for alarm."
+
+He almost persuaded me, but after hesitating a moment I decided to abide
+by my original intentions.
+
+"I can always put my money back in a week or so if all blows over and I
+find I don't need it," I argued.
+
+"Certainly, Madame--as you will."
+
+And the twenty-eighth of July the _Societe Generale_ gave me all the
+gold I requested.
+
+As the five o'clock express hurried me back home I began to understand
+the gravity of the situation--for the "queer looking soldiers" were
+nearer together all along the railway line, and it dawned on me that
+theirs was a very serious mission--namely, that of safeguarding the
+steel artery which leads from Paris to the eastern frontier.
+
+At Charly, our station, I was much surprised to see three French
+officers in full uniform get off the train and step into the
+taxi-autobus which deposits its travelers at the only hotel in the
+vicinity.
+
+At the chateau my story failed to make an impression.  The men
+pooh-poohed the idea of war, and returned to the evening papers and the
+_proces Caillaux_, which was the most exciting question of the moment.
+In the pantry the news was greeted with hilarity, and coachman and
+gardener declared that they would shoulder their spades and _faire la
+guerre en sabots_.
+
+My friend and neighbor, Elizabeth Gauthier, was the only one who took
+the matter seriously, and that because she had no less than five
+brothers and a husband who would be obliged to serve in case of serious
+events.  I felt rather ashamed when I saw her countenance darken, for
+after all, she was alone in Villiers with two tiny children; her
+husband, the well-known archivist, coming down but for the week-end.
+"What is the sense of alarming people so uselessly?" I thought.
+
+Wednesday, the 29th, the papers began to talk of "a tension in the
+political relations between France and Germany" which, however, did not
+quench the gaiety of a picnic luncheon in the grove by our river.
+
+In the afternoon the old _garde-champetre_ asked for H. in the
+courtyard.
+
+"In case of mobilization," said he, "you have three horses and your farm
+cart to present to the authorities.  Your cart must have its awnings
+complete.  And your horses harnessed with their halters!"
+
+H. laughed and told him that he was giving himself a lot of useless
+trouble.
+
+Thursday, the 30th, market day at Charly, the nearest town to Villiers.
+We both drove down in the victoria, and were not surprised to see my
+officers of the day before seated in the hotel dining-room, finishing
+breakfast.
+
+"What are they down here for?" I queried of the proprietor.
+
+"Oh, they belong to the _Etat Major_ and are out here to verify their
+maps.  The Mayor has given them an office in the town hall.  They go off
+on their bicycles early every morning and only return for meals."
+
+"It's rather a treat to see a uniform out here, where hardly an officer
+has appeared since last year when we had Prince George of Servia and his
+staff for three days."
+
+The general topic on the market place was certainly _not_ war, and we
+drove home somewhat reassured.
+
+Friday, the 31st, however, the tone of the newspapers was serious and
+our little village began to grow alarmed when several soldiers on
+holiday leave received individual official telegrams to rejoin their
+regiments immediately.  Little knots of peasants could be seen grouped
+together along the village street, a thing unheard of in that busy
+season when vineyards need so much attention. Towards noon the news ran
+like wildfire that men belonging to the youngest classes had received
+their official notices and we're leaving to join their corps.  Yet there
+was no commotion anywhere.
+
+"It will last three weeks and they'll all come home, safe and sound.
+It's bothersome, though, that the Government should choose just our
+busiest season to take the men out for a holiday!" declared one peasant.
+
+There was less hilarity in the servants' hall when I entered after
+luncheon.  At least I fancied so.  The men had gone about their work
+quicker than usual, and the women were silently washing up.
+
+"Does Madame know that the _fils Poupard_ is leaving by the four o'clock
+train---and that Cranger and Veron are going too?" asked my faithful
+Catherine.
+
+"No."
+
+"Yes, Madame--and Honorine is in the wash-house crying as though her
+heart would break."
+
+I turned on my heel and walked toward the river.  In the wash-house I
+found Honorine  bending over her linen, the great tears streaming down
+her face, in spite of her every effort to control them.
+
+"Why, Honorine, what's the matter?"
+
+"He's gone, Madame--gone without my seeing him--without even a clean
+pair of socks!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"My son, Madame!"
+
+And the tears burst out afresh, though in silence.
+
+"Yes, Madame, I found this under the door when I came in at noon.--"  She
+drew a crumpled paper from her apron pocket.  I smoothed it out and
+read:
+
+"_Je viens de recevior ma feuille.  Je pars de suite.  Je prends les
+deux francs sur la cheminee.  Jean._"  (I've just received my notice. Am
+leaving at once. Have taken the two francs that are on the mantel.
+Jean.)
+
+I cannot say what an impression that brief but heroic note made upon me.
+In my mind it has always stood as characteristic of that wonderful
+national resolution to do one's duty, and to make the least possible
+fuss about it.
+
+At tea-time the male contingent of the house-party was decidedly
+restless.
+
+"Let's go up to Paris and see what's going on."
+
+"There's no use doing that.  Elizabeth Gauthier went this morning and
+will be back in an hour with all the news.  It's too late to go to town,
+anyway!"
+
+"Well, if things don't look better to-morrow I've got to go.  My
+military book is somewhere in my desk at home and it's best to have it
+_en regle_ in case of necessity," said Delorme.
+
+"Mine's at home, too," echoed our friend Boutiteron.
+
+"We'll all go to-morrow, and make a day of it," decided H.
+
+Just then the silhouette of the three officers on bicycles passed up the
+road.
+
+"Let's go out and ask them what's up," suggested someone.
+
+"Pooh!  Do you think they know anything more than we do?  And if they do
+know something, they wouldn't tell _you!_  Don't make a fool of
+yourself, Hugues!"
+
+Presently Elizabeth Gauthier arrived, placid and cool as though
+everything were normal.  "Paris is calm; calm as Paris always is in
+August."
+
+"But the papers?  Your husband?  What does he say?"
+
+"There are no extras--Leon doesn't seem over-alarmed, though as captain
+in the reserves he would have to leave within an hour after any
+declaration of hostilities.  He has a special mission to perform.  But
+he's certain of coming down by the five o'clock train to-morrow."
+
+We went in to dinner but conversation lagged.  Each one seemed
+preoccupied and no one minded the long silences.  We were so quiet that
+the Angelus ringing at Charly, some four miles away, roused us with
+something of a shock.
+
+Saturday morning, August 1st, the carryall rolled up to the station for
+the early train.  All made a general rush for the papers which had just
+arrived and all of us were equally horrified when a glance showed the
+headline-Jaures, the Great Socialist Leader, Assassinated.  Decidedly
+the plot thickened and naturally we all jumped to the same conclusion--a
+political crime.
+
+"There's a stronger hand than the murderer's back of that felony,"
+murmured a plain man from the corner of our compartment.
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Why, can't you see, Monsieur, that our enemies are counting on the deed
+to stir up the revolutionary party and breed discord in the country!
+It's as plain as day!"
+
+That was rather opening the door to a lengthy discussion, but our
+friends refused to debate, especially as we could hear excited masculine
+voices rising high above the ordinary tone in the compartments on either
+side of us.
+
+The journey drew to a close without any further remarkable incident.  It
+seemed to me that we passed more up trains than usual, but were not a
+moment overdue. There was nothing to complain of.  As we approached La
+Villette and drew into the Gare de l'Est everybody noticed the
+extraordinary number of locomotives that were getting up steam in the
+yards.  There were rows and rows of them, just as close together as it
+was possible to range them, and as far as the eye could see their
+glittering boilers extended down the tracks in even lines.  Each one had
+a freshly glued yellow label, on which was printed in big black capitals
+the name of its home station.  That was the most significant preparation
+we had witnessed as yet. Presently we observed that the platforms of
+freight and express depots had been swept clear of every obstacles and
+the usually encumbered Gare de l'Est was clean and empty as the hand of
+man could make it.
+
+In the courtyard our party separated, promising to meet for the five
+o'clock express--"Unless something serious prevents."
+
+I accompanied H. to the _Caserne des Minimes_ where he went to see if
+his military situation was registered up to date in his _livret_, and
+all along the streets leading from the station we met women silently
+wiping their eyes.
+
+What a sight the courtyard of that barracks presented!  Some five or six
+thousand men of all ages, classes and conditions who up until that
+moment had never thought that the loss of a military book entailed the
+slightest consequence, had one and all been pushed by that single
+thought, "Be ready for duty."  Here they were, boys of twenty and men of
+forty, standing in line, braving their all-time enemy, the _gendarme_,
+each silently waiting his turn to explain his situation.  To the credit
+of the _gendarme_ and all those in authority, it must be said that
+contrary to their usual custom they acted like loving fathers with these
+prodigal sons of the Republic--possible information without the sign of
+a grumble, and advising those who were still streaming in at the door to
+come back towards five o'clock, when the line should have advanced a
+little.  It was then scarcely ten A. M.!
+
+H. had finished in no time.
+
+"All I've got to do is to go home and wait until I am called for," he
+explained as we walked away at a brisk gait.
+
+Like most country people when they come to town I had numerous errands
+to do, so we set off towards the _Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville_, renowned
+for its farming implements.
+
+At the corner of the Rue des Archives we met Monsieur Gauthier on his
+way to his Museum.
+
+"_Grave--tre's grave--la situation, Monsieur_," was all he could say.
+
+"What would you advise us to do?"
+
+"Well, to speak plainly, I should advise you to shut up the chateau,
+leave a guardian, and open your Paris apartment.  You're in the east,
+you know!  I shall go down by the five train and bring back Elizabeth
+and the children.  I'd be easier in my mind if I knew they were in a big
+city!  I If you have to leave, Madame Huard would be better off here."
+
+H. was very sober as we left Mr. Gauthier.
+
+"Bah!  Cheer up!  I'm afraid our friend is an alarmist.  You know he has
+two young children!"
+
+We entered the Bazar, which is the "biggest" of the big stores in Paris.
+Every day in the week, and Sundays included, it is usually so crowded
+with buyers and sellers that one has to elbow one's way, and literally
+serve one's self.  To our amazement it was empty--literally empty.  Not
+a single customer--not a single clerk to be seen. The long stretches of
+floor and counters were vacant as though the store were closed.  I
+gasped a little in surprise and just as I did so a female voice from
+behind a distant desk called out:
+
+"What is your pleasure, Madame?"
+
+I turned, and a little woman in black advanced towards me.
+
+"Yes, I know the place looks queer, but you see all our clerks are young
+men and everyone of them has been obliged to join his regiment since
+closing time last evening!"
+
+"Leave farming alone and come over to Conard's.  He's bound to have some
+news," said H. impatiently.
+
+Conard's is a big publishing firm on the boulevard, renowned as a
+meeting place for most of the well-known political men.
+
+Conard greeted us in silence.  He knew no more than we, and we fell to
+talking of the latest events and trying to come to a conclusion.  Then
+one of the _habitués_ stepped in.
+
+"_Eh bien, Monsieur_, what news?"
+
+The person addressed kept on perusing the titles of the books spread
+along the counter, and drawing a long puff from his cigarette and
+without lifting his eyes, said, "The mobilization is for four o'clock!
+Official.  Have you something entertaining to read on my way to the
+front?"
+
+"_What?_"
+
+"Yes, gentlemen."
+
+"War?"'
+
+"It looks very much like it!"
+
+Though almost expected, the news gave us a thrill.  We stood spellbound
+and tongue-tied.
+
+What to do?  There were so many decisions to be made at a moment's
+notice!  H. was for our coming to Paris, as all the men must necessarily
+leave the chateau.
+
+"Mobilization doesn't necessarily mean war, man.  Besides if it does
+come it can't last long.  You'd better go back to your place in the
+country, Huard.  A big estate like that needs looking after," said
+Conard.
+
+"Where do you live?" questioned the gentleman who had given us the news.
+
+"Villiers--sixty miles _east_ of Paris."
+
+"Well, if you decide to go there I advise you to take the soonest train.
+The eastern railway belongs to the army, and only the army, beginning at
+noon to-day."
+
+H. looked at his watch.  It was nearly eleven, and our next train left
+at noon sharp.  We jumped into a taxi.
+
+"Drive to the Gare de l'Est and on the way stop at Tarides!  We must
+have maps, good road maps of the entire north and east," said H.,
+turning to me.
+
+It seemed as though he had had that thought in common with the entire
+Parisian population, for all down the boulevards the bookshops and
+stationers were already overflowing with men, chiefly in regimentals,
+and as to the shoe-shops and boot-makers--there was a line waiting
+outside of each.  Yet there was no excitement, no shouting, not even an
+"extra."
+
+What a different sight our station presented to that of two hours
+before!  The great iron gates were shut, and guarded by a line of
+_sergents de ville_.  Only men joining their regiments and persons
+returning to their legitimate dwellings were allowed to pass. And there
+were thousands of both.  Around the grillwork hovered dense groups of
+women, bravely waving tearless adieux to their men folk.
+
+After assuring himself that there was still a noon train, H. led me to
+the restaurant directly opposite the station.
+
+"We'll have a bite here.  Heaven knows what time we shall reach home!"
+
+The room was filled to overflowing; the lunchers being mostly officers.
+At the table on our right sat a young fellow whose military harnessings
+were very new and very stiff, but  in spite of the heat, a high collar
+and all his trappings he managed to put away a very comfortable repast.
+
+On our left was a party composed of a captain, his wife and two other
+_freres d'armes_.  That brave little Parisian woman at once won my
+admiration, for though, in spite of superhuman efforts, the tears would
+trickle down her face, she never gave in one second to her emotion but
+played her part as hostess, trying her best to put her guests at ease
+and smilingly inquiring after their family and friends as though she
+were receiving under ordinary circumstances in her own home.
+
+At a quarter before noon we left them and elbowed our way through the
+ever-gathering crowd towards our train.
+
+"The twelve o'clock express--what platform?" H. inquired.
+
+"The ten o'clock train hasn't gone yet, Monsieur!"
+
+"Is there any danger of its _not_ going?"
+
+"Oh, no; but there's every danger of its being the last."
+
+And the man spoke the truth, for as our friend the politician predicted,
+at noon military authority took over the station and all those who were
+so unfortunate as to have been left behind were obliged to wait in Paris
+three mortal weeks. On the Eastern Railway all passenger service was
+immediately sacrificed to the transportation of troops.
+
+It seems to me that this was the longest train I have ever seen.  The
+coaches stretched far out beyond the station into torrid sunlight. Every
+carriage was filled up to and beyond its normal capacity.  There could
+be no question of what class one would travel--it was travel where one
+could!  Yet no one seemed to mind. I managed to find a seat in it
+compartment already occupied by two young St. Cyr students in full
+uniform and white gloves, a very portly aged couple and half a dozen men
+of the working classes.
+
+"We'll take turns at sitting, Monsieur," said one of them as H. pushed
+further on into the corridor.
+
+At the end of five minutes' time the conversation had become general.
+Although as yet there had been no official declaration everyone present
+was convinced that the news would shortly be made public, and though the
+crowd  was certainly not a merry one, it was certainly not sad.  Most of
+the men had received their orders in the morning, and had said good-bye
+to their loved ones at home.  In consequence, there were no
+heart-rending scenes of farewell, no tearful leave-takings from family
+and friends, no useless manifestations.
+
+Through the doorway of our stifling compartment, which up until the last
+moment was left open for air, we could see the train on the opposite
+platform silently, rapidly filling with men, each carrying a new pair of
+shoes either slung over the shoulders or neatly tied in a box or paper
+parcel.  Then without any warning, without any hilarious vociferations
+on the part of its occupants, it quietly drew out of the station, to be
+instantly replaced by another train of cars.
+
+Five times we watched the same operation recommence ere the ten o'clock
+train decided to leave Paris.  Then as the guard went along the platform
+slamming the doors, a boyish face poked its way into the aperture of our
+compartment.
+
+"Hello, Louis," said he, addressing one of the workmen.  "Hello, Louis,
+you here, too?"
+
+"_Eh bien, cette fois je crois quon y va!  Hein?_"
+
+Our door closed and the trainman whistled.
+
+"_Bon voyage!_" shouted the boy through the window.
+
+"The same to you," replied the other.  That was all.
+
+It was not a very eventful journey.  It was merely hot and lengthy.  We
+stopped at every little way station either to let down or take on
+passengers.  We were side-tracked and forgotten for what seemed hours
+at a time, to allow speedy express trains filled with men and bound for
+the eastern frontier to pass on and be gone.
+
+At Changis-St. Jean I put my head out of the window and there witnessed
+a most touching sight.  A youngish man in a well-fitting captain's
+uniform, accompanied by his wife and two pretty babies, was preparing to
+take his leave.  He was evidently well known and esteemed in his little
+village, for the curate, the mayor, the municipal council and numerous
+friends had come to see him off.  The couple bore up bravely until the
+whistle blew-then, clasping each other in an almost brutal embrace, they
+parted, he to jump into the moving train mid the shouts of well-wishers,
+and she, her shoulders shaking with emotion, to return to her empty
+home.
+
+Four months later, almost to a day, I again put my head out of the car
+window as we stopped at Changis.  Imagine my surprise on seeing almost
+the same group!  I recognized the mayor, the curate and the others, and
+a little shiver went down my back as I caught sight of the pretty
+captain's wife--her eyes red and swollen beneath the long widow's veil
+that covered her face.  That same hopeful little assembly of August
+first had once again gathered on the station platform to take possession
+of and to conduct to their last resting place the mortal remains of
+their heroic defunct.
+
+Naturally, as they did not expect us before six at the château, there
+was no carriage to meet us.
+
+"We'll take the hotel taxi as far as Charly, and from there we'll
+telephone home," said H. as we got down from the train.
+
+But there was neither hotel trap nor vehicle of any description at the
+station. True it was that our train was nearly two hours late!  The idea
+of walking some four miles in the broiling sun was anything but amusing,
+but there seemed to be nothing else to do.  So after a quarter of an
+hour uselessly spent in trying to get a carriage about our lonesome
+station, we started off on foot.  We had scarcely gone two hundred yards
+when we caught sight of a PARISIAN taxi!  H. hailed him!
+
+"What are you doing down _here?_"
+
+"I brought down a gentleman who was in a hurry.  You see there are no
+more trains out of Paris on this line since noon!  And there are not
+likely to be any for some time to come."
+
+"Will you take us as far as Charly?"
+
+"If it's on the way to Paris--yes!  I'm in a hurry to get back.  I've
+got to join my regiment at the Gaxe du Nord before midnight, but I'd
+like to ring in another job like this before that.  It's worth while at
+150 per trip!"
+
+"You've got to cross Charly--there's no other way to Paris."
+
+So we made our price and were whisked into our little market-town.
+
+The inhabitants were on their doorsteps or  chatting in little groups,
+and we created quite a sensation in our Parisian vehicle.  H. went to
+the Gendarmerie at once to see if there was any official news by wire
+since we had left town.
+
+"You're the one who ought to bring us news, Monsieur," said the
+_brigadier_. "What do they say in Paris?"
+
+"The mobilization will be posted at four o'clock."
+
+A hearty peal of laughter, that was most refreshing in the tension of
+the moment, burst from all three gendarmes.
+
+"Well, it's five minutes of four now.  And if what you say is so, I
+should think we'd know something about it by this time!  Don't worry.
+It's not so bad as you fancy--"
+
+H. shook hands and we left.  At the hotel we got the chateau on the wire
+and asked for the victoria at once. As the horse had to be harnessed and
+there is a two-mile drive down to Charley, we stopped a moment and spoke
+to the proprietress of the hotel.
+
+"How does it happen that your motor was not at the station?" said H.
+
+"Oh," she replied, "our officers hired it early this morning and my
+husband bad to drive them post-haste to Soissons.  He hasn't got back
+yet!"
+
+Before going farther in my narrative I shall say here, lest I forget it,
+that two of the supposed officers were caught within the fortnight and
+shot at Meaux as German spies--the third managed to make his escape.
+
+Hearing the carriage coming down the hill, we walked towards the
+doorway.  At that same moment we saw the white-trousered _gendarme_
+hastening towards the town hall. Catching might of H., he held up the
+sealed envelope he held in his band, and shouted, "You were right,
+Monsieur.  It has come!"
+
+We jumped into the victoria, but as we crossed the square the
+_garde-champetre_ caught the bridle and stopped our turnout.
+
+"One moment, Monsieur."
+
+Then the town-crier appeared, instantly causing the staggering groups to
+cluster into one.  He had no need to ring his bell.  He merely lifted
+his hand and obtained instant silence, and then slowly read out in deep,
+solemn, measured tones, which I shall never forget until my dying day.
+
+"_Extrme urgence.  Ordre de mobilisation generale.  Le premier jour de
+la mobilization est le dimanche deux aout!_"
+
+That was all!  It was enough!  The tension of those last two days was
+broken. No matter what the news, it was a relief.  And we drove away
+'mid the rising hum of hundreds of tongues, loosened after the agonizing
+suspense.
+
+The news had not yet reached Villiers when we drove through the village
+street. We turned into the chateau and found Elizabeth Gauthier, her
+children and almost all the servants, grouped near the entrance ball.
+They looked towards us with an appealing gaze.
+
+As H. opened his mouth to answer, the sharp pealing of the _tocsin_,
+such as it rings only in cases of great emergency, followed by the
+rolling of the drum, told them better than we could that the worst bad
+come.
+
+The servants retired in silence and still the bell rang on.  Presently
+we could hear the clicking of the sabots on the bard road as the
+peasants hurried from the fields towards the _Mairie_.
+
+I can see us all now, standing there in the brilliant afternoon
+sunlight--Elizabeth murmuring between her sobs, "O God, don't take my
+husband!" little Jules clinging to her skirts, amazed at her distress,
+and happy, lighthearted, curly-headed baby Colette, chasing butterflies
+on the lawn in front of us!
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+_August first._
+
+The _tocsin_ ceased, but the drum rolled on.
+
+In a moment we had recovered from the first shock, and all went out to
+the highroad to hear the declaration.  To H. and me it was already a
+thing of the past, but we wanted to see how the peasants would take it.
+
+At Villiers as at Charly, it was the _garde champetre_ who was charged
+with this solemn mission, and the old man made a most pathetic figure as
+he stood there with his drumsticks in his hand, his spectacles pushed
+back, and the perspiration rolling down his tanned and withered cheeks.
+
+"What have you got to say?" queried one woman, who was too impatient to
+wait until all had assembled.
+
+"_Bien de bon--_" was the philosophic reply, and our friend proceeded to
+clear his throat and make his announcement.
+
+It was received in dead silence.  Not a murmur, not a comment rose from
+the crowd, as the groups dispersed, and each one returned to his
+lodgings.
+
+We followed suit, and I went with H. towards the servants' hall.
+
+"Give me the keys to the wine cellar," said he.  "And, Nini," he
+continued, addressing my youngest maid, aged ten, "Nini, lay a cloth and
+bring out the champagne glasses.  The boys shan't go without a last
+joyful toast."
+
+There were four of them; four of them whose military books ordered them
+to reach the nearest railway station, with two days' rations, as soon as
+possible after the declaration of mobilization.  H. had hardly time to
+bring up the champagne before we could bear the men clattering down the
+stairs from their rooms.  Their luggage was quickly packed--a change of
+underclothes and a second pair of shoes composed their trousseaux--and
+Julie came hurrying forward with bread, sausages and chocolate!  "Put
+this into your bags," she said.  Though no one had told them, all those
+who remained seemed to have guessed what to do, for in like manner
+George, one of the younger gardeners, had hitched the horses to the farm
+cart and drove up to the kitchen entrance.
+
+A moment later Catherine called me aside and tearfully begged permission
+to accompany husband and brother as far as Paris.  The circumstances
+were too serious to refuse such a request and I nodded my assent.
+
+"Come on, boys," shouted H.  "Ring the farm-bell, Nini, and call the
+others in."
+
+Their faces radiant with excitement, they gathered around the long
+table.  H. filled up the glasses and then raising his--
+
+"Here's to France, and to your safe return!" said he.
+
+"To France, and our safe return!" they echoed.
+
+We all touched glasses and the frothy amber liquid disappeared as by
+magic. Then followed a hearty handshaking and they all piled into the
+little cart. George cracked the whip and in a moment they had turned the
+comer and were gone.
+
+Gone--gone forever--for in the long months that followed how often did I
+recall that joyful toast, and now, a year later, as I write these lines,
+I know for certain that none of them will ever make that "safe return."
+
+Elizabeth Gauthier bore up wonderfully under the strain.  She was the
+first to admit that after all it would have been too trying to say
+good-bye to her husband. H. and I then decided that it was best for her
+to bring her children and maid and come over to the chateau where we
+would share our lot in common. There was no time for lamenting--for the
+sudden disappearance of cook, butler, and the three most important
+farm-hands, left a very large breach which had to be filled at once.
+There was nothing to do but to "double up," and the girls and women
+willingly offered to do their best.
+
+Julie, the only person over thirty, offered to take over the kitchen. To
+George and Leon fell the gardens, the stables, the horses, dogs, pigs
+and cattle. Yvonne, aged seventeen, offered to milk the cows, make
+butter and cheese, look after the chickens and my duck farm, while
+Berthe and Nini, aged fourteen and ten, were left to take care of the
+chateau!  Not a very brilliant equipment to run as large an
+establishment as ours, but all so willing and so full of good humour
+that things were less neglected than one might imagine.
+
+The excitement of the day had been such that after a very hasty meal we
+retired exhausted at an early hour.  The night was still--so still that
+though four miles from the station we could hear the roar of the trains
+as they passed along the river front.
+
+"Hark!" said H.  "How close together they are running!"
+
+We timed them.  Scarcely a minute between each.  Then, our ears becoming
+accustomed, we were soon able to distinguish the passenger from the
+freight trains, as well as the empty ones returning to Paris.
+
+"Listen!  Those last two were for the troops!  That one is for the
+ammunition. Oh, what a heavy one!  It must be for the artillery!"  And
+we fell asleep before the noise ceased.  Indeed for three long weeks
+there was no end to it, as night and day the Eastern Railway rushed its
+human freight towards the Eastern frontier.
+
+Sunday morning, August second, found us all at our posts as the sun
+rose. Elizabeth and I drove down to Charly for eight o'clock mass, and
+all along the road met men and boys on their way to the station.  The
+church was full, but there were only women and elderly men in the
+assembly; why, we knew but too well, and many wives and mothers had come
+there to hide their grief.  Our curate was a very old man, and the news
+had given him such a shock that he was unable to say a word after
+reaching the pulpit and stood there, tongue-tied, with the tears
+streaming down his face for nearly five minutes--finally retiring
+without uttering a sound. Not exactly the most fortunate thing that
+could have happened, for his attitude encouraged others to give way to
+their emotions, and there was a most impressive silence followed by much
+sniffling and nose-blowing! All seemed better, though, after the shower,
+and the congregation disbanded with a certain sense of relief.
+
+Before leaving home H. told me to seek out the grocer, and to lay in a
+stock of everything she dispensed.
+
+"You see," said he, "we're now cut off from all resources.  There are no
+big cities where we can get supplies, within driving reach, and our
+grocers will have nothing to sell once their stock is exhausted.  We're
+living in the hope that the mobilization will last three weeks.  That
+will you do if it lasts longer?  It never hurts to have a supply on
+hand!"
+
+"All my salt, sugar and gasoline has been put aside for the army.  I was
+ordered to do that this morning--but come around to the back door and
+I'll see what I can do for you," said my amiable grocery-woman.
+
+"That's pleasant," thought I.  "No gasoline--no motor--no electricity!
+Privation is beginning early.  But why grumble!  We'll go to bed with
+the chickens and won't miss it!"
+
+Madame Leger and I made out a long list of groceries and household
+necessities, and she set to work weighing and packing, and finally began
+piling the bundles into the trap drawn up close to her side door.
+
+Our dear old Cesar must have been surprised by the load he had to carry
+home, but Elizabeth and I decided that a "bird in the hand is worth two
+in the bush," and one never could tell what astonishing "order"
+to-morrow might bring forth.
+
+How H. laughed when he saw us driving up the avenue.
+
+"I didn't think you'd take me so literally," said he.  "Why, war isn't
+even declared, and here we are preparing for a siege!"
+
+"Never mind," I returned, "you must remember that there are twelve
+persons to feed, and we'll soon get away with all I've got here."
+
+The afternoon was spent in arranging our apartments.  For convenience
+sake, we decided to close part of the chateau and all live as near
+together as possible in one wing.  The children and younger servants
+seemed to consider the whole as a huge joke--or rather, a prolonged
+picnic party, and the house rang with peals of jolly laughter.
+
+Monday, the third, Elizabeth and I tackled the provisions which were
+piled high on the table in the servants' hall.  A visit to the storeroom
+and a little calculation showed that there were sufficient groceries
+already on hand to last the month out.
+
+"Very good," said I.  "Now, the rest we'll divide into three even parts
+--that makes September, October and November assured.  By that time
+we'll know what precautions to take!"
+
+"Well, I should hope so!" came the smiling reply.  And we set to work.
+It all recalled the days of my childhood when I used to play at
+housekeeping and would measure out on the scales of my dolls' house so
+much rice, so much flour, so much macaroni, etc.  I could hardly believe
+I was in earnest.
+
+We were right in the midst of our task when our gardeners appeared
+bearing between them a clothes basket full of plums.
+
+"Madame, they can't wait a day longer.  They're ready to cook now."
+
+It was almost a disagreeable surprise, for we were already as busy as we
+could be. But there was no way of waiting, or the fruit would be
+spoiled.
+
+"Is that all the plums?"
+
+"Ah, no, Madame, there are fully two baskets more.  And in a day or two
+the blackberries and black currants must be picked or they'll rot on the
+vines."
+
+"Heaven preserve us!" thought I.  "Will we ever come to the end of it
+all!"  But by four o'clock the first basket of plums was stoned, the
+sugar weighed, and a huge copper basin of _confiture_ was merrily
+boiling on the stove.
+
+"Where are you going to hide your provisions now you've got them so
+beautifully tied up?" enquired H., his eyes twinkling.
+
+"Hide them?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"What for?"
+
+"In case of invasion."
+
+We all simply shook with laughter.
+
+"Well, if the Germans ever reach here there won't be much hope for us
+all," I returned.
+
+"No, but joking aside; suppose we suddenly get the French troops
+quartered on us, are you calmly going to produce your stock, let it be
+devoured in a day or so, and remain empty-handed when they depart?  You
+see, it isn't the little fellows who'll suffer.  A big place like this
+with all its rooms and its stables is just the spot for a camp!"
+
+That idea had never dawned upon us, and we set to thinking where we
+could securely hide our groceries in three different places.  Finally it
+was agreed that one part should be put back of the piles of sheets in
+the linen closet; the second part hidden on the top shelf of a very high
+cupboard in my dressing-room with toilet articles grouped in front of
+it; while the third was carried up a tiny flight of stairs to the attic
+and there pushed through a small opening into the dark space that leads
+to the beams and rafters.  It was all so infantile that we clapped our
+hands and were as happy as kings when we had discovered such a good
+cachette.
+
+Night was coming on as I stood pouring the last of the plum jam into the
+glasses lined up along the kitchen table.  Berthe had counted nearly a
+hundred, and I was seriously thinking of adopting jam-making as a
+profession, when with much noise and trumpeting, a closed auto whisked
+up the avenue and stopped before the entrance.  I hurried to the kitchen
+door, untying my apron as I ran, arriving just as an officer jumped from
+the motor, and before I had time to recognize him in his new uniform,
+Captain Gauthier rushed forward, exclaiming:
+
+"I've come to fetch Elizabeth and the children!"
+
+The others, too, had heard the motor, and in an instant there was quite
+an assembly in the courtyard.
+
+"I had great difficulty leaving Paris at all.  My passport is only good
+until midnight," the captain was explaining as his wife and H. appeared,
+and almost without time for greeting.  "Make haste," he continued,
+turning to Madame Gauthier.  "We must be off in a quarter of an hour, or
+our machine will never reach town on time."
+
+I hurried with Elizabeth to her apartment, where we woke and dressed two
+very astonished children, while the little maid literally threw the
+toilet necessities and a few clothes into a huge Gladstone bag.
+
+"Leon evidently doesn't think us safe down here!  You'd better come,
+too," murmured Elizabeth as we went downstairs.
+
+In the meantime, H. had questioned our friend as to what had transpired
+in Paris within the last twenty-four hours.
+
+"England will probably join us--and there is every possibility of
+Italy's remaining neutral," he announced, as we made our appearance. And
+then--"You must come to Paris.  You're too near the front here," he
+continued, as he piled wife, babies and servant into the taxi.
+
+And so, with hardly time for an adieu, the motor whisked away as it had
+come, leaving H. and me looking beyond it into the night.
+
+When I returned to the pantry, I found Nini weeping copiously. Imagining
+she had become frightened by the sudden departure of our friends, I was
+collecting my wits to console and reassure her, when she burst forth,
+"Oh, Madame--Madame--the _pates--_"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The lovely _pates!_--all burned to cinders!  Such a waste!"
+
+In our excitement we had forgotten to take from the oven two handsome
+_Pates de lievre_ of which I was more than duly proud.  And as Nini
+expressed it, they were burned to cinders.  How H. chuckled at our first
+domestic mishap.
+
+"Fine cooks, you are," said he, turning to Berthe and Nini, who hung
+their heads and blushed crimson.  "And it's to you that I'm going to
+entrust Madame when I leave!"
+
+Tuesday, the fourth, the drum rolled at an early hour and the
+_garde-champetre_ announced the declaration of war.  It was not news to
+anyone, for all had considered the mobilization as the real thing.
+
+We were breakfasting when we heard a strange rumbling up the road.  It
+was such a funny noise--midway between that of a steam roller and a
+threshing machine--that we both went out towards the lodge to see what
+was passing by.  We were not a little surprised on perceiving our
+gendarmes sitting in an antiquated motor, whose puffing and wheezing
+betokened its age.  They stopped when they saw us, and after exchanging
+greetings, laughingly poked fun at their vehicle--far less imposing than
+their well-groomed horses, but the only thing that could cover between
+seventy and eighty miles a day!  From them we learned that the
+mobilization was being carried out in perfection, and in all their tours
+to outlying villages and hamlets not a single delinquent had been found
+--not a single man was missing! All had willingly answered the call to
+arms!
+
+Between the excitement and all the work that had to be done at Villiers,
+time passed with phenomenal rapidity.  As yet we had had no occasion to
+perceive the lack of mail and daily papers, and though I had always had
+a sub-conscious feeling that H. would eventually receive his marching
+orders, it was rather a shock when they came.  Being in a frontier
+department he was called out earlier than expected.  And instead of
+being sent around-circuit way to reach his regiment south of Paris, he
+was ordered to gain _Chateau Thierry_ at once, and there await
+instructions.
+
+Of course I packed and unpacked his bag for the twentieth time since
+Sunday, in the hope of finding a tiny space to squeeze in one more
+useful article--and then descending, I jumped into the cart and waited
+for him to join me.  In spite of the solemnity of the moment, I couldn't
+help laughing when he appeared, for disdaining the immaculate costume I
+had carefully laid out, he had put on a most disreputable-looking pair
+of trousers, and an old paint-stained Norfolk jacket. A faded flannel
+shirt and a silk bandanna tied about his throat completed this weird
+accoutrement, which was topped by a long-vizored cap and a dilapidated
+canvas gunny sack, the latter but half full and slung lightly over one
+shoulder. Anticipating my question, he explained that it was useless to
+throw away a perfectly new suit of clothes.  When he should receive his
+uniform, his civilian outfit ought to be put in safe keeping for his
+return.  This was customary in time of peace, but who could tell?--he
+might never even get a uniform, let alone hoping to see the clothes
+again.
+
+And then, when I began examining the paltry contents of his sack, he
+made light of my disappointment, saying that his father, who had served
+in the campaign of 1870, had always told him that a ball of strong
+string and a jackknife were sufficient baggage for any soldier.  I
+supposed he ought to know, and was just going to ask another question,
+when--
+
+"Listen," he said, as he put his foot on the step.  "Listen--before I
+forget. My will is at my notary's in Paris, and on your table is a
+letter to your father--if anything happens to me you know what to do."
+
+We drove away in silence.
+
+I let the horses walk almost all the way home and my thoughts were busy,
+very busy along the way.  Here I was alone--husband and friends had
+vanished as by magic. My nearest relatives over five thousand miles
+away--and communication with the outside world entirely cut off, for
+Heaven knew how long.  Evidently there was nothing to do but to face the
+situation, especially as all those in my employ save Julie were under
+twenty, and looked to me for moral support.  This was no time to
+collapse.  If I broke down anarchy would reign at once.
+
+But what to do?  Go on living like a hermit on that great big estate?
+The idea appalled me.  It seemed such a useless existence--and in a few
+moments' time I had decided to turn the place into a hospital.  But how
+and to whom should I offer it?
+
+I stopped at the _Gendarmerie_, where our friends were able to give me
+information.
+
+"The nearest sanitary formation was Soissons--the Red Cross Society. The
+president would probably be able to help me--"  So I thanked the
+_gendarme_ and left there, having decided to drive thence on the morrow.
+
+Soissons is but twenty miles as a bird flies, but almost double that by
+the winding roadway, and I was calculating what time I should start and
+where I would rest the span, as I entered the yard.
+
+"Anything new, George?" I said, as he took the bridle.
+
+"Nothing, Madame, save that we have received orders that all the horses
+must be presented at Chateau Thierry for the revision to-morrow before
+ten."
+
+"All the horses?"
+
+"Yes, Madame, with full harnessing, halters and the farm carts."
+
+That was a surprise!  Suppose they are all taken, thought I, I shall be
+almost a prisoner.  And my trip to Soissons?
+
+"Don't unharness!" I called, as George drove towards the stable.  "I'm
+going back to Charly."
+
+In our little township I managed to buy a lady's bicycle.  "It may come
+in handy," I thought.  It was the last machine that was left.  From the
+shop I went to the hotel.
+
+"Where's your husband?" I said to the proprietress.
+
+"Why, he's gone with the chauffeur to take our motorbuses and taxi to
+the requisition committee."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, Madame."
+
+"But I wanted him to motor me over to Soissons to-morrow!"
+
+"Well, if he gets back to-night and they leave him a single machine,
+I'll let you know, Madame."
+
+In the afternoon the drum beat anew and I learned that all the bakers in
+the village (there were three of them) having been called to the front,
+we were likely to be without the staff of life.  In the presence,
+therefore, of the impending calamity, the village government had decided
+to take over the bakery--it had found an old man and a very young
+apprentice who would do the work, but each citizen was requested to
+declare the number of persons composing his household and in order to
+economize flour, so much bread would be allowed per bead and each family
+must come and fetch his supply at the town hall between eleven and
+twelve o'clock!
+
+Needless to say, it must be paid for in cash, though the Board reserved
+the right to look after the village poor.  In like manner, all the salt
+had been reserved for the army, and we were to be rationed to
+seventy-five grammes a week per person!  It all sounded rather terrible,
+but when put into practice it was proved that the rations were very
+generous and no one had reason to complain.
+
+By four o'clock the next morning there was a perpetual stream of farm
+carts down the road leading towards Chateau Thierry.  I dressed and went
+to the stables where George and Leon were already harnessing.  More than
+once I had a tight feeling in my throat as I patted the glossy backs of
+dear old Cesar and my lovely span.
+
+The girls had decorated the carts with huge bunches of poppies, daisies
+and corn-flowers and in addition to these tri-color bouquets, a little
+branch of laurel was stuck up over each horse's bridle.  There was a
+generous distribution of sugar, and each horse was kissed on the tip of
+his nose, and then the boys joined the procession on the highroad.
+
+I watched them out of sight.  "Shall we ever get through saying
+'good-bye'? When will these departures cease?" thought I, as I turned
+from the gate.  But I was given no time to muse, for a most amazing
+clamor arose from a gateway a little higher up the road, and glancing in
+that direction, I saw old father Poupard leading his horse and cart into
+the open.  He was followed by his wife and daughter-in-law, two brawny
+peasant women, who were loudly lamenting the departure of their steed!
+
+"No, no!" literally howled mother Poupard.
+
+"This is the last straw!  Both sons gone, and now our horse!  Who's
+going to bring in our crop?  The Lord is unjust."
+
+"And brother's babies--poor motherless things--in an orphan asylum at
+Epernay! How can we get to them now?  Oh, no!  Oh, no--" wailed Julia.
+
+"Poupard!" exclaimed his wife, drying her tears on the corner of her
+apron and fixing her sharp blue eyes on her husband, "Poupard, no
+loitering!  If they pay you for your horse, remember, no foolishness.
+You bustle back here with the money--we need you to help in the
+vineyard."
+
+"This is no time for sprees," wept Julia.
+
+"Father Poupard," admonished his irate mate, brandishing a spade,
+"Father Poupard, mind what I say!"
+
+And then in a more moderate tone, but which was distinctly audible some
+thirty yards away, "I've put a bottle into your lunch basket.  You won't
+need to buy anything more."
+
+There was a distinct emphasis on the word _buy_, which told me that
+mother Poupard, evidently accustomed to her husband's ways, had provided
+plentifully for his journey but had carefully emptied his pockets before
+he started.
+
+I went back to my preserves, but as the day wore on the lack of all
+communication with the outside world began to prey on me.  Towards four
+o'clock I took my bicycle and started down to Charly.  A quarter of a
+mile from our gate, in front of the town hall, a mason had driven two
+huge posts, into the ground on either side of the road, and was swinging
+a heavy chain between them.
+
+I looked askance at the schoolmaster who stood in the doorway surveying
+the work. He explained that he had received instructions to the effect
+that all passers-by unknown to this village were to be stopped and asked
+for their papers.  The men and boys who remained were to take turns
+mounting guard, and thus to help to eradicate the circulation of spies.
+Two suspicious motors and a man on a bicycle had already been signaled.
+Should they appear and fail to produce their papers, immediate arrest
+would follow.  Should they offer the slightest opposition or attempt
+escape, the sentinels had orders to shoot.
+
+I enquired if it would be necessary for we to have a _sauf-conduit,_
+being bound for Charly, and possibly the station at Nogent, where I
+hoped that the soldiers of a passing train would throw me a newspaper.
+
+Mr. Duguey replied that he would gladly present me with the first
+passport, and seemed wonderfully taken with my idea about the papers. He
+admitted that living in darkness was beginning to get on his nerves,
+too, and asked me, in case my plan should prove successful, if I would
+be willing to put it on the public sign board so all could see the news.
+I acquiesced willingly, and after he had asked a few questions as to
+names, age, characteristics and destination, he stamped the seal on my
+paper, and I departed.
+
+At Charly the same preparations had been made, and two elderly men,
+leaning on their guns, smiled as I presented my paper for their
+inspection.
+
+At the hotel, the proprietor had just returned after having waited
+nearly twenty-four hours in line to present his machines.  All save one
+had been bought for the army.  But with his double-seated taxi he
+promised to drive me to Soissons the following morning.
+
+I continued my road, and reached Nogent to find that I was not alone in
+my idea about begging the papers.  Several others from neighboring
+villages, so I heard, had already succeeded in obtaining a sheet, and
+had driven off hastily with their trophies.  My proceeding was very
+simple.  It consisted of crossing the rails to the up-train platform, to
+stand in line with the other women already assembled, there to wait like
+birds on a fence until a train coming from Paris passed by. Then as it
+whizzed through the station, we shouted in chorus, "_Les journaux! Les
+jour-naux!_"
+
+It worked like magic.  We had hardly been there two minutes when a train
+was signaled.
+
+As it approached, we could see that engine and cars were decorated with
+garlands of flowers, and trailing vines, while such inscriptions as,
+"_Train de Plaisir pour Berlin,_" and numerous caricatures had been
+chalked on the varnished sides of the carriages.
+
+Our appeals were not in vain.  With joyful shouts, the boys gladly threw
+us the papers which were welcomed like the rain of manna in the desert.
+I managed to collect two, _L'Action Franfaise_, and _Le Bonnet Rouge_.
+
+Until others and fresher were procured, the Royalist and the
+Revolutionary sheets hung side by side on the public sign board at
+Villiers, proving that under the Third Republic, _Liberte', Egalite',
+Fraternite_ are not vain words.
+
+The news of the violation of Luxembourg and Belgian territory created
+less sensation than one might have expected.  In the circumstances news
+of any kind seemed a blessing.
+
+There was still quite a gathering in front of the town hall when the
+first carts began to return from the revision.  They were few and far
+between, compared with the double line that had driven past in the
+morning.  My heart leapt with joy, as I saw George, driving Cesar, turn
+into the court.
+
+"Too old, Madame," he said, his eyes shining.  "Though still so game
+that they nearly kept him.  He's reserved for a second call."
+
+"And Florentin and Cognac?"
+
+The boy put his hand into his pocket and held out a slip of paper. I
+took it and read, "_Bon pour 1,200 francs, prix de 2 chevaux, etc._"
+
+"Well, thank God, we've got one left anyhow," thought I as I entered the
+hall. Just then the gate creaked and I could vaguely distinguish in the
+deepening twilight the forms of mother Poupard and Julia hurrying
+towards the stables.  I followed.
+
+"George!  George!" called Julia.
+
+"Well?" came the answer from within.
+
+"George--where's the old man?" queried mother Poupard in excited tones.
+
+"How do I know?"
+
+"Was our horse taken?  Can you tell us that?"
+
+"I think so; yes."
+
+"Then why didn't Poupard come back with you and Leon in the cart?  Did
+you see him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where was he?"
+
+"In front of a cafe as we drove past."
+
+"Oh, the old villain!  The wretch!  Oh, _mon Dieu,_ what shall we do!
+Oh, the wicked old man--if I had him here, I'd thrash him good!"
+
+And mother Poupard began brandishing a pitch-fork with such violence
+that I commenced to fear that failing her delinquent spouse, she would
+fall upon George to wreak vengeance.
+
+"Oh, the old devil!  Oh--"
+
+"Look here, I'm not his nurse--now clear out, the lot of you!"
+
+The injunction served its purpose, for remembering they were "not at
+home," the two women retired in high dudgeon, wailing and lamenting in
+such audible tones that their neighbors came out to see what was the
+matter, and laughed at mother Poupard's threat of what she would do if
+ever she got _le vieux_ into her clutches.
+
+By six A. M. on the Friday I had breakfasted and was ready to leave for
+Soissons. The taxi from the Hotel du Balcon made its appearance a few
+moments later, and after a visit to the town hall, where we secured the
+necessary passports, we set off on our journey.
+
+At the entrance to every little village we were obliged to halt and
+exhibit our papers--after which formality the chain would be let down
+and we allowed to go our way.
+
+Half an hour later as we crossed Chateau Thierry we could see the rows
+of horses that had not yet been examined lined up along the square.  The
+commissaries had worked all night and their task was still far from
+finished.
+
+Until we reached Oulchy-le-Chateau, the chains were the only outward
+signs that betokened the belligerent state of the country, and even then
+as those who mounted guard were not in uniform, it seemed rather as
+though we were passing a series of toll-gates.  However, as we ran along
+the splendid roads between the great fertile plains, I observed that the
+harvesting was being done chiefly by women, and that the roads
+themselves were empty of any vehicle.  Evidently only those who had an
+important errand were allowed on the _routes nationals_, thus kept clear
+for the transport of troops or ammunition.
+
+At Oulchy, half-way to Soissons, we halted at a railway crossing to let
+a long, lazy train drag out of the station.  When at length the bars
+were drawn up, much excitement reigned on the little platform which we
+had been unable to see from the other side of the rails.  Young girls
+with pails and dippers in their hands stood chattering with women in
+wrappers, whose disheveled appearance told plainly that they had been
+hastily awakened and had hurried thence without thinking of their
+_toilette_.
+
+"What is it?" I asked of the _garde-barriere_.
+
+"Wounded!"
+
+"Wounded?"
+
+"Yes--the first.  Not badly wounded and they are able to travel, but
+unable to hold a gun.  And they were all so thirsty!"
+
+Poor fellows, thought I, already out of the ranks and the first week is
+not yet passed.
+
+More persuaded than ever of the utility of my mission, I did not stop
+longer but pushed on towards Soissons.  Half a mile further up the road,
+an elderly man carrying a package, hailed the motor.  We slowed down,
+and hat in hand he approached.
+
+"I beg pardon for the liberty I'm taking,"' he said, "but might I ask
+where you're bound?"
+
+"Soissons."
+
+"You would be rendering a great service to the municipality if you would
+allow me to ride with you in the empty seat.  You see, the youngsters
+who are left to reap the crops have broken the only machine in the
+community, and we can't go on harvesting until it is repaired or
+replaced.  There are no mechanics left, and moreover, no horses that
+could take us to Soissons to find one, so I've offered to go on
+foot--but that means at least two full days lost before we can continue
+our work."
+
+"Get in at once," I said, and we rolled off.
+
+It was not long before I had drawn his history from this village
+alderman, an Alsatian by birth, and his tales of the war of 1870 helped
+to wile away the time we were obliged to spend idling along the roadside
+while our chauffeur repaired our first puncture.  The emergency wheel
+clapped on, we were soon en route again. My companion duly uncovered as
+we passed the monument to the soldiers of the Franco-Prussian War,
+almost hidden in a lovely chestnut grove, in the heart of the forest of
+Hartennes.
+
+On the outskirts of Soissons we came upon a squadron of the Ninth
+Territorial Regiment, resting after the morning exercises.  These
+soldiers much resembled the "bushy-bearded" creatures whom I had seen
+guarding the Eastern Railway, save that they were even more picturesque,
+for most of them wore straw sombreros.  As we passed the captain on his
+horse, my companion lifted his hat and the officer replied with a
+salute.
+
+"A friend of yours?" I ventured.
+
+"No. Never saw him before."
+
+"But you bowed, I thought."
+
+"Certainly.  He's an officer on duty in time of war, and all civilians
+owe him that courtesy."
+
+I liked that and fancied it were old-time urbanity, though often since I
+have seen it proved that the custom is not obsolete.
+
+A little further on we came to a very jolly squadron, the cooks, who
+were peeling fresh vegetables and pouring them into immense
+wash-boilers, which, when filled, two privates seized by the handles and
+carried towards a big barracks some hundred yards distant.
+
+Presently we hit a cobbled road which must have been a joy to all heavy
+machines, but which nearly jolted us out of our light vehicle.  Patience
+and good humor were very rapidly disappearing when we rounded a curve,
+struck the good macadam, and I saw the twin spires of  St. Jean rising
+majestically against the clear blue summer sky.
+
+At our right I noticed the entrance gate to a chateau over which hung a
+big Red Cross, such as I coveted for my home, and then in a moment we
+were already in a _faubourg_ of Soissons.  It was not unlike the
+entrance to any other provincial city in ordinary times, save that there
+were many red-trousered men mixed in with the other population.  There
+were no chains across the road, but four soldiers in uniform mounted
+guard.  We showed _patte blanche_ and proceeded to ask for the Red Cross
+headquarters.
+
+"Madame Macherez is the president.  You must go to her.  Cross the city
+and go out east towards St. Paul.  Her chateau is there."
+
+Naturally we headed straight for our destination, but were stopped every
+other minute by police who side-tracked us into back streets.  The big
+thoroughfares must be kept clear for the army!
+
+I set down my old friend near the town hall, and told him that I should
+be returning about noon.  If he were ready, I would be glad to give him
+a lift. Would he meet us in front of the _Hotel du Soleil d'Or?_
+
+He was delighted, and promised to be on time.
+
+We crossed the Aisne; I must say rather heedlessly, little dreaming that
+in so short a time it would be the object of such desperate and bloody
+disputes--nor so historically famous.
+
+The Chateau de St. Paul sits, or rather, sat back from the road,
+surrounded by its lovely garden and a high wall.  I left my motor and
+entered the grounds, preceded by a servant who had opened the gate.  In
+a small drawing room I presented myself to a very charming young person
+already installed behind a desk, though it was scarcely half-past eight,
+and explained the object of my visit.
+
+"Madame Macherez will be delighted.  I'm her secretary, and I can assure
+you she will do all she can to further your plans.  Would you mind
+waiting just a few moments?  She'll be down presently.  You see," she
+continued, "we have been up all night.  We suddenly had part of a
+regiment quartered on us, and the officers who slept here were coming
+and going most of the time.  I beg you will excuse the dust, but they
+haven't been gone long enough for us to make things tidy. There were
+twenty here, and two hundred men in the outbuildings which makes quite a
+_remue menage._"
+
+Just then the president of the _Association des Dames Franpaises_ came
+in.
+
+Madame Macherez, a fine looking, elderly woman with iron-gray hair and
+clear blue eyes, is the widow of former Senator Macherez.  Her keen
+understanding and wonderful business ability have won her the respect
+and esteem of two entire nations; both friend and enemy are united in
+their praises of this wonderful person.
+
+I was not long in explaining my intentions--I could supply sixty beds,
+with room for the double; would take all the management of a hospital,
+gladly help with the nursing, but must have a doctor and other
+professional aid.
+
+Madame Macherez accepted my proposition, knew just the person I needed,
+and taking off her badge pinned it on to the lapel of my coat and made
+me a member of her society.
+
+"Now, then, let's get through with the formalities at once.  Here is
+your _carte d'identite_. You must paste your photo on to it.  With that
+and an armlet stamped from the War Department you will have free access
+to all the roads and you won't have to be bothered with other papers.
+Let us go at once to the city hall, where they will stamp their seal on
+your card, which makes it valid for your identity. From there we must
+hunt out the colonel in command and get his seal.  That makes it valid
+with military authorities."
+
+The president's motor was waiting outside the door.
+
+"How long shall we be?"
+
+"Ah, an hour at least."
+
+I turned to my chauffeur who was tampering with his punctured tire.
+
+"Go and see if you can't find a new inner tube, and meet me at the
+_Hotel du Soled d'Or_ where I will lunch, at eleven."
+
+"But I just put in a new inner tube."
+
+"Have you got an extra one?"
+
+"No, but I've my emergency wheel--"
+
+"Never mind.  Another inner tube may come in handy."
+
+"Very well, Madame."
+
+Madame Maeberez was waiting, so I jumped in next her and we drove to the
+town ball.  Though the war was scarcely a week old her office was
+already installed in the Hotel de Ville, and several hospitals were well
+on the way towards complete organization.  In a big room white-capped
+women (the first I had seen of the kind) were counting bandages, linen
+and underclothing, laying out huge piles for such and such a hospital.
+
+While Madame M. was answering numerous questions which besieged her on
+her entrance, her secretary took note of what was lacking in my
+ambulance, promised to forward it at once by motor, and gave me an
+agreement to sign.
+
+In the meantime, someone had carried my card to the mayor who affixed
+his seal, and my armlet appeared as though by magic.
+
+Now, then, for the colonel!  And we hastened away again at a moment's
+notice.
+
+As we drove through the quaint little city, my eye was attracted more
+than once by a splendid bit of Louis XIV architecture.  The college, the
+convent, the churches and even some private residences were wonderful
+examples of that exquisitely decorative period.  As it was my first
+visit to Soissons I regretted not having brought my kodak, but when I
+spoke of this to Madame Macherez she expressed her delight at my
+admiration of her native city, but was extremely glad that I had not
+ventured out alone with a camera.  Unknown persons with photographic
+paraphernalia were suspicious these times.  It was best to leave such
+things at home.
+
+Just then we were winding up a narrow street and the chauffeur was
+tooting in vain, trying to persuade a half-dozen soldiers carrying bales
+of bay on their backs, to make room for us to get by.  With much evident
+reluctance the first man drew a bit to the right, the second vociferated
+something in a picturesque patois, and just as we passed the third, I
+leaned forward and grabbed the driver by the collar.
+
+"Stop, stop a minute!" I gasped.
+
+He must have thought I was mad, and Madame M. probably imagined I had
+suddenly lost my wits, when she saw me plunge out of the motor, race
+towards one of the bales, tear it from the carrier's back with a
+violence that nearly upset the man, and then, throwing my arms about his
+neck, embrace him.
+
+"You?  Already?" gasped H., and then as we realized that we were making
+a public spectacle of ourselves, the color rose to our cheeks.
+
+A hasty explanation followed, in which I told my plans.
+
+"And you, what on earth are you doing here?" I questioned.
+
+"Well--just what you see.  All of us from Villiers have been sent to
+bring horses to the front, and a fine job it is.  I wish you could see
+the nags!  None of them rideable!"
+
+"But after they're delivered--what?"
+
+"I wish I knew myself."
+
+"And when can we meet?"
+
+"I'm afraid that's impossible.  We're off again to-night for God knows
+where!"
+
+And H. seeing that he was already far behind his companions, threw me a
+hasty adieu and was gone!
+
+The colonel was absent, but would return _tout de suite,_ and Madame
+Macberez and I lost nearly an hour waiting.  When he appeared, however,
+he was most gracious, excused himself very politely and immediately
+stamped my card.  Then having all the necessary papers, I begged Madame
+to drop me at the hotel, and to return to her bureau, where I knew there
+was work enough for a half-dozen such as she.  She did as I requested,
+and we parted--she promising to visit Villiers as soon as she could
+dispose of an afternoon.
+
+I was the only woman in the hotel dining room for luncheon.  The food
+was good, but the service impossible, as there were some forty men,
+mostly officers, very hungry, and only one decrepit waiter to do the
+work.  Good humor prevailed, each diner making allowances, and here for
+the first time I heard that expression, destined to become so popular as
+an excuse for almost anything: _Cest la guerre!_
+
+My chauffeur kept me waiting, but my friend the alderman was on time.
+Finally the motor made its appearance.  Something had happened on
+leaving St. Paul in the morning and the poor _hotelier_ had searched the
+entire city for a mechanic, but to no avail.  All were _au service de
+l'armee_.  Finally he had had to patch up things as best he could.  As
+to an extra inner tube--such a thing didn't exist. We would have to take
+our chances with the wheel he had.
+
+We started, but hadn't gone two hundred yards when a back tire blew off!
+
+Well, thank goodness, we hadn't left town.  So I returned to the hotel,
+and while Huberson and the alderman were fixing up damages and adjusting
+the emergency wheel, I had time to read all the back numbers of
+_Illustration,_ which the _Soled d'Or_ possessed, and commence a
+conversation with the proprietress, who sat in the court shelling peas
+for dinner.  She was certain that the war would be over in three months
+at the utmost!
+
+At length I went out to see if I couldn't be of some assistance in the
+motor business, but Huberson said it would be ready in a few moments. As
+far as I could make out, my alderman friend was mostly a decorative
+personality, for he stood there with his hat on the back of his head,
+gesticulating vehemently, but never deigning to help my chauffeur in the
+slightest manner.  When I asked him if he knew Soissons well and
+inquired if he could direct me to certain grocers where I could perhaps
+obtain a few provisions, he insisted on showing me the shops, with an
+alacrity which proved his incompetence at motor repairing.
+
+During that short promenade on foot, we encountered the whole Ninth
+Territorial Regiment--not under arms but _au repos_.  The men were
+seated in front of the barracks reading the papers or idly smoking their
+pipes, and all yearning for "something to do."  Their wish, I fear, has
+been more than satisfied.
+
+Start number two proved successful and we sped along very comfortably
+until we hit that long cobbled road.  The day was exceedingly warm, the
+stones sun-baked, and after the first mile or so I saw Huberson looking
+nervously at his fore wheel. His anxiety was well founded, for half a
+minute later, whizz!--I could feel the rubber splitting!
+
+We stopped and all climbed out.
+
+"It's all up!" he exclaimed.  "Not one--but two tires are burst, and the
+shoe of the emergency wheel is flapping like an old dirty rag!"
+
+"Now, in my time--" began the alderman.
+
+"Never mind about your time, old man.  If you want to get back to Oulchy
+and that mowing machine before Christmas, you've got to pitch in and
+help," cut in Huberson, whose nerves could no longer stand the strain.
+Our friend took the hint and began stripping off his coat.  We were
+eight miles from Soissons, on the upgrade of a cobbled road, full in the
+sun.  It was three P. M. on a stifling August day!
+
+The men must have spent an hour trying to make impossible repairs--they
+knew it was no use walking back to Soissons where aid had already been
+refused, and it was evident from the condition of the tubes that there
+was no hope of mending them.
+
+What to do?
+
+"I'll tell you," said I (and I must admit that I spoke for the sake of
+saying something), "I'll tell you!  Suppose you take out the inner tubes
+and stuff the shoes with grass!"
+
+The men looked at me as if I had suddenly gone out of my mind.  Their
+contempt was so apparent that it wilted me.
+
+"Yes--I'm serious."
+
+And then arose a series of protestations which common sense bade me
+heed, but which didn't advance our cause in the slightest.  When we had
+lost a full half-hour more arguing the question, I once again
+proclaimed my original idea.
+
+The driver glanced at me in despair and shrugged his shoulders.  "The
+least we can do is try."
+
+So saying, we fell to work tearing up grass and weeds.  And that is how
+I came to ride over thirty miles on three grass-stuffed tires, which,
+thanks to the heat, towards the end of the journey began sending forth
+little jets of green liquid much to the astonishment of all those who
+saw us pass.
+
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+The next few days following my eventful trip to Soissons were spent
+superintending the installation of my hospital.  For convenience's sake
+I decided to utilize the entire ground floor, first because there were
+fewer and more spacious apartments, each one being large enough to hold
+ten or twelve beds, thus forming a ward; second, because it would be
+better to avoid carrying the wounded up a flight of stairs.  The rooms
+above could be used in case of emergency.  All this of course
+necessitated the moving of most of my furniture and _objets d'art_, as
+well as the emptying of H.'s much encumbered studio--I having determined
+to keep but a small apartment in the east wing for private use.  It was
+really a tremendous undertaking, far worse than any "spring cleaning" I
+had ever experienced, especially as I was but poorly seconded by my
+much-depleted domestic staff, already more than busy trying to keep the
+farm going.
+
+From the boys--George and Leon--I learned that old father Poupard had
+not yet put in his appearance since his departure three days before with
+his nag, and that mother Poupard had abandoned her belligerent attitude
+and had resorted to tears. She could be seen three times a day, on her
+return from the fields, standing by the bridge corner, wailing her
+distress to any passerby who had time enough to stop and listen. Poupard
+now possessed all the qualities of mankind and it was probably through
+his noble soft-heartedness that some ill had befallen him.  What a
+misfortune, especially as the vines needed so much attention.
+
+Sunday, the ninth, I was preparing to go to early service at Charly (our
+own curate had been called to join his regiment) when on crossing the
+bridge, a bicycle whisked by the victoria.
+
+"He's coming--he's coming!" called the rider, as he passed us.
+
+"Who?" I said, rising, as George drew up.
+
+"Father Poupard!" called the boy.  "I'm going to tell his wife!"
+
+It was evident that the news had spread like wildfire, for looking up
+the street, I could see the villagers hurrying from their cottages.
+Already the hum of voices reached my ears, and anxious not to miss what
+promised to be a most dramatic meeting, I told George to drive to one
+side of the road and stop, and there we would await developments.
+
+In less than a minute mother Poupard appeared.  She was as good as her
+word, for now that she knew her lord and master was no longer in danger,
+she had cast sentiment to the winds and was actually brandishing that
+"big stick!"
+
+"Ah, the good-for-nothing old drunkard!" she vociferated as she ran.
+"Just let me lay hands on him!"
+
+Around the bend of the road came the excited peasants.  They pressed so
+closely about someone that until they were almost upon us I could not
+distinguish who it might be.  Then as mother Poupard pushed her way
+through the crowd, it parted and displayed her husband; drunk, but with
+pride; delirious, but with glory--proudly bearing his youngest grandson
+in his arms, leading the other by the hand.
+
+"Oh, Joseph--" gasped his astonished wife, every bit of anger gone from
+her voice.
+
+And then followed a very touching family scene in which the delinquent
+was forgiven, and during which time one of the bystanders explained that
+father Poupard had walked from Chateau-Thierry to Epernay, to fetch his
+orphan grandchildren, and had returned on foot, carrying first one and
+then the other accomplishing the hundred miles in not quite four days! A
+heroic undertaking for a man over seventy!
+
+The sun rose and set several times ere my interior arrangements were
+completed and nothing extraordinary happened to break the monotony of my
+new routine.  On Tuesday, the eleventh, the strange buzzing of a motor
+told us that an aeroplane was not far distant.  Our chateau lies in the
+valley between two hills, so to obtain a clear view of the horizon, I
+hurried to the roof with a pair of field glasses.
+
+Presently a tiny black speck appeared and as it grew within the scope of
+my glass, it was easy to recognize the shape of a _Taube_.  That was my
+introduction to the enemy.
+
+Without waiting a second I rushed to the telephone and asked central at
+Charly (the telephones now belonged to the army) to pass on the message
+that a German aeroplane had been sighted from the Chateau de Villiers,
+and was flying due west, head on for Paris.  The noise had grown louder
+and louder, and when I returned to my post of observation, I found most
+of the servants assembled, all craning their necks.  On came the
+_Taube_, and there we stood, gaping, never realizing an instant that we
+were running the slightest risk.  The machine passed directly over our
+heads, not low enough, however, for us to distinguish its contents with
+the naked eye.
+
+"There's another!" shouted someone.  And turning our backs on the enemy,
+we gave our entire attention to a second speck that had suddenly risen
+on the horizon.
+
+It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the armored head of the
+ever-on-coming aeroplane glittered splendidly in the golden rays of the
+afternoon sun.
+
+"_Cest un francais!_" cried George.
+
+"_Non!_"
+
+Allowing that an aeroplane flies at the rate of a mile a minute, one can
+easily imagine that we had not long to wait before number two sped over
+us.  Through my glass I was able to recognize the tri-color cockade
+painted underneath the plane, and when I announced this there went up a
+wild shriek of joy.
+
+At that moment a loud report in the west announced that the Germans had
+begun their deadly work on undefended territory.
+
+"That's a bomb for the railway crossing at Nanteuil, I'll bet!" said
+Leon, and while I was realizing that that projectile might just as well
+have been for us, the others were gesticulating and bowling
+encouragement to their compatriot some few hundred yards above them, as
+though he could bear every word they said:
+
+"Go it, old man!"
+
+"Bring down that cursed blackbird!"  "_Vive la France!_" and other
+similar ejaculations were drowned by the noise of the motor.
+
+The chase was on!  It was more exciting than any horserace I ever
+witnessed. The Frenchman was rapidly gaining on the other, but would
+they come into combat before they vanished from our horizon?  That was
+the question that filled us with anguish.
+
+On, on they sped, growing smaller and smaller every second.  Presently
+it became impossible to distinguish them apart, but we knew that they
+had come within range of each other, for the two specks rose and fell by
+turns now soaring high, now dipping precipitately, seeming almost to
+touch at times.  Then, just as they were about to disappear, one of them
+suddenly collapsed and fell.  Which one, we never knew.
+
+Towards dusk the _garde-champtre_ appeared and left orders that George
+and Leon must take their turns at mounting guard.  Four hours right out
+of the sleep of a peasant boy especially when he is overworked, is
+likely to leave him useless the next day.  It provoked me a little, but
+then it was duty and they must obey. The boys came on at eleven and
+having decided it would be better to get in an hour or so of rest
+beforehand, they retired to the hay loft.  I promised to look in on them
+in case they should fail to waken, and at the appointed time I put on my
+sweater and went down to find, as I had expected, both youths slumbering
+peacefully, blissfully unconscious of the time.  Poor little chaps, it
+seemed a pity to wake them, but what was to be done?  Presently an idea
+of replacing them myself dawned upon me: a second later it so enchanted
+me that I wouldn't have had them wake for anything.  The whole thing was
+beginning to be terribly romantic.
+
+Slipping quietly away, I went to my room and got my revolver, and then
+going to the south front of the chateau, I softly whistled for my dogs.
+Three big greyhounds, a shepherd dog and a setter responded immediately,
+and just as I was about to shut the little yellow door, old Betsy, my
+favorite Boston bull, came panting around the corner of the house.  With
+these five as bodyguard I sauntered up the road in the brilliant
+moonlight, arriving in front of the town hall just as the clock was
+striking eleven.  I must say that my appearance and announcement rather
+shocked two elderly men who had been on the watch since seven o'clock.
+
+Monsieur Demarcq protested that such a thing as a woman mounting guard
+had never been beard of, but I swiftly argued him out of that idea. What
+was required of me? That I stop every passer-by and every vehicle?
+Didn't he think me capable of doing so?  And I pointed to my dogs and my
+revolver.  The weight of the argument was so evidently on my side that
+they had nothing to do but to submit, and laughingly Mr. Foeter put me
+in possession of a heavy old gun, three packages of cartridges, and the
+lantern.  Then once again they asked if I couldn't be dissuaded, to
+which I jokingly replied that I would set my dogs after them and drive
+them home if they didn't make haste to go there at once. That admonition
+proved more efficacious than I had dared hope, and assured me that my
+faithful beasts rejoiced in a ferocious reputation.
+
+All sorts of fantastic ideas flitted through my brain as I took
+possession of my post.  I began, however, by setting the lantern in the
+middle of the road, exactly in the center of the chain, as a warning to
+any on-comer.  Then by the moonlight, I proceeded to examine my gun.  It
+was a very primitive arm, and after carefully weighing it in my hands, I
+decided to abandon all thought of stalking up and down the road with
+such an implement on my shoulder.  That kind of glory was not worth the
+morrow's ache, so I deposited the antiquated weapon in the hallway of
+the school house and resolved to rely on my Browning.
+
+Afterwards I came out and seating myself on the bench with my back
+against the wall, waited for something to happen.  My dogs seemed to
+have comprehended the gravity of my mission, and crouched close to my
+feet, cocking their ears at the slightest sound.
+
+Little by little the great harvest moon climbed high behind our old
+Roman church, perched on the embankment opposite, bathing everything in
+molten silver, and causing the tall pine-trees in the little cemetery
+adjacent to cast long black shadows on the road.  Down towards the
+Marne, the frogs were croaking merrily somewhere in the distance a night
+locust buzzed, and alarmed by the striking of midnight the owls who
+nested in the belfry, fluttered out into the night and settling on the
+church top, began their plaintive hooting.  Still no one passed.
+
+Such calm reigned that it was almost impossible to believe that over
+there, beyond those distant hills, battle and slaughter were probably
+raging.
+
+Presently a shiver warned me that I had been seated long enough; so,
+marking a hundred steps, I began to pace slowly up and down, watching
+the ever-changing firmament.  The first gray streaks of dawn were
+beginning to lighten the east when a growl from Tiger made me face about
+very abruptly.  I must admit that my heart began beating abnormally, and
+the hand in my pocket gripped my revolver as though it were a live
+animal and likely to escape.
+
+A second later all the dogs repeated the growl, and then I could hear
+the clicking of a pair of sabots on the road.  The noise approached, and
+my guardians looked towards me, every muscle in their bodies straining,
+waiting for the single word, "_Apporte!_"
+
+"_Couchez!_" I hissed, and awaited developments.
+
+The footsteps drew nearer and nearer, and in a moment the stooping
+figure of an old peasant came over the brow of the hill.  The gait was
+too familiar to be mistaken.  But what on earth was father Poupard doing
+on the highroad at that hour?
+
+When he was within speaking distance I came out from the shadow of the
+wall and put the question.  If he had suddenly been confronted with a
+spook I do not think the old man could have been more astonished.  He
+stopped dead still, as though not knowing whether to turn about and run,
+or to advance and take the consequences. Realizing his embarrassment, I
+hastily proffered a few words of greeting, and then he chose the latter
+prerogative.
+
+"-Vous?_" he said, when at length he found his tongue. "_Vous?_"
+
+"Yes--why not?"
+
+"Who's with you?"
+
+"Nobody.  Why?"
+
+He seemed more embarrassed than ever.  Evidently he hadn't yet "caught
+on."
+
+"What can I do for you?" I continued.
+
+He still hesitated, looking first at me and then at a bottle he carried
+in his hand.  Finally he resolved to make a clean breast of it.
+
+"Why," he said, "I didn't expect to find a woman here, least of all _une
+chatelaine_.  It rather startled me!  You see, I've got into the habit
+of coming round towards dawn.  The boys begin to get chilly about that
+time, and are glad enough to have a go at my fruit brandy.  They say I'm
+too old to mount guard, so I must serve my country as best I can.  Will
+you have some--my own brew?"
+
+I declined, but he was not offended; yet he seemed reluctant to go.
+
+"Sit down," I said.  "It won't belong before some of the men will be
+passing by on their way to the fields, and then you won't have made your
+journey for nothing."
+
+Pere Potipard gladly accepted, and after a generous swig at his brandy,
+began telling me about what happened at Villiers during the German
+invasion in 1870. As he talked on, night gradually disappeared, and when
+the clock in the belfry tolled three A. M. my successors came to relieve
+me.  I blew out the lantern and walked home in broad daylight.
+
+The boys looked very sheepish when they learned what had happened, but
+as I did not boast of my exploit, merely taking it as a matter of
+course, they had no way of approaching the subject, and like many other
+things of the kind, it was soon forgotten in the pursuing of  our
+onerous daily tasks, and the moral anxiety we were experiencing.
+
+There seemed to be no end to the fruit season that summer.  The lengthy
+table in the servants' hall was literally covered with glasses
+containing jam and jelly of every description, awaiting their paper
+lids.  Nini said there were over five hundred--to me it seemed
+thousands, and I was heartily glad of a lull before the hospital should
+open.  And I remember distinctly that the last thing I prepared was some
+thirty quarts of black currant brandy; that is to say, I had poured the
+raw alcohol on to the fruit and set the jars aside to await completion
+six months later!  Shortly afterwards I received word by a roundabout
+route from Soissons that I might expect my trained nurses and supplies
+at any moment.  In the meantime I was without word from H. since that
+eventful meeting a week before.
+
+Saturday, the fifteenth of August, was as little like a religious fete
+day as one can imagine.  At an early hour the winnowing machine rumbled
+up the road to the square beside the chateau.  Under the circumstances
+each one must take his turn at getting in his wheat and oats, and there
+was no choice of day or hour. Besides, the village had already been
+called on to furnish grain and fodder for the army, and the harvest must
+be measured and declared at once.  This only half concerned me, for my
+hay was already in the lofts before the war began, and two elderly men
+who had applied for work as bunchers, had been engaged for the last week
+in August.
+
+After service at Charly, I walked across to the post office.  The post
+mistress and telegraph operator, a delightful provincial maiden lady,
+always welcomes me most cordially, and at present I fancied she might
+have some news that had not yet reached Villiers.  (Mind you, since the
+second of August we had had but two newspapers, and those obtained with
+what difficulty!)  The _bureau_ now belonged to the army, and for a
+fortnight Mademoiselle Maupoix and her two young girl assistants had
+hardly had time to sleep, so busy were they transmitting ciphered
+dispatches, passing on orders, etc.  It was to this physical exhaustion
+that I attributed the swollen countenance of my little friend when she
+opened the door to her private sitting-room.  It was evident she had
+something to tell, but her exquisite breeding forbade that she go
+headlong into her subject, before having graciously inquired for my
+health, my husband and news of us both since last we met.
+
+"And the war, Mademoiselle, do you know anything about what has
+happened?"
+
+Two great tears swelled to Mademoiselle's eyes, which, however, bore a
+triumphant expression.
+
+"Madame--the French flag is flying over Mulhouse--but it cost fifteen
+thousand lives!  That is official news.  I cannot give you further
+details nor say how I obtained what I have told you."
+
+Then the armies had met and war was now a bloody reality!
+
+I shuddered.  Here was news of a victory and all we could do was weep!
+Once again the sons of France had generously shed their blood to
+reconquer their righteous belongings!
+
+I left Mademoiselle and rode home in silence. Should I tell the
+villagers?  Why not?  But how?
+
+The question answered itself, for as we approached the town hall I saw
+the school master and a number of elderly men seated on the bench beside
+the chain. When we pulled up to give Cesar breathing spell, they all
+came clustering around the carriage.  Did I know anything?  Had I heard
+anything?
+
+"Gentlemen," I said, with a decided huskiness in my throat, "the French
+flag flies over, Mulhouse, but fifteen thousand men are _hors de
+combat!_"
+
+Joy, followed almost instantaneously by an expression of sorrow,
+literally transfigured all their faces.  Tears sprang to the eyes of
+several, falling silently down their furrowed cheeks, and without
+uttering a word, as one man they all uncovered!  The respect for the
+glorious dead immediately abolished any desire for boisterous triumph.
+
+There was no necessity to add any comment, so I continued my route to
+the chateau.
+
+One night towards the end of the following week, I was awakened by the
+banging of doors and the shattering of window panes.  A violent storm
+had suddenly blown up and the wind was working havoc with unfastened
+blinds and shutters.  There was no use thinking of holding a candle or a
+lamp.  Besides, the lightning flashed so brightly that I was able to
+grope my way through the long line of empty rooms, tighten the
+fastenings, and shut the windows.  I had reached the second story
+without mishap and without hearing the slightest footstep within doors.
+All my little servants were so exhausted that even the thunder had not
+roused them. Presently, however, the sound of the gate bell broke on my
+ears.
+
+"Pooh," thought I.  "Some tree or branch has fallen on the wire.  Catch
+me getting wet going out to see what it is."
+
+The ringing continued, but more violently.  And at regular intervals.  I
+went down to the middle window and stuck my head out.  At the same
+moment, my dogs made one wild rush towards the gate and a woman's voice
+called, "_Madame Huard, ouvrez, s'il vous plait!_"
+
+By the light of another flash, I could distinguish a dripping figure in
+white. "Bah! someone is ill or dying and wants me to telephone for a
+doctor!"
+
+So I pulled the bell communicating with the servants' quarters, threw on
+a few warmer clothes, and went below.  At the foot of the stairs I came
+upon George and Leon much disheveled, but wide awake.
+
+"There is someone in distress at the gate," I hurriedly explained. "Call
+off the dogs and go and see who it is.  I'll light up in the refectory
+and wait for you there."
+
+They obeyed, and in the course of three or four minutes returned,
+bringing with them a much-bedraggled but smiling woman on whose coat was
+pinned the Red Cross medal.
+
+"I'm the trained nurse.  Madame Macherez sent me here to help with your
+hospital."
+
+"Oh!  I'm sure you're welcome, Madame--"
+
+"Guix is my name.  I received my orders to join you here three days ago,
+and communications are so bad that I've come most of the way on foot.  I
+humbly apologize for arriving at such an hour and in such a state."
+
+I hurried Madame Guix off to her apartment, told the boys to wake Julie
+and have her send us a cup of tea and some refreshments in my little
+drawing-room. Though it was the middle of August, the rain and dampness
+were so penetrating that I did not hesitate to touch a match to a
+brushwood fire that is always prepared in my grate.  In a short time my
+guest reappeared and as she refreshed herself, I busily plied her with
+questions concerning the events of the last two weeks.
+
+Madame Guix, a woman but little over thirty, came from Choisy-le-Roi
+(the city of famous Rouget de l'Isle).  _Merciere_ by trade, on the
+death of husband and baby she had adopted the career of _infirmiere_,
+and at the outbreak of the war found herself in possession of her
+diploma and ready to serve.  She had enlisted at the big military
+hospital her native town had installed in the school house, and for
+three long weeks had sat and waited for something to do.
+
+"Are there no wounded there?"
+
+"Not when I left."
+
+"Have you ever yet had occasion to nurse a soldier?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  Four days after the declaration when the Forty-ninth
+Territorials came through Choisy on their forced march to the front, we
+were suddenly filled up with cases of congestion.  You see, that
+regiment is Composed of men mostly over forty, and what with the heat,
+their guns and their sacs, and unaccustomed to such a life, many of them
+couldn't stand the strain.  My first patient was a sad little man named
+Bouteron.
+
+"Bouteron?  What Bouteron?"
+
+"Marcel Bouteron."
+
+"No!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Is he dead?"
+
+"No."
+
+I breathed again.  Thank God!   Bouteron, Bouteron, our Jolly little
+Bouteron, gaiety itself, who three weeks ago was the very life and soul
+of our last house party!  Was it possible?  Already "down and out!"  And
+to think that this strange woman should bring me the news.  I drew my
+chair nearer to Madame Guix and for two long hours we talked, as only
+women can.
+
+From Choisy she had sought to exercise her _métier_ to better advantage
+by approaching the front, so had addressed herself to Madame Macherez in
+Soissons. From there she had been sent to me.  Did she think there was
+any possibility of nursing wounded in our hospital?  We were so far
+south.
+
+She was confident that we would not be empty long.  Bloody battles were
+being waged from Alsace throughout the entire north.  Belgian territory
+had been violated and Liege was putting up a heroic defense.
+
+But our doctor and the pharmaceutical products?  From where and when
+would they arrive?  Food and bedding would go a long way, but were
+hardly sufficient to start a hospital!
+
+We were to count on Madame Macherez for both.  She had promised to do
+her utmost to reach us with our supplies, but the rules of circulation
+on the roads were so severe that even Red Cross supply cars had to stand
+in line and await permits.  In the meantime we must organize as best we
+could.
+
+The following morning a few moments' intercourse proved to me that
+Madame Guix's competence extended far beyond the bounds of her _métier_.
+She was a splendid worker, and no task was too difficult, so long as it
+furthered our purpose--namely, that of being ready in case of
+emergency.
+
+By noon we had decided that it would be useless to count upon my
+servants to help in the hospital.  They already had all they could do.
+So I went and asked our mayor if he knew of any women who, _de bonne
+volonte_, would come and assist us. Madame Guix volunteered to teach
+them the rudiments of bandaging between two and five on the coming
+afternoons, and we would establish a _roulement_ so that the little time
+that each disposed of might be properly and efficiently utilized.
+
+The drum beat and made the announcement, and at two the same afternoon
+we had the satisfaction of welcoming some twenty women.  In the meantime
+every bit of old linen I possessed was brought down and put on the
+dining room table, then measured and torn in _formes rilglementaires_
+ready to be sterilized and put aside.  Half a dozen bands were left out
+as models and it was with these that Madame Guix commenced her
+demonstrations.  She soon put her listeners at ease, and presently all
+were anxious to try a hand at bandaging.  The naive clumsiness of these
+poor souls was extremely pathetic, but such was their patriotism that
+they never considered themselves ridiculous for a single instant, and
+stood there fumbling the long linen rolls with bands that were hands
+more accustomed to wielding a spade or directing a plough.  Again and
+again they would recommence certain difficult proceedings, taking turns
+at playing the dummy, and offering as models calves and biceps of which
+many an athlete might have been proud.
+
+Of the score of women but two or three really acquired any facility, but
+we considered that sufficient, for in time of need the others could
+easily be put to work at necessary matters which were of less vital
+importance.
+
+From the windows of the dining-room where the _cours_ was held, we could
+look down the driveway and see all the children of the neighborhood
+standing on the wall of the moat, craning their necks in the hope of
+catching a glimpse of what was going on in the chateau.  It was
+evidently an interesting diversion, for every afternoon they reappeared,
+in spite of George's threats to send for the _gendarmes_.  The little
+demons seemed to know that the gendarmes were too busy to give them any
+attention, and I assure you, they profited by their liberty. Little John
+Poupard and his five-year-old brother were the leaders of the band, and
+I trembled lest some day their curiosity lead to a tragic end!
+
+Nor were my fears in vain, for one afternoon we beard a shriek and a
+splash, followed by cries of terror, and we knew for certain that some
+one had fallen into the moat.  The embankment is not eight feet high,
+and at that season of the year there is more mud than water in the
+river, so I was certain that whoever had fallen in was in no danger of
+drowning--but nevertheless I hastened with the others to the spot.
+
+George, who had also heard the noise, reached the scene of action before
+we did, and on our arrival we found him knee deep in the mud, preparing
+to hoist a little limp body on to the bank.
+
+Johnny Poupard!
+
+"Good heavens!" thought I.  "Decidedly that family had no intention of
+letting the village rust for want of dramatic situations!"
+
+"He's merely fainted; more frightened than hurt," declared Madame Guix,
+who had literally pounced upon him.  "Now then, ladies," she said,
+turning towards the women who stood gaping at us, "now then, here's a
+splendid opportunity to distinguish yourselves."
+
+And so little John Poupard was carried into the infirmary.  As first
+patient you may be sure that be received every attention.  Some ammonia
+was held under his nose.  This soon brought him around and after
+carefully sounding all his bones, Madame Guix decided that there were no
+fractures.  And the bandaging began!
+
+It makes me smile when I think of it all now--for the only wounds Johnny
+possessed were a few scratches on his bands, knees and head, caused by
+his sudden contact with a patch of stinging nettles which had sprung up
+on the river banks.
+
+Under ordinary circumstances, the child would probably have picked
+himself up and walked home, forgetting his woes an hour later.  But real
+live models who are actually in pain, are few and far between,
+especially at "courses" such as ours, and the amount of professional
+skill that was expended on that little urchin ought to have cured six of
+his kind.  But it all made the women so happy!
+
+At the end of half an hour, Johnny Poupard looked more like an Egyptian
+mummy than a human being, so much so that when his grandmother arrived
+upon the scene of action, she very nearly fainted and all but became
+patient number two at Auxiliary Hospital No. 7!
+
+We had some little difficulty reassuring her, but when her prodigal
+grandson sat up and asked for bread and jam, she forgot her anxiety and
+began scolding him for daring to give her such a fright, and us so much
+trouble.
+
+* * * *
+
+Towards the end of the third week in August the mobilization was
+considered finished and the Eastern Railroad opened again to the public;
+its time tables of course being limited and subject to instant change,
+the company refusing to be responsible for delays.  To us at the chateau
+this meant very little, save that we would receive our mail and the
+daily papers more frequently.  However, several friends who fancied I
+was unsafe alone and so far from the capital, kindly ventured to start
+to Villiers to try to persuade me to come up to town. It took them seven
+hours to reach Meaux (thirty miles from Paris); they were obliged to
+sleep there because it was because it was announced that their train
+went no further--and worse than all, they were eighteen hours getting
+home.
+
+"Wheren't people furious?" I questioned, when afterwards they told me of
+their adventure.
+
+"Not in the slightest.  Everyone bore it patiently as part of his
+tribute to his country.  'The army first' was their motto."
+
+The first batch of mail brought me any number of stale letters, which
+had arrived and been held in Paris over three weeks.  Invitations to a
+house party in Belgium and things of that kind that seemed so strangely
+out of place now. The two most important documents, however, came, one
+from my cousin, Marie Huard (Superior at the Convent of the Infant Jesus
+at Madrid) and the other from Elizabeth Gauthier.
+
+My cousin had taken upon herself to locate and communicate with every
+member of the Huard family called to arms (and they are numerous, when
+one considers that H. has no less than twelve married uncles!) and she
+enclosed me a sort of map, or family tree, indicating the names, ages,
+regiments, etc., of some fifty cousins, begging me to write and
+encourage them from time to time.
+
+Elizabeth Gauthier's letter bore a black border--and I trembled as I
+opened it. She was in Paris alone, and mourning the loss of her eldest
+brother, killed at the battle of Mulhouse, the ninth of August.  Her
+solitude preyed upon her, and she announced her departure for her
+sister's chateau in Burgundy.
+
+That was the first real sadness that the war had brought me so far.  It
+quite upset me, for Jean Bernard was not only a delightful friend, but
+one of the most promising engineers of the younger generation in France.
+Both family, friends and country might well deplore such a loss.
+
+Even the making and hoisting of a huge Red Cross flag over the chateau
+failed to arouse my enthusiasm all that day.  The blow was too cruel and
+had stimulated fears which heretofore had lain dormant within me.
+
+The next day, however, I was not permitted to brood over my grief, for
+Yvonne (she of the poultry farm) fell ill with a severe attack of
+sciatica, which kept her in her bed, every movement producing a scream
+of agony.
+
+Of course Madame Guix was there to lend a hand, but that hardly altered
+the situation, so I was obliged to ask the boys to give another "pull"
+and try to be equal  to the work.  Lleon accepted with such alacrity
+that for the first time it dawned on me that perhaps he had a soft spot
+in his heart for my pretty little goose girl, and this unsuspected
+romance, interwoven with the joys and anxieties of the moment, seemed
+all the more charming.
+
+To cap the climax of misfortune, old Cesar had run a nail into his hoof
+and Madame Guix spent most of her time between injections of oxygen on
+the first floor, and iodine and flaxseed poultices in the stables.  This
+of course meant that all errands outside the village must be made on
+bicycle, and George was "mustered into service."  Towards noon on the
+27th he made his first return trip from Charly, bringing the mail and
+the papers, and a very excited countenance.
+
+"Madame, I've seen one!" he shouted, as I appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Seen what?"
+
+"_Un casque a' point!_"
+
+"A what!"
+
+"Yes--a pointed helmet.  I was standing by the post office in Charly
+when a long line of motors passed by on the road to Paris.  I recognized
+the Belgium uniform, and one of the soldiers leaned out and held up a
+German helmet!  What a trophy!"
+
+"The Belgians!  What on earth are they doing down here?" thought I.  And
+George guessed my question.
+
+"Oh," he continued, "you see their regiment was cut in two by the
+Germans at Charleville and those who escaped managed to get motors and
+are on their way home--by a round-about route to Antrwerp via Havre.
+The hotel keeper said so. She offered some wine to one motor full that
+stopped."
+
+If that were true it was an amazing bit of news!  Then things were not
+going as well as the now very reticent papers led one to suppose.  But
+it all seemed so very distant that I refused to worry.
+
+However, I was about to seek out Madame Guix and tell her what George
+had reported when an amusing sight caught my eye.
+
+From her open window, towards which she had asked that we push her bed,
+Yvonne amused herself by calling her ducklings.
+
+"Bour-ree--bour-ree!"
+
+Then from the farmyard a good two hundred yards distant, would rise the
+reply, "Quack!  Quack!  Quack!"
+
+Big and small recognized the call of their little mistress and hastened
+to respond.
+
+"Bouree-bour-ree-bouree!" called Yvonne again and again.
+
+Evidently the ducks decided to hold a consultation and send delegates to
+see what on earth prevented their friend from caring for them in person
+since they could hear her voice.  For as I looked across the lawn
+towards the door, imagine my surprise on catching sight of some thirty
+or forty Rouenese ducks of all sizes waddling up the steps and into the
+vestibule.
+
+"Bour-ree, bouree!" Yvonne continued.
+
+"Quack, quack, quack!" came the reply, and when I reached the entrance
+hall, I found them all clustered together at the foot of the staircase,
+their beads cocked on one side, awaiting a decision of their drake
+before undertaking to mount the marble stairway.
+
+That same afternoon the _cour d'infirmieres_ transported itself to the
+lawn in front of the chateau.  It was too splendid weather to stay
+indoors.  The demonstrations were finished and most of the women had
+retired, when one of those who remained lifted her finger and asked for
+silence.  "Listen," she said, "the cannon!"  She didn't need to go any
+further.  In less than a second's time we were straining our ears
+towards the east!
+
+"There!" she said, "there it goes again!"
+
+Three of us had heard a sound which strangely resembled the popping of a
+cork at a very great distance.  Remembering my grandmother's Indian
+stories, I stretched out on the grass with my ear to the ground.  This
+time I heard the rolling so distinctly that my face must have altered,
+for two of the woman shuddered and took hasty leave.
+
+In a second I guessed that they were off to tell the news--so I made
+light of it by declaring that it must be the trying-out of some heavy
+artillery at Chalons; but when Madame Guix and I found ourselves alone,
+we looked at each other with interrogation points in our eyes.
+
+We thought of our hospital, of our supplies, of our perfect uselessness
+unless Soissons could yet reach us--and I resolved to go down to the
+druggist at Charly and see what could be done.  The following morning,
+Saturday, the twenty-ninth--I betook myself to Charly and there managed
+to beg the elements of a rudimentary infirmary from the old pharmacist,
+who must have thought me crazy.  Absorbent cotton I was able to procure
+in small rolled packages from the draper, and promising to send the boys
+down in the afternoon with a small band cart, I returned home, without
+having observed anything abnormal save the frequent passage of autos
+towards Paris--all going top speed and loaded with the queerest
+occupants and baggage.
+
+On my return great excitement reigned around our gate, for a private
+automobile containing wounded had halted on seeing our Red Cross flag,
+and Madame Guix welcomed them in.
+
+They were _petit blesses_, all able to travel, probably suffering more
+from heat and privation than from their wounds.  They had no orders to
+stop, but hoped we would let them rest a bit before going further--and
+could we give them something to eat?
+
+All this was very fortunate considering our precarious situation and we
+gladly did the best we knew how.  There were six poor chaps belonging to
+different regiments, but all so tired that it seemed cruel to prevent
+their snatching a rest by plying them with questions.  We could do that
+later on.
+
+The lads were hardly stretched out when another motor drew up before the
+gate. This one contained besides three privates a young officer with his
+arm in a sling, and he asked if we could give them water.  Leon told
+them that they would be very welcome if they would care to come in and
+rest--there were already a half-dozen wounded asleep in the house.  At
+these words the lieutenant jumped down and asked for the _medicin-chef_.
+He was rather startled when I appeared, and told him that there was no
+military authority as yet installed at the chateau.
+
+"Then I must take all the responsibility of the men," he said very
+kindly but firmly.  "I'm sorry, but they cannot remain here.  I must
+deliver them safe at some big center outside the zone of operations."
+
+The time had come for questions--and I learned with amazement that Liege
+had fallen, Belgium was invaded, and that hard fighting was going on at
+St. Quentin, but eighty miles away.  "The cannon of yesterday was no
+target practice," thought I.  The men all seemed so hopeful, though,
+that we never felt a qualm.
+
+"As you will, Monsieur," I said, and the weary boys were wakened and
+hurried off before we had time to ask names, addresses or any further
+details.
+
+All this had transpired so rapidly that we had had no time to call in
+our assistants, and presently Madame Guix and I found ourselves alone in
+the empty vestibule.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+Nothing further happened that afternoon.  Madame Guix's course went on
+as usual, with perhaps a little more animation in the conversation, and
+much speculation as to when and where those who had stopped at the
+chateau had been wounded.  No one really knew.  To tell the truth,
+though later Madame Guix and I had asked them, the soldiers themselves
+had but a very indistinct idea of time and date or whereabouts.
+
+That night I was awakened by the low rumbling of heavy carts on the road
+in front of the chateau.  Fancying that perhaps it was artillery on its
+way to the front, I put on my dressing gown and went as far as the gate.
+There in the pale moonlight I beheld a long stream of carriages and
+wagons of every description piled high with household goods, and filled
+with women and children.  The men walked beside the horses to prevent
+collision, for as far as eye could see, the lamentable _cortege_
+extended down the hill.
+
+What did this mean?
+
+"Who are you?" I called to one of the men as they passed.
+
+"Belgians--refugees."
+
+Refugees!  My mind flew back to descriptions of the French Revolution
+and the Reign of Terror, when so many people fled for their lives!  What
+nonsense!  Were we not in the twentieth century?  Wasn't there a Peace
+Palace at The Hague?  My thoughts became muddled.
+
+Opening the gate, I went out and accosted another man.
+
+"Won't you come in and rest?"
+
+"No, we can't.  We must make our twenty miles by dawn--and rest during
+the heat of the day."
+
+"But why do you leave home?"
+
+"Because the savages burned us out!"
+
+Bah, the man must be dreaming!
+
+I turned back and addressed myself to another:
+
+"What's your hurry?" I queried
+
+"They're on our heels!" came the reply.
+
+Surely this one was madder than the other!
+
+A third did not deign to reply, sturdily marching on ahead, his eyes
+fixed on the road in front of him.
+
+On top of a farm cart half filled with bay I saw the prostrate form of a
+woman with two others kneeling beside her ministering to her wants.  In
+the trap that followed was the most sorrowful group of old men and
+middle-aged women I ever hope to see.  All were sobbing.  Besides them
+rode two big boys on bicycles.  I stopped one of these.
+
+"What's the matter with her?" I questioned, pointing to the woman on the
+cart.
+
+"She's crazy."
+
+"?"
+
+"Yes, lost her mind."
+
+"How, when, where?"
+
+"Two days ago, when we left X.  (Try as I may, I cannot recall the name
+of the little Belgian town be mentioned.)  She was ill in bed with a
+fever when the Germans set fire to the place--barely giving us time to
+hoist her into the cart. Her husband lingered behind to scrape a few
+belongings together.  In spite of our efforts, she would stand up on the
+cart, and suddenly we heard an explosion and she saw her house burst
+into flame.  She fainted.  Outside in the woods we waited an hour, but
+her husband never came.  Perhaps it's just as well, for when she woke up
+her mind was a blank!"
+
+Ye gods!  I rubbed my eyes.  It couldn't be possible that all this was
+true!  I was asleep!  It was merely a horrible nightmare.  But no--the
+carts rolled on in the pale moonlight carrying their heavy burdens of
+human misery.
+
+It was more than I could stand.  All thought of sleep had vanished, so I
+went and woke Madame Guix.  We dressed and descended to the kitchen,
+where with a few smoldering embers, we soon managed to light a good
+fire.  Water was set to boil and in half an hour's time we carried out
+to the bridge two huge pails of hot coffee, a pail of cold water, and
+one of wine.  No one refused our offerings, and the hearty "God bless
+you's" of those kindly souls brought tears to our eyes more than once.
+
+Dawn, Monday, August 31st, found us still at our posts.  I rang the farm
+bell, assembled my servants, and told them we would abandon all but the
+most necessary farm work and minister to the wants of the refugees.  By
+eight o'clock they had peeled and prepared vegetables enough to fill two
+huge copper pots, and the soup was set to boil.  And still the long line
+of heavy vehicles followed one another down the road: moving vans,
+delivery wagons, huge drays, and even little three-wheeled carts drawn
+by dogs, rolled on towards the south.
+
+When asked where they were going, most of the people replied, "Straight
+ahead of us, _a' la grace de Dieu_."
+
+By the morning the heat had grown intolerable and a splendid looking man
+got down from a cart and came towards me.  Might he turn his party into
+the drive and rest a bit in the shade?
+
+I was only too willing, and gladly offered hot soup and stewed fruit to
+any who would accept.
+
+Two long heavy drays each drawn by a pair of the handsomest big bay
+horses with creamy manes that I have ever seen, pulled up in the
+courtyard.  Impromptu seats had been arranged in the wagons and from
+these climbed down some twenty or thirty old women, children and men,
+worn out by the fatigue, anxiety, and want of sleep. My heart went out
+to them, and in a generous moment I was about to offer them my beds so
+they could get a good rest before starting off again, but on second
+thought it dawned on me that I must keep them for the army!  What a
+pretty thing it would be if another auto full of wounded suddenly
+appeared and found all my wards occupied!
+
+I explained my position.  They grasped it at once.  It was too good of
+me.  They were all well and needed no beds--would I let them sleep in
+the bay for a few hours?
+
+But better still, I suggested, if the boys would carry a dozen or so
+extra mattresses I possessed into the harness room, the women might lie
+there, and the men could take to the hay.
+
+They had food, plenty of it, bought on the way from village dealers who
+had not yet been seized with panic and shut up shop.  So I told them
+that instead of building individual fires they might cook their noonday
+meal on my huge range. They might also use my kitchen utensils and china
+if they would wash up, and thus save unpacking their own.  Apparently
+this was unheard of generosity and I cannot tell you how many times that
+morning my soul was recommended to the tender protection of the Blessed
+Virgin.
+
+While the women prepared the meal, George had taken the men to the
+wash-house, where soap and water worked miracles on their dusty faces;
+one by one all the members of the group disappeared in that direction
+and when they gathered around the long table in the refectory, it was
+altogether a different company to that of an hour before.
+
+As they sat down it came over me that none of us had eaten since the
+night before, and dropping onto a chair, I suddenly realized that I was
+tired.  Berthe and Nini, however, wanted to know where I would lunch,
+and were rather startled when I informed them to lay a cloth on the
+kitchen table and to bring out all the cold meat, cheese, bread, butter
+and jam in the larder.  It would be a stand-up picnic lunch for everyone
+to-day, and what was more, it was very likely to be picnic dinner; so
+Julie was ordered to put two chickens to roast and some potatoes to
+boil--both needed but little attention and would always be ready when we
+might need them.
+
+The meal passed in silence in both rooms, and the "washing up" was done
+in no time.  Then as they all retired to take their naps, the man who
+had first asked me if they might turn into the chateau, and who seemed
+to be the leader of the party, came into the kitchen and, hat in hand,
+begged a word or so with me.
+
+He had come not only to express the gratitude of his compatriots, but
+also his astonishment that I should welcome strangers so cordially.  I
+tried to side-track the conversation which was very embarrassing, but he
+would hear none of it.
+
+"We are not gypsies, you know, Madame."  I smiled and told him that that
+was more than evident.  "Look at our horses and our dogs!"  And the good
+fellow proceeded to inform me that he was the keeper of a big estate
+that belonged to Madame Pyrme (sister of the senator of that name),
+situated in the little village of Hanzinell, Belgium.  He even offered
+to show his papers, but I shook my head.  His open-hearted sincerity
+and frank countenance were sufficient.
+
+But why had they come away?  That was what interested me.
+
+Because their country was invaded and one by one the towns and villages
+had been bombarded, looted and burned until little or nothing remained.
+Because all men under fifty were carried away as hostages or prisoners;
+because he had seen little children slain, and young girls tortured;
+because anything was better than falling helpless into the hands of such
+an enemy.
+
+"Madame, at Charleroi I've seen the blood running in the gutters like
+rain after a storm and that not a week ago!"
+
+It was impossible not to believe him.  His eye was not that of a coward.
+He told his story simply; he was almost reticent, and I had even to
+encourage him at times to make him finish a phrase.  Finally I asked him
+where he intended going, and why so far away.  Didn't he think he was
+safe here?
+
+No--_jamais!_  Yesterday in the night they had heard the cannon growing
+closer and closer.  They knew the sound.  The Germans were advancing. It
+was Paris they wanted and nothing would stop them till they reached
+their goal.
+
+"Except the French army," I said, with pride.
+
+"God grant you speak the truth, Madame!"  But in the meantime he seemed
+to consider that one was far safer in the way of some gigantic
+mowing-machine than on the path of the German army.  He had come to tell
+me the truth and to warn me that I ought to make ready to leave.
+
+"You are helpless here, Madame.  Three women, three little girls, and
+two boys! It's tempting fate."
+
+I couldn't seem to see it his way, however.  The papers though very
+mysterious, had given us no cause for alarm.  As yet we had not seen a
+single trooper.  If it were true that the French were retreating we
+would leave when the army appeared. That would be time enough.
+
+"Why, my good fellow," I said reassuringly, "if the Germans ever reach
+here Paris is doomed--and the war will be over!"
+
+"Perhaps--"
+
+"Besides, I can't go.  I've got a hospital on my hands, though the
+wounded are lacking.  Haven't you seen our Red Cross flag?  And if that
+isn't sufficient, I can prove that I'm an American born.  That ought to
+be protection enough for anyone!"
+
+I must admit that the incredulous smile that rose to his lips rather
+angered me, and I sought still another excuse.
+
+"Furthermore, one of my little maids is too ill to move, and I don't see
+us walking off with folded arms, and that's what would happen if I
+followed your advice, for the only horse the Army has left me is over
+twenty and so lame that he can't walk two steps.  If he could I'd have
+had to present him for the second inspection at Chateau Thierry on
+Wednesday."
+
+The poor fellow shook his head at my apparent foolhardiness, but was too
+polite to argue further.  He said that his party would be off in an hour
+and asked me if I possessed a road-map that he might consult.  I gladly
+showed him the one we had bought with H. the day of our hasty trip from
+Paris, since then pinned to the wall of the refectory.  I noticed that
+he studied it very carefully, noting all the little sidetracks where he
+thought his drays could pass, and thus avoid following in line behind
+the thousands of other vehicles that encumbered the main roads.
+
+Again he thanked me for all I had done, caressed my beautiful
+greyhounds, and left me his card so that we might meet when all was
+over.  Afterwards when I went into the court, I heard someone in the
+stable with George, and looking in, I saw my friend of a few moments
+before examining my horse's hoof and telling my boy what would make the
+sore heal quickly.  He was bound to do his best for me!
+
+By five o'clock the stables and grounds were empty, and our friends
+gone. Hanzinell had joined the column which had slackened a bit during
+the heat of the day, but had redoubled in volume since the sun had gone
+behind the hills.
+
+We had a moment's breathing space, during which we gave our entire
+attention to Yvonne, who was writhing with agony on her bed next my
+room.  For three days now Madame Guix had administered mild doses of
+morphine, but that treatment could not continue very long.  Water bags,
+friction and massage had proved fruitless against sciatica, so we
+resolved to try a warm bath, with the result that our patient was almost
+immediately eased but too weak to support the heat. She fainted in the
+tub and had to be carried back to bed.  We were still working over her
+when Nini appeared and said I was wanted below.  When Yvonne's eyelashes
+began to flutter, I left Madame Guix and regained the kitchen, now
+become the head-quarters.
+
+More refugees!  Would I let them come in?  They were traveling without a
+map or guide and dared not venture along the roads at night.
+
+Of course they were welcome, and the same hospitalty that had greeted
+the refugees from Hanzinell was offered to those from Thuilly-the whole
+village was there!--mayor, curate, smith and baker, all accompanied by
+different members of their immediate families, driven from home by the
+cruel invaders.  Terrified by the horrors they had witnessed, exhausted
+by their perilous journey, they were disinclined to talk; and as for
+myself, I was so busy, preoccupied and thoroughly spent, that curiosity
+was forgotten.  Here were people in need of what comforts I could offer.
+I gave and asked no questions.
+
+What was most evident at present was the fact that rations were shorter
+among this party than among those who had stopped in the morning, and
+certainly not for the lack of funds.  All of them had money--gold
+a-plenty.
+
+They had found less to buy--_voila tout_.  They were glad to accept the
+vegetable soup, rabbit stew and cooked fruit that we had prepared but
+insisted on paying for their portions, which of course I refused, much
+to their dismay, and I am certain the servants were well repaid for
+their trouble.
+
+And what were their plans?  To go as far south as possible.  Perhaps
+they would eventually cross to Morocco or Canada.  Why not?  The whole
+village was there--all the men had their trades.  They would colonize,
+for it was useless to think of going "home."  They no longer possessed
+one, and who could tell--the war might last a year or more?
+
+At that assertion I protested.  A year?  Never!  Why, the finances of
+the country couldn't stand it, and I went on to state how, when in
+England during the Agadir crisis three years previous, I had heard
+competent authorities state that three months was the very limit for the
+duration of hostilities!  That somewhat cheered them--especially as I
+announced the Russian advance, and on the map we noted the rapid
+progress of the famous "steam roller," which, if it continued as it had
+begun, would certainly reach Berlin by Christmas!  (I offer these
+statements without comment.)
+
+Before they retired Madame Guix asked if there were any who felt the
+slightest ill, for it were better to nip sickness in the bud, and she
+cheerfully lanced festers and pricked blisters, bathed, powdered and
+bandaged the feet of some dozen old and decrepit men and young children
+unaccustomed to such forced marching and unable to take proper care of
+themselves for want of time and hot water!  At that moment I felt she
+was heroic and I must say I admired her patience and endurance, for the
+sights witnessed were anything but agreeable. Poor souls!  And they
+hoped to reach Marseilles on foot.
+
+The Kaiser and his entire army might have ridden over us rough shod and
+we would have felt nothing, so soundly did we sleep for the first couple
+of hours after we touched our beds.  By two A. M. (September first),
+however, there was much moving about in the barns and stables, and my
+dogs, who were restless, began scratching at my door to be released.
+Anxious that no one leave without a cup of hot coffee, Madame Guix and I
+repaired to the kitchen as dawn broke, and an hour later we bade
+farewell to our "lodgers for a night."  I bethought me of my kodak, and
+as the sun peeped through the clouds I caught a snapshot of my departing
+guests as they turned the corner of the chateau.
+
+They joined in behind the stream of other carts which we were now
+accustomed to seeing.  In fact, this general exodus no longer astonished
+us.  It seemed as if the panic had spread over the whole of Flanders
+like a drop of oil on a sheet of paper.  To us, who consider ourselves
+as living in the suburbs of Paris, Belgium is so far away!
+
+I wound off my film and was returning towards the house, when two very
+distinguished looking girls stepped off their bicycles and asked for
+directions. I gave them with pleasure and in turn ventured a few
+questions.
+
+They were from St. Quentin!  That startled me.  They had been _en route_
+two days. They had not seen the Germans, but the town had been
+officially evacuated.  A man on a bicycle had sped by them the day
+before and announced the bombardment and destruction of their native
+city!  Hard fighting at La Fere.
+
+St. Quentin!  Then the Germans were on our soil!  The Belgians were
+right--they were evidently advancing rapidly.  But why worry?  We were
+safe as long as we had the French army between us and them.
+
+Thought as yet the day was but a couple of hours old, I was weary.  This
+business of  hotel-keeping on so large it scale with so little
+assistance was beginning to tell on my strength.  I opened the gate and
+told George and Leon to welcome any who wished to come in, and then
+repairing to the kitchen, I sat down and began helping the others
+prepare vegetables.  The discovery that in spite of all their good will
+guests had necessarily left many traces of their passage, brought me to
+my feet again, and we were all hard at work when a haggard female face
+looked in at the kitchen window.
+
+"Is there a doctor here?"
+
+"No,--but--"
+
+The woman burst into tears. Madame Guix and I hurried out into the
+court.  "My baby--I can't seem to warm her," moaned the poor mother.
+"She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday."
+
+And stretching out her arms, the woman showed us an infant that she had
+been carrying in her apron.  It was dead.
+
+I had difficulty in overcoming my emotion, but Madame Guix took the poor
+little corpse into her arms, and I helped the mother to an arm chair in
+the refectory.
+
+A cup of strong coffee brought back a little color to her wan cheeks and
+she told us she was from Charleville.  The Taubes had got in their
+sinister work to good advantage among the civil population but they were
+merely the forerunners of another and heavier bombardment.  The
+townspeople had fled in their night clothes.
+
+"Are you alone?"
+
+"Yes--I'm not a native of Charleville.  My husband and I have only been
+married a year.  He left the second of August and the baby was born the
+tenth.  She's only three weeks old."
+
+No wonder the mother looked haggard--one hundred and fifty miles on
+foot, with a newborn infant in her arms, fleeing for her life before the
+barbarous hordes!
+
+I pressed another cup of coffee with a drop of brandy in it upon her.
+She looked appealingly at both of us and then drank.
+
+"Was your husband good to you?" asked Madame Guix.
+
+"Ah, yes, Madame."
+
+"Do you love him well enough to endure another sacrifice like a true
+wife and mother that you are?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+And then we told her that her baby bad gone--gone to a brighter Country
+where war is unknown.  She looked at us in amazement, and burying her
+head on her arm, sobbed silently but submissively.
+
+"Come, come, you must sleep--and when you are rested we will help you to
+find room in a cart which will take you towards your parents."
+
+She cast a long, loving look at her first born, and let herself be led
+away.
+
+All we could do was to make an official declaration of the death at the
+town hall. A small linen sheet served as shroud, a clean, flower-lined
+soap box formed that baby's coffin, and Greorge and I were the grave
+diggers and chief mourners, who laid the tiny body at rest in the little
+vine-grown churchyard. War willed it thus.
+
+When I got back from the cemetery I found another load of refugees
+installed in the courtyard.  This time they proved to be a hotel keeper
+and her servants from the Ardennes.  They, however, had foreseen that
+flight was imminent and had carefully packed a greater part of their
+household belongings and valuables onto several wagons, taking care that
+all were well balanced and properly loaded so as to carry the maximum
+weight without tiring the horses.  They needed less attention than the
+others had required, for when I explained that the house was theirs,
+they went about their work swiftly and silently, getting in no one's way
+and attending to every want of their mistress, who sat in her coupe and
+gave orders.
+
+Later on they were joined by the occupants of numerous other equipages,
+all from the same district--but with whom I had but little intercourse.
+From one poor woman, however, I learned that her two daughters, aged
+sixteen and seventeen, had been lost from the party for two days.  They
+were in the cart with the curate who had stopped to water his horse,
+thus losing his place in line.  When they had reached the spot where the
+road forked, which direction had he taken? What had become of them?  She
+pinned her name and route on the refectory wall, begging me to give it
+to them if they ever inquired for her.  To my knowledge they never
+passed.
+
+At luncheon Madame Guix announced that Yvonne was better.  Far from
+well, but better.  That was a load off my mind.
+
+The mother of the poor little infant we had buried was peacefully
+slumbering on a cot in the hospital, and presently Leon came in to say
+that old Cesar had put his hoof on the ground for the first time in four
+days.  Bravo!  I felt much relieved.
+
+And still the carts rolled down the valley, their noise echoing between
+the hills. To-day there was no respite: right on through the heat of
+noon they rumbled past, thicker and faster it seemed to me.
+
+"Bother them!" I thought.  "They make so much noise that we couldn't
+hear the cannon if it were only a mile distant."  And hoping that
+perhaps I might seek some assurance from that sound, I was about to set
+off for the highest spot in the park to listen.  At the door, however, I
+was accosted by one of the two men who, for several days had been
+bundling my hay in the stable lofts.  He pleaded illness. Would I pay
+him and let him go?  He would come back to-morrow and finish if he felt
+better.
+
+As there was nothing unusual in his request, I settled his account and
+told him to go and rest.  I now know that he was a German spy, and have
+recently learned that a fortnight later he was caught and shot at
+Villers-Cotterets.
+
+I wonder what possessed me to make that long weary climb.  Evidently I
+found out what I wanted to know, but the news was anything but
+reassuring.  I heard the cannon distinctly: so distinctly that I was a
+trifle unnerved.  Not only had my ears caught the long ever-steady
+rolling (already observed three days since) but I had been able to make
+out a difference in the caliber of each piece that fired, and added to
+it all was a funny clattering sound, as when one drags a wooden stick
+along an iron barred fence.  _La Fere_ is putting up a heroic defense, I
+thought, blissfully unconscious of the fact that it is utterly
+impossible to hear a cannon at that distance--at half, no, even a
+quarter of that distance.  Judge then for yourselves what was its
+proximity to Villiers!
+
+For two days now the course in nursing had been abandoned, not for lack
+of enthusiasm but because each housewife had more than she could attend
+to at home. The chateau was not the only place where refugees halted,
+and all the villagers had done their best to make the travelers
+comfortable.  From where I stood overlooking the two valleys, I could
+see the interminable line of carts on all roads within scope of my view,
+and in every farm yard as well as on the side of the main thoroughfares,
+vehicles were drawn up and thin columns of blue smoke rising heavenward,
+told that the evening meal was under way.
+
+The population of my own courtyard had quadrupled by five o'clock.
+People from St. Quentin, Ternier, Chauny--each with a tale of horror and
+sorrow--sought refuge for the night.  Madame Guix was permanently
+established in the dispensary, and a line was formed as in front of the
+city clinics, each one waiting his turn, hoping that she might be able
+to relieve his suffering.  At dusk a cart turned into the drive and a
+gray-haired man asked if we had a litter on which to carry his son to
+the house.
+
+"What was the matter?" I inquired.
+
+"A cough--such a bad cough."
+
+I went with him towards the wagon, and there beheld the sad spectacle of
+a youth in the last stages of tuberculosis.  Thin beyond description, a
+living skeleton, the poor boy turned his great glassy eyes towards me in
+supplication.  I drew the father aside.  It was best to be frank.  I
+shook my head and said it would be useless to move his son.  We had no
+doctor, and his illness was beyond our competence.  Cover him well, and
+try to reach a big city as soon as possible.
+
+As I turned away, a sturdy youth tapped me gently on the arm, begging
+shelter for his great-grandmother, a woman ninety-three years old, whom
+he had carried on his back all the way from St. Quentin.  A cot in the
+entrance hall was all prudence permitted me to offer, and it was
+charming to see how tenderly the young fellow bore the poor little
+withered woman to her resting-place.  She was so dazed that I fear she
+hardly realized what was happening, but tears of gratitude streamed down
+her cheeks when her boy appeared with a bowl of hot soup, coaxing her to
+drink, like a child, and finally curling up on the rug beside her bed.
+
+Five times that evening the great refectory table was surrounded by
+hungry men and women; five times I ladled out soup and vegetables to
+forty persons, and five times we all helped to wash up.  So when all was
+finally cleaned away, and Madame Guix and I fell exhausted onto two
+kitchen chairs, it was well onto eleven P. M.
+
+My clever nurse informed me that she had arranged for the departure in a
+cart of the mother whose baby we had buried, and I in turn told her of
+my climb in the park and the approach of the cannon.  It was evident
+that the Germans were bearing down on us, and swiftly.  When we looked
+at the map and saw the names of the cities, towns and villages whose
+populations had succeeded each other down the road, it was clear that
+the French must be beating a forced retreat, or (and this was unlikely)
+panic had spread so quickly that the whole north of France was now
+moving south on a fool's errand.  We cast this second hypothesis aside.
+We had heard too many tales of woe and seen too much misery to believe
+anything of the sort.  Well, and then what?  Our case was simple--either
+the Germans would be stopped before they reached us, or the French army
+would put in an appearance, in which latter case it would be time enough
+to leave, unless we were officially evacuated before!  Having adopted
+this simple line of conduct, we retired, quite satisfied and not in the
+least uneasy.
+
+In the cool gray dawn of Wednesday morning, September second, when I
+opened my shutters and looked out into the little square that faces the
+chateau, I was amazed to see that the refugees who had halted there were
+in carts and wagons whose signs were most familiar.  They came from
+Soissons!
+
+"Hello," thought I, "I'll go and see what they have to say!  Things must
+be getting very bad if a big city like Soissons suddenly takes to its
+heels." (Soissons is but little over twenty miles from Villiers.)  As I
+came down stairs I heard the drum roll, and George, who just then
+appeared with the milk, announced that the requisition of horses which
+should have taken place at Chateau-Thierry that morning, was
+indefinitely postponed.  That was hardly reassuring, especially as it
+was the first official news we had received in a long time.
+
+So busy were we helping those who had slept at the chateau to depart,
+that I had no time to put my first intentions into execution, and when
+finally I had a moment, I looked out of the window and saw that my
+friends from Soissons had vanished.  They, too: well, well, well!
+
+I was not astonished; in fact I gave the matter but little heed.  We had
+taken our resolutions the night before and had no time to stop every
+five minutes and question as to whether we were right or wrong.  At
+noon, however, when an old peasant woman called me through the kitchen
+window and announced that all Charly was leaving post haste, I must
+admit that I winced, but only for a second.  If I had listened to all
+the different rumors that had been noised abroad within the last week I
+would have been a fit subject for a lunatic asylum by then!
+
+Resolved, however, to get at the core of the matter, I sent George to
+Charly (our market town, four miles away) to see what he could find out.
+He returned on his bicycle at luncheon time, bearing the following
+astonishing information.
+
+The hotel keeper and his wife, alarmed by the arrival of the Soissonais,
+had taken their auto and started for that city in quest of news.
+They had returned an hour later, having been unable to pass
+Oulchy-le-Chateau, fifteen miles from Charly, where all the bridges were
+cut or blown up!  They were making their preparations for departure.
+
+"And," continued George, in an excited tone, "as I came past the
+_Gendarmerie_ the _brigadier_ called to me and said good-bye.  All the
+_gendarmes_ had received orders to leave at once for their depot at--."
+(The name of some town the other side of the Marne, which I cannot
+remember.)
+
+Instead of frightening me this information stimulated my nerves, which
+were beginning to be depressed by much work and little news.
+
+"Good," I said.  "Now then, we can expect the soldiers at any minute.
+Poke up the fire, Julie, and we'll fall to work to have hot soup ready
+when our boys arrive."
+
+Then we were really going to be in the excitement.  How glorious to be
+able to help--for in my mind ours was the only solution possible to the
+question.
+
+I set to work with renewed vigor and, as on the day before, we were
+constantly in demand by refugees requiring treatment and attention.  How
+well I remember a group of four, two men and two women, who staggered
+into the court and timidly knocked at the window.  Three of them were
+glad to accept soup and wine, but the fourth, a middle-aged woman, sank
+down on the steps and buried her head in her hands.
+
+"Why doesn't one of you men relieve her of that heavy parcel she has
+strapped to her shoulders?" I asked.
+
+"She won't let us touch it.  She's never put it aside a minute since we
+left home six days ago!"
+
+"Is it as precious as all that?" I queried, eyeing the huge flat package
+which might have been the size of the double sheet of some daily paper.
+
+"It's her son's picture.  He's gone to the army and she's alone in the
+world."
+
+"But why on earth is she carrying frame, glass, and all?  It must be
+nearly killing her in this heat!"
+
+"Madame," said the woman's friend solemnly, "she worked six months and
+put all her savings into that frame!  Do you wonder she did not wish to
+leave it behind!"
+
+I opened a side door and showed them a foot path across the hills, a
+short cut which carriages could not take, and was just turning the key
+in the lock when the telephone rang.
+
+That was the first time since the second of August!  What could it mean?
+Probably the arrival of wounded.  I literally flew to answer the call.
+
+I had some little difficulty recognizing Mademoiselle Mauxpoix' voice:
+it was trembling with emotion.  She greeted me politely and then begging
+me not to be too alarmed, she announced that she had just received
+official orders to put all her telephones and telegraphic apparatus out
+of working order--to damage them so that repairs would be impossible.
+
+"I have ten minutes more left," she continued.  "A government motor is
+coming at four o'clock to take me, my employees and my books to Tours."
+
+"But, Mademoiselle--"
+
+She did not heed my interruption.  "You cannot stay, Madame Huard!  You
+must not! No woman is safe on their path.  I know this better than you,
+for I have been receiving official reports for more than a month!  The
+worst is true!  For the love of heaven, go--you've still got a chance
+though there's hard fighting going on in the streets of Chateau Thierry!
+For God's sake, don't hesitate. Adieu."
+
+She was gone!  And I stood there dazed!
+
+"Hard fighting at Chateau-Thierry!  That's only seven miles from here,"
+I counted.
+
+Go?  Go where?  How?  Go and abandon my post, with Yvonne still too ill
+to move, and all the others depending on my help?  Go?  By what means,
+when my only horse was too lame to cross the courtyard!  It was far
+better to stay and defend one's belongings!
+
+And then as I slowly returned through the corridors, it occurred to me
+that in spite of my desire to stay I might be forced out.  Suppose the
+chateau should suddenly become the target for the German guns?  Well, we
+could all take to the cellars, as the others had done in 1870.  But--and
+here was the point--suppose the French took possession and gave us women
+but a few minutes to leave before the battle began.  Then what!  Here
+was food for reflection.  I resolved to take Madame Guix and the two
+boys into my confidence.  Four heads were better than one!
+
+They received the news calmly, and I almost caught a glimpse of a
+twinkle in George's and Leon's eyes.  The excitement pleased them.
+
+If what Mademoiselle Mauxpoix had said was true, the Germans were now on
+their way to Villiers.  It was evident that the French were putting up a
+stubborn resistance, but there was little hope of their stopping them
+before they reached our vicinity.  Battle meant destruction of lives and
+property.  Well, since we still possessed the former, it was high time
+to think of saving the latter.  The sun was fast sinking behind the pine
+trees.  In an hour it would be dark.  What I decided to do must be done
+at once.
+
+"George and Leon, bring down my two big trunks, and tell Nini to hitch
+the donkey to his flat cart and drive to the side door."  I had resolved
+to save what I could of H.'s work, and going to the studio closet, I
+began selecting the portfolios containing mounted drawings and etchings.
+It was useless to think of the paintings.  They were too big.  The
+trunks were full in no time.  I had no other receptacles, so reluctantly
+closed the but half empty cupboards, consoling myself with the thought
+that all this was possibly useless preparation, and praying Heaven that
+I had made a good choice among the portfolios in case the worst came.
+
+The boys put the trunks onto the cart and set off in the direction of a
+sand quarry, where I knew we could dig in safety, and easily cause a
+miniature landslide, which would cover all traces of our hidden
+treasure.  I promised to join them in an hour--the time I judged it
+would take them to make so large an excavation, and returning to my
+room, gathered my jewels and papers into a little valise, and put them
+beside my fur coat and my kodak.  A few other trinkets and innumerable
+photographs were locked away in my desk, and perceiving that it would be
+utterly impossible to carry them with me, I wondered how on earth I
+might protect them.  Suddenly I bethought me of a tiny silk American
+flag that my mother had given me years before, when as a child I left
+home for my first trip to Europe.  I found it where I hoped, and
+shutting one edge of it into the drawer, I let the stripes hang downward
+and pinned the following inscription into its folds:
+
+"I swear that the contents of this desk are purely personal and can be
+of value to no one but myself.  I therefore leave it under the
+protection of my country's flag."
+
+I felt very proud when I had done this and then hurried into my
+dressing-room where I hastily filled my suit-case with a few warm
+underclothes, a change of costume, and an extra pair of shoes.  I had
+about finished and was heartily glad that this useless job was over,
+when on glancing out of the window I caught sight of fuzzy-haired Madame
+La Miche driving up the avenue in her dog cart.
+
+Madame La Miche and her husband run a big stock farm near Neuilly St.
+Front, some fifteen miles from Villiers.  I had often seen her at
+poultry and agricultural shows, where their farm products usually
+carried off any number of prizes.  It was she who sold me my cows hardly
+a year since.
+
+"You?" I said, as she drew up to the steps.
+
+"Yes.  En route--like all the others.  Our entire fortune is in live
+stock and I'm going to try to save as much as I can.  May we come in?"
+
+Certainly--and a half-hour later one of the largest farms in France had
+been moved bodily into my pasture land!  The whole thing was conducted
+in a very orderly manner by M. La Miche, who on horseback drew up the
+rear of this immense cavalcade composed of some two hundred white oxen,
+hitched two abreast, seventy or eighty horses, as many mares with young
+colts, and heaven knows how many cows and calves; all accompanied by the
+stable bands.  Poor tired beasts, how greedily they drank the cool water
+of our spring, and how willingly the cunning little colts, whose tender
+hoofs had been worn to the quick by their unheard-of journey, allowed
+the men to tie up their feet in coarse linen bandages with strips of old
+carpet for protection.
+
+Madame La Miche had been officially evacuated at noon, so I did not
+hesitate to tell her what I had heard.  She was not surprised, and said
+she intended leaving at midnight, but her animals, unaccustomed to such
+exercise, must have a few hours' rest.
+
+In the kitchen I found George and Leon, who had accomplished their task
+sooner than I expected.  Relying on their word that it was impossible to
+tell where they had buried the trunks, I did not go back to the sand
+quarry.  Half a mile was a distance to be considered, under the
+circumstances.
+
+While all this had been going on, Madame Guix had taken Julie into her
+confidence and asked her if she would follow us if we were obliged to
+leave. Julie is a native of Villiers, and her husband and children live
+in a little house near by. She had consulted her lord and they were
+willing to lend their big dray horse if they could all join our party.
+Of course we agreed and while it was light, we decided to put some bags
+of oats into the bottom of our hay cart, to cover these with hay, and
+then all the servants could pile on, the boys taking turns at walking
+since Yvonne must have room to be stretched out.
+
+How I hated all this business!  Madame Guix then counted the number of
+persons composing our party, and sent Nini to fetch as many blankets and
+pillows. These, with a box containing salt, sugar, chocolate, and other
+dry provisions, a valise packed with a few bandages and a little
+medicine, were put onto a little light farm-cart to which we might
+harness Cesar in case of great emergency.
+
+The two vehicles when loaded were run into an empty carriage house,
+whose door I locked, rather ashamed of my precautions.
+
+Night had fallen and the incoming stream of refugees demanded our every
+attention. Madame Guix was occupied with two women whose physical
+condition was such that it was impossible to refuse them beds, come what
+might--and as I crossed the vestibule in search of some instruments, the
+shadow of a woman and two little girls came up the steps.  "Could I give
+them lodgings?" begged the poor soul.  I looked at her--she was so
+frightened that it was most pathetic, and the two curly-beaded children
+clung to her skirts and shivered.
+
+"I've never been alone before," she explained, and her teeth fairly
+chattered with terror.  "I can pay, and pay well--I've thirty thousand
+francs in gold on me."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't let anyone know it!" I said, very
+abruptly.  "I don't want money, but there are others who may.  Be
+careful--a fortune like that may lead to your destruction.  Hide it!"
+
+She stared at me in amazement.  Evidently the idea that dishonesty
+existed never occurred to her.  She thanked me for the advice and hoped
+she had not offended me, and begged me to take pity on her.
+
+"Did anyone see you come in here?"
+
+She thought not.
+
+"For if they did I fear you will have to share the common lot.  I have
+no reason to give you preference.  The others might protest."
+
+I stuck my head out of the doorway.  When I turned around, those three
+helpless creatures stood clinging to one another in the big empty
+vestibule, making a most pitiable group.
+
+"Go up two flights of stairs--turn to your left and follow the corridor
+to the end.  The last door on your left opens into a room with a huge
+double bed.  It was too big for our hospital.  That's the only reason we
+didn't bring it down. It's at your disposal.  Don't thank me.
+Good-night."
+
+When I got a moment I went to Yvonne's room.  "Did she think she could
+get up a little: long enough to take some dinner?  Perhaps she might put
+on a few clothes and make an effort to walk around her room."  Ten days
+in bed had made her very weak.  She must try to gain a little strength.
+She promised and I departed. The idea of carrying her out bodily was
+anything but encouraging!
+
+At six-thirty the public distribution of soup recommenced.  Who my
+guests were I have no idea.  There were more than a hundred of them.
+That was clear enough from the dishes that were left.  Just as the last
+round had been served, George came in to say that the village was
+beginning to get uneasy--people from Neuilly St. Front and
+Lucy-le-Bocage and Essommes had already passed down the road, and the
+peasants looked to the chateau for a decision!
+
+I went out to the gate.  Yes, true enough, our neighbors from Lucy (five
+miles distant) had joined the procession.  Then there was a break, and a
+lull, such as had not occurred for two days, and in the silence I again
+recognized the same clattering sound that had caught my ear on the hill
+top the afternoon before. This time it was much more distinct, but was
+soon drowned out by the rumbling of heavy wheels on the road.
+
+Surely this time it was artillery!
+
+I wrapped my shawl closer about me and sat down on the low stone wall
+that borders the moat, while little groups of peasants, unable to sleep,
+clustered together on the roadside.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the clanking noise and presently a whole regiment
+of perambulators, four abreast, swung around the corner into the
+moonlight.
+
+Domptin!
+
+Domptin, our neighboring village, one mile up the road, had caught the
+fever and was moving out wholesale, transporting its ill and decrepit,
+its children and chattels, in heaven knows how many baby carriages!
+
+I had never seen so many in all my life.  The effect was altogether
+comic, and Madame Guix and I could not resist laughing--much to the
+dismay of these poor souls who saw little amusement at being obliged to
+leave home scantily clad in night clothes.
+
+They passed on, without further comment, and the last man had hardly
+turned the corner when a scream coming from up the road drew us to our
+feet, and sent us running in that direction.  Almost instantly, the
+figure of an old white-capped peasant woman appeared in the distance.
+She was wringing her hands and crying aloud.  When we were within ear
+shot, I caught the word, "Uhlans!"
+
+"Uhlans!  Where?"
+
+"_Dans le bois de la Mazure!_" (A half-mile from Villiers.)
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Saw their helmets glittering in the moonlight!"
+
+"What rot!  They're Frenchmen--dragoons.  You don't know your own
+countrymen when you see them!  Did you approach them?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what in the name of common sense sent you flying down here to
+scare us like that?  You've got no business spreading panic broadcast.
+If you don't turn around and scamper home, the way you came, I'll have
+you arrested.  _Allez!_"
+
+My nerves had stood the strain as long as possible.  This false alarm
+had roused my anger and in a jiffy I could see how thousands of people
+had been deceived, and were now erring homeless along the roads of
+France!
+
+"You can do what you like," I said, turning to the others, "but I've had
+enough of this for one day--I'm going to bed.  Good-night, gentlemen."
+
+"The _chatelaine_ is going to bed, the _chatelaine_ is going to bed!"
+"Let all go to bed," and similar phrases were echoed among the groups
+and presently we all separated, after many cordial _a demain_.
+
+The clock in the village church was striking midnight when I finally
+retired, after calling my greyhounds and Betsy into my room, and
+assuring myself that they all had on their collars, and that their
+leashes were hanging on my bed post.
+
+Nini, the little traitor, had evidently told Yvonne of my preparations
+for departure, and the two girls, whose beds were in the next room to
+mine, had been unable to close their eyes, for as I blew out my lamp, I
+could hear their childish voices repeating the rosary:
+
+"Hail Mary full of Grace--the Lord is with Thee..."
+
+* * * * *
+
+I may have slept an hour.  Then I can dimly remember hearing a wild yelp
+from my dogs, and when I found myself in the middle of my room rubbing
+my eyes, Yvonne was calling, "Madame!  Madame!" in terrified tones.  My
+pets were mad with excitement, and the sound of the farm bell was
+ringing in my ears!
+
+"Silence!" I yelled.
+
+Everything but the bell ceased.
+
+Heedless of my attire, I rushed to a back window and repeated my
+command.
+
+The bell stopped.
+
+"Who are you that you dare wake us like that!" I scolded.
+
+A boy between eighteen and nineteen let go the rope and stepped beneath
+the window.  I could see his blond hair in the moonlight.
+
+"Are you Madame Huard?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I've come with a message from your husband."
+
+I grew cold as ice.  Good God, what had happened?
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+In a bound I was down stairs and had opened the front door.
+
+"Is H. wounded?" I gasped.
+
+"No, Madame."
+
+I breathed again.
+
+"Where was he when you saw him?"
+
+"On the road between Villers-Cotterets and La Ferte Milon."
+
+"What's your message?"
+
+The boy put his hand to his breast pocket and drew forth a slip of
+paper.  The full moon shining on the white facade of the chateau threw
+such a brilliant reflection that I recognized a sheet from a sketch
+book, and could distinguish the following words scribbled in pencil:
+
+"Give bearer fifty francs, then in the name of the love you bear me,
+evacuate now; go south, not Paris."
+
+The last words were underscored three or four times.
+
+"What time was it when H. gave you this?"
+
+"Noon or thereabouts."
+
+"How did you come?  On foot?"
+
+"No, bicycle."
+
+"But it's after midnight!"
+
+"I know, but I got lost and had three bad punctures."
+
+Here were marching orders for fair, and if I intended obeying enough
+time had already been lost.  To stay in spite of everything was to be
+responsible for all the young lives that looked to me, for protection.
+Could I promise it?  No. Then go it was!
+
+At that same moment and as though to reinforce my decision, the strange
+clattering noise I had observed growing nearer and nearer during the
+last two days broke on the night air.
+
+"Hark!" said the boy.  "_La mitrailleuse!_"
+
+"The machine guns!" I echoed.
+
+"_Oui, Madame._"
+
+That sufficed.  "We'll be leaving in ten minutes.  Go to the kitchen.
+I'll send someone to look after you and we'll go together."
+
+All this had transpired in less time than it takes to tell it.  Awakened
+by the bell, the refugees in the stables came pouring into the
+courtyard.  A second later, George, lantern in hand, came running
+towards me.
+
+"Tell Leon to harness Cesar--then go and wake Julie and say that we are
+leaving in ten minutes.  I expect her, and her family, with their horse,
+to be ready. The courtyard in ten minutes.  Mind!"
+
+On the landing I met Madame Guix already fully dressed.
+
+"_Nous partons,_" was all I said.  She understood and followed me
+towards Yvonne's room.
+
+The two children, their teeth chattering, looked towards us in terror.
+
+"Nini, put on the warmest clothes you possess and help Madame Guix to
+dress Yvonne.  Then go to the kitchen and wait there without moving."
+
+My own toilet was brief, and five minutes later, lamp in hand, I was
+pounding on all the doors of the long corridors, fearful lest some one
+be forgotten and locked in the house.  When I reached the second floor I
+bethought me of the woman and her two children, and as I advanced I
+called, "Don't be frightened. This is merely a warning!"
+
+The poor soul must have been dreaming, for when I touched her door she
+screamed, and as I opened it and held the lamp over my head, I could see
+the two little creatures clinging to their mother, who on her knees
+begged, "Take me, but spare my babies!"
+
+I had some difficulty in reassuring her, but finally succeeded, and left
+her to go below to the hospital.
+
+At the first alarm, the women who were sleeping there had fled in
+terror, and when assured that all were gone, for safety's sake I went up
+into the vestibule and standing at the foot of' the stairs, called, "All
+out!  All out!  I'm closing up and leaving!"
+
+No one answering, I judged that my summons had been obeyed, and so
+hurried back to my own room to fetch jewels, kodak and pets.  On my way
+down I opened H.'s wardrobe and grabbed several overcoats, confident
+that the boys would forget theirs and need them.
+
+In the courtyard I found Julie and her family already perched on the
+hay-cart, where Yvonne had been hoisted and lay moaning, well covered in
+a blanket.  Both horses were hitched and my servants waiting orders.
+Beside ours, other big drays were being prepared for flight, yet there
+was no confusion--no loud talking--no lamenting.  I then told the boys
+to hurry to the farm yard and open all the gates so that the poultry and
+cows could have free access to the entire estate, which is closed in by
+a wall.  I was thus certain that though they might feel hungry they,
+would not die for want of food or water during the short time I intended
+to be gone.
+
+This done, I went to the kitchen where I found Nini, who had obeyed
+orders not to move but who had presence of mind enough to lay out bread
+and jam and wine for the famished youth who had brought the message.
+
+In the lamplight I caught sight of my road maps on the refectory wall,
+and setting my jewel box on the table I began unpinning and carefully
+folding them and put them in the pocket of my motor coat.  Almost at the
+same instant, the lamp flickered and Leon came in to say that all the
+dogs were found save the beagle hound and three fox terrier puppies,
+who, frightened by the bell and the commotion, had hidden in the hay
+lofts.  We went out, and I called and whistled in vain--none of them
+appeared.
+
+All this had taken more time than I expected.  The wagons full of
+refugees had disappeared, and we were alone.
+
+"_En route!_" I called, climbing into the _charette_, a big lump rising
+in my throat.
+
+"_En route!_" called George.
+
+Once again I counted our party to be sure all were there, and then
+slowly the heavy-laden hay-cart pulled out of the courtyard onto the
+high road.
+
+The first ten steps that my horse took he limped so painfully that my
+heart sank in my boots.
+
+What nonsense, this departure!  The poor beast would break down and we'd
+have to shoot him by the wayside, and other similar cheerful thoughts
+fled through my brain as we jogged up the narrow village street.
+
+In front of the town hall I halted, first of all to rest my steed,
+secondly to await George and Leon, who had remained behind to shut the
+entrance doors and bolt the gate, and finally because I was astonished
+to see all the windows illuminated.
+
+I Jumped down and approaching one of the panes looked through and saw
+the entire municipal council seated in a semi-circle, their faces grave
+with anxiety. Presently the boys, accompanied by H.'s messenger, rode up
+on their bicycles and handed me the keys.  I entered the room where Mr.
+Duguey, the schoolmaster and town clerk, greeted me.
+
+"Gentlemen, I've come to give you the keys to my estate.  I've received
+a message from my husband begging me to leave at once."
+
+"Then make haste, Madame, while there is still time.  We are just about
+to beat the call to arms and warn the population that those who hope to
+escape must leave at once.  Though we have no official orders to do this
+we have taken it on ourselves, for we now know for certain that the
+Uhlans have surrounded the village and are awaiting daylight to take
+possession.  They are probably bivouacking on the heights in your park."
+
+Then the old peasant woman had not lied!  Those were really Uhlans she
+had seen in the _bois de la Mazure_.  Ye gods, and here I was trying to
+get away with a lame horse!  Thank heaven, the Marne was not far!  I
+would cross it and then await developments.
+
+The clock in the little church struck two and an owl hooted mournfully
+in the belfry as silently our cortege plodded up the steep incline. When
+we reached the summit I could not resist turning around and casting a
+long affectionate glance on my lovely home-shining like a fairy palace
+in its setting of wonderful trees.  Who could tell?  I might never see
+it again!
+
+George, too, must have been penetrated with the same sentiment, for he
+rode up close to the cart and grasping the mud guard, turned on his
+saddle and wistfully shaking his bead, gave vent to his feelings by the
+following very inelegant but extremely expressive ejaculation:
+
+"_Quels cochons!  vous chasser d'une propriete parcille!_"
+
+A long shiver of emotion crept down my spine, and though it was but the
+second of September I instinctively drew the fur collar of my coat
+closer about my throat.
+
+In front of me I could bear the wheels of our heavy-laden hay-cart
+creaking as the big farm horse plodded on.  Its occupants were silent,
+and thanks to the moon and the lantern which hung up high behind, I
+could see Julie and Madame Guix nodding with sleep.
+
+My own poor beast limped on and besides thinking of all that I had left
+undone at the chateau and planning how and where we could go, I had the
+constant vision of his silent suffering in front of me.  At every little
+incline I would get down and throwing the reins over the neck of Betsy,
+my bull dog, who occupied the seat beside me, I would give Cesar his
+head and take my place with the boys behind.  He seemed to be grateful.
+
+Let it be said, however, that as our journey advanced the hoof, at first
+so tender from much poulticing, became firmer and firmer, and instead of
+increasing, the lameness rather grew less.
+
+We crossed our little market town of Charly amid dead silence.  Not a
+light in a single window, not a sound anywhere.  We seemed to be the
+only souls astir, and the foolhardiness of this midnight departure when
+everyone else was tucked up snug in his bed, angered me.  I was seized
+with a mad desire to turn about and go home.
+
+Just then George asked me which direction I intended taking, and
+remembering H.'s imperative "Go south," we turned sharp and headed for
+the first bridge across the Marne.
+
+High in front of me rose the dark wooded hills of Pavant, descending
+abruptly to that narrow strip of fertile plain which borders the river
+on both sides, but now half-veiled in a heavy blue mist.  Below me the
+swift current sped onward like a silver arrow, and before so impressive
+a spectacle I could not help thinking how meager is the art of the scene
+painter and dramatist which tries to depict a real battlefield.  For
+battlefield I felt this was, and my overstrained nerves no longer
+holding my imagination in check, I could already see human forms
+writhing in agony, and hear the moaning of souls on the brink of
+Eternity. As though to vivify this hallucination, the dying moon
+suddenly plunged behind a cloud, lighting the landscape but by strange
+lugubrious streaks, and in the distance behind us a long low rumble
+warned me that my dream might soon be a terrible reality.
+
+The Marne crossed, a weight was lifted from my shoulders, and settling
+back against the pile of blankets in my rig, I let the horse follow his
+own sweet will and we started to zig-zag up a steep incline.  At the end
+of five minutes' time I was so benumbed by the cold that sleep was
+impossible, so I left my seat and joined the others who, all save
+Yvonne, had been obliged to descend to relieve their horse.  What a
+climb that was--seven long kilometers from right to left, winding around
+that hill, as about a mountain, ever and again finding ourselves on a
+narrow ledge overlooking the valley.  The fog had spread until literally
+choked up between the bills and I could hardly persuade myself that it
+was not the sea that rolled below me.  Even the signal lamps on the
+distant railway line rose out of the labyrinth like a lighthouse in
+mid-ocean, making the illusion complete.
+
+Dawn was breaking as we reached the summit and pausing for a moment's
+breath, we could see people with bundles hurrying from cottages and farm
+yards, while the fields seemed dotted with horses and carts that sprang
+out of the semi-darkness like specters, following one another to the
+highway.  In less than no time the long caravan had re-formed and was
+again under way.
+
+We brought up the rear, preceded by five hundred snow-white oxen.  There
+was no way of' advancing faster than the _cortege_.  It was stay in line
+or lose your place, and as the sun rose over the plains, I was so
+impressed by the magnificence of our procession that I forgot the real
+cause of our flight and never for an instant realized that I now formed
+an intimate part of that column which but a few hours since inspired me
+with such genuine pity.
+
+As we passed through a small agglomeration of houses that one might
+hardly call a village, I recognized several familiar faces on the
+doorsteps, and presently comprehended why Charly was so dark and silent
+the night before.  It was empty--evacuated--and the greater part of its
+inhabitants were here on the roadside, preparing to continue their
+route.
+
+Where were we going?  I think none of us had a very definite idea.  We
+were following in line on the only road that crossed this wonderfully
+fertile country. The monotony of the landscape, the warmth of the sun,
+added to the gentle swing of my cart calmed my nerves and I fell back
+into a heavy sleep.
+
+When I opened my eyes I could hear water running over a dam, and see
+below me and but a very short distance away, a river flowing through a
+valley.  Someone said it was the Petit Morin; another announced that we
+had come seventeen kilometers and a third proffered that it was 6:30 A.
+M.--time for breakfast.  We ought not to attack the opposite hill on
+empty stomachs.
+
+Accordingly we crossed the Petit Morin and broke ranks in front of two
+little cottages that bordered the river at the entrance of an electric
+power house.  At the same time, a small covered gig halted beside our
+big cart and from it descended the mother of the two little girls she
+who had so much gold.
+
+Did I mind if she followed in our wake?
+
+Of course not.
+
+She was still as timid and frightened as the night before, and it didn't
+take much questioning to learn that she had never had a pair of reins in
+her hands before in her life.
+
+The boys took all the horses down to the river and carefully bathed
+their knees and legs.  In the meantime, coffee had been found and
+ground, someone had scurried about and found a house where milk could be
+had, and on an iron tripod that I had sense enough to bring along, water
+was set to boiling.
+
+It was very amusing that first picnic breakfast, and my! what appetites
+we had. The summer lodgers in one of the cottages gazed upon us in
+amazement--all save one little girl who, so it seems, had had a
+presentiment that some ill would befall her and for two days had not
+ceased weeping.
+
+The meal over, each one went to my cart and taking possession of a
+blanket and pillow, rolled up in it and went fast asleep in the
+brilliant sunshine.  How we blessed those warm, penetrating rays, for we
+had suffered much from the damp cold all night.
+
+Left alone, I overhauled my wagon and made the discovery that my jewel
+box was missing.  That did not alarm me much, for I was confident that I
+had left it on the refectory table, and would find it--like my silver
+chests--just where I had left them.
+
+My road map showed us to be at La Tretoire, midway between Charly and
+Rebais, but as there were no provisions to be had in so small a place, I
+decided to push on to the township where we might be able to get
+lodgings.  This, however, must be done before noon, or we would be
+obliged to sleep out of doors again, for it would be impossible to
+travel through the heat of the day.  Accordingly, at half past eight, I
+roused the boys and we started up the hill, bag and baggage.
+
+It was much the same kind of scene as at Pavant, only we were less
+excited and far more exhausted than at the outset of our trip.  Each one
+stalked on, gritting his teeth and wiping the big beads of perspiration
+from his brow.  By ten we reached the top and calling George, who had
+been walking beside the leader since we left home, I told him to take my
+place in the _charette_ and I would mount my bicycle.
+
+Leaving orders to follow the straight road to Rebais, I pushed on ahead,
+promising to do my best, and an hour later found myself on the outskirts
+of the little town--very weary and almost overcome by the heat.  In the
+hurry of my departure from Villiers I had wrapped a scarlet chiffon
+scarf about my head, never thinking that a hat would be a very useful
+article in the daytime.  For sixty minutes, then, as I had pedaled along
+that endless road, the sun had beaten down upon my head and shoulders,
+and when I came upon a public pump, I dropped down in the grass beside
+it, after wringing out my handkerchief in its refreshing water and
+bathing my burning face and arms.
+
+When I finally made my entrance into Rebais, I found that thousands of
+other persons had probably had the same idea as I and it took but little
+time to discover that all rooms, whether private or public, were
+occupied.  The place was overflowing with refugees.  The line outside
+the baker's shop warned me that I had a dozen hungry mouths dependent
+upon me and yesterday's supply of bread was well nigh exhausted, let
+alone being stale.  I took my place among the others and stood for a
+good hour waiting for the second ovenful to finish baking.
+
+Certainly no greasy pig at a county fair was ever more difficult to
+manage than that long nine-pound loaf of red hot bread.  There was no
+way of handling it--it burned everything it touched.  No sooner did I
+put it under one arm than I was obliged to change it to the other post
+haste.  Add to this the fact that I had not ridden a bicycle since a
+child, and realize that whether walking or riding the bread was equally
+hot and equally cumbersome.  It was too long to fit into the handlebars,
+besides how could I hold it there?  Too soft to be tied with string that
+I might buy.  At one moment I thought seriously of picking up my skirt
+and carrying the bread as peasant women do grass and fodder, but alas, a
+1914 skirt was too narrow to permit this. At length when almost
+disheartened and I had stood my loaf against the side of a house to
+cool, I recognized a familiar voice back of me, and George appeared on
+his wheel to announce that my party had camped in a young orchard two
+miles outside of Rebais, neither man nor beast being capable of going
+any farther.  We clapped our loaf into an overcoat that was strapped to
+the back of his machine, and swinging it between us, soon joined the
+others.
+
+Our noonday repast was composed of cold bam and fried potatoes.  I think
+I never ate better, though I must confess that the latter were stolen
+from a neighboring field.  By two o'clock a dozen weary inhabitants of
+Villiers were stretched out on their rugs and peacefully dreaming!  We
+had decided to rest before determining what to do for the night.
+
+I was awakened by a stiff feeling in my neck, and opened my eyes to find
+that the sun was rapidly disappearing in the west.  I had slept soundly
+four hours and was much refreshed, though the bumps in the ground had
+bruised me, and I could hardly move my head.
+
+Yvonne had stood the journey so far very well though unable as yet to
+walk, but as the cool of the evening came on I began to worry lest a
+night out of doors set her screaming with pain.  So as I laced my boots,
+I decided to go back to Rebais and make another desperate attempt to
+lodge her at least.
+
+"Did Madame see Maitre Baudoin this morning," asked Leon, to whom I
+imparted my plans.
+
+I gasped!  What a fool I was!  My mind was so upset that I had forgotten
+that my own notary was a prominent personality in Rebais.
+
+A quarter of an hour later I turned into the public square and beheld
+Maitre Baudoin and his wife standing on the doorstep watching the exodus
+of numerous refugees.
+
+"Madame Huard!" they exclaimed.  "You?  What on earth has happened?"
+
+I explained in a few words.
+
+"Why, come right in.  We were just going to sit down to dinner."
+
+I said I was not alone, and must first look after the others.  Without
+waiting a second, Maitre Baudoin crossed over to the town hall and soon
+returned with a key in his hand.
+
+"Here, here's the key to a bakery--there are rooms above.  Your people
+can lodge there and you come in with us.  All this will be over in a day
+or so; the news is good to-day.  The Germans will never reach the
+Marne!"
+
+I went and fetched our delighted caravan, and after safely depositing
+them in their new residence, I was crossing the main street to join my
+friends, when a big military auto whisked into the middle of the square
+and halted.  Ten seconds later it was followed by a dozen others, and by
+the time I had reached the Baudoins' the place was literally lined with
+motors, containing officers and orderlies.  We were just sitting down
+when some one pounded on the door and a deep authoritative voice called
+out, "You're to lodge a general and two officers!"  And we could hear
+the man hastily chalking the names on the door.
+
+Madame Baudoin looked from me to her husband, her eyes wide open with
+astonishment.  The meal was forgotten and we hurried out into the
+twilight to seek news.  The _Etat Major_ of a cavalry division was to
+bivouac at Rebais, would be leaving at midnight.
+
+My friends understood, and they who had not as yet seen a soldier since
+the war began, realized for the first time that they were now in the
+midst of the retreating army.  I begged them to make ready for flight
+and they hurried homewards while I returned to the bakery to hold
+council.
+
+As I reached the door, someone touched me on the shoulder and an
+officer, pointing to the Red Cross armlet I was wearing, said:
+
+"Go to the hospital at once.  We need your services.  Wounded."
+
+"Very well, sir," I replied, and stepped inside.
+
+"Madame Guix!  Madame Guix!" I called in the stairway from the shop.
+
+The others came clattering down all excitement, saying that Madame Guix
+had been recognized by her uniform and sent flying to the hospital.
+
+Just then a shadow barred the entrance door and turning I saw an army
+chauffeur standing there.
+
+"A piece of bread for God's sake," he begged.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, I'm nearly dead of hunger.  We've had no time to cook our food,
+and bread has been lacking for two days."
+
+I looked about me--the bread boxes were empty.  I had no right to do so,
+but I opened all the cupboards.  The least I could do was pay, if the
+bakers appeared. I found a stale loaf and chopped it in four with the
+big knife near the counter. The way that poor fellow bit into it brought
+tears to my eyes.
+
+"Wait a minute," I said as he turned away, and I rushed out to the court
+where my cart was standing.  In a moment I was back with a slice of ham
+and some sweet chocolate and Julie came up with a glass of water.
+
+I was about to ask questions when another form appeared, followed by
+still another.
+
+"Bread--oh, for heaven's sake, bread!" they implored.  Apparently there
+was no reason why I should not go on with my new trade until all the
+hungry chauffeurs in the army were satisfied.  But remembering the
+wounded, I turned over my job to Julie, with orders to deal out the
+bread as long as it lasted and to go lightly with the chocolate, as my
+provision was not endless.
+
+What a different aspect the main square presented to that of an hour
+before! Motors were lined up four deep on all sides, and I was obliged
+to elbow my way through the crowds of gapers, refugees, and officers
+that thronged the street.
+
+"Have you come for the wounded?" questioned a white-capped sister as I
+closed the convent door and strode up the steps.
+
+"Yes, sister."
+
+"Heaven be praised!  Come this way, quickly.  Your nurse is here, but
+cannot suffice alone.  We're of no use--there are only five of us to
+look after the almshouse, and a hundred refugees.  We know nothing of
+surgery or bandaging."
+
+All this was said sweetly and quietly as we hurried down a long
+corridor.  In the middle of a big, well-lighted room stood Madame Guix
+bandaging the arm of a fine looking fellow, who shut his eyes and grated
+his teeth as she worked.  On a half-dozen chairs sat as many men, some
+holding their heads in their hands, some doubled in two, others
+clenching their fists in agony.  Not a murmur escaped them. The floor in
+several places was stained with great red patches.
+
+"Quick, Madame Huard.  We must stop the hemorrhages at all costs.  The
+wounds are not bad, since the men have come on foot, but one never can
+tell with this heat."
+
+A sister tied a white apron around me and in a second I had washed my
+hands and begun.  The first shirt I split, my heart leapt to my lips.  I
+was neither a novice nor a coward, but the sight of human blood flowing
+so generously and given so ungrudgingly, gave me a queer feeling in my
+throat.  A second later that had all passed over and as I worked I
+questioned the young fellows as to home and family and finally at what
+place they had been wounded.  Some did not know, others named unfamiliar
+corners, but La Tretoire startled me.  Our morning halt!  Then the
+invaders had crossed the Marne?  For these were not wounds from
+exploding shell but Mauser bullets and pistol shots!
+
+Meanwhile the sisters brought iron beds and soft mattresses into the
+next room, and each boy in turn was put to rest.  Fortunately there was
+nothing very serious, for we had no doctor and knew not where to find
+one.  When we reached our last patient he was so limp that we feared he
+would faint.  Imagine, if you can, what it is to cut away a stout pair
+of trooper's boots, and undress an almost helpless man whose clothes are
+fairly glued to the skin with blood, dirt and perspiration.
+
+"Hold the ammonia closer to his nose," said Madame Guix, tugging at a
+wire that served as boot lace.
+
+"I'm afraid he's exhausted.  There he goes--" I had just time to catch
+the body as it slid from the chair.
+
+Madame Guix grasped his wrist.
+
+"His pulse is good.  Hold fast till I get my needle."
+
+The boy's lips parted and a familiar sound filled the room.
+
+"He's not fainted!" I gasped.  "He's asleep!  Snoring!"
+
+Poor little fellow, a bullet in the shoulder and one in the shin, and
+yet fatigue had overcome the pain!  When we finally had to wake him, he
+apologized so nicely for the trouble he had given us, and sighed with
+delight when he touched the cool linen sheets.
+
+"You must have found me a pretty mess.  I haven't been out of my saddle
+for three weeks, and we've been fighting every minute since we left
+Charleroi."
+
+Our patients all asleep, Madame Guix and I sought a moment's rest in the
+open. A door in the corridor led out into a lovely old-world garden,
+surrounded on four sides by a delicately plastered cloister. The harvest
+moon shone down, covering everything with a silver sheen, and such quiet
+and calm reigned that it was almost impossible to believe that we were
+not visitors to some famous landscape, leisurely enjoying a long-planned
+trip.
+
+We were given no time to dream, however, for hasty footsteps in the
+corridor and the appearance of a white-robed sister carrying a gun, told
+us that our task was not yet finished.
+
+On a bench in the cloister, his head buried in one arm, the other tied
+up in an impromptu sling, we found a blue-coated soldier.  He was the
+image of despair, and though we gently questioned him, he only shook his
+head from side to side without answering.  Finally I sat down on the
+bench beside him and gently stroking his well arm, pleaded that he would
+tell us his trouble so that we might help him.  He drew his head up with
+a jerk, and turning on me with an almost furious look in his big black
+eyes, he snapped, "Are you married?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then you know what it is.  My God, my wife and babies, shut up in
+Valenciennes. It isn't this that's killing me," he continued, slapping
+his bandaged arm. "It's only a flesh wound in the shoulder.  But it's
+the other--the other thoughts.  I've seen them at their work, the pack
+of cursed cowards! but if they ever touch my wife!  Perhaps they have,
+the dirty blackguards, and I'm not there to defend her. Curse them all!"
+
+And he beat his fist on his knees in rage.  Then anger, and agony having
+reached paroxysm, his lips trembled, his mouth twitched, and brusquely
+throwing his arm around my neck, he buried his head on my shoulder and
+burst into tears.
+
+The first instant of surprise over, it would have been stupid to be
+offended. The circumstances were such that it was impossible not to be
+moved.
+
+I had never seen a man weep before; I never want to again.  For a full
+quarter-hour he sobbed like a child--this great sturdy fellow of
+thirty-five, and through the mist in my eyes I could see that my
+companion had turned her back on us and was fumbling for her
+handkerchief in her pocket.
+
+Then little by little the choking sound disappeared, his shoulders
+ceased to heave and shake, and a moment later our soldier lifted his
+head and blubbered an apology.
+
+"Forgive me--you've done me so much good.  I know I'm a fool, but it had
+to come--I just couldn't stand it another minute--" and other similar
+phrases, which we nipped in the bud by asking if he would like a cup of
+hot soup, or come into the dispensary when we could bandage his wound.
+
+"Anywhere where it's light.  I want you to see her picture--she'd think
+you're great."
+
+And so before he would let us touch his wound, we had to feel in his
+breast pocket and draw forth a wallet from which he produced the
+cherished photographs.
+
+At length we completed his bandaging and I left Madame Guix to add the
+finishing touches and went to the kitchen where Soeur Laurent was
+standing over a huge range, ladling soup from two immense copper
+boilers.  There were men, women and children holding out cups and mugs,
+a half-dozen dusty cavalrymen were skinning two rabbits in one corner,
+and as many other soldiers were peeling vegetables which they threw into
+another pot full of boiling water.
+
+This was no time to ask permission.  The poor sister was already half
+distracted by the demands of the famished refugees and combatants, so
+taking a ladle from the wall, I dipped into the pot and strained some
+bouillon into a few cups that I found in a cupboard.  I intended giving
+this to our patients should they wake and call for drink, and I was just
+lifting my tray to go when a loud thumping on the front door made me set
+it down in haste.
+
+I looked at Soeur Laurent, who was preparing to answer the summons, much
+to the dismay of the soldiers.
+
+"I'll go," I called, and hurried out into the vestibule and down the
+wide white marble steps.  As I threw back the huge oak door someone
+brushed past me, calling "Two men and a stretcher," and there in the
+brilliant moonlight I beheld the most ghastly spectacle I had as yet
+witnessed.
+
+Thrown forward in his saddle, his arms clasped about the horse's neck,
+was the form of a dragoon.  The animal that bore him had once been
+white, but was now so splashed with blood that it was impossible to tell
+what color was his originally. Both man and beast were wounded, badly
+wounded, and how they had come here was a miracle.
+
+The alarm had reached the kitchen and hurrying forward, the troopers
+soon lifted their comrade from his mount and carried him in.  A lance
+had pierced his thigh and the horse's flank, which meant that it had
+been a hand-to-hand fight, and the blood still flowing freely, proved
+that the combat was not an hour old!
+
+Madame Guix and I were doing our best when the white face's of my notary
+and his wife appeared at the door of the dispensary.
+
+"Madame Huard, we've come to tell you you must go!"
+
+"Go?"
+
+"Yes, it is two o'clock and the general who was quartered on us slept
+four hours and has gone.  When leaving he warned us that the battle
+would be on here by morning.  We who have a motor are safe, but you who
+have but horses must flee at once!"
+
+"But I can't leave the wounded!"
+
+"But you must.  The worst that can happen to them is to be made
+prisoners--more than likely they will be carried away by one of our
+emergency ambulances.  But think of all the young people who look to you
+for protection!  You cannot desert them; you must go!"
+
+I looked at Madame Guix.
+
+"Go, Madame Huard, you must.  You owe it to the others.  None of you
+need me and I can be of service here, so if the sisters will keep me
+I'll stay."
+
+Reluctantly I shook hands with my nurse, and hastened down the steps.
+Maitre Baudoin and his wife took leave of me at the comer, and I elbowed
+my way between the horses of a cavalry regiment, whose riders were sound
+asleep on the hard cobble pavement beside them.
+
+On the further side of the square noisy rolling sounds told me that the
+artillery was crossing the city, and mounting a doorstep, I beheld
+battery after battery of the famous Seventy-fives clattering out of
+sight over the road we had come by in the morning.  When I got down, I
+found my way blocked by the 18th Chasseurs a cheval, who, four abreast
+and lance in hand, were setting out for battle.  They were anything but
+a beaten army--most of them were softly humming some popular song, while
+others were calmly filling their pipes and still others catching forty
+winks in their saddles.  One or two I noticed wore no caps, and their
+heads were bound in blood-stained bandages.
+
+There seemed to be no end to them and I was beginning to get anxious
+about our departure.  Plunging my hand into my coat pocket I touched a
+piece of stale bread and a bit of chocolate, forgotten since the day
+before, and hunger having seized me, I began gnawing my crust.
+
+"Say, sister, give us a bite," called one young chap from his horse as
+he passed.
+
+"Are you really hungry?"
+
+"You bet!"
+
+Without hesitating I offered my crust.
+
+"Hurray for the girl with the red scarf!" called another.  "Come on with
+us. We'll make room for you."  "We need a mascot," and other similar
+jolly phrases passed from mouth to mouth as gaily the flower of young
+France went forth to death.
+
+When finally they had disappeared I rushed across the street to find
+George and Emile (H.'s messenger) engaged in a conversation with the
+driver of an army supply wagon drawn up within an inch of the bakery
+steps.  Beside him on the seat sat a huge dragoon, his bead done up in a
+blood-stained towel.
+
+"We're lost," he was explaining.  "Been cut off from our regiment for
+three days."
+
+"Poor regiment!" I murmured, and calling the boys, I told Emile to wake
+the others and come down quickly to help hitch the horses.  He was only
+gone a second, and I could hear him calling.
+
+"_Allons, allons, Madame part de suite._"
+
+Then he reappeared carrying a lantern.
+
+"Where the devil did you get the light?" growled George.
+
+"In their room."
+
+"Then how in the name of heaven do you expect those people to dress and
+roll up their belongings in the dark?" I scolded.  "Here, George, go
+back with the lantern."
+
+George obeyed orders, and Emile, rather sheepishly, skulked away in the
+direction of the stable yard.  I heard a sliding door pushed open,
+followed by a long low whistle, and a second later Emile reappeared, his
+eyes popping out of his head with astonishment.
+
+"There's a horse missing--been stolen!"
+
+"No!  Impossible!"
+
+"The stable's empty!"
+
+I hurried to the spot, and found that he told the truth.
+
+"George!" I called, as my boy came around the corner of the house.
+"George, Cesar's been stolen!"
+
+"Who says so, Madame?"
+
+"Emile--the stable's empty."
+
+Calmly and easily George walked over towards Emile, and taking him by
+the collar, shook him violently.  "Look here, you!  What do you mean by
+frightening Madame like that?  Are you her servant?  No!  Well, then,
+mind your own business!"
+
+And opening a second door alongside the other, we found Cesar and
+Sausage munching their oats.
+
+It was no easy job harnessing in the dark and backing the heavy carts
+out of the narrow yard into the still narrower street.  But in ten
+minutes our caravan was again en route.
+
+We crossed the public square, now almost empty of men, horses and
+motors, and took the only road leading south.
+
+The first gray streaks of daylight lighted the east as we turned the
+corner, and we were obliged to pull suddenly to the extreme right, for a
+heavy Parisian motorbus swung round the bend and rushed on past us.
+
+Straining my eyes, I perceived that there was not one but hundreds of
+them, following each other at top speed down the hill.  There were armed
+men standing inside them, armed men on the platforms and steps, armed
+men even on the roofs and it was indeed a strange sight to see
+_Madeleine-Bastille_ and the _Galeries Lafayette_ out here in the open
+country, jammed full of grim infantrymen preparing for the fray.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion rent the air and shook the ground so
+that the horses stopped and trembled.
+
+"There goes the bridge at Nogent!" cried George.  "No--the power house
+at La Tretoire!"
+
+"_En avant!_" I called, knowing that the signal for battle had now been
+given.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+We had gone about two miles when the sight of my greyhounds tied behind
+the farm cart made me think of my little Boston bull.
+
+"Where's Betsy?" I asked of those perched on the hay.
+
+Julie, Nini and Yvonne grew white.
+
+It took little time to discover that no one had seen her that morning.
+It was evident she had been forgotten--left to die tied to the brass
+rail inside an abandoned bakery, for it was there I had fastened her on
+arriving the night before.  Pedaling ahead till I reached Leon who led
+the procession--
+
+"Keep straight on this road.  If it should fork, take the direction of
+the La Ferte Gauche.  I'll be back in no time."  Then turning about, I
+started a parallel race with an autobus, much to the delight of the
+occupants.
+
+Useless to say that my adversary gained on the up-grade, turned the
+corner, was gone, and was followed by another long before I reached the
+public square, breathless and full of anxiety.
+
+Rebais was empty--not even a tardy refugee straggled by the wayside, and
+before I reached the bakery I could hear the plaintive howls of my
+little brute.
+
+What a joyful welcome I received.  What hilarious waggings of that
+little screw tail!  But, there was no time to be lost, for the problem
+now was how Betsy was to catch up with the procession.  She was too
+heavy for me to carry under my arm, and too old and puffy to be expected
+to follow a bicycle--but it was one or the other, and tying her leash to
+the handle bar, off we started, after an encouraging pat on the head and
+the promise of a lump of sugar if she would only "be a good girl."
+
+On we sped, past the huge lumbering motorbuses, which terrified the poor
+animal who tugged vehemently at her string, at times almost choking
+herself.
+
+In half an hour we had caught up with the caravan, and as I lifted poor
+exhausted Betsy on to the hay, Nini roused from her dozing and pointing
+to the east, said, "Oh, look! what a big fire!"
+
+"You silly child, it's the sun rising; go back to sleep," I said,
+terrified by what I had seen, but unwilling to alarm the others
+uselessly.
+
+At the skyline of an immense plain that stretched on our left, huge
+columns of flame burst heavenward, covered a moment later by dense black
+smoke. Fortunately, however, the sun peeped over the horizon almost
+instantly, thereby diminishing the intensity of the conflagration.  But
+Nini was not to be thus hoodwinked.
+
+"See," she continued, "what funny little fluffy clouds those are!"
+
+"Nini, if you don't go to sleep at once you'll have to get down and
+walk, and let one of the boys take your place.  They'll be only too glad
+to, I know."
+
+Nini obeyed instantly.  She had come away with but one pair of shoes (in
+spite of my admonition to take all the footwear she possessed) and that
+pair of shoes pinched.
+
+Funny little fluffy clouds indeed!  The shaking of the earth beneath my
+feet and a second of reflection told me, they were not clouds, before
+they would be directed westward was but shells--and how long it would be
+a question that chilled the blood in my veins.
+
+The town we were heading for--La Ferte Gauche--lay southeast.  Though I
+had no glass, it was evident that it was now under the enemies' fire,
+and we might just as well run our necks into a noose as keep on in that
+direction.  It was southwest--or nothing.
+
+Without offering any explanation I rode ahead and told Leon to follow
+me.  Then turning abruptly to the right, I took the first side path that
+was wide enough for our cart wheels, and in and out, up and down, we
+followed it for over an hour, until coasting down a steep incline, I
+found myself in the midst of a delightful little village, nestled
+between two hills on the border of a river.
+
+The shops were just opening and people were going about their work as if
+nothing unusual were happening.  They gazed in astonishment at this
+hatless bicyclist, who wore a Red Cross armlet, and when I went into the
+baker shop, I was filled with joy at the sight of all the crisp loaves
+lined up in their racks ready for delivery.
+
+Refugees?
+
+They hadn't seen any.  Someone had heard an unaccustomed movement of
+wagons during the night, that was all.
+
+A signpost, as I turned into the square, told me that I was at
+Jouy-sur-Morin, and a few moments later, I came upon a group of
+gentlemen in frock coats standing talking on an embankment below the
+church.  If it had been in the afternoon instead of five A. M., I should
+have thought this assembly perfectly in harmony with the landscape.  In
+fact they looked so much like H.'s caricatures of his provincial
+compatriots that I couldn't help smiling as I passed.  This mutational
+gathering of the municipal council was the only outward sign of anxiety
+to be found in this picturesque township.
+
+The arrival of our caravan produced quite a sensation among the early
+risers at Jouy, thought the enthusiasm for telling their story had
+somewhat subsided among my servants.  They were footsore, sleepy, and
+hungry.
+
+The gentlemen in frock coats were too busy in their own affairs to give
+us much attention, and I was about to leave when one of them called me
+over and asked a few questions.  Anxious to be off, I answered briefly.
+The man probably took me for a poor demented female; how could he think
+otherwise down here in his little valley, where not a sound of gun and
+shell had penetrated as yet?
+
+History will tell you how, a few hours later, Jouy-sur-Morin was the
+scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Marne.
+
+At the dairy, my appearance aroused much curiosity, and when I brought
+out the money to pay for my milk, the woman held up her hand.  "No,
+never; I couldn't take pay from such forlorn creatures as you!"
+
+This unexpected pity brought the blood to my cheeks.  I was hot with
+indignation. Until now we had wanted for nothing, and with gold in my
+pocket charity was an insult.  I straightened my tie, looked at my dusty
+boots, and realized for the first time that my face was drawn with
+fatigue and anxiety--that my hair, though tidy, was sadly out of curl.
+Leaving my change on the table, I turned on my heel and departed.
+Explanations were tiresome and useless.
+
+We crossed a railroad track and then the river--the Grand Morin--and in
+a grass-grown granite quarry halted for breakfast, sheltering ourselves
+from the blistering sun in the shade of the immense rocks.
+
+The boys took the horses down to the river to drink and bathe, and a few
+seconds later came back for towels and soap.
+
+What a happy idea!  A quarter of a mile higher up the bank I found a
+well secluded spot, and plunged into the refreshing current.  It was the
+first time I had had my boots off since leaving Villiers.  Thanks to a
+small pocket glass and a fresh white blouse, I made myself quite
+presentable and as I approached our camp, the appetizing odor of fresh
+fried country sausage tickled my nostrils and made me glad to be alive.
+
+Hot coffee accompanied by buttered toast had been prepared by the girls
+during my absence, and we needed no coaxing to persuade us to do the
+meal justice. Already accustomed to this gypsy life, George's dry humor
+began to show itself, and now and again the silence would be broken by
+peals of laughter, caused by some quaint joke.
+
+We lingered lovingly over the repast, and I was trying to decide whether
+or not we would push on at once or wait and rest until afternoon when
+suddenly my question was answered for me.
+
+While we had been clearing up and loading the carts a long train of
+freight cars had noiselessly glided down the rails opposite our quarry,
+and had halted without pulling into the station.  There was nothing
+abnormal in this, and from where we sat a trifle below the level of the
+track, we could see but little of what was going on on the opposite
+platform.  Standing upright in my charette, carefully folding a blanket
+so as to take up the least possible space, my eye was attracted by
+several red specks scurrying up a steep incline.  A moment afterwards my
+gaze drifted downward and I realized that from the innocent looking
+freight cars hundreds of armed soldiers were disembarking and spreading
+themselves out, _en tirailleurs_, preparing an attack in ambush.  I had
+seen this same pretty feat successfully accomplished at the _grand
+manauvres_, the year before, but it was another thing entirely when one
+grasped that these men were in dead earnest.
+
+Just then a buggy, containing a disheveled woman and collarless man,
+galloped over the crossing and sped westward.  The occupants, whom I
+hailed, did not deign a reply, but beckoning with their arms, enjoined
+me to follow them.
+
+"It's time to break camp," I said, "if we intend to reach the next town
+before it gets too hot."
+
+So off we started, preceded by a heavy delivery wagon, a _Familistere_
+from the north, which crossed the rails just as we were pulling onto the
+road.  It was a big covered affair, filled to overflowing with bedding
+and household utensils--and even the top was loaded with huge boxes and
+baskets of provisions.  Behind it walked, or rather trotted, three stout
+women and a man, the former half-crazed with heat and anxiety, mopping
+their brows and their tears as the _cortege_ advanced.
+
+An hour and a half of steady climbing quite exhausted them, and when we
+reached the level, the three graces collapsed by the roadside, still
+weeping copiously. I observed this as I approached, and presently saw
+their companion mounted on the high hind wheel of their wagon, gazing
+intently towards the east through a pair of field glasses.
+
+"What can you see?" I asked as the _charette_ passed by them.
+
+"Come and have a look.  It's worth while.  My wife and family are too
+frightened."
+
+I halted, and climbing up by the spokes reached the top, and steadying
+myself with my left hand, took the proffered glass with my right.
+
+From one extremity to the other of the wide plains, from which we were
+separated by the valley of the Grand Morin, those same long columns of
+dense black smoke rose lazily in the brilliant sunlight.  Into some
+determined spot the enemy was pouring a perfect rain of shot and shell,
+and the dust rising after each explosion formed a curtain that blotted
+out the rest of the landscape.  Below, the _Senegalais_ had disappeared
+in ambush, but now and again the distant clattering of the
+_mitrailleuse_ told us they were at their deadly work.  And to think,
+all this was happening on ground we had traveled over only a few hours
+since!  And I had been fool enough to go back to Rebais--alone to
+recover my dog!
+
+I shuddered as I got down.  What was the use of trying to hurry?  We
+couldn't go any faster than the horses, and if we overworked them now we
+would have to rest longer later on.  So, urging our poor old nags, we
+trudged along the sun-baked roads between the high grown wheat fields of
+the Brie country.
+
+Still another couple of hours and we had reached Choisy-en-Brie, found a
+stable for our animals, and we ourselves stretched out on our blankets
+beneath the friendly shadow of the big stone church.
+
+I had finished luncheon and was just dozing off when a motor horn roused
+me from my lethargy.  A second later I recognized Maitre Baudoin and his
+wife, the latter holding their four-year-old daughter on her knees, her
+grandmother sitting alone in the back seat which was piled high with
+important documents, and their maid strapped to the steps of the car.
+
+We set up a shout which stopped them.  "We stayed until a shell burst on
+the house next door, then we thought it was time to go,"' explained
+Maitre Baudoin.
+
+"What time did you leave Rebais?"
+
+"Forty minutes ago.  You'd better be moving, too."
+
+"Sorry, but I can't.  The horses must rest."
+
+"Well, don't wait too long. Adieu."
+
+"Adieu," and they were off.
+
+I returned to my blanket and again was just closing my eyes when the
+unexpected sound of Gregorian chant made me sit up.  Nearer and nearer
+it drew, louder and louder rose the priests' voices, and then a
+much-befringed and flower-laden hearse, preceded by the clergy and
+followed by the mourners (the men in evening dress and the women in
+their Sunday clothes), rounded the corner, passed in front of us, and
+halted before the main door of the church.
+
+I couldn't help smiling.  The incongruity of this pompous _enterrement
+de premiere classe, en musique_, when the city was imminently menaced by
+a German bombardment, bordered on the pathetic and the ridiculous.
+However, the family of the defunct did not think so, and their deceased
+parent was chanted to eternity with all the rites and ceremonies that
+his will had provided for.
+
+Personally I was delighted at the idea of going to sleep to the sound of
+the organ, which pierced the thick granite walls and almost drowned the
+rumble of the cannon, to which we had now become so accustomed that we
+had ceased to be alarmed.
+
+"_Des soldats!_" cried someone.
+
+In a second I was on my feet.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Two-on bicycles, going into the hotel opposite."
+
+I reached there as soon as they did.  Their story was brief.
+
+"We're the forerunners of a cavalry depot, being transferred to Rozoy
+from Montmirail.  It's getting too hot down there!  How far is it to
+Rozoy?"
+
+I pulled out my map.
+
+"Seventeen kilometres."
+
+"Oh, Lord!"
+
+And the poor fellows wiped the great beads of perspiration from their
+dusty necks and faces.
+
+"Bring up a bottle of wine.  I'll stand for the drinks," called a man
+from a corner of the cafe.
+
+"What regiment do you belong to?"
+
+"_L'Escadron du train._"
+
+My heart leapt with expectancy.
+
+"Do you know a man named H.?"
+
+"No."
+
+My disappointment was even greater than my joy.
+
+"How many horses are you taking to Rozoy?"
+
+"Two hundred and some."
+
+"At what time will they pass here?"
+
+"They're due in half an hour, if they don't get cornered by the Boches
+on the way. We had a close call ourselves."  And swallowing their
+glasses of white wine and water, they were on their bicycles and gone,
+before we could get any further details.
+
+I had now had enough experience to know that it was high time to take to
+the road if we didn't wish to be captured.  Yet it seemed unfair to go
+and leave some two-score innocent people praying for the soul of their
+dear departed to a long drawn-out musical accompaniment.  So while the
+boys were harnessing I entered the sanctuary and approaching the chancel
+by a side aisle, beckoned an altar boy and whispered in his ear words to
+the effect that the curate would better hurry his mass and thereby give
+his flock time to escape the invaders.
+
+I said this calmly, and hoped he would follow my example in delivering
+my message, but imagine if you can the effect produced by this
+frightened individual, who, lifting his hands in the air, cried out in
+terror, "_Vite, vite, Monsieur le Cure'! Voila' les Prussiens!_"
+
+I didn't wait to see what happened, but went out and joined my group,
+which was making ready to start.  How far advanced was mass when I
+entered the church I did not observe, but what I do know is that it
+finished abruptly after my warning, and the poor hearse horse never
+before galloped towards the cemetery of Choisy at such a pace nor in
+such an undignified manner.  As to the mourners, they fairly flew beside
+it, greatly diminished in number, the others scattering like chaff
+before the wind.
+
+The half-hour's interval allowed by the cyclists for the horses to
+arrive was far overlapped by the time we once again took the road, but
+the sound of the cannonade had gradually grown closer.
+
+Wearied by this constant changing of camp, I made up my mind to go far
+enough in this next move to be able to really rest for a day or so.
+Consulting my map, I discovered Jouyle-Chatel to be at what I judged a
+safe distance--nearly thirty kilometres and considerably south of Paris.
+The afternoon was still young, so we would have time to make the town
+before dark.  At any rate, I told George to accompany me and explained
+that he and I would ride ahead full speed, and arrange for beds and a
+dinner by the time the others should arrive.  They were instructed not
+to let the dark halt them, but to come on.  Secretly I hoped that this
+would be our last stretch and that we would be able to remain at Jouy
+until it was wise to start homeward.
+
+It was an uneventful trip from Choisy to Jouy.  The roads were
+excellent, though very undulating and the only incident that marked our
+journey was an intoxicated individual who jumped across our path and,
+putting his hand on my handle bar, demanded tearfully what I had done
+with his wife and children.
+
+I declared myself innocent in the matter, which angered him
+considerably.
+
+"Now I know you're a spy!  Get down--"  George did not give him time to
+finish the phrase, but with a well-measured blow, sent him sprawling in
+the brambled ditch and we beat a hasty retreat without looking back.
+
+It was night by the time we reached Jouy, and at the entrance of the
+city I enquired for the best hotel.
+
+"_Le Grand Turc_--but the proprietress is closing up, making ready to
+leave."
+
+"What!  Here?  You don't mean to say the scare has reached this place,
+too?"
+
+"Well, we've had so many refugees these days that the women got
+frightened and want to go."
+
+George and I parted company, he to see what he could find since the best
+hotel was denied us, and I, undaunted, started off to try to persuade
+the proprietress to let us in.
+
+After much rattling at the door handles and pounding on the shutters, an
+acrid female voice enjoined me to be gone.
+
+"I'm closing up and leaving."
+
+"Leaving?  What for?"
+
+"To escape the Germans!"
+
+"How foolish!  They'll never reach here.  I've just come from the Marne
+and expected to find board and lodgings for my staff until the war is
+over."
+
+That encouraged her and cracking the door, she put her head out.
+
+"I belong to the Red Cross.  Here's my badge and my _carte didentite_.
+Don't you think you could find room for me?"
+
+"Well, we're packing up, but we'll have to wait for our horses, which
+are at a farm seven miles from here.  The farmer said he'd come if there
+was any danger."
+
+"Well, you see there isn't or he'd be here by now."
+
+My hostess seemed convinced and opening the door a little wider, let me
+pass.
+
+"How many of you are there?"
+
+"Fourteen."
+
+"Good heavens!  Fourteen rooms?  Never!"
+
+"I don't ask that, my good woman.  If you can find a bed for me and
+happen to have a bay loft or covered shed, the others will be glad
+enough to sleep there. As to the meals, we have our own provisions and
+will cook outside.  It's a little late to-night, however, so if you
+could manage to give them a cup of hot soup and an omelet when they
+arrive, I'd make it worth your while."
+
+She consented to the compromise, and sent one of her daughters to
+prepare my room. I then dispatched George, whose bicycle bell I heard
+ringing in the street, to the city gate to await and conduct the
+remainder of our party.  In the hour that elapsed before their arrival I
+gained in the hostess's good graces by lancing a festered finger and
+bandaging her small daughter's skinned knee.
+
+When the others arrived, George, who had not been idle during his wait,
+told me that Jouy was almost empty of inhabitants, and that most of the
+people from Mery-sur-Marne, a village near Villiers, were lodging for
+the night on bales of hay in the school house and town hall.
+
+Our meal over, none of us needed persuading to retire and the idea of a
+bed lured me early to my room.
+
+Naturally a light sleeper, I was constantly awakened by the coming and
+going and the conversation of our proprietress, who kept on packing
+right through the night. Another time I was roused by a bell ringing up
+and down the street, which passed beneath my window, and a deep
+masculine voice that enjoined all the people from Mery to hurry to the
+town hall.  The wagons were leaving in a quarter of an hour.
+
+"Poor fools," thought I, and rolled over in my bed.
+
+As it grew light, I could gee the interminable stream of refugees
+passing up the road, and when I had dressed and hastened to the
+courtyard I found the others had already kindled a fire and tea was
+awaiting me.
+
+"At what time should we start, Madame?"
+
+"Start where?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest intention of going any farther.  Haven't you
+all had enough of this kind of traveling?"
+
+The reply was affirmative and unanimous!
+
+"The noise of the cannon is hardly audible this morning, which is a very
+encouraging sign, I'm sure, so we'll try to make ourselves comfortable
+until it's safe to go home."
+
+And leaving Julie in charge, I set off by myself, glad of a moment's
+solitude.
+
+In my wanderings I found the church door open, and entering, rejoiced in
+the peace that reigned within.  It calmed my anxiety and as I withdrew
+my thoughts were clearer, and the burden of my responsibility seemed
+lightened.
+
+On my way to the hotel I was accosted by a woman who, with a baby in her
+arms, was leading a cow behind her.
+
+"Don't you want some milk?"
+
+"I hardly think so."
+
+"Please take it.  You see, I've only saved my baby and my cow, and I
+have to milk the latter twice a day.  I can't carry all she gives, so I
+keep what's necessary and throw the rest away.  It seems like such a
+waste."
+
+I agreed with her, and directed her towards the hotel court.  She would
+take no remuneration and thanking me, hastened on her way.
+
+As I watched her go someone touched me on the arm and asked me if I
+would go to the town hall; there were two refugees who needed
+assistance.  There I found a very old couple, brother and sister, the
+eldest aged ninety-two, the other two years younger.  They were from
+Mery, had lodged in a private house in Jouy, and were so decrepit that
+they had not arisen in time to catch the wagons which bore away their
+fellow townsmen the night before.  That had so upset the old man that he
+had broken down and lay moaning on the straw, while the mild little
+woman explained that the being left behind was not what troubled her,
+but it was her purse and belongings that had been carried off in the
+carts.
+
+I comforted them as best I could, promising to send them hot milk and
+biscuits, and wondering what else I could do for them.  Any way they
+should not starve, as long as we remained in Jouy.
+
+Luncheon was well under way when I returned to the hotel.  In a pot,
+standing on an iron tripod in the middle of the paved court, a rabbit
+was gently stewing. In another, a fricassee of chicken smelled
+temptingly good.  The women and girls were peeling potatoes and onions,
+which were to cook in the sauce and a peal of laughter went up from the
+merry group when a few moments later George and Emile appeared, covered
+with flour and dough from head to foot, and each bearing a bottle of
+white wine under his arm.
+
+"What on earth have you boys been up to?"
+
+"Behold in us the city bakers!" said George with a wave of the hand and
+he and his companion struck an attitude which again drew forth much
+hilarity from the onlookers.
+
+"It's no joke--there wasn't a baker left in the place, so we found an
+old fellow who said he'd show us how, and the dough is now setting.  By
+three o'clock we'll have fresh bread, you see if we don't!"
+
+From the window the proprietress and her daughters watched our impromptu
+kitchen with interest.  We formed such an amusing group that, handing my
+kodak to Leon, I told him to catch us as I bent over to taste the sauce.
+
+Snap went the shutter!
+
+At that same instant a shriek rose from the interior of the hotel.
+Looking up I saw that the proprietress and her two daughters had
+disappeared.
+
+"_Au secours!  Au secours!_"
+
+The boys and I made a rush for the house.  As we entered the _grande
+sale_, we saw a man bearing a human form in his arms staggering through
+the door.  Through the blood and dust that smeared the unfortunate boy's
+clothing, I recognized the uniform of a chasseur.  Not even an emergency
+bandage stopped the stream that was flowing from his cheek.
+
+"Quick--a mattress!" I shouted.
+
+The proprietress stood as though nailed to the doorway leading to the
+kitchen.
+
+"Is he wounded?"
+
+"No matter--a mattress!"
+
+"But he might soil it--"
+
+"Then I'll pay for it--but for the love of heaven, be quick!"
+
+Just then the boy's head lurched forward and the blood poured from his
+mouth. Leon jumped to help the old man who was holding him, and I had
+just time to catch the proprietress as she swooned on the floor.
+
+"Put the boy on the billiard table and stuff this blanket under his
+head," I said, grabbing the article mentioned from the top of a bundle
+near by.  "Come in here!" I called to the two daughters who were
+blubbering in the next room, terrified at what they had seen.  "Come in
+here--lay her flat, loosen her clothes, and dash some cold water over
+her.  She's not dead and I've no time to bother with her."
+
+While others laid the wounded man out on the table, I rushed for my
+emergency case which I had fortunately thought to bring along.
+
+With a sharp pair of scissors, I cut away the bloody garments and with a
+little warm water washed my patient so I could see what was the matter.
+He was but half conscious, and his eyes rolled wildly and his hand
+grasped mine and wrung it in agony.
+
+I discovered a tiny cheek wound and was congratulating myself that
+perhaps the bullet had lodged in the flesh, when on turning his head
+gently to one side, I was almost nauseated by the terrible wound that
+greeted my eyes.
+
+Either a Mauser pistol or an explosive bullet fired at but short
+distance had entered the cheek and gouged its way through the lad's
+head, carrying away part of the ear and well--let us not go any further.
+
+"Is there a doctor in the place still?" I called to the cook who stood
+looking in at the door.  "Run and see if you can get him--for I'm
+incompetent here. Quick! It's life or death!"
+
+And while she was gone I stuffed cotton and iodine into the tremendous
+cavity, hoping to stop the hemorrhage.  As I bandaged, I questioned the
+man who had brought him.
+
+"Where did you pick him up?"
+
+"Amillis--a mile and a half from here.  The Uhlans fired into me, too,
+when they saw me help him.  Look at the sole of my shoe!  They're
+following close on behind."
+
+I stepped to the window.  "George and Leon!  Quick!  Drop everything.
+Hitch and get out of here like lightning!  I'll follow in this man's
+cart.  Hitch and I'll tell you where to go."
+
+Fricasseed chicken and rabbit stew were forgotten and I could hear my
+people running wildly about the court, obeying orders.
+
+The doctor appeared.  I explained.  "Shall I unbandage?"
+
+"Useless."
+
+"Then don't say so out loud, as he's not yet unconscious."
+
+The poor fellow gripped my hand as proof.  The physician blushed
+scarlet.
+
+"I'll give him an injection of ether and then you take him in your cart
+to the nearest hospital--it's Provins--twenty miles from here."
+
+He jabbed in the needle, and then handing it with a phial to me:
+"Here--take this. I'm clearing out.  Got a wife and baby to save.  Keep
+his heart going--there's a ghost of a chance.  Adieu!"
+
+I stood petrified.
+
+"Take him away, I'm closing up!  Take him away--" screamed the hostess,
+who had recovered from her swoon.
+
+I looked at the old man who had brought the boy.
+
+"Where are you going with your cart?"
+
+"To Coulommiers--to save my sister-in-law and her children."
+
+"Good God, man!  Can't you see that if this boy was wounded at Amillis
+your road to Coulommiers is cut off!"
+
+"It may not be."
+
+"There's no time to argue.  My wagons are full to overflowing.  Are you
+going to let this boy stay and be finished by the Germans, or are you
+going to let me put him in your cart and drive to a hospital?"
+
+"But Provins must be occupied by this time.  It's east of here."
+
+"I never had any intention of going there.  I'm heading for Melun."
+
+"Melun?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good heavens!  That's seventy kilometers!  My poor sister-in-law! My
+horse!" wailed the old fellow.
+
+"Now then--one, two, three--" said I, gently patting my Browning which I
+had drawn from my outside pocket.  "Will you do it gracefully?  That's
+right.  Now stop your crying.  I'll release you as soon as I can find
+someone else to take me on.  The important thing is to get out of here
+and quick!  It may be too late now."
+
+The boys had fetched a mattress, had found pillows and a sheet,
+somewhere, and gently we laid the dying man on the old farm cart.
+
+"You boys take your bikes and go ahead.  Tell the refugees you meet to
+pull to the right and not encumber the whole road.  We're rushing a
+wounded man to the hospital.  When I think you've got the way clear I'll
+drive on full speed.  Tell our carts to head for Melun and keep on going
+till they get there.  I can't bother with them.  We'll meet at the first
+bridge over the Seine."
+
+They departed, and climbing in beside my patient, who writhed in agony,
+now lurching from one side, now rolling to the other, I tried to make
+him as comfortable as possible.  All the other carts had departed ere we
+got away, and my tearful driver kept on grumbling and lamenting.
+
+Two hundred yards from the hotel, where the road makes a sharp turn, we
+halted abruptly, for we had come upon a group composed of my boy George
+and three French chasseurs.  Two were on horseback, their naked swords
+glittering in the sunlight; the third on a bicycle--and all three, as
+well as George, were shrieking excitedly at a phlegmatic Tommy Atkins
+who, seated on a milestone, was calmly smoking his pipe.  Behind him,
+his horse was peacefully nibbling grass. At the sight of my armlet and
+the agitated white sheet in the wagon, the chasseurs approached in
+haste.
+
+"What have you got there?  Our comrade, Ballandreau?"
+
+"Yes."  (I had seen the boy's name in his military book.)
+
+"Is he dead?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Badly wounded?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Parlez-vous anglais?_" they fairly bawled, all three at once.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, for God's sake, tell that blockhead sitting on the stone and
+whose horse has gone lame, to seize the bicycle of that peasant standing
+there, and follow us."
+
+I translated politely.
+
+"Why?" queried the Englishman, drawing on his pipe.
+
+"Why?" I demanded of the chasseurs.
+
+"Why?  Do you see that?" said one on a bicycle, wheeling around and
+pointing down the road behind us.  "Do you see that?  That's the Uhlans.
+The ones that got Ballandreau a half-hour ago, the ones that got my
+horse and the ones that will get us all if we stop here much longer."
+
+"The Uhlans!" I cried to Tommy, showing him the advancing forms of a
+half-dozen cavalrymen, whose black leather helmets shone in the sun a
+mile up the road.
+
+"There are seven of them--on patrol--seven hundred following!  Come, old
+fellow, it's now or never!"
+
+"And I--where shall I go?" I said, jumping into the cart, George
+following.
+
+"To the devil if you like, but quick!"
+
+The warning came none too soon.  We had been seen, and sharp, whizzing
+noises in the grass, and over our beads told us that our German pursuers
+had no intention of letting us get away.
+
+"Down on your knees, man!" I yelled, pulling the old fellow with me as
+we ducked to the level of the dashboard.  And unfastening a breastpin, I
+jabbed it mercilessly into the flanks of our nag, who bounded forward,
+nearly, throwing us out.
+
+Whizz!  Whizz!  Whizz!
+
+It was as if a cloud of locusts were bumming about us.
+
+Then when I lifted my eyes, on top of the steep incline we were
+ascending, I could see several uniformed horsemen and back of them a
+huge column of smoke.
+
+"Heavens!" I gasped, "we're caught this time--but it's too late now to
+turn about. We're prisoners for sure!"
+
+Two cavalrymen then appeared and calmly started down the road in our
+direction. A second later I recognized the British uniform and breathed
+again.
+
+"Go back!" I yelled.  "Go back!  The Germans are on our heels!"
+
+Astonished at bearing their native tongue, the men approached.
+
+"Thank heaven, here's someone to direct us," they said as they came
+alongside and saluted.
+
+I replied with a nod.
+
+"We're lost," they said, "cut off from our brigade."
+
+"That's nothing.  How many of you are there?  Enough to fight?  The
+Germans are coming on hard and fast."
+
+"We're only two and our horses are done for.  We were driven out of
+Coulommiers this morning."
+
+My driver threw up his hands and sobbed.
+
+"Our friend John's horse went lame and we left him at the bottom of the
+hill while we came up to reconnoiter.  We can't leave him down there all
+alone."
+
+"He's gone--gone--I swear it.  Followed the French chasseurs on my
+bicycle, leading his mount!"
+
+"Thank God!"
+
+"Now then, how far the Germans will come is a question.  They'll
+probably go in and occupy the town, and there's just one thing for us to
+do--bolt."
+
+Whizz!  Whizz!  Whizz--the lead fairly splashed around us!
+
+Leon and Emile rode back to say that the road ahead was clear.
+
+"Les Boches," I said, pointing down the hill.
+
+"Come on, you cowards!" yelled my boys defiantly, George brandishing the
+rifle of my wounded man.
+
+"Oh, Madame, ask the Englishmen for their revolvers.  They've got their
+rifles--that's five of us armed, and Monsieur's revolver makes six!
+It's almost man to man.  Ah, please, Madame!" they implored.
+
+In the excitement of the moment I nearly lost my head and consented.  I
+was worked to such a point that any solution would have seemed a relief.
+The Britishers saw me put my hand in my pocket.
+
+"No!  No!" they pleaded.  "You can't--if we're caught you won't be
+killed--but murdered, tortured!  We're the only ones who have a right to
+fire!"
+
+"But they've been peppering my cart regardless of my sex!"
+
+"That's perhaps their way of waging war, but not ours.  Now then, off
+you go--quickly."
+
+We disappeared behind a clump of trees and tore down the clear road as
+fast as our horses would carry us.  George sneaked back on his wheel to
+see if our aggressors were following, and came back radiant to announce
+that after coming halfway up the bill, they had turned about and were
+cantering to take possession of Jouy--as I had predicted.
+
+"Where's our nearest barracks?" enquired one of the Scotsmen.  (I now
+saw that I had to do with the Scots a little.)  We slowed down a little.
+
+
+"Where is our nearest barracks?" enquired one of the Scotsmen.
+
+"How on earth do you expect me to know?  Up until I met you I hardly
+realized there were any British troops on the continent!"
+
+"Where are you bound for?"
+
+"Melun. There's a big French garrison there in time of peace.  You'll
+always be sure of getting orders there--unless we meet someone on the
+road."
+
+They thought that was the best idea, and fell back, cantering behind my
+caravan with which I had now caught up.
+
+On we trotted-up hill and down dale for several hours, my poor wounded
+boy still writhing on his bed of agony.
+
+Towards four o'clock we had reached a long smooth stretch where we could
+see right and left for several miles over the plains.  Presently, on a
+crossroad that ran perpendicular to ours, I spied a motor wagon.  It was
+soon followed by another and then another, and pressing forward we
+reached the crossing in time to see Harrods' Stores, Whitley's, Swan &
+Edgar, and an interminable number of English Army supply motors coming
+straight towards us.
+
+Knowing that it would be impossible to pass before the whole long line
+had gone by, I crossed over and now saw that the Scots Grays would soon
+find friends.  I called Leon and pulling out a card, told him to pedal
+back and dig out a bottle of champagne I had hidden in our hay cart, and
+to present it to our soldier friends as a bracer and a souvenir.  And
+then we pushed ahead.
+
+Two minutes later, to my utter surprise, a heavy motor horn tooted on
+the road behind me and looking back, I saw a private car emerge from
+behind one of the English motors, and whirl down in our direction.  It
+was a four-seater affair with but two occupants, a chauffeur and a woman
+wearing a streaming white veil.
+
+"Quick!" I shrieked, grabbing the reins and pulling our cart full into
+the middle of the road.  "They've got to take me and the boy to Melun!"
+
+Seeing his deliverance so near, my old friend obeyed at once.
+
+The motor, stupefied by our actions, slowed down.
+
+"Get out of the way!" yelled the chauffeur.  "Are you crazy!  Out or
+I'll run you down!"
+
+"Never!  Look here.  I don't care where you're bound for, but you've got
+to make room for me and a dying man in your machine.  It's Melun--or
+nothing!"
+
+"Wounded!  Heaven, the Germans!  We're caught!  Go on, quick, quick, I
+say!" shrieked the woman.
+
+The chauffeur made a movement as though to skid past us.
+
+"No, you don't," I said, once again producing my trusty Browning.
+
+The woman hid her face in her hands.
+
+"Now then, either you can make room for us or I'll blow off your tires
+and you'll have to get down and walk like all the rest of us!"
+
+My gray-headed driver was jubilant.
+
+"That's right, Madame, you've hit it!" he encouraged.
+
+There just wasn't any choice.  The chauffeur got down and began piling
+the gasoline cans behind on the back seat to one side.  Then, each of us
+grabbing a corner of the mattress, we hoisted the sufferer onto the
+machine, covering him with a sheet.  Try as we would, though, we could
+not get him to bend his knees, and in consequence all during the trip
+the poor chauffeur received constant kicks from the agonized soul we
+were rushing towards surgical aid.
+
+"Now then," I said, turning to my old driver.  "Thank you for your cart,
+and bon voyage to Coulommiers.  George, tell my people to meet me in
+Melun."
+
+And hatless, coatless, with but one golden louis in my pocket (I had
+confided my bag to Julie when the wounded man had arrived at Jouy), I
+started on our record-breaking trip to Melun.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+It was an exciting trip, that race for life and death--for every moment
+I knew my wounded boy was growing weaker, and every convulsive kick
+meant the disappearance of so much life blood.  During the numerous
+adventures which befell us between the time we left Jouy-le-Chatel and
+our encountering the motor, my hypodermic needle had received such
+violent treatment that it refused service.  So when we turned into
+Mormont at top speed, I was obliged to ask my driver to slow down and
+inquire for a doctor.  We were directed by a couple of gaping women on
+the borders of the little city, who didn't quite understand our mission.
+However, they must have been soon enlightened, for as we crossed the
+public square the British Red Cross ambulances were pouring in and
+lining up in battle array.  Behind them came a steady stream of
+ammunition wagons, both horse and motor trucks, and from Mormont to
+Melun the line was unbroken.
+
+The doctor was absent, but his wife willingly filled his place and with
+new hope dawning we backed out of the yard and sped southward.
+
+What was the landscape we passed through I really couldn't say.  I had a
+dreamy sensation of having run down a refugee's dog, and hearing its
+owner wishing us in warmer climes--as well as the feeling that my
+blood-stained apron and the agitated white sheet beside me created much
+curiosity among the drivers and occupants of the A. S. C. motors that
+took up all one side of the road.
+
+One by one the mile posts whizzed past and finally we came into Melun.
+
+"Where's the nearest hospital?" I enquired of a group of soldiers
+loitering outside a barracks.
+
+"Give it up!  All evacuated!"
+
+Our driver needed no more--and so we pushed on into the town, while I
+pantomimed to those behind that I had a wounded man in my arms.
+
+In front of the city hall stood a noisy gathering, and in reply to our
+questions, a middle-aged man jumped on to the step.
+
+"Go ahead--I'll guide you.  All the seven hospitals in Melun were
+transferred to Orleans this morning.  The mixed hospital is all that is
+left."
+
+After what seemed an interminable time we finally pulled up a long hill
+and after much parleying I succeeded in turning over my patient to the
+medical authorities.
+
+Through the half open door of the little stuffy office where I was
+conducted I could see a white-aproned doctor and a nurse properly
+bandaging my boy.  When my _compagnons de route_ had departed, I walked
+out into the ward and straight up to the bedside.
+
+"Is there any hope?"
+
+"Not one chance in a million!  Would to heaven we had the right to spare
+them such suffering!  Morphine is no longer helpful in his case!"
+
+It was a shock to hear this.  The lad, who a couple of hours before was
+unknown to me, suddenly became very dear.  I turned about to hide my
+emotion, but was startled out of it by the double line of white beds on
+which were writhing men and boys in the most awful agony, yet not a
+sound broke from their lips.  In the middle of the room a second doctor,
+a  slight man with a pointed beard, stood washing his hands and then
+began drawing on a pair of long rubber gloves.  He crossed over to a
+basin and, after sterilizing his instruments, looked around for an aid.
+
+"Can I do anything for you, doctor?"
+
+Not in the least surprised by my audacity he asked, "Are you a nurse?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you ever seen an operation."
+
+"Yes."
+
+I lied.
+
+"Have you a good temperament?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then come over here and hold this basin."  I obeyed, and then Doctor
+Jean Masbrennier began a series of operations which will remain graven
+in my memory forever.
+
+As he worked he talked--and informed me that the Red Cross Society had
+been hastily evacuated in the morning, doctors and all.  Only those who
+were unable to be moved had been left behind, and only two civilian
+doctors were left to attend them.  But one nurse remained to do all the
+bandaging.  That was why I had been rung into service.  It took but
+little time to find a mutual acquaintance in the person of Elizabeth
+Gauthier, and the doctor had long been familiar with H.'s work.
+
+It would be useless to describe the horrors that I witnessed, or try to
+do justice to the heroic way those first glorious wounded of this
+lengthy war accepted their fate.  I cannot, however, resist mentioning
+the endurance of a big black Senegalais, who won the admiration of both
+doctors and neighbors by refusing morphine or cocaine, and insisting on
+having the seven bullets that were lodged in his neck and throat
+withdrawn thus--never uttering a murmur!
+
+When it was over, and we finally laid him back on his pillow, the tears
+were rolling down his cheeks and he squeezed my hand in his big black
+paw and then gently drew it to his lips.
+
+How many wounded were there?  I did not count.  All I remember was that
+I promised to come the next day and write letters to wives, mothers and
+sweethearts of at least a dozen men and boys.
+
+It was late when the last basin was emptied and Dr. Masbrennier untied
+his apron.
+
+As we were washing up, I asked if he would be good enough to guide me
+out of the hospital and tell me where there was a respectable restaurant
+to which a woman might go alone.
+
+"I have neither hat, coat, nor gloves.  They're coming in the carts."
+
+"That's so; perhaps you haven't had anything since lunch and I've been
+making you work on an empty stomach!"
+
+"Worse than that!" I laughed.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Nothing since breakfast at Jouy-le-Chatel."
+
+"Good God, woman!"  And taking me by the arm, he hurried me down the
+hall.
+
+As we passed out of the entrance door, a superior officer stopped Dr.
+Masbrennier and though I advanced out of earshot the words, "evacuation"
+and "to-night" were distinctly audible.  A second later my companion
+caught up with me.
+
+"So sorry I can't accompany you, but the whole hospital goes to Orleans
+immediately.  Must make room for the new-comers!  I'll 'phone home.  The
+_gouvernante_ will make you comfortable."  And he continued to give me
+explicit directions how to reach his house.
+
+"You'd better come to Orleans where we can look after you."
+
+"Sorry, but I've gone far enough south."
+
+"_Alors au revoir et grand merci._"
+
+"_Au revoir._"
+
+And a second later I found myself outside in the chilly darkness.
+
+For the first time in my life I had the sensation of being utterly
+alone.  No one on earth knew where I was and if I had not had faith in
+Dr. Masbrennier's promise of a warm dinner, I should gladly have
+indulged in a little fit of despair.  And so I wandered on down the
+dingy, black streets of Melun, where not a lamp post nor shop window was
+lighted, not a human being seemed astir.  Where was my little troupe?
+How and when would we all meet?
+
+Thus ruminating I came to a bridge.  A sentry flashed a pocket lamp in
+my face.
+
+"_On ne passe pas!_"
+
+I showed my armlet and he stepped aside.
+
+Halfway across I distinguished two human forms leaning over the railing,
+and following their example I perceived a half-dozen _hommes du genie_
+hard at work mining the foundation of the center arch.  So these bridges
+were to be blown up, too!  What was I to do?  Stay on the other side and
+wait for my caravan or cross over and risk my chances alone?  A
+reflector from below swung upward, illuminating the bridge.
+
+"George!" I gasped.
+
+One of the two figures straightened abruptly!  In a second the boys had
+recognized me.  "What are you doing here?  Where are the others?"
+
+I poured out a dozen eager questions, not giving them time to reply.
+When almost breathless I stopped and they explained that the caravan had
+been halted on the outskirts of Melun.  No refugees were allowed in
+after nightfall. Fortunately the boys bethought themselves of my wounded
+man's clothes and arms, and thanks to these they were allowed to pass
+and deliver them to the gendarmerie.  Remembering that I had friends at
+Barbizon they had sent the others there by a round-about route, and had
+come on to find me.
+
+"But how did you get here?"
+
+"Cesar brought us."
+
+"Where is he?  And Betsy?"
+
+"Oh, we found a dentist who had an empty stable. He took them in.  Betsy
+refused to leave the cart.  She's never had such a picnic in her life:
+been traveling all day in a ten pound box of lump sugar!"
+
+All worry had vanished, now that I found my line of conduct traced for
+me.  The chief thing at present was to get something to eat.  So we
+pushed ahead up the hill in the ever-deepening obscurity.  We walked on
+in silence for what seemed an interminable distance.  Once I fancied I
+had mistaken directions and was about to despair when the tramp of feet
+coming toward us revived hope.  A second later a brawny arm turned a
+lantern into my face and a huge police dog growled close to my heels.
+
+"Are you the person who is going to Dr. Masbrennier's?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Tres bien_.  Are these boys with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then follow me.  We're closing up the doctor's house, but I'll look
+after you."
+
+Without further ado we trudged on behind our guide, who after another
+hundred yards, turned into a gateway and led us up the stone steps of a
+sumptuous dwelling.  Opening the door, he lit the electric light and
+stepped into the vestibule.
+
+"Come in," he said.  "I'll be back in a moment."  And he disappeared.
+
+There we stood, Leon, George and myself, waiting for something to
+happen, for someone to appear.  Five--ten--fifteen minutes must have
+elapsed--still not a sound anywhere.  I was just beginning to wonder if
+we had not been the dupes of some practical joke, when from a room
+opening into the vestibule a light shone forth.  The curtains parted and
+our friend of the highroad appeared.
+
+"Isn't much--but such as it is you're welcome.  Sit down and make
+yourselves comfortable."  And again he disappeared.
+
+On a snowy white table cloth three covers were laid and a tempting
+supper composed of bread and butter, cheese, a bottle of white wine, and
+a huge basket of most luscious hothouse grapes and pears--gladdened our
+hungry gaze.  We did not need a second invitation!  We fell to with a
+vengeance and at the end of a quarter-hour hardly a crumb remained.
+
+"When you've finished, come upstairs; Madame will take the first door to
+the right.  You boys come up a flight higher," called a voice from
+above.
+
+We obeyed, and before retiring I waited a good half-hour hoping our
+friend would reappear.  But no one came--so bolting my door, I offered
+up a prayer of thanks and was soon fast asleep.
+
+Sunday morning, September sixth, the sun was high in the heavens when I
+peeped from beneath my lace-bordered sheets and cocked my ear at the
+familiar sound of the cannon.  It was a long continuous roar, and now
+that I had become accustomed to distancing I estimated that the battle
+was on at Mormont.  And I was not mistaken.  A little later official
+news confirmed my guess.
+
+Finding no bell in my room, I opened the door to see a pitcher of hot
+water sitting before it, and on a chair beside it, a new comb, a clean
+linen duster, and a pocket handkerchief.  A brief note told me that I
+would find breakfast in the dining-room, and requested that I leave word
+on the table saying at what time I would be in for luncheon.  Decidedly
+the mystery deepened--for not a sound could be heard save in the garden
+where I spied George and Leon, who informed me that the house was empty,
+and "a gorgeous house, Madame!" they ejaculated in admiration.
+
+Though partially abandoned, Melun was full of life, thanks to the
+presence of numerous British troops and that same long line of A. S.
+C.'s now quadrupled on the highroad--two lines going, two lines coming.
+
+As I picked my way between them, and crossed the street, my attention
+was arrested by a French peasant who was conversing by means of the sign
+language with the handsome driver of one of those vans, while several
+children were clamoring to be allowed to sit on the seat a moment, "just
+to see how it seemed."
+
+"Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+"Rather!  Seems good to hear English, thank you."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Yes.  Might I ask where you come from?"
+
+"The States."
+
+"Do you know Cleveland?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I've got a mother and three brothers buried in that cemetery.
+Colonials, you know.  I'm English--from Bath--oldest son.  Couldn't see
+things their way. Done better perhaps if I'd joined the others out
+there."
+
+I smiled at this unexpected and impromptu confession.  The boy saw it
+and reddened.
+
+"Is there anything particular you want me to say to this man for you?"
+said I quickly, to cover his embarrassment.
+
+"No, thank you.  But there's one thing you might be able to tell me."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Do you think we'll be 'home' in time to eat Christmas dinner?"
+
+"Rather!"
+
+"Thank you so much!  Good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye and good luck to you."
+
+And after snapping his photograph I started on down the street in haste,
+for I could see George and Leon, who had gone on ahead, now running
+towards me.
+
+"_Vite_, Madame.  They need you!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"The English.  They can't make people understand."
+
+I pressed forward, and came upon a crowd of gapers standing outside a
+shop. Within two English officers were arguing in their native tongue
+with an irate butcher, who waved one arm wildly in the air, and
+brandished a huge knife in the other, shouting frantically all the
+while,
+
+"La' voila-la voila!" said George and Leon, almost dragging me forward,
+proud to exhibit my accomplishments.  "_La voila!  Vous etes sauves._"
+
+My greatest desire was to turn about and run, but the crowd parted to
+let me through.
+
+"Would you mind, Madame?" pleaded the lieutenant.  "We need your
+assistance to make this man understand that we're drafting meat for the
+army.  We'll pay cash, but be might just as well give it gracefully, for
+we have the right to force his ice box if he refuses."
+
+I explained gently, and when things were calm was about to slip away.
+The officer touched me on the shoulder.
+
+"I'm sorry, Madame, but I'm afraid we'll have to draft you, too.  Our
+time is limited and if a scene like this happen at every shop we'll be
+punished for tardiness!  Here's my order to draft an interpreter," and
+he put his hand into his pocket.
+
+I was somewhat abashed.
+
+"Might I ask when you will release me?"
+
+"Just as soon as we've the supply we need."
+
+"Will you give me ten minutes to arrange my affairs here?"
+
+"Certainly.  But remember you're on parole!"
+
+Outside I explained the situation to George and Leon, and scribbling a
+note to friends in Barbizon, told the boys to drive over and reassure
+the others--make them comfortable at the _Clef d'Or,_ and tell them to
+expect me that evening.
+
+"Whatever happens, wait there until I come.  There's no danger of the
+Germans reaching Barbizon, I fancy!"
+
+And that is how from nine in the morning until late in the afternoon I
+sat perched on the front of a British Army Supply truck, much to the
+amusement of the other Tommy Atkins we encountered in Melun and the
+neighboring villages.
+
+My officer friends very courteously drove me to the hospital where I
+learned that my poor wounded _chasseur_ Ballandreau had passed away in
+the night, and towards five o'clock, when their task was completed, they
+offered me tea and proposed to drive me to Barbizon.  As we jolted down
+the hill towards the railway crossing our attention was attracted by a
+huge gathering of citizens and soldiers, and above the roar of our
+motor, we could hear the rolling of a drum. Silence reigned instantly
+and an officer in uniform in the middle of the group read out a short
+message from a paper he held in his hand.  What he said we could not
+hear, but the mad shout of joy that went up when he had finished made us
+eager to learn the news.  Like lightning "Paris saved--the Germans
+retreating" ran from mouth to mouth, and the delirious excitement that
+seized that crowd was absolutely indescribable.  Young and old, English,
+and French, peasant and bourgeois, fell on each other's necks and
+exchanged a joyous embrace.  The awful tension of the last month was
+broken and the word victory was uttered by thousands of throats,
+suddenly grown husky with emotion.
+
+My arrival and the news I bore created a sensation among my servants and
+the remaining inhabitants of Millet's famous village.  Barbizon was
+dead--literally deserted, for not a single member of that delightful
+summer colony remained, several hotels were closed, and the others as
+empty as in the heart of winter. The proprietress of the _Clef d'Or_
+made me a very tempting offer for a _sejour_, but I judged, and rightly,
+that since the German retreat had begun, we would best follow on close
+behind the victorious army, for if we waited until order was restored,
+patrols would be organized and we who had no papers to identify us would
+not be allowed to pass.
+
+Before retiring I announced my intention of starting homeward, and the
+joy that illuminated those anxious faces somewhat calmed my own
+misgivings, for now that our adventure was safely over, I couldn't help
+worrying about the absent.
+
+When I touched my bed, I bethought me of my lodging the night before,
+and realized that I knew neither the name nor address of the generous
+person in whose sumptuous domicile I had been so cordially received and
+graciously cared for.  How and whom was I to thank?
+
+Leon, Emile and a sturdy butcher boy from Charly who had joined the
+others on the road, had now determined to enlist--so I could but
+encourage their patriotic sentiments, and went with them to the
+recruiting office to furnish proof of their identity.
+
+Evidently many other youths under military age had been inspired with
+the same idea, for there was a long line outside the door, and as we
+stood and waited, we examined with interest the mounts of the English
+cavalry regiment lined up in the street awaiting their riders.  George
+and Leon were eagerly fingering a long coil of rope thrown on the pommel
+of one saddle, when a deep voice from behind them ejaculated,
+
+"Guess you ain't ever seen the likes of that before.  That's a lasso."
+
+I explained, and then looking round, beheld a long, lanky individual,
+his hands on his hips, literally taking us all in.
+
+"Do you think you can tell 'em what that is, sister?"
+
+"I fancy so."
+
+"Then you must be from home!"
+
+"If you mean the States--yes."
+
+"To h--with the States!  The State--Texas!"
+
+I didn't find it necessary to translate that.  "Say, you haven't by any
+chance got a razor about you?" he inquired.  I replied that I was not in
+the habit of carrying such articles on my person.
+
+"No offense meant--but since you speak this language, perhaps you could
+persuade one of them kids to go and buy me one."
+
+I said I thought I might, and my compatriot producing an American double
+eagle, enjoined Leon to be quick and he'd make it worth his while.
+
+"You see," he explained, "a razor is all I need to complete my outfit.
+Got a Winchester, two revolvers, a Bowie knife, a lance and a lasso.
+Razor's flat and easy to carry.  Might be useful, too.  Nothing like
+being properly armed.  If I've got to sell my hide you bet I'll sell it
+dear!"
+
+Leon returned and I was about to ask my friend to give us a little
+exhibition of his skill with the rope, when the call to arms obliged him
+to leave.  So enjoining me to give his regards to Broadway, he departed
+much pleased with the world in general and himself in particular.
+
+From various sources, though none of them official, I learned that the
+road as far as Coulommiers was clear.  That was all we wanted to know,
+so after seeing the boys off for Orleans, a very much diminished caravan
+started on its homeward journey.  The horses, after two days' rest, were
+quite giddy, and the carts being light, they carried us on the new road
+north as far as Pezarches with but few halts.  The country we passed
+through, though abandoned by its inhabitants, showed no traces of
+invasion.  The Germans had not been able to push so far west.  I counted
+on making Coulonimiers to sleep, but night closed in early and with it
+came a chilly drizzle, which sent us in search of lodgings.  Not a soul
+was to be seen anywhere, and as all the houses were shut, I deemed it
+unwise to force a door.  So we pushed ahead into the border of the
+forest, hoping that the rain would soon cease.
+
+Presently someone discovered an abandoned hermitage, through whose low
+doorway we crept, and spreading out our blankets on the floor, prepared
+to make a night of it--glad of shelter from the dampness.
+
+"Hark!" hissed George, just as we were dropping off to sleep.
+
+We all sat up.
+
+"There!  That's the third bullet that's landed on this roof!"
+
+Ra-ta-pan-Ratapan!  There was no mistaking the sound--even through the
+wind and rain that raged outside.
+
+George crawled on his knees toward the opening, and a second later
+jumped back, clapping his hand to his head with a low shriek.
+
+"He's shot!" cried Julie.
+
+I leaped forward, grabbed the lantern, and holding it to the spot,
+opened the boy's clenched fingers.  As they parted, a heavy horse
+chestnut burr fell to the floor with a loud thump!
+
+We were too nervous to appreciate the humor of the situation, and had
+some little difficulty composing ourselves to rest.
+
+As we approached Coulommiers the next morning the horrors of war became
+more and more evident.  On both sides of the roadway the fields were
+strewn with bay and straw.  Every ten paces the earth was burned or
+charred, and in some places the smoke still rose from dying campfires.
+Bones, bottles and tin preserve cans in extraordinary quantities were
+strewn in every direction, and a half mile before we reached the town
+itself, a dead horse lay abandoned in a ditch.
+
+At this point we were hailed by a party of bedraggled refugees who
+warned us that it would be useless to try to enter Coulommiers.
+
+"We're from Neuilly--St. Front, on our way home, but there doesn't seem
+much chance of our getting any further.  The place is in the hands of
+the military authorities--with orders to let no one pass."
+
+We halted, and George went on ahead and interviewed a sentry, returning
+with a negative reply, and the information that Coulommiers was in a
+pretty mess after the looting.
+
+"It can't be worse than _La Ferte Gauche._"  And above the almost
+deafening roar of the cannon an elderly man told us bow his caravan had
+been caught by the Germans, stripped of everything they possessed,
+separated from their women folk, and with armed sentries back of them
+had been forced to work at the building of a temporary bridge to replace
+the one the French had blown up.
+
+"I got off easy--with only a few welts from a raw-hide," he murmured,
+"but my brother (and he pointed to a very stout masculine figure rolled
+in a blanket and sitting motionless on the steps of an abandoned road
+house)--"my brother's nearly done for!  You see he's near-sighted and
+not used to manual labor, and every time he missed his nail with the
+hammer, the German coward would jab him in the ribs with the point of
+his bayonet.  Seventy-two wounds!"
+
+"And your women?"
+
+"God knows what they did to them!  My wife hasn't stopped sobbing since
+we met. She's dazed--I can't make her talk."
+
+As he rambled on with his haphazard story, glad of fellow sympathy, I
+spied a line of British Army Supply carts advancing up the road.  The
+leader came to a halt and getting down, the driver entered the first of
+the abandoned dwellings before which we were standing.  Presently he
+reappeared.
+
+"Just my luck!  I say"--(and this addressed to our group with a sort of
+blank, hopeless expression)  "I don't suppose any of you Frenchies know
+where I could get a cup of tea!"
+
+I laughed outright, much to his astonishment.
+
+"Not anywhere around here, unless you're willing to wait until I can
+build fire enough to make you one!"
+
+The man blushed crimson.
+
+"Ah--I couldn't think--"
+
+"No trouble.  Get one of your men to make a blaze, and, boasting aside,
+I'll brew you a cup such as you haven't had since you left England."
+
+No sooner said than done, and quarter of an hour later, a half-dozen
+Tommy Atkins were sipping hot Kardomah with sugar and condensed milk
+from tin mugs.
+
+"You're certainly right--the French don't know how to do it, at least in
+these parts.  I had a teapotful yesterday morning that was as near a
+mixture of stewed herbs and Hunyadi water I ever hope to taste.  And
+now, isn't there something we can do for you?"
+
+"Tell me where you're bound for?"
+
+The man brought out a note-book and pointed to a name.
+
+"La Ferte-sous-Jouarre?"
+
+"Yes, that's it.  I wouldn't dare tackle it."
+
+"Is the road clear?  Can we go there?  It's only fifteen kilometers from
+my home."
+
+"I don't know if they'll let you by--but if you're clever and follow on
+close behind us with your Red Cross armlet, there's just a
+chance--that's all."
+
+I didn't need a second bidding and after warning my people not to talk
+if we met sentries but to have faith in me, we pushed ahead.  Our army
+friends with better horses soon left us in the rear, but undaunted we
+proceeded, finally reaching the heights that overlooked La Ferte--and
+led into the village, Jouarre, perched on the side of the hill running
+towards the Marne.
+
+Oh, the pitiful sights that met our gaze as we wended our way along
+those glorious roads, now full of ruts and knee-deep in mud!  As far as
+eye could see the entire country had served as a huge camp for the
+invader, and when forced to flee he had sacked and destroyed everything
+within his reach.  The wonderful fertile fields had been soiled,
+polluted, and among other damning evidences of their fury, the smoking
+ruins of every farm house stood like specters in the brilliant sunshine.
+
+At the entrance to La Ferte our road was barred by two sentinels,
+elderly peasants, by their looks.  I played mum and tapped my Red Cross
+armlet.
+
+"_Non, on ne passe pas!_"
+
+I beckoned them and fumbled among my papers for my _carte d'identite_.
+They approached the cart, but as they did so, my faithful Betsy let
+forth an angry growl.
+
+"Down!" I commanded in English.  "Down!  I say!  They're not going to
+hurt me!"
+
+Those phrases were my undoing!
+
+"Oh, ho!" said my interlocutors.  "And after that you think you're going
+to get past us?  We've had enough Boches in this place.  You can come
+in--but between us!"
+
+And jumping up on either side of me, one of them took the reins and
+started forward.  This being taken for a spy was an altogether new and
+very disagreeable sensation.
+
+"But, gentlemen," I protested calmly, "I'm known in this place.  If
+there's an inhabitant left I'll be identified in a second.  How green
+you'll feel if you drag me before an officer and find you're mistaken!"
+
+They were unrelenting.
+
+I invoked my identity card.
+
+No, they had heard me speak in a foreign tongue and all foreign tongues
+to them were German!
+
+And so we entered La Ferte.
+
+Doors and windows no longer existed--the former had been dashed to
+splinters by the butt ends of guns, while the latter were shattered to
+powder and from their apertures swung bed clothing, personal adornment
+and household belongings in shreds and tatters--all willfully soiled by
+mud and filth.
+
+It was useless to try to drive our cart up the main street, so calling a
+passing comrade, my detainers bid him hold my horse until they returned
+after having _fait leur affaire_, as they expressed it.
+
+The plate glass windows of every store lay in thousands of pieces below
+their sashes, and the entire stock of merchandise whether furniture or
+drapery, groceries or dairy products, had been hurled through them into
+the middle of the thoroughfare.  Above these were piled pell-mell
+bedding and chairs, wardrobes and wash basins, all splintered and
+broken--the whole making the most pitiable conglomeration I ever hope to
+witness.  One plucky dealer was already boarding up the great yawning
+cavities that were once show windows, and here and there a frightened
+female face peeped out from behind the ruins of her commerce.
+
+"Madame Huard!" cried a familiar voice behind me.  "_Mon Dieu_--you!"
+
+I turned and recognized my pastry baker's wife.
+
+"_Oui, moi; arretee._"
+
+"Arrested!"
+
+"Yes, unless you will be good enough to inform these gentlemen who I
+am?"
+
+"_Est-il possible!  Est-il possible!_  Why, of course, I know you--how
+dare they!"
+
+"You see," I said, turning to the _auxilaires_.
+
+But they were inflexible, bidding my friend follow on if she could swear
+to my identity.  She obeyed, but our group had attracted the attention
+of a couple of small boys who darted out of an alley way like rats from
+a cellar, calling, "_L'espionne--l'espionne!_"
+
+Thank fortune, at that instant we came upon an officer, whom I accosted
+at a distance, explained my case and produced my card and my pastry
+baker.  He understood in a moment, and hastily discharged my custodians.
+
+"I cannot scold them.  They're over zealous, but we've been so horribly
+betrayed all along.  You understand, I'm sure.  Please accept my
+apologies, Madame!"
+
+I bowed and he departed.  Then I turned to my friend.
+
+"You've heard the news, I suppose, Madame?"
+
+"No--what?"
+
+She suddenly grew white.
+
+"Quick--out with it, woman!"
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"Is H.--?"
+
+"_Non_, not that, Madame, but a quarter of an hour ago it was noised
+about that the enemy are still retreating, and that we were pounding
+into their headquarters--le chateau de Villiers."
+
+I felt myself whitening.  The woman saw it, and catching me by the arm.
+"Come, come," she said.  "You're tired; perhaps it isn't true, so many
+false alarms have been launched.  Come and have a cup of coffee--you'll
+excuse our back room--it's all we have left."
+
+I gladly followed her, picking my way through what had once been one of
+the most enticing of provincial pastry shops, the good soul apologizing
+all the time, as if she had been responsible for the damage.  As she
+prattled on, though my own brain was swimming I now and then grasped
+such phrases as three days of looting, two days' bombardment.  As she
+passed me a cup of coffee, she explained that the invaders had not been
+satisfied with violently appropriating all personal articles which they
+had found to their liking, but after having drunk all the wine in the
+cellars, they had willfully cut open the bags of flour and thrown it
+pell-mell in every direction.
+
+"And, Madame, they got into my reserve of eggs--five thousand of them--"
+she wept, "five thousand!  All my winter's store.  I wouldn't have
+minded if they had eaten them but to see them purposely crushed and
+wasted.  Two of those wretches spent half a day bringing them up from
+the cellar in their helmets, and then dragging me out, would hurl them
+at the walls and windows, savagely rejoicing in my distress!"
+
+I couldn't remain indoors--I had but one thought--get to Villiers or see
+someone who knew for certain what had happened there.
+
+Again I crossed the shop, paddling through that sticky yellow slime in
+which bits of furniture and clothing floated like croutons in a gigantic
+nauseating omelet.
+
+Outside, towards the end of the street that opened on to the quay, great
+animation reigned.  A bugle sounded and I could hear the tramp of
+soldiers' feet.
+
+"Look!" cried my friend.  "Look, all that is left of the Institut St.
+Joseph, the pride of La Ferte."
+
+Across the river between the broken spans of the bridge, my eye fell
+upon the gutted remains of what had once been a most exquisite bit of
+eighteenth century architecture.  The mansion which had sheltered Louis
+XVI and Marie Antoinette on their eventful return from Varennes, was now
+a smoking pile of ashes!
+
+"And to think we had to do it!  Oh, curse their hides!" muttered an
+elderly man close to my elbow.
+
+"We?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"?"
+
+"Why, when they had to get out of here they crossed the Marne, destroyed
+the bridge and entrenched themselves in the houses along the bank.  The
+English caught them like rats in a cage, but at what a price!  One
+fellow that's rowed across says he can bear them moaning, but you bet
+they can rot there before we'll go to 'em.  Begging your pardon for the
+language!"
+
+A dozen men of the _genie_ were busy constructing a temporary arch
+between two spans, and just as soon as a plank was laid a regiment from
+Cherbourg (almost all reservists) filed over one by one.  The population
+gave them an ovation, and it was a curious sight to see these care-worn,
+haggard-faced people simply going mad with joy, while around them was
+heaped desolation.
+
+"I hope you haven't come for your tea service, Madame?"
+
+I turned and recognized my china dealer, who smiled cynically as he
+motioned towards his shop.
+
+"It doesn't pay to be a glass merchant these days.  It only took two
+shells to send twenty years' earnings into splinters!  There's not a
+whole goblet or plate in the entire establishment!  But I wouldn't have
+cared if they hadn't maltreated the women.  I--"
+
+"Come and see!" cried another.  "Durant's house has tumbled down and his
+wife and family are smothering in the cellar.  Quick!"
+
+There was a general rush in that direction, but I pushed on towards the
+bridge. It was evident my carts could not cross, but there was just a
+hope that they would let George and me through with our bicycles.
+
+I accosted the sentry who stood mounting guard beside a motor which was
+thrown up on the side of the road, twisted and distorted like a tin toy
+one has walked on.
+
+No, the bridge was for the army only.
+
+I insisted.
+
+An officer came to my rescue, but could only confirm the sentry's
+orders.
+
+"You're not safe even here.  This is the firing line.  We don't know yet
+for certain whether we are going to hold the ground we gained. Villiers?
+Still in the Germans' hands."
+
+I sighed and was about to turn away.  "Then where's the nearest bridge
+across?"
+
+"Meaux."
+
+"But that's thirty kilometres west!  I'm only fifteen from home here!"
+
+"I wish I could help you, but there's no use trying to leave here unless
+you go that way."
+
+Then Meaux it must be, and though our trip was considerably lengthened,
+anything was better than inaction.
+
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+It was with much reluctance that we turned our backs on La Ferte the
+following morning and headed our horses westward.
+
+Naturally the right of way was reserved for the army, and the roads
+bordering the Marne were now lined with soldiers, guns, ambulances and
+supply vans rushing to the front.  After being side-tracked and halted
+no less than two score times, we finally reached Trilport, where the
+invaders had done but little material damage. The terrified civil
+population was even exultant, for two nights previously an automobile
+containing four German officers sped through the town, in the direction
+of Paris, and ignorant of the fact that the English had destroyed the
+bridge, had been precipitated into the river.  The affair seemed to be
+considered as a huge joke, and the chief amusement now consisted in
+hanging over the broken side and contemplating the gruesome spectacle of
+a half-submerged motor, and four human bodies lying inanimate on some
+rocks, rapidly swelling, thanks to heat and the current.
+
+"When we're sure they're good and dead, we'll bury 'em," explained a man
+whom I questioned.
+
+As I write this phrase, now that more than a year has elapsed, it seems
+cruel and heartless, but on the spur of the moment, and after all that
+each one had endured, it was but justice.
+
+Though barges were being rapidly brought into position so as to form a
+temporary bridge, I felt it would be a good two days before we could get
+across, and so following the course of the river, we wended our way in
+and out, round about, this time through peaceful country, until we
+reached Meaux.
+
+My heart leaped with joy when on approaching I saw the cathedral
+standing unharmed, like a guardian above the peaceful little city.
+
+The Germans had made but a brief stay here, merely an _entrée_ and
+_sortie_, and had been received by Bishop Marbeau, in such a fashion as
+is likely to be recorded in history and place his name beside that of
+his famous predecessor, Bossuet.
+
+One or two stray shells had fallen into the place, but the harm done was
+insignificant.  The most picturesque and melancholy sight was along the
+river front, where to head off the enemy's approach the French had been
+obliged to blow up those ancient bridges, landmarks of the fifteenth and
+sixteenth centuries, for, like the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, they were
+lined with houses and mills, whose pointed roofs and apparent beams had
+weathered nearly five hundred years!  Strange as it may seem, it was
+they that resisted the most, and, though the dynamite had severed their
+connection with land and shattered their pale-blue window panes, not a
+house had collapsed, and as they stood in the sun's dying blaze, they
+seemed to say, "Touch me, if you dare!"
+
+Washboats, rowboats, barges and every available means of navigation had
+been sunk or put out of working order and though the enemy was hardly
+ten miles distant, men and women were busily engaged in setting them
+afloat.
+
+Once again all we could do was to stand and gaze at the opposite bank
+and after assuring ourselves that there was no possible way of crossing,
+we hastily departed for Lagny.
+
+That night we slept in a shed hospitably offered by a lone peasant
+woman, and the next morning triumphantly crossed the river and set our
+faces homeward.
+
+Branching northward into the open country we chose all the by-roads and
+short cuts where our carts would pass, in order to avoid the long
+streams of ambulances and ammunition vans, as well as in the hope of
+finding better thoroughfares.  A drizzling rain had set in the night
+before, making the roads, which up until now had been covered with a
+thick layer of dust, slippery and uncomfortable.  Highways which
+heretofore had been seldom trodden, were full of ruts and bumps, and
+from Langy to Villiers there was hardly a corner but what showed signs
+of the invaders' passage.  Over these green and fertile fields whose
+crops had proudly waved their heads about the lovely Marne, were strewn
+straw and empty bottles in unimaginable quantities.  Thousands of
+blackened or charred spots dotting the countryside, told of campfires
+and hasty bivouacs, and as we silently plodded on towards Charny, the
+growing evidences of recent battle met our saddened gaze.
+
+Here a shell had burst on the road, in the midst of a bicycle squadron,
+scattering men and machines to the four winds of Heaven.  A little
+mound, a rough-hewn cross, marked the spot where some sixty soldiers lay
+in their last peaceful sleep, while the _melee_ of tangled wire and iron
+which had once been machines, as well as blood-stained garments, bits of
+shell, and even human flesh, made a gruesome and indescribable picture.
+
+Souvenirs?  The idea never entered my head.  And my kodak, which I had
+been so prompt to use to commemorate various events, seemed a vulgar,
+inquisitive instrument, and was left unheeded in the bottom of the cart.
+Each step brought us face to face with the horrors of warfare.  Towards
+Villeroy a number of battered Parisian taxicabs gave us the first hint
+of General Gallieni's clever maneuver which helped save the capital--and
+then the wind brought towards us a nauseating odor, which paralyzed our
+appetites, and sent us doggedly onwards: the stench of the battlefield.
+
+The girls in the cart drew closer together, shivering, though the air
+was warm and muggy.  Even old Cesar seemed to feel the awe of that
+Valley of Shadow, and no one murmured as we passed the first bloated
+carcasses of dead horses and came upon that far more horrid sight--human
+bodies--swelled to twice their natural size, lying as death had met
+them, some in piles, others farther apart--all unrecognizable, but once
+proud mothers' petted darlings.  I think they were our enemies.  I did
+not stop to investigate; the flies bothered us so terribly, and long low
+mounds with red kepis piled upon them told of the graves of France's
+defenders.  Far ahead I could discover groups of men with shovels,
+hastily burying those who remained.  To the right a lazy column of dense
+smoke rose reluctantly in the heavy air.  I fancied it came from a
+funeral pyre; we certainly smelled tar and petrol.  The ground beneath
+rocked with the thundering of the distant cannon, and as one peal burst
+louder a flock of jet black crows mounted heavenward, mournfully cawing
+in the semi-twilight.
+
+So we continued, a silent, foot-sore, rain-soaked community.  With the
+growing remoteness of imminent danger came the reaction of all we had
+passed through, and deep down in our hearts we welcomed the idea of
+entering a village.
+
+A village!  Alas!  As we reached the road leading to Barcy, there was a
+rift in the clouds, and a long golden ray shot through an enormous
+breach in the church tower, flickered a moment upon a group of roofless
+houses, and was gone.  Night closed in.
+
+Our spirits sank.  Yvonne began to moan with agony, her sciatica had
+returned with the dampness, and Nini for some unknown reason, began
+sobbing as though her heart would break.  I could see the moment not far
+distant when our whole party, seized with fear, would become
+panic-stricken, and that idea, together with the one of camping in the
+sodden fields surrounded by grim death, was anything but reassuring.
+
+"Come on," I urged.  "Surely Barcy is not entirely deserted."
+
+What mud!  What a road--sometimes entirely gutted, sometimes so
+obstructed with gasoline cans, hubs of wheels and scraps of iron, that I
+was obliged to lead Cesar by the bridle, while the others would walk
+ahead and clear a passage. Their progress was snail-like, for there was
+little oil left in our lantern and they hesitated before casting the
+refuse into the ditch for fear of profaning some unknown hero's grave.
+
+And so, stumbling and halting, we came into Barcy.  As we passed in
+front of the battered church we could see the huge bronze bell lying
+amid a pile of beams, at the foot of the belfry.  The _cadran_ of the
+clock tower was midway between the ruins of the edifice itself and those
+of what had once been the town hall.  Not a living soul was to be seen
+anywhere.  Stay--yes--there in front of us was a masculine figure.
+
+I called "Monsieur!"
+
+He halted an instant.  Then shook his head and skulked away.
+
+Through an oiled paper that had replaced the panes of a shattered window
+in a house which no longer had a second story I caught sight of a
+flickering light. I boldly knocked on the door.
+
+"_Qui est la?_--" asked a high-pitched, trembling female voice.
+
+"I, Madame H. of Villiers."
+
+"I don't know you--go your way."
+
+"But we are refugees."
+
+"I have nothing left.  _Allez-vous-en!_"
+
+That was categorical, to say the least.  So on we went, past the charred
+ruins of one-time happy homes.
+
+As we rounded a corner our lantern cast a dim glow on to the drawn
+shutters of a half-collapsed structure.
+
+"Stop a moment," said Julie; "there's something written on those
+blinds."
+
+I approached, and holding the light as close as possible I read the
+following sign, chalked in huge white letters:
+
+"Attention.  No Loitering.  Looters will be shot on the spot!"
+
+That was the last straw, and though it was obvious that the warning was
+intended for the troops now miles away, it sent us ahead with uncanny
+celerity.
+
+Our advance was short-lived, however, for it soon became evident that
+our horses were fagged out.  Yet where to go became an agonizing
+question, for though we were still within the limits of the village, not
+a roof was to be seen.  There seemed to be but one thing to do, and so,
+halting, I fumbled in the bottom of the cart and brought forth a handful
+of dry straw, and my precious bottle of brandy. Thanks to these, a match
+and a sheltering wall, a flame managed to blaze up, and from somewhere
+in the vicinity Julie procured a bundle of brush and an old broom.
+
+With the heat our spirits rose.  The girls dried themselves as best they
+could before the welcome fire, and though still awed by our
+surroundings, we nibbled a crust of dry bread and some stale cheese.
+
+Then silently Nini and Yvonne crept back into the cart, covered
+themselves with hay and a blanket, opened an umbrella above their beads,
+and soon were fast asleep.  The others begged me to share their bed
+beneath the cart, but tormented by the thought of what had become of H.,
+racked by the anxiety of what the future held in store, I could not
+resign myself to rest, and the first gray streaks of that cool September
+dawn found me seated on a stone, staring at the glowing embers of our
+watch-fire.
+
+Again the wind shifted in our direction, bringing with it that same
+loathsome smell.  I shivered and pulled myself together, and after
+carefully scrutinizing my road-map, decided that there was just a chance
+of reaching Villiers before night, but only if we started at once.  This
+living in suspense was beginning to tell on my nerves and anything, even
+the assurance of dreaded misfortune, would have seemed a relief.  After
+the state in which we had found Barcy there was little doubt that our
+part of the country had been treated the same way. Perhaps it was still
+in the Germans' hands; we had no way of knowing to the contrary.
+
+I roused the servants and told them of my intention, and in a few
+moments a pot of coffee was boiling on the tripod.  In spite of the
+early hour I did not hesitate to add a little brandy in each cup, for
+after twenty-four hours of continual rain a stimulant was not only
+necessary but welcome.  I tried to coax the dogs to take some, they
+seemed so wet and miserable, but they spurned my offer, and stood
+looking at me with most pitiful and mournful eyes.
+
+Presently Tiger disappeared behind the wall, and a second later we heard
+a low growl.  With childlike temerity Nini jumped up to see what was the
+cause of his alarm, and then almost instantly I heard her gasp, "_Un
+mort!_"
+
+That brought us to our feet and in a bound I was on the spot just in
+time to see her fearlessly approaching the prostrate form of a German
+soldier, the upper extremity of whose body was hidden beneath the top of
+a tin wash boiler.  The child raised the lid, beheld, as we did, a
+headless human trunk, and fell into a swoon.
+
+We were well on our road before she came to her senses, and there were
+moments when I almost wished she might remain dormant until we had
+passed beyond the gruesome plain that stretches between Barcy and
+Vareddes--now a historic battlefield.
+
+What a weird and wonderful sight it presented that gloomy September
+morning. Behind us Barcy, whose every edifice was decapitated or so
+degraded as to look like a gigantic sieve.  Around us and on all sides
+fields fairly ploughed up by shot and shell, and every fifty yards it
+seemed to me rose a freshly covered mound, extending as far as eye could
+see.  On these new-made graves were piled hundreds of red soldier caps,
+and here and there a hastily hewn wooden cross bearing such inscriptions
+as these, scrawled in lead pencil on a smooth space whittled by a jack
+knife:
+
+_Aux Braves du 248_
+
+When an officer was found and identified, he was buried alone and his
+name was carefully written on the cross, but more often we saw graves
+marked thus:
+
+-Ici reposent deux offlciers et quarante hommes du 28 ... ieme._
+
+Sometimes the tomb was in the ditch (to save digging) and once we saw
+the Parisian _pompiers_ burying some German corpses in the very trench
+they had dug and died in.
+
+Overhead tangled electric wires swung dangerously near the road, the
+poles shattered or knocked agog, while in the distance the stumps of a
+once-majestic row of poplars made the horizon look like a grinning
+toothless face.
+
+Time and again we were obliged to leave the road to avoid accident by
+passing over unexploded shells, and I shall always recall a gigantic oak
+tree which though still standing was cleft in twain by a 77-shell
+embedded intact in the yawning trunk; the impact, not the explosion, had
+caused the rift.
+
+The farther we advanced the more evident became the signs of recent
+conflict. Hay stacks seemed to have been a favorite target as well as
+refuge.  One we saw was almost completely tunneled through, and the
+blood bespattered sides of the opening told that the occupant had been
+caught as in a trap.  Around these stacks were scattered the remains of
+old boots and shoes, scarlet blood-soaked rags, dry beans, bits of soap,
+playing cards and songs.  Oh, lighthearted sons of France, it can be
+truly said that death held no terrors for you, since from Barcy to
+Soissons the ground you loved and so valiantly defended was strewn white
+with hundreds of thousands of tender ditties and _chansons de route_.
+
+From Vareddes we passed on to Congis, the only living soul we met being
+a little old white-haired parish priest, who had set himself the task of
+blessing each new-made grave.
+
+"If this rain continues some of them will be so effaced in a fortnight
+that we shall never find them.  See--this cross is but two bits of
+straw, bound together by a shoe string!"
+
+And he held up the fragile ornament for my inspection.
+
+"These are more durable," and he showed another relic made of a bayonet
+sheath, crossed on the blade itself!
+
+"And you--Monsieur le Cure--bow is it you are here?"
+
+"Alas--would to God they had taken me in the place of our boys!  Seven
+of them, Madame, carried off as hostages.  I was too old to be of use!"
+
+"And the women?"
+
+The poor little man hung his bead.
+
+"Twere better they had died!"
+
+I understood and shuddered.
+
+"God speed you, my daughter, and never cease to thank Him for preserving
+you!"
+
+Again we went our way.
+
+Lizy-sur-Ourq, which we reached in the late forenoon, presented a more
+animated, though hardly more pleasing spectacle.  On the tracks in front
+of the station dozens of flat cars and freight trains had been purposely
+run together.  Some had telescoped, others mounted high in piles, one
+upon the other, their locomotives as well as their contents being
+smashed and damaged--the whole scene presenting the aspect of a gigantic
+railway wreck.
+
+On the steps of the station, seated gun in hand, three soldiers sat
+playing a game of cards.  Across the street a sentry mounted guard in
+front of a large door over which floated a Red Cross flag.
+
+"What's in there?" I asked.
+
+"Prisoners and wounded."
+
+"Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+"Hardly--only flesh wounds."
+
+I peeked into the courtyard.
+
+In one corner lounging upon the ground were a dozen untidy, unshaven
+men, whom I recognized by their uniforms to be Germans.  One man cast an
+insolent glance toward me and turned his back.  Two others smiled and
+pointed toward the bread they held in their hands.  On some straw in a
+couple of drays lay five or six individuals, their arms in slings, their
+heads bandaged.
+
+"Nothing serious," explained a sergeant.  "We're waiting for our men to
+clear up the tracks and the _genie_ to throw a bridge across the canal.
+Then we'll evacuate them."
+
+He was neither sad nor triumphant.
+
+"Were you in the battle?"
+
+"Rather!"
+
+"How did your regiment come off?"
+
+"We're all that are left--forty-four of us," and he pointed toward the
+station where work was rapidly progressing.
+
+From them I procured some _singe_ or army beef, and we halted an hour to
+rest the horses and eat our luncheon.  We were beginning to reach
+familiar territory and the idea of getting home put new life into our
+tired limbs, and made each moment of delay seem uselessly long.
+
+From Lizy ours was a straight road and we made rapid progress.  The
+depressing signs of battle became fewer and fewer.  It was evident that
+the rush had been northwest, for while we encountered numerous proofs of
+the armies' passage, graves and shells, trenches and corpses gradually
+began to disappear.  At Cocherel, however, the enemy had burned a
+grocery shop when they had failed to find what they wanted.  The few men
+who remained had suffered much from ill treatment and passing by the
+open gate of a splendid estate I cast a glance up the long avenue and
+saw a sight which gave me a pang at the heart.  On the green in front of
+the chateau lay a battered billiard table and a grand piano, both turned
+on end, and much the worse for having served as a defense against a rain
+of shot.  Around them were strewn broken furniture, pictures, linen and
+bottles in such a sorry mess that I dared not even think what Villiers
+might now look like.
+
+Curiosity was quenched.  We cast a second glance, and turned our faces
+eastward.
+
+The afternoon was well advanced when we reached Montreuil-aux-Lions, our
+home country.  We found that here less damage had been done from heavy
+artillery, but all the edifices had suffered from close-range rifle
+fire.  An English sentry was pacing up and down in front of the town
+hall.  Over the entrance was nailed a Turkish towel on which a Red Cross
+was stained with human blood!
+
+"Prisoners?" I asked.
+
+"All wounded, thank you," was the courteous reply.
+
+I sought out my friend the inn-keeper who held up his hands in
+astonishment, bade us enter and made us partake of a warm meal.  The
+first we had had since we left home!
+
+"But how did you come to be spared?" I queried.
+
+"Because I was good to them."
+
+"Bah!  How could you?"
+
+"I didn't intend to, but, you see, they tricked me.  It was early
+morning when half a dozen officers on horseback rode up to the door.
+'Where are our Allies?' they asked.
+
+"I thought of course they were Englishmen.  The uniform was unfamiliar
+to me, but they all spoke perfect French.  Unwittingly I gave them the
+requested information, and they asked me to bring up some good wine.
+Then they threw a gold piece on to the table, and when I had poured out
+my Burgundy, they begged me to touch glasses with them.
+
+"'Ah, gentlemen, it is a pleasure to offer you the best I have.  Thank
+God, it is not for German stomachs!'
+
+"To my surprise, an uproarious laugh greeted my statement and brought my
+glass down with a shock.
+
+"'Poor fellow!' they tittered.  'Come, drink to our success and the
+Kaiser's health!'
+
+"I think they realized my fright and agony.  They did not force me--but
+laughed anew, drank and were gone."
+
+"What regiments drove them out?"
+
+"The English.  _Quels gaillards!_  And clean!  Well!"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Yes, they nearly used up all the water in Montreuil washing!"
+
+"Do you know anything of Villiers?"
+
+"No.  I spent most of my time in the cellar during the fight, and since
+they've been gone I'm living in terror lest they return."
+
+"Have you seen no one from down there?"
+
+"No, not a soul."
+
+"Do you think Villiers was bombarded?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.  "I know the English troops that were here
+headed in that direction."
+
+This suspense was too agonizing!  I fear I so abbreviated my stay at
+Montreuil that the good inn-keeper was offended.  I jumped on to my
+bicycle and knowing that the roads were now familiar to all, abandoned
+my little party, bidding them hurry to join me at home.
+
+On, on I sped, through the slippery mud, looking neither right nor left,
+but straight ahead in the hope of recognizing a familiar face or form.
+
+Twilight was deepening when I entered Bezu-le-Gury (our nearest home
+town), which seemed to show apparently but few signs of pillaging.  I
+did not even dismount to make inquiries, but pedaled on till I reached
+the summit of that long, long hill that leads straight down to my home.
+Excitement lent a new impulse to my energy, and my heart thumped hard as
+I recognized familiar cottages still standing.  This raised my hopes and
+sent me rocket-like down that steep incline.
+
+Still not a soul in sight--no noise save that of the guns roaring in the
+distance.
+
+But what was that in the semi-darkness ahead of me?  A dog?  Could it be
+true? I back-pedaled and whistled--a long, low, familiar howl greeted my
+ears and brought the tears to my eyes.
+
+And then my poor old beagle hound came trotting up the road to welcome
+me--his tail wagging joyously and a long frayed cord dangling from his
+collar.
+
+This was a relief and somewhat steadied and prepared me for what was to
+come. Through a gap in the trees I caught a glimpse of the roofs below.
+And so I rounded the corner and started on my last hundred yards.
+
+The broken and tangled grill of our stately gateway told of the
+invaders' visit. A few paces further and the chateau come into full
+view.
+
+Yes, it was standing, but only the shell of that lovely home I had fled
+from but fourteen days before.
+
+Dropping my machine I rushed towards the entrance hall, cast one glance
+through the broken panes into the vestibule, and turned away in despair.
+
+All the willful damage that human beings could do had been wrought on
+the contents of my home.
+
+The spell was broken.  My nerves relaxed and heedless of the filth I
+dropped on to the steps and wept.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+I think it was the stench from within that first roused me from my grief
+and made me realize that this was war and no time for tears.  I tried to
+comfort myself with the thought that at least I had a roof to cover me,
+but this was poor consolation.
+
+Pulling myself together, I started across the lawn towards the village
+in search of aid, for a second glance told me that it was useless even
+to think of entering the house, so great was the filth and disorder.
+
+Slowly I pushed onward, my head bent, my heart heavy with sorrow and
+worry. Twenty paces in front of me I discerned a low mound and then,
+horror of horrors, a huge black cross stood forth in the semi-darkness.
+A grave--a  German grave. Some poor souls interred on my greensward; but
+why, since our little cemetery is but a couple of hundred yards up the
+road?
+
+Villiers is not a cheerful village even in time of peace, but on this
+particular evening (September 14, 1914) it was even darker than ever. My
+eyes growing accustomed to the obscurity could see that most of the
+houses, though damaged from the battle, were still standing and in one
+or two windows the glow of a light gladdened my gaze.
+
+I went straight to the town hall where I pounded on the door and called
+my name. A familiar shuffling of feet told me that Monsieur Duguey had
+remained faithful to his post as town clerk (the only acting official
+since the army was mobilized) and when he opened the door and saw me,
+his eyes lit up with joy. Holding a candle high over his head, he smiled
+and then his face fell.
+
+"_Pauvre Madame,_" he said.  "Have you seen the chateau?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Ah, the vandals!  Not war, but highway robbery, I call it.  We poor
+peasants had little to lose, but with you, Madame, it is different."
+
+And then he told me how but a few hours after I had left the Germans
+took possession of the chateau and how for five nights and days in a
+ceaseless stream the flower of the Prussian army had poured down the
+road towards the coveted capital.
+
+At dawn on that eventful September morning an officer had ridden up to
+the town hall, called for the mayor or his representative, and on
+Monsieur Duguey's appearance, had demanded so much fodder for the
+horses, so much champagne for the officers, and Charles Huard!
+
+M. Duguey was taken hostage to respond to the first two demands and on
+having sworn on the cross that both my husband and I were absent, he was
+ordered to lead the way to our home, where for forty-eight hours he was
+detained as prisoner in the kitchen, while a staff of German noblemen
+raised riot in our home.
+
+Taunted and insulted by the soldiers who mounted guard in the kitchen
+where a chef prepared the general's food, he was bid hold his tongue and
+his temper by this same chef, who, for eleven years, had cooked at a
+well known hotel on the rue de Rivoli!  No wonder he spoke good French.
+
+"_Pauvre Madame!_  Perhaps you've come back too soon!  If we only knew
+they would not return!"
+
+The cannon in the distance shook the house as though to corroborate his
+statement.
+
+"Is there anyone left to help me clean place to sleep in?"
+
+"I'll go.  There are only one or two women who remained behind, but I
+presume sorry they did!  What a God-send you got away!"
+
+I understood and was thankful.
+
+Monsieur Duguey put his candle into lantern, shouldered a broom, and
+taking blanket, led the way towards the chateau.
+
+Want of words to express our fears and distress sealed our lips as we
+picked our way into a filthy, can-strewn, bottle-littered courtyard,
+towards a wing of the chateau where I had chosen to sleep.
+
+I hardly know what we plodded through the corridor.  My companion pushed
+things, into heaps in one corner of the room, and when I saw him sweep
+off a mattress and throw his blanket upon it, I realized that my bed was
+made.
+
+"You are not afraid, Madame?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then _a demain_. I will come and help you.  I fear, however, that I
+must leave you in darkness, for there are no matches in the village.  We
+have to borrow light for our fires, and our stock of candles is nearly
+gone.  They are only the butts the Germans left behind!"
+
+Exhausted I fell asleep, to be awakened with a start towards dawn by the
+clatter of horses' feet on the paved court beneath my window.
+
+Cavalry?
+
+I listened.
+
+Yes, surely.  But what cavalry?  Ours?
+
+Curiosity got the better of me, and I put my head out of the empty sash
+to behold a most pathetic sight.  There in the pouring rain stood some
+twenty shivering horses, once fine animals' but now wounded and broken.
+The lamentable little group, left-behinds of the invaders, was headed by
+my old gray donkey, who had gathered them together and was now leading
+them towards warmth and shelter.  This sympathy among animals moved me
+deeply, and I started down to see what I could do to alleviate their
+suffering.
+
+I am ashamed to say, however, that I never reached the stable, for the
+sights of filth and horror that I met on the way so distracted me that I
+pushed on through the whole house, anxious to see really how much damage
+had been done.
+
+I was still making my disheartening rounds when the others drove into
+the yard, and the wails of lamentation rose long and loud from their
+lips.
+
+How can one describe it?  It seems almost impossible.  Too much has
+already been said, too little is really known, so I shall content myself
+with a few brief statements.
+
+Above all I would have it understood that the chateau was first occupied
+by General von Muck and his staff.  The names crayoned on the doors of
+my bedrooms in big red letters bear testimony--as well as some soiled
+under-linen and a _glassentuch_ marked v. K.--and numerous papers
+stamped with the Imperial seal. These latter are all orders or reports
+belonging to the third army corps, and were left behind in the
+precipitation of the flight!
+
+As I now am able to see the matter in a cooler frame of mind, I realize
+that not only was efficiency carried out in warfare but in looting--for
+it seems that everything we possessed was systematically classified as
+good, bad or indifferent--the former and the latter being carefully
+packed into huge army supply carts, which for five long days stood
+backed up against our doorstep, leaving only when completely laden with
+spoils.
+
+Then what remained was thrown into corners and willfully soiled and
+smeared in the most disgusting and nauseating manner.
+
+A proof of the above-mentioned efficiency can be given in a description
+of my husband's studio, where I found all the frames standing empty--the
+canvases having been carefully cut from them with a razor, and rolled
+for convenience' sake.
+
+Useless to mention that tapestries, silver, jewels, blankets and
+household, as well as personal linen, were considered trophies of war.
+That to me is far more comprehensible than the fact that our chateau
+being installed with all modern sanitary conveniences, these were
+purposely ignored, and corridors and comers, satin window curtains and
+even beds, were used for the most ignoble purposes.
+
+Everywhere were sickening traces of sodden drunkenness.  On the table
+beside each bed (most of them now bereft of their mattresses) stood
+champagne bottles, and half emptied glasses.  The straw-strewn
+drawing-room much resembled a cheap beer garden after a Saturday night's
+riot, and the unfortunate upright piano was not only decked with empty
+champagne bottles but also contained some two to three hundred pots of
+jam poured down inside--glass and all, probably just for a joke. Oh,
+_Kultur!_
+
+I think that and the fact that most of my ducks and small animals had
+been killed and left to lie and rot, were the things that most angered
+me, and every time the guns boomed I prayed ardently for revenge!
+
+And 'twas I, who believing in Teuton chivalry, had imagined my
+love-letters, protected by my country's emblem, would be respected!  My
+poor little rosewood desk had been mercilessly jabbed with bayonets, and
+its contents strewn from one end of the village to the other.  As to the
+Stars and Stripes, when we finally disgorged the pipes of certain
+sanitary apparatus that one does not usually mention in polite society,
+they were found there in a lamentable condition and carried to the
+wash-house with a tongs.
+
+What a destitute little village we were.  Mine was but the common lot,
+for each one had lost in proportion to his fortune.  Yet there was no
+lamenting.  There was work to be done, for the vintage season was coming
+on and the vines in most places had been respected.  The German officers
+had even announced the fact that our country was already annexed, and
+that this was to be the champagne to commemorate the triumph of the
+Fatherland!
+
+My little servants took hold of their filthy job and worked unceasingly
+though it was a thankless task--for soap and soda did not exist, and
+food, save the vegetables and a little pork, was hard to get.
+
+A week sped by, and then one afternoon a military auto drove up to the
+door.  As I saw it enter the yard, I trembled lest it bring bad tidings
+of H., but a kindly officer reassured me, by stating that though he
+brought only word of mouth, my husband was still in the land of the
+living.  He also announced that it was his duty to requisition my
+property as a French emergency hospital and that he would be obliged if
+I would put all the beds I owned at his disposal.  A doctor and some
+_infirmiers_ would be sent immediately to put the place in working
+order.  Would I help?  And did I know of anyone I would care to have
+with me?
+
+"You will be voluntary prisoners, you know, for this is the _zone de
+operations_, and you will not be allowed to leave."
+
+I bethought me of Madame Guix.  Was she still alive?
+
+My friend said he would be glad to accompany me to Rebais, as that was
+as near as any place for recruiting a nurse.
+
+And so again I whisked across the Marne.  This time _en grande vitesse_,
+and in little over an hour was greeted by the gentle superior who 'mid
+the ruins of all the neighboring houses was quietly continuing her work
+in the convent.
+
+Yes. Madame Guix was there--a heroine, so I learned, loved and respected
+by every soul who had been obliged to remain in that unfortunate town. I
+found her ministering to twenty-six severely wounded men--French,
+English and Germans--quite alone to do all the work, an eighty-year-old
+doctor coming in but once every two days.
+
+"I cannot leave them," said she, pointing to the soldiers, when I asked
+her to ally forces in the reconstitution of my hospital.  "But just as
+soon as they are able to be removed, I will come, I promise."
+
+In the parlour below, the Sister Superior told me of the invasion, while
+I waited the return of the military motor which was to bear me home.
+
+"She is wonderful," said Soeur Laurent, referring to Madame Guix.
+"Wonderful--afraid of nothing.  Once at the beginning of the invasion
+she was put against the wall and a brute of a German aimed and pulled
+the trigger of a gun he had found in a corner.  She had accidentally
+covered it with a wounded man's great coat!  He accused her of hiding
+arms!  Then in the thick of the battle, she went out into the German
+lines and sought a doctor for our men--feeling herself incompetent. The
+whole German medical staff came in and felicitated her on her courage
+and devotion, before they left.  I tell you all this because she never
+will!"
+
+A couple of days later a doctor and the _infirmiers_ arrived, the latter
+not picked men, since in ordinary life they are a tax collector, a super
+at the Theatre de Belleville, an omnibus painter, a notary's clerk and a
+barber!  But they are all "good fellows," ready to work with no choice
+as to the "job."
+
+Madame Guix duly made her appearance, and our hospital was declared
+open.
+
+From loans and requisitions we accumulated a hundred beds, and for
+fifteen months now, by begging and strictest economy, we have managed to
+keep alive and to care, as best we can and in our primitive way, for all
+those of France's brave sons who come to us, sick or wounded.  With
+God's help, we shall go on doing so until the day of our complete
+victory.
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Home In The Field of Honor
+by Frances Wilson Huard
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12185 ***
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+Project Gutenberg's My Home In The Field of Honor, by Frances Wilson Huard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: My Home In The Field of Honor
+
+Author: Frances Wilson Huard
+
+Release Date: April 28, 2004 [EBook #12185]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sean Pobuda
+
+
+
+
+MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOUR
+
+BY FRANCES WILSON HUARD
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The third week in July found a very merry gathering at the Chateau de
+Villiers. (Villiers is our summer home situated near Marne River, sixty
+miles or an hour by train to Paris.)
+
+Nothing, I think, could have been farther from thoughts than the idea of
+war. Our May Wilson Preston, the artist; Mrs. Chase, the editor of a
+well-known woman's magazine; Hugues Delorme, the French artist; and
+numerous other guests, discussed the theatre and the "Caillaux case"
+from every conceivable point of view, and their conversations were only
+interrupted by serious attempts to prove their national superiority at
+bridge, and long delightful walks in the park.
+
+As I look back now over those cheerful times, I can distinctly remember
+one bright sunny morning, when after a half-hour's climbing we reached
+the highest spot on our property.  Very warm and a trifle out of breath
+we sought shelter beneath a big purple beech, and I can still hear H.
+explaining to Mrs. Chase:
+
+"Below you on the right runs the Marne, and over there, beyond those
+hills, do you see that long straight line of trees?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, that's the road that lead's from Paris to Metz!"
+
+At that moment I'm confident he hadn't the slightest _arriere pensee_.
+
+On Monday, the 27th, Mrs. Preston, having decided to take her leave, I
+determined to accompany her to Paris.  Several members of the house
+party joined us, leaving H. and a half-dozen friends at Villiers.  We
+took an early morning train, and wrapped in our newspapers we were
+rolling peacefully towards the capital when someone called out, "For
+Heaven's sake, look at those funny soldiers!"
+
+Glancing through the window, I caught sight of numerous gray-haired,
+bushy-bearded men stationed at even distances along the line, while here
+and there little groups beneath or around a tent were preparing the
+morning meal.
+
+What strange looking creatures they were; anything but military in their
+dirty white overalls--the only things that betrayed their calling being
+their caps and their guns!
+
+"What on earth are they?" queried an American.
+
+"Oh, only some territorials serving their last period of twenty-nine
+days.  It's not worth while giving them uniforms for so short a time!"
+
+"Bah!" came from the other end of the compartment.  "I should think it
+was hot enough in the barracks without forcing men that age to mount a
+guard in the sun!"
+
+"It's about time for the _Grand manaeuvres_, isn't it?"
+
+And in like manner the conversation rose and dwindled, and we returned
+to our papers, paying no more attention to the territorials stationed
+along the rails.
+
+A theatre party having been arranged, I decided to stop over in Paris.
+The play was _Georgette Lemeunier_ at the Comedie Francaise.  The house
+was full--the audience chiefly composed of Americans and tourists, and
+throughout the entire piece even very significant allusions to current
+political events failed to arouse any unwonted enthusiasm on the part of
+the French contingent.  Outside not even an _edition speciale de la
+Presse_ betokened the slightest uneasiness.
+
+The next day, that is, Tuesday, the 28th, I had a business meeting with
+my friends, Mr. Gautron and Mr. Pierre Mortier, editor of the _Gil
+Blas_.  Mr. Gautron was on the minute, but Mr. Mortier kept us waiting
+over an hour and when finally we had despaired of his coming I heard
+someone hurrying across the court, and the bell was rung impatiently.
+Mr. Mortier rushed in, unannounced, very red, very excited, very
+apologetic.
+
+"A thousand pardons.  I'm horribly late, but you'll forgive me when you
+hear the news.  I've just come from the Foreign Office.  All diplomatic
+relations with Germany are suspended.  War will be declared Saturday!"
+
+Mr. Gautron and I looked at each other, then at Mr. Mortier, and smiled.
+
+"No, I'm not joking.  I'm as serious as I have ever been in my life. The
+proof: on leaving the Foreign Office I went and had a neglected tooth
+filled, and on my way down, stopped at my shoemaker's and ordered a pair
+of good strong boots for Saturday morning.  I'll be fit then to join my
+regiment."
+
+Our faces fell.
+
+"But why Saturday?"
+
+"Because Saturday's the first of August, and the idea of keeping the
+news back is to prevent a panic on the Bourse, and to let the July
+payments have time to be realized."
+
+"You don't really believe it's serious, do you?"
+
+"Yes, really.  I'm not fooling, and if I've any advice to give you it's
+this: draw out all the money you can from your bank, and take all the
+gold they'll give you. You may need it.  I've telephoned to the _Gil
+Blas_ for them to do as much for us. The worst of all though is, that
+every man on my paper is of an age bound to military service.  War means
+that when I leave, staff, printers and all will have to go the same day
+and the _Gil Blas_ shuts its doors.  We cease to exist--that's all."
+
+Somewhat disconcerted by this astonishing news, we had some little
+difficulty getting down to facts, but when we did business was speedily
+dispatched and Mr. Mortier took his leave.  Mr. Gautron carried me off
+to luncheon.
+
+"You must come," he protested when I pleaded an engagement.  "You must
+come, or my wife and the boys will never believe me."
+
+We found Madame Gautron and her two splendid sons waiting rather
+impatiently. We told our news.
+
+"Come, come now.  You can't make us take that as an excuse!"
+
+We protested our sincerity, and went in to luncheon which began rather
+silently.
+
+I questioned the boys as to their military duties.  Both were
+under-officers in an infantry regiment--bound to join their barracks
+within twenty-four hours after the call to arms.
+
+We did not linger over our coffee.  Each one seemed anxious to go about
+his affairs.  I left the Gautron boys at the comer of their street, each
+carrying his army shoes under his arm.
+
+"To be greased--in case of accident," they laughingly explained.
+
+That was the last time I ever saw them.  They fell "on the Field of
+Honour" both the same day, and hardly a month later.
+
+But to return to my affairs.
+
+A trifle upset by what Mr. Mortier had told me, I hurried to the nearest
+telephone station and asked for Villiers.  When after what seemed an
+interminable time I got the connection, I explained to H. what had
+happened.
+
+"For Heaven's sake leave politics alone and take the five o'clock train
+home! We need you to make a second fourth at bridge."  H.'s
+lightheartedness somewhat reassured me, though for prudence's sake I
+went to my bank and asked to withdraw my entire account.
+
+"Why, Madame Huard," said the clerk in surprise, "you   mean to say you
+are frightened?"
+
+I explained what I had heard in the morning.
+
+"_Pensez-vous?  Non!_  We would be the first to be notified.  We were
+ever so much closer to war two years ago--at Agadir!  There is no cause
+for alarm."
+
+He almost persuaded me, but after hesitating a moment I decided to abide
+by my original intentions.
+
+"I can always put my money back in a week or so if all blows over and I
+find I don't need it," I argued.
+
+"Certainly, Madame--as you will."
+
+And the twenty-eighth of July the _Societe Generale_ gave me all the
+gold I requested.
+
+As the five o'clock express hurried me back home I began to understand
+the gravity of the situation--for the "queer looking soldiers" were
+nearer together all along the railway line, and it dawned on me that
+theirs was a very serious mission--namely, that of safeguarding the
+steel artery which leads from Paris to the eastern frontier.
+
+At Charly, our station, I was much surprised to see three French
+officers in full uniform get off the train and step into the
+taxi-autobus which deposits its travelers at the only hotel in the
+vicinity.
+
+At the chateau my story failed to make an impression.  The men
+pooh-poohed the idea of war, and returned to the evening papers and the
+_proces Caillaux_, which was the most exciting question of the moment.
+In the pantry the news was greeted with hilarity, and coachman and
+gardener declared that they would shoulder their spades and _faire la
+guerre en sabots_.
+
+My friend and neighbor, Elizabeth Gauthier, was the only one who took
+the matter seriously, and that because she had no less than five
+brothers and a husband who would be obliged to serve in case of serious
+events.  I felt rather ashamed when I saw her countenance darken, for
+after all, she was alone in Villiers with two tiny children; her
+husband, the well-known archivist, coming down but for the week-end.
+"What is the sense of alarming people so uselessly?" I thought.
+
+Wednesday, the 29th, the papers began to talk of "a tension in the
+political relations between France and Germany" which, however, did not
+quench the gaiety of a picnic luncheon in the grove by our river.
+
+In the afternoon the old _garde-champetre_ asked for H. in the
+courtyard.
+
+"In case of mobilization," said he, "you have three horses and your farm
+cart to present to the authorities.  Your cart must have its awnings
+complete.  And your horses harnessed with their halters!"
+
+H. laughed and told him that he was giving himself a lot of useless
+trouble.
+
+Thursday, the 30th, market day at Charly, the nearest town to Villiers.
+We both drove down in the victoria, and were not surprised to see my
+officers of the day before seated in the hotel dining-room, finishing
+breakfast.
+
+"What are they down here for?" I queried of the proprietor.
+
+"Oh, they belong to the _Etat Major_ and are out here to verify their
+maps.  The Mayor has given them an office in the town hall.  They go off
+on their bicycles early every morning and only return for meals."
+
+"It's rather a treat to see a uniform out here, where hardly an officer
+has appeared since last year when we had Prince George of Servia and his
+staff for three days."
+
+The general topic on the market place was certainly _not_ war, and we
+drove home somewhat reassured.
+
+Friday, the 31st, however, the tone of the newspapers was serious and
+our little village began to grow alarmed when several soldiers on
+holiday leave received individual official telegrams to rejoin their
+regiments immediately.  Little knots of peasants could be seen grouped
+together along the village street, a thing unheard of in that busy
+season when vineyards need so much attention. Towards noon the news ran
+like wildfire that men belonging to the youngest classes had received
+their official notices and we're leaving to join their corps.  Yet there
+was no commotion anywhere.
+
+"It will last three weeks and they'll all come home, safe and sound.
+It's bothersome, though, that the Government should choose just our
+busiest season to take the men out for a holiday!" declared one peasant.
+
+There was less hilarity in the servants' hall when I entered after
+luncheon.  At least I fancied so.  The men had gone about their work
+quicker than usual, and the women were silently washing up.
+
+"Does Madame know that the _fils Poupard_ is leaving by the four o'clock
+train---and that Cranger and Veron are going too?" asked my faithful
+Catherine.
+
+"No."
+
+"Yes, Madame--and Honorine is in the wash-house crying as though her
+heart would break."
+
+I turned on my heel and walked toward the river.  In the wash-house I
+found Honorine  bending over her linen, the great tears streaming down
+her face, in spite of her every effort to control them.
+
+"Why, Honorine, what's the matter?"
+
+"He's gone, Madame--gone without my seeing him--without even a clean
+pair of socks!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"My son, Madame!"
+
+And the tears burst out afresh, though in silence.
+
+"Yes, Madame, I found this under the door when I came in at noon.--"  She
+drew a crumpled paper from her apron pocket.  I smoothed it out and
+read:
+
+"_Je viens de recevior ma feuille.  Je pars de suite.  Je prends les
+deux francs sur la cheminee.  Jean._"  (I've just received my notice. Am
+leaving at once. Have taken the two francs that are on the mantel.
+Jean.)
+
+I cannot say what an impression that brief but heroic note made upon me.
+In my mind it has always stood as characteristic of that wonderful
+national resolution to do one's duty, and to make the least possible
+fuss about it.
+
+At tea-time the male contingent of the house-party was decidedly
+restless.
+
+"Let's go up to Paris and see what's going on."
+
+"There's no use doing that.  Elizabeth Gauthier went this morning and
+will be back in an hour with all the news.  It's too late to go to town,
+anyway!"
+
+"Well, if things don't look better to-morrow I've got to go.  My
+military book is somewhere in my desk at home and it's best to have it
+_en regle_ in case of necessity," said Delorme.
+
+"Mine's at home, too," echoed our friend Boutiteron.
+
+"We'll all go to-morrow, and make a day of it," decided H.
+
+Just then the silhouette of the three officers on bicycles passed up the
+road.
+
+"Let's go out and ask them what's up," suggested someone.
+
+"Pooh!  Do you think they know anything more than we do?  And if they do
+know something, they wouldn't tell _you!_  Don't make a fool of
+yourself, Hugues!"
+
+Presently Elizabeth Gauthier arrived, placid and cool as though
+everything were normal.  "Paris is calm; calm as Paris always is in
+August."
+
+"But the papers?  Your husband?  What does he say?"
+
+"There are no extras--Leon doesn't seem over-alarmed, though as captain
+in the reserves he would have to leave within an hour after any
+declaration of hostilities.  He has a special mission to perform.  But
+he's certain of coming down by the five o'clock train to-morrow."
+
+We went in to dinner but conversation lagged.  Each one seemed
+preoccupied and no one minded the long silences.  We were so quiet that
+the Angelus ringing at Charly, some four miles away, roused us with
+something of a shock.
+
+Saturday morning, August 1st, the carryall rolled up to the station for
+the early train.  All made a general rush for the papers which had just
+arrived and all of us were equally horrified when a glance showed the
+headline-Jaures, the Great Socialist Leader, Assassinated.  Decidedly
+the plot thickened and naturally we all jumped to the same conclusion--a
+political crime.
+
+"There's a stronger hand than the murderer's back of that felony,"
+murmured a plain man from the corner of our compartment.
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Why, can't you see, Monsieur, that our enemies are counting on the deed
+to stir up the revolutionary party and breed discord in the country!
+It's as plain as day!"
+
+That was rather opening the door to a lengthy discussion, but our
+friends refused to debate, especially as we could hear excited masculine
+voices rising high above the ordinary tone in the compartments on either
+side of us.
+
+The journey drew to a close without any further remarkable incident.  It
+seemed to me that we passed more up trains than usual, but were not a
+moment overdue. There was nothing to complain of.  As we approached La
+Villette and drew into the Gare de l'Est everybody noticed the
+extraordinary number of locomotives that were getting up steam in the
+yards.  There were rows and rows of them, just as close together as it
+was possible to range them, and as far as the eye could see their
+glittering boilers extended down the tracks in even lines.  Each one had
+a freshly glued yellow label, on which was printed in big black capitals
+the name of its home station.  That was the most significant preparation
+we had witnessed as yet. Presently we observed that the platforms of
+freight and express depots had been swept clear of every obstacles and
+the usually encumbered Gare de l'Est was clean and empty as the hand of
+man could make it.
+
+In the courtyard our party separated, promising to meet for the five
+o'clock express--"Unless something serious prevents."
+
+I accompanied H. to the _Caserne des Minimes_ where he went to see if
+his military situation was registered up to date in his _livret_, and
+all along the streets leading from the station we met women silently
+wiping their eyes.
+
+What a sight the courtyard of that barracks presented!  Some five or six
+thousand men of all ages, classes and conditions who up until that
+moment had never thought that the loss of a military book entailed the
+slightest consequence, had one and all been pushed by that single
+thought, "Be ready for duty."  Here they were, boys of twenty and men of
+forty, standing in line, braving their all-time enemy, the _gendarme_,
+each silently waiting his turn to explain his situation.  To the credit
+of the _gendarme_ and all those in authority, it must be said that
+contrary to their usual custom they acted like loving fathers with these
+prodigal sons of the Republic--possible information without the sign of
+a grumble, and advising those who were still streaming in at the door to
+come back towards five o'clock, when the line should have advanced a
+little.  It was then scarcely ten A. M.!
+
+H. had finished in no time.
+
+"All I've got to do is to go home and wait until I am called for," he
+explained as we walked away at a brisk gait.
+
+Like most country people when they come to town I had numerous errands
+to do, so we set off towards the _Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville_, renowned
+for its farming implements.
+
+At the corner of the Rue des Archives we met Monsieur Gauthier on his
+way to his Museum.
+
+"_Grave--tre's grave--la situation, Monsieur_," was all he could say.
+
+"What would you advise us to do?"
+
+"Well, to speak plainly, I should advise you to shut up the chateau,
+leave a guardian, and open your Paris apartment.  You're in the east,
+you know!  I shall go down by the five train and bring back Elizabeth
+and the children.  I'd be easier in my mind if I knew they were in a big
+city!  I If you have to leave, Madame Huard would be better off here."
+
+H. was very sober as we left Mr. Gauthier.
+
+"Bah!  Cheer up!  I'm afraid our friend is an alarmist.  You know he has
+two young children!"
+
+We entered the Bazar, which is the "biggest" of the big stores in Paris.
+Every day in the week, and Sundays included, it is usually so crowded
+with buyers and sellers that one has to elbow one's way, and literally
+serve one's self.  To our amazement it was empty--literally empty.  Not
+a single customer--not a single clerk to be seen. The long stretches of
+floor and counters were vacant as though the store were closed.  I
+gasped a little in surprise and just as I did so a female voice from
+behind a distant desk called out:
+
+"What is your pleasure, Madame?"
+
+I turned, and a little woman in black advanced towards me.
+
+"Yes, I know the place looks queer, but you see all our clerks are young
+men and everyone of them has been obliged to join his regiment since
+closing time last evening!"
+
+"Leave farming alone and come over to Conard's.  He's bound to have some
+news," said H. impatiently.
+
+Conard's is a big publishing firm on the boulevard, renowned as a
+meeting place for most of the well-known political men.
+
+Conard greeted us in silence.  He knew no more than we, and we fell to
+talking of the latest events and trying to come to a conclusion.  Then
+one of the _habitués_ stepped in.
+
+"_Eh bien, Monsieur_, what news?"
+
+The person addressed kept on perusing the titles of the books spread
+along the counter, and drawing a long puff from his cigarette and
+without lifting his eyes, said, "The mobilization is for four o'clock!
+Official.  Have you something entertaining to read on my way to the
+front?"
+
+"_What?_"
+
+"Yes, gentlemen."
+
+"War?"'
+
+"It looks very much like it!"
+
+Though almost expected, the news gave us a thrill.  We stood spellbound
+and tongue-tied.
+
+What to do?  There were so many decisions to be made at a moment's
+notice!  H. was for our coming to Paris, as all the men must necessarily
+leave the chateau.
+
+"Mobilization doesn't necessarily mean war, man.  Besides if it does
+come it can't last long.  You'd better go back to your place in the
+country, Huard.  A big estate like that needs looking after," said
+Conard.
+
+"Where do you live?" questioned the gentleman who had given us the news.
+
+"Villiers--sixty miles _east_ of Paris."
+
+"Well, if you decide to go there I advise you to take the soonest train.
+The eastern railway belongs to the army, and only the army, beginning at
+noon to-day."
+
+H. looked at his watch.  It was nearly eleven, and our next train left
+at noon sharp.  We jumped into a taxi.
+
+"Drive to the Gare de l'Est and on the way stop at Tarides!  We must
+have maps, good road maps of the entire north and east," said H.,
+turning to me.
+
+It seemed as though he had had that thought in common with the entire
+Parisian population, for all down the boulevards the bookshops and
+stationers were already overflowing with men, chiefly in regimentals,
+and as to the shoe-shops and boot-makers--there was a line waiting
+outside of each.  Yet there was no excitement, no shouting, not even an
+"extra."
+
+What a different sight our station presented to that of two hours
+before!  The great iron gates were shut, and guarded by a line of
+_sergents de ville_.  Only men joining their regiments and persons
+returning to their legitimate dwellings were allowed to pass. And there
+were thousands of both.  Around the grillwork hovered dense groups of
+women, bravely waving tearless adieux to their men folk.
+
+After assuring himself that there was still a noon train, H. led me to
+the restaurant directly opposite the station.
+
+"We'll have a bite here.  Heaven knows what time we shall reach home!"
+
+The room was filled to overflowing; the lunchers being mostly officers.
+At the table on our right sat a young fellow whose military harnessings
+were very new and very stiff, but  in spite of the heat, a high collar
+and all his trappings he managed to put away a very comfortable repast.
+
+On our left was a party composed of a captain, his wife and two other
+_freres d'armes_.  That brave little Parisian woman at once won my
+admiration, for though, in spite of superhuman efforts, the tears would
+trickle down her face, she never gave in one second to her emotion but
+played her part as hostess, trying her best to put her guests at ease
+and smilingly inquiring after their family and friends as though she
+were receiving under ordinary circumstances in her own home.
+
+At a quarter before noon we left them and elbowed our way through the
+ever-gathering crowd towards our train.
+
+"The twelve o'clock express--what platform?" H. inquired.
+
+"The ten o'clock train hasn't gone yet, Monsieur!"
+
+"Is there any danger of its _not_ going?"
+
+"Oh, no; but there's every danger of its being the last."
+
+And the man spoke the truth, for as our friend the politician predicted,
+at noon military authority took over the station and all those who were
+so unfortunate as to have been left behind were obliged to wait in Paris
+three mortal weeks. On the Eastern Railway all passenger service was
+immediately sacrificed to the transportation of troops.
+
+It seems to me that this was the longest train I have ever seen.  The
+coaches stretched far out beyond the station into torrid sunlight. Every
+carriage was filled up to and beyond its normal capacity.  There could
+be no question of what class one would travel--it was travel where one
+could!  Yet no one seemed to mind. I managed to find a seat in it
+compartment already occupied by two young St. Cyr students in full
+uniform and white gloves, a very portly aged couple and half a dozen men
+of the working classes.
+
+"We'll take turns at sitting, Monsieur," said one of them as H. pushed
+further on into the corridor.
+
+At the end of five minutes' time the conversation had become general.
+Although as yet there had been no official declaration everyone present
+was convinced that the news would shortly be made public, and though the
+crowd  was certainly not a merry one, it was certainly not sad.  Most of
+the men had received their orders in the morning, and had said good-bye
+to their loved ones at home.  In consequence, there were no
+heart-rending scenes of farewell, no tearful leave-takings from family
+and friends, no useless manifestations.
+
+Through the doorway of our stifling compartment, which up until the last
+moment was left open for air, we could see the train on the opposite
+platform silently, rapidly filling with men, each carrying a new pair of
+shoes either slung over the shoulders or neatly tied in a box or paper
+parcel.  Then without any warning, without any hilarious vociferations
+on the part of its occupants, it quietly drew out of the station, to be
+instantly replaced by another train of cars.
+
+Five times we watched the same operation recommence ere the ten o'clock
+train decided to leave Paris.  Then as the guard went along the platform
+slamming the doors, a boyish face poked its way into the aperture of our
+compartment.
+
+"Hello, Louis," said he, addressing one of the workmen.  "Hello, Louis,
+you here, too?"
+
+"_Eh bien, cette fois je crois quon y va!  Hein?_"
+
+Our door closed and the trainman whistled.
+
+"_Bon voyage!_" shouted the boy through the window.
+
+"The same to you," replied the other.  That was all.
+
+It was not a very eventful journey.  It was merely hot and lengthy.  We
+stopped at every little way station either to let down or take on
+passengers.  We were side-tracked and forgotten for what seemed hours
+at a time, to allow speedy express trains filled with men and bound for
+the eastern frontier to pass on and be gone.
+
+At Changis-St. Jean I put my head out of the window and there witnessed
+a most touching sight.  A youngish man in a well-fitting captain's
+uniform, accompanied by his wife and two pretty babies, was preparing to
+take his leave.  He was evidently well known and esteemed in his little
+village, for the curate, the mayor, the municipal council and numerous
+friends had come to see him off.  The couple bore up bravely until the
+whistle blew-then, clasping each other in an almost brutal embrace, they
+parted, he to jump into the moving train mid the shouts of well-wishers,
+and she, her shoulders shaking with emotion, to return to her empty
+home.
+
+Four months later, almost to a day, I again put my head out of the car
+window as we stopped at Changis.  Imagine my surprise on seeing almost
+the same group!  I recognized the mayor, the curate and the others, and
+a little shiver went down my back as I caught sight of the pretty
+captain's wife--her eyes red and swollen beneath the long widow's veil
+that covered her face.  That same hopeful little assembly of August
+first had once again gathered on the station platform to take possession
+of and to conduct to their last resting place the mortal remains of
+their heroic defunct.
+
+Naturally, as they did not expect us before six at the château, there
+was no carriage to meet us.
+
+"We'll take the hotel taxi as far as Charly, and from there we'll
+telephone home," said H. as we got down from the train.
+
+But there was neither hotel trap nor vehicle of any description at the
+station. True it was that our train was nearly two hours late!  The idea
+of walking some four miles in the broiling sun was anything but amusing,
+but there seemed to be nothing else to do.  So after a quarter of an
+hour uselessly spent in trying to get a carriage about our lonesome
+station, we started off on foot.  We had scarcely gone two hundred yards
+when we caught sight of a PARISIAN taxi!  H. hailed him!
+
+"What are you doing down _here?_"
+
+"I brought down a gentleman who was in a hurry.  You see there are no
+more trains out of Paris on this line since noon!  And there are not
+likely to be any for some time to come."
+
+"Will you take us as far as Charly?"
+
+"If it's on the way to Paris--yes!  I'm in a hurry to get back.  I've
+got to join my regiment at the Gaxe du Nord before midnight, but I'd
+like to ring in another job like this before that.  It's worth while at
+150 per trip!"
+
+"You've got to cross Charly--there's no other way to Paris."
+
+So we made our price and were whisked into our little market-town.
+
+The inhabitants were on their doorsteps or  chatting in little groups,
+and we created quite a sensation in our Parisian vehicle.  H. went to
+the Gendarmerie at once to see if there was any official news by wire
+since we had left town.
+
+"You're the one who ought to bring us news, Monsieur," said the
+_brigadier_. "What do they say in Paris?"
+
+"The mobilization will be posted at four o'clock."
+
+A hearty peal of laughter, that was most refreshing in the tension of
+the moment, burst from all three gendarmes.
+
+"Well, it's five minutes of four now.  And if what you say is so, I
+should think we'd know something about it by this time!  Don't worry.
+It's not so bad as you fancy--"
+
+H. shook hands and we left.  At the hotel we got the chateau on the wire
+and asked for the victoria at once. As the horse had to be harnessed and
+there is a two-mile drive down to Charley, we stopped a moment and spoke
+to the proprietress of the hotel.
+
+"How does it happen that your motor was not at the station?" said H.
+
+"Oh," she replied, "our officers hired it early this morning and my
+husband bad to drive them post-haste to Soissons.  He hasn't got back
+yet!"
+
+Before going farther in my narrative I shall say here, lest I forget it,
+that two of the supposed officers were caught within the fortnight and
+shot at Meaux as German spies--the third managed to make his escape.
+
+Hearing the carriage coming down the hill, we walked towards the
+doorway.  At that same moment we saw the white-trousered _gendarme_
+hastening towards the town hall. Catching might of H., he held up the
+sealed envelope he held in his band, and shouted, "You were right,
+Monsieur.  It has come!"
+
+We jumped into the victoria, but as we crossed the square the
+_garde-champetre_ caught the bridle and stopped our turnout.
+
+"One moment, Monsieur."
+
+Then the town-crier appeared, instantly causing the staggering groups to
+cluster into one.  He had no need to ring his bell.  He merely lifted
+his hand and obtained instant silence, and then slowly read out in deep,
+solemn, measured tones, which I shall never forget until my dying day.
+
+"_Extrme urgence.  Ordre de mobilisation generale.  Le premier jour de
+la mobilization est le dimanche deux aout!_"
+
+That was all!  It was enough!  The tension of those last two days was
+broken. No matter what the news, it was a relief.  And we drove away
+'mid the rising hum of hundreds of tongues, loosened after the agonizing
+suspense.
+
+The news had not yet reached Villiers when we drove through the village
+street. We turned into the chateau and found Elizabeth Gauthier, her
+children and almost all the servants, grouped near the entrance ball.
+They looked towards us with an appealing gaze.
+
+As H. opened his mouth to answer, the sharp pealing of the _tocsin_,
+such as it rings only in cases of great emergency, followed by the
+rolling of the drum, told them better than we could that the worst bad
+come.
+
+The servants retired in silence and still the bell rang on.  Presently
+we could hear the clicking of the sabots on the bard road as the
+peasants hurried from the fields towards the _Mairie_.
+
+I can see us all now, standing there in the brilliant afternoon
+sunlight--Elizabeth murmuring between her sobs, "O God, don't take my
+husband!" little Jules clinging to her skirts, amazed at her distress,
+and happy, lighthearted, curly-headed baby Colette, chasing butterflies
+on the lawn in front of us!
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+_August first._
+
+The _tocsin_ ceased, but the drum rolled on.
+
+In a moment we had recovered from the first shock, and all went out to
+the highroad to hear the declaration.  To H. and me it was already a
+thing of the past, but we wanted to see how the peasants would take it.
+
+At Villiers as at Charly, it was the _garde champetre_ who was charged
+with this solemn mission, and the old man made a most pathetic figure as
+he stood there with his drumsticks in his hand, his spectacles pushed
+back, and the perspiration rolling down his tanned and withered cheeks.
+
+"What have you got to say?" queried one woman, who was too impatient to
+wait until all had assembled.
+
+"_Bien de bon--_" was the philosophic reply, and our friend proceeded to
+clear his throat and make his announcement.
+
+It was received in dead silence.  Not a murmur, not a comment rose from
+the crowd, as the groups dispersed, and each one returned to his
+lodgings.
+
+We followed suit, and I went with H. towards the servants' hall.
+
+"Give me the keys to the wine cellar," said he.  "And, Nini," he
+continued, addressing my youngest maid, aged ten, "Nini, lay a cloth and
+bring out the champagne glasses.  The boys shan't go without a last
+joyful toast."
+
+There were four of them; four of them whose military books ordered them
+to reach the nearest railway station, with two days' rations, as soon as
+possible after the declaration of mobilization.  H. had hardly time to
+bring up the champagne before we could bear the men clattering down the
+stairs from their rooms.  Their luggage was quickly packed--a change of
+underclothes and a second pair of shoes composed their trousseaux--and
+Julie came hurrying forward with bread, sausages and chocolate!  "Put
+this into your bags," she said.  Though no one had told them, all those
+who remained seemed to have guessed what to do, for in like manner
+George, one of the younger gardeners, had hitched the horses to the farm
+cart and drove up to the kitchen entrance.
+
+A moment later Catherine called me aside and tearfully begged permission
+to accompany husband and brother as far as Paris.  The circumstances
+were too serious to refuse such a request and I nodded my assent.
+
+"Come on, boys," shouted H.  "Ring the farm-bell, Nini, and call the
+others in."
+
+Their faces radiant with excitement, they gathered around the long
+table.  H. filled up the glasses and then raising his--
+
+"Here's to France, and to your safe return!" said he.
+
+"To France, and our safe return!" they echoed.
+
+We all touched glasses and the frothy amber liquid disappeared as by
+magic. Then followed a hearty handshaking and they all piled into the
+little cart. George cracked the whip and in a moment they had turned the
+comer and were gone.
+
+Gone--gone forever--for in the long months that followed how often did I
+recall that joyful toast, and now, a year later, as I write these lines,
+I know for certain that none of them will ever make that "safe return."
+
+Elizabeth Gauthier bore up wonderfully under the strain.  She was the
+first to admit that after all it would have been too trying to say
+good-bye to her husband. H. and I then decided that it was best for her
+to bring her children and maid and come over to the chateau where we
+would share our lot in common. There was no time for lamenting--for the
+sudden disappearance of cook, butler, and the three most important
+farm-hands, left a very large breach which had to be filled at once.
+There was nothing to do but to "double up," and the girls and women
+willingly offered to do their best.
+
+Julie, the only person over thirty, offered to take over the kitchen. To
+George and Leon fell the gardens, the stables, the horses, dogs, pigs
+and cattle. Yvonne, aged seventeen, offered to milk the cows, make
+butter and cheese, look after the chickens and my duck farm, while
+Berthe and Nini, aged fourteen and ten, were left to take care of the
+chateau!  Not a very brilliant equipment to run as large an
+establishment as ours, but all so willing and so full of good humour
+that things were less neglected than one might imagine.
+
+The excitement of the day had been such that after a very hasty meal we
+retired exhausted at an early hour.  The night was still--so still that
+though four miles from the station we could hear the roar of the trains
+as they passed along the river front.
+
+"Hark!" said H.  "How close together they are running!"
+
+We timed them.  Scarcely a minute between each.  Then, our ears becoming
+accustomed, we were soon able to distinguish the passenger from the
+freight trains, as well as the empty ones returning to Paris.
+
+"Listen!  Those last two were for the troops!  That one is for the
+ammunition. Oh, what a heavy one!  It must be for the artillery!"  And
+we fell asleep before the noise ceased.  Indeed for three long weeks
+there was no end to it, as night and day the Eastern Railway rushed its
+human freight towards the Eastern frontier.
+
+Sunday morning, August second, found us all at our posts as the sun
+rose. Elizabeth and I drove down to Charly for eight o'clock mass, and
+all along the road met men and boys on their way to the station.  The
+church was full, but there were only women and elderly men in the
+assembly; why, we knew but too well, and many wives and mothers had come
+there to hide their grief.  Our curate was a very old man, and the news
+had given him such a shock that he was unable to say a word after
+reaching the pulpit and stood there, tongue-tied, with the tears
+streaming down his face for nearly five minutes--finally retiring
+without uttering a sound. Not exactly the most fortunate thing that
+could have happened, for his attitude encouraged others to give way to
+their emotions, and there was a most impressive silence followed by much
+sniffling and nose-blowing! All seemed better, though, after the shower,
+and the congregation disbanded with a certain sense of relief.
+
+Before leaving home H. told me to seek out the grocer, and to lay in a
+stock of everything she dispensed.
+
+"You see," said he, "we're now cut off from all resources.  There are no
+big cities where we can get supplies, within driving reach, and our
+grocers will have nothing to sell once their stock is exhausted.  We're
+living in the hope that the mobilization will last three weeks.  That
+will you do if it lasts longer?  It never hurts to have a supply on
+hand!"
+
+"All my salt, sugar and gasoline has been put aside for the army.  I was
+ordered to do that this morning--but come around to the back door and
+I'll see what I can do for you," said my amiable grocery-woman.
+
+"That's pleasant," thought I.  "No gasoline--no motor--no electricity!
+Privation is beginning early.  But why grumble!  We'll go to bed with
+the chickens and won't miss it!"
+
+Madame Leger and I made out a long list of groceries and household
+necessities, and she set to work weighing and packing, and finally began
+piling the bundles into the trap drawn up close to her side door.
+
+Our dear old Cesar must have been surprised by the load he had to carry
+home, but Elizabeth and I decided that a "bird in the hand is worth two
+in the bush," and one never could tell what astonishing "order"
+to-morrow might bring forth.
+
+How H. laughed when he saw us driving up the avenue.
+
+"I didn't think you'd take me so literally," said he.  "Why, war isn't
+even declared, and here we are preparing for a siege!"
+
+"Never mind," I returned, "you must remember that there are twelve
+persons to feed, and we'll soon get away with all I've got here."
+
+The afternoon was spent in arranging our apartments.  For convenience
+sake, we decided to close part of the chateau and all live as near
+together as possible in one wing.  The children and younger servants
+seemed to consider the whole as a huge joke--or rather, a prolonged
+picnic party, and the house rang with peals of jolly laughter.
+
+Monday, the third, Elizabeth and I tackled the provisions which were
+piled high on the table in the servants' hall.  A visit to the storeroom
+and a little calculation showed that there were sufficient groceries
+already on hand to last the month out.
+
+"Very good," said I.  "Now, the rest we'll divide into three even parts
+--that makes September, October and November assured.  By that time
+we'll know what precautions to take!"
+
+"Well, I should hope so!" came the smiling reply.  And we set to work.
+It all recalled the days of my childhood when I used to play at
+housekeeping and would measure out on the scales of my dolls' house so
+much rice, so much flour, so much macaroni, etc.  I could hardly believe
+I was in earnest.
+
+We were right in the midst of our task when our gardeners appeared
+bearing between them a clothes basket full of plums.
+
+"Madame, they can't wait a day longer.  They're ready to cook now."
+
+It was almost a disagreeable surprise, for we were already as busy as we
+could be. But there was no way of waiting, or the fruit would be
+spoiled.
+
+"Is that all the plums?"
+
+"Ah, no, Madame, there are fully two baskets more.  And in a day or two
+the blackberries and black currants must be picked or they'll rot on the
+vines."
+
+"Heaven preserve us!" thought I.  "Will we ever come to the end of it
+all!"  But by four o'clock the first basket of plums was stoned, the
+sugar weighed, and a huge copper basin of _confiture_ was merrily
+boiling on the stove.
+
+"Where are you going to hide your provisions now you've got them so
+beautifully tied up?" enquired H., his eyes twinkling.
+
+"Hide them?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"What for?"
+
+"In case of invasion."
+
+We all simply shook with laughter.
+
+"Well, if the Germans ever reach here there won't be much hope for us
+all," I returned.
+
+"No, but joking aside; suppose we suddenly get the French troops
+quartered on us, are you calmly going to produce your stock, let it be
+devoured in a day or so, and remain empty-handed when they depart?  You
+see, it isn't the little fellows who'll suffer.  A big place like this
+with all its rooms and its stables is just the spot for a camp!"
+
+That idea had never dawned upon us, and we set to thinking where we
+could securely hide our groceries in three different places.  Finally it
+was agreed that one part should be put back of the piles of sheets in
+the linen closet; the second part hidden on the top shelf of a very high
+cupboard in my dressing-room with toilet articles grouped in front of
+it; while the third was carried up a tiny flight of stairs to the attic
+and there pushed through a small opening into the dark space that leads
+to the beams and rafters.  It was all so infantile that we clapped our
+hands and were as happy as kings when we had discovered such a good
+cachette.
+
+Night was coming on as I stood pouring the last of the plum jam into the
+glasses lined up along the kitchen table.  Berthe had counted nearly a
+hundred, and I was seriously thinking of adopting jam-making as a
+profession, when with much noise and trumpeting, a closed auto whisked
+up the avenue and stopped before the entrance.  I hurried to the kitchen
+door, untying my apron as I ran, arriving just as an officer jumped from
+the motor, and before I had time to recognize him in his new uniform,
+Captain Gauthier rushed forward, exclaiming:
+
+"I've come to fetch Elizabeth and the children!"
+
+The others, too, had heard the motor, and in an instant there was quite
+an assembly in the courtyard.
+
+"I had great difficulty leaving Paris at all.  My passport is only good
+until midnight," the captain was explaining as his wife and H. appeared,
+and almost without time for greeting.  "Make haste," he continued,
+turning to Madame Gauthier.  "We must be off in a quarter of an hour, or
+our machine will never reach town on time."
+
+I hurried with Elizabeth to her apartment, where we woke and dressed two
+very astonished children, while the little maid literally threw the
+toilet necessities and a few clothes into a huge Gladstone bag.
+
+"Leon evidently doesn't think us safe down here!  You'd better come,
+too," murmured Elizabeth as we went downstairs.
+
+In the meantime, H. had questioned our friend as to what had transpired
+in Paris within the last twenty-four hours.
+
+"England will probably join us--and there is every possibility of
+Italy's remaining neutral," he announced, as we made our appearance. And
+then--"You must come to Paris.  You're too near the front here," he
+continued, as he piled wife, babies and servant into the taxi.
+
+And so, with hardly time for an adieu, the motor whisked away as it had
+come, leaving H. and me looking beyond it into the night.
+
+When I returned to the pantry, I found Nini weeping copiously. Imagining
+she had become frightened by the sudden departure of our friends, I was
+collecting my wits to console and reassure her, when she burst forth,
+"Oh, Madame--Madame--the _pates--_"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The lovely _pates!_--all burned to cinders!  Such a waste!"
+
+In our excitement we had forgotten to take from the oven two handsome
+_Pates de lievre_ of which I was more than duly proud.  And as Nini
+expressed it, they were burned to cinders.  How H. chuckled at our first
+domestic mishap.
+
+"Fine cooks, you are," said he, turning to Berthe and Nini, who hung
+their heads and blushed crimson.  "And it's to you that I'm going to
+entrust Madame when I leave!"
+
+Tuesday, the fourth, the drum rolled at an early hour and the
+_garde-champetre_ announced the declaration of war.  It was not news to
+anyone, for all had considered the mobilization as the real thing.
+
+We were breakfasting when we heard a strange rumbling up the road.  It
+was such a funny noise--midway between that of a steam roller and a
+threshing machine--that we both went out towards the lodge to see what
+was passing by.  We were not a little surprised on perceiving our
+gendarmes sitting in an antiquated motor, whose puffing and wheezing
+betokened its age.  They stopped when they saw us, and after exchanging
+greetings, laughingly poked fun at their vehicle--far less imposing than
+their well-groomed horses, but the only thing that could cover between
+seventy and eighty miles a day!  From them we learned that the
+mobilization was being carried out in perfection, and in all their tours
+to outlying villages and hamlets not a single delinquent had been found
+--not a single man was missing! All had willingly answered the call to
+arms!
+
+Between the excitement and all the work that had to be done at Villiers,
+time passed with phenomenal rapidity.  As yet we had had no occasion to
+perceive the lack of mail and daily papers, and though I had always had
+a sub-conscious feeling that H. would eventually receive his marching
+orders, it was rather a shock when they came.  Being in a frontier
+department he was called out earlier than expected.  And instead of
+being sent around-circuit way to reach his regiment south of Paris, he
+was ordered to gain _Chateau Thierry_ at once, and there await
+instructions.
+
+Of course I packed and unpacked his bag for the twentieth time since
+Sunday, in the hope of finding a tiny space to squeeze in one more
+useful article--and then descending, I jumped into the cart and waited
+for him to join me.  In spite of the solemnity of the moment, I couldn't
+help laughing when he appeared, for disdaining the immaculate costume I
+had carefully laid out, he had put on a most disreputable-looking pair
+of trousers, and an old paint-stained Norfolk jacket. A faded flannel
+shirt and a silk bandanna tied about his throat completed this weird
+accoutrement, which was topped by a long-vizored cap and a dilapidated
+canvas gunny sack, the latter but half full and slung lightly over one
+shoulder. Anticipating my question, he explained that it was useless to
+throw away a perfectly new suit of clothes.  When he should receive his
+uniform, his civilian outfit ought to be put in safe keeping for his
+return.  This was customary in time of peace, but who could tell?--he
+might never even get a uniform, let alone hoping to see the clothes
+again.
+
+And then, when I began examining the paltry contents of his sack, he
+made light of my disappointment, saying that his father, who had served
+in the campaign of 1870, had always told him that a ball of strong
+string and a jackknife were sufficient baggage for any soldier.  I
+supposed he ought to know, and was just going to ask another question,
+when--
+
+"Listen," he said, as he put his foot on the step.  "Listen--before I
+forget. My will is at my notary's in Paris, and on your table is a
+letter to your father--if anything happens to me you know what to do."
+
+We drove away in silence.
+
+I let the horses walk almost all the way home and my thoughts were busy,
+very busy along the way.  Here I was alone--husband and friends had
+vanished as by magic. My nearest relatives over five thousand miles
+away--and communication with the outside world entirely cut off, for
+Heaven knew how long.  Evidently there was nothing to do but to face the
+situation, especially as all those in my employ save Julie were under
+twenty, and looked to me for moral support.  This was no time to
+collapse.  If I broke down anarchy would reign at once.
+
+But what to do?  Go on living like a hermit on that great big estate?
+The idea appalled me.  It seemed such a useless existence--and in a few
+moments' time I had decided to turn the place into a hospital.  But how
+and to whom should I offer it?
+
+I stopped at the _Gendarmerie_, where our friends were able to give me
+information.
+
+"The nearest sanitary formation was Soissons--the Red Cross Society. The
+president would probably be able to help me--"  So I thanked the
+_gendarme_ and left there, having decided to drive thence on the morrow.
+
+Soissons is but twenty miles as a bird flies, but almost double that by
+the winding roadway, and I was calculating what time I should start and
+where I would rest the span, as I entered the yard.
+
+"Anything new, George?" I said, as he took the bridle.
+
+"Nothing, Madame, save that we have received orders that all the horses
+must be presented at Chateau Thierry for the revision to-morrow before
+ten."
+
+"All the horses?"
+
+"Yes, Madame, with full harnessing, halters and the farm carts."
+
+That was a surprise!  Suppose they are all taken, thought I, I shall be
+almost a prisoner.  And my trip to Soissons?
+
+"Don't unharness!" I called, as George drove towards the stable.  "I'm
+going back to Charly."
+
+In our little township I managed to buy a lady's bicycle.  "It may come
+in handy," I thought.  It was the last machine that was left.  From the
+shop I went to the hotel.
+
+"Where's your husband?" I said to the proprietress.
+
+"Why, he's gone with the chauffeur to take our motorbuses and taxi to
+the requisition committee."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, Madame."
+
+"But I wanted him to motor me over to Soissons to-morrow!"
+
+"Well, if he gets back to-night and they leave him a single machine,
+I'll let you know, Madame."
+
+In the afternoon the drum beat anew and I learned that all the bakers in
+the village (there were three of them) having been called to the front,
+we were likely to be without the staff of life.  In the presence,
+therefore, of the impending calamity, the village government had decided
+to take over the bakery--it had found an old man and a very young
+apprentice who would do the work, but each citizen was requested to
+declare the number of persons composing his household and in order to
+economize flour, so much bread would be allowed per bead and each family
+must come and fetch his supply at the town hall between eleven and
+twelve o'clock!
+
+Needless to say, it must be paid for in cash, though the Board reserved
+the right to look after the village poor.  In like manner, all the salt
+had been reserved for the army, and we were to be rationed to
+seventy-five grammes a week per person!  It all sounded rather terrible,
+but when put into practice it was proved that the rations were very
+generous and no one had reason to complain.
+
+By four o'clock the next morning there was a perpetual stream of farm
+carts down the road leading towards Chateau Thierry.  I dressed and went
+to the stables where George and Leon were already harnessing.  More than
+once I had a tight feeling in my throat as I patted the glossy backs of
+dear old Cesar and my lovely span.
+
+The girls had decorated the carts with huge bunches of poppies, daisies
+and corn-flowers and in addition to these tri-color bouquets, a little
+branch of laurel was stuck up over each horse's bridle.  There was a
+generous distribution of sugar, and each horse was kissed on the tip of
+his nose, and then the boys joined the procession on the highroad.
+
+I watched them out of sight.  "Shall we ever get through saying
+'good-bye'? When will these departures cease?" thought I, as I turned
+from the gate.  But I was given no time to muse, for a most amazing
+clamor arose from a gateway a little higher up the road, and glancing in
+that direction, I saw old father Poupard leading his horse and cart into
+the open.  He was followed by his wife and daughter-in-law, two brawny
+peasant women, who were loudly lamenting the departure of their steed!
+
+"No, no!" literally howled mother Poupard.
+
+"This is the last straw!  Both sons gone, and now our horse!  Who's
+going to bring in our crop?  The Lord is unjust."
+
+"And brother's babies--poor motherless things--in an orphan asylum at
+Epernay! How can we get to them now?  Oh, no!  Oh, no--" wailed Julia.
+
+"Poupard!" exclaimed his wife, drying her tears on the corner of her
+apron and fixing her sharp blue eyes on her husband, "Poupard, no
+loitering!  If they pay you for your horse, remember, no foolishness.
+You bustle back here with the money--we need you to help in the
+vineyard."
+
+"This is no time for sprees," wept Julia.
+
+"Father Poupard," admonished his irate mate, brandishing a spade,
+"Father Poupard, mind what I say!"
+
+And then in a more moderate tone, but which was distinctly audible some
+thirty yards away, "I've put a bottle into your lunch basket.  You won't
+need to buy anything more."
+
+There was a distinct emphasis on the word _buy_, which told me that
+mother Poupard, evidently accustomed to her husband's ways, had provided
+plentifully for his journey but had carefully emptied his pockets before
+he started.
+
+I went back to my preserves, but as the day wore on the lack of all
+communication with the outside world began to prey on me.  Towards four
+o'clock I took my bicycle and started down to Charly.  A quarter of a
+mile from our gate, in front of the town hall, a mason had driven two
+huge posts, into the ground on either side of the road, and was swinging
+a heavy chain between them.
+
+I looked askance at the schoolmaster who stood in the doorway surveying
+the work. He explained that he had received instructions to the effect
+that all passers-by unknown to this village were to be stopped and asked
+for their papers.  The men and boys who remained were to take turns
+mounting guard, and thus to help to eradicate the circulation of spies.
+Two suspicious motors and a man on a bicycle had already been signaled.
+Should they appear and fail to produce their papers, immediate arrest
+would follow.  Should they offer the slightest opposition or attempt
+escape, the sentinels had orders to shoot.
+
+I enquired if it would be necessary for we to have a _sauf-conduit,_
+being bound for Charly, and possibly the station at Nogent, where I
+hoped that the soldiers of a passing train would throw me a newspaper.
+
+Mr. Duguey replied that he would gladly present me with the first
+passport, and seemed wonderfully taken with my idea about the papers. He
+admitted that living in darkness was beginning to get on his nerves,
+too, and asked me, in case my plan should prove successful, if I would
+be willing to put it on the public sign board so all could see the news.
+I acquiesced willingly, and after he had asked a few questions as to
+names, age, characteristics and destination, he stamped the seal on my
+paper, and I departed.
+
+At Charly the same preparations had been made, and two elderly men,
+leaning on their guns, smiled as I presented my paper for their
+inspection.
+
+At the hotel, the proprietor had just returned after having waited
+nearly twenty-four hours in line to present his machines.  All save one
+had been bought for the army.  But with his double-seated taxi he
+promised to drive me to Soissons the following morning.
+
+I continued my road, and reached Nogent to find that I was not alone in
+my idea about begging the papers.  Several others from neighboring
+villages, so I heard, had already succeeded in obtaining a sheet, and
+had driven off hastily with their trophies.  My proceeding was very
+simple.  It consisted of crossing the rails to the up-train platform, to
+stand in line with the other women already assembled, there to wait like
+birds on a fence until a train coming from Paris passed by. Then as it
+whizzed through the station, we shouted in chorus, "_Les journaux! Les
+jour-naux!_"
+
+It worked like magic.  We had hardly been there two minutes when a train
+was signaled.
+
+As it approached, we could see that engine and cars were decorated with
+garlands of flowers, and trailing vines, while such inscriptions as,
+"_Train de Plaisir pour Berlin,_" and numerous caricatures had been
+chalked on the varnished sides of the carriages.
+
+Our appeals were not in vain.  With joyful shouts, the boys gladly threw
+us the papers which were welcomed like the rain of manna in the desert.
+I managed to collect two, _L'Action Franfaise_, and _Le Bonnet Rouge_.
+
+Until others and fresher were procured, the Royalist and the
+Revolutionary sheets hung side by side on the public sign board at
+Villiers, proving that under the Third Republic, _Liberte', Egalite',
+Fraternite_ are not vain words.
+
+The news of the violation of Luxembourg and Belgian territory created
+less sensation than one might have expected.  In the circumstances news
+of any kind seemed a blessing.
+
+There was still quite a gathering in front of the town hall when the
+first carts began to return from the revision.  They were few and far
+between, compared with the double line that had driven past in the
+morning.  My heart leapt with joy, as I saw George, driving Cesar, turn
+into the court.
+
+"Too old, Madame," he said, his eyes shining.  "Though still so game
+that they nearly kept him.  He's reserved for a second call."
+
+"And Florentin and Cognac?"
+
+The boy put his hand into his pocket and held out a slip of paper. I
+took it and read, "_Bon pour 1,200 francs, prix de 2 chevaux, etc._"
+
+"Well, thank God, we've got one left anyhow," thought I as I entered the
+hall. Just then the gate creaked and I could vaguely distinguish in the
+deepening twilight the forms of mother Poupard and Julia hurrying
+towards the stables.  I followed.
+
+"George!  George!" called Julia.
+
+"Well?" came the answer from within.
+
+"George--where's the old man?" queried mother Poupard in excited tones.
+
+"How do I know?"
+
+"Was our horse taken?  Can you tell us that?"
+
+"I think so; yes."
+
+"Then why didn't Poupard come back with you and Leon in the cart?  Did
+you see him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where was he?"
+
+"In front of a cafe as we drove past."
+
+"Oh, the old villain!  The wretch!  Oh, _mon Dieu,_ what shall we do!
+Oh, the wicked old man--if I had him here, I'd thrash him good!"
+
+And mother Poupard began brandishing a pitch-fork with such violence
+that I commenced to fear that failing her delinquent spouse, she would
+fall upon George to wreak vengeance.
+
+"Oh, the old devil!  Oh--"
+
+"Look here, I'm not his nurse--now clear out, the lot of you!"
+
+The injunction served its purpose, for remembering they were "not at
+home," the two women retired in high dudgeon, wailing and lamenting in
+such audible tones that their neighbors came out to see what was the
+matter, and laughed at mother Poupard's threat of what she would do if
+ever she got _le vieux_ into her clutches.
+
+By six A. M. on the Friday I had breakfasted and was ready to leave for
+Soissons. The taxi from the Hotel du Balcon made its appearance a few
+moments later, and after a visit to the town hall, where we secured the
+necessary passports, we set off on our journey.
+
+At the entrance to every little village we were obliged to halt and
+exhibit our papers--after which formality the chain would be let down
+and we allowed to go our way.
+
+Half an hour later as we crossed Chateau Thierry we could see the rows
+of horses that had not yet been examined lined up along the square.  The
+commissaries had worked all night and their task was still far from
+finished.
+
+Until we reached Oulchy-le-Chateau, the chains were the only outward
+signs that betokened the belligerent state of the country, and even then
+as those who mounted guard were not in uniform, it seemed rather as
+though we were passing a series of toll-gates.  However, as we ran along
+the splendid roads between the great fertile plains, I observed that the
+harvesting was being done chiefly by women, and that the roads
+themselves were empty of any vehicle.  Evidently only those who had an
+important errand were allowed on the _routes nationals_, thus kept clear
+for the transport of troops or ammunition.
+
+At Oulchy, half-way to Soissons, we halted at a railway crossing to let
+a long, lazy train drag out of the station.  When at length the bars
+were drawn up, much excitement reigned on the little platform which we
+had been unable to see from the other side of the rails.  Young girls
+with pails and dippers in their hands stood chattering with women in
+wrappers, whose disheveled appearance told plainly that they had been
+hastily awakened and had hurried thence without thinking of their
+_toilette_.
+
+"What is it?" I asked of the _garde-barriere_.
+
+"Wounded!"
+
+"Wounded?"
+
+"Yes--the first.  Not badly wounded and they are able to travel, but
+unable to hold a gun.  And they were all so thirsty!"
+
+Poor fellows, thought I, already out of the ranks and the first week is
+not yet passed.
+
+More persuaded than ever of the utility of my mission, I did not stop
+longer but pushed on towards Soissons.  Half a mile further up the road,
+an elderly man carrying a package, hailed the motor.  We slowed down,
+and hat in hand he approached.
+
+"I beg pardon for the liberty I'm taking,"' he said, "but might I ask
+where you're bound?"
+
+"Soissons."
+
+"You would be rendering a great service to the municipality if you would
+allow me to ride with you in the empty seat.  You see, the youngsters
+who are left to reap the crops have broken the only machine in the
+community, and we can't go on harvesting until it is repaired or
+replaced.  There are no mechanics left, and moreover, no horses that
+could take us to Soissons to find one, so I've offered to go on
+foot--but that means at least two full days lost before we can continue
+our work."
+
+"Get in at once," I said, and we rolled off.
+
+It was not long before I had drawn his history from this village
+alderman, an Alsatian by birth, and his tales of the war of 1870 helped
+to wile away the time we were obliged to spend idling along the roadside
+while our chauffeur repaired our first puncture.  The emergency wheel
+clapped on, we were soon en route again. My companion duly uncovered as
+we passed the monument to the soldiers of the Franco-Prussian War,
+almost hidden in a lovely chestnut grove, in the heart of the forest of
+Hartennes.
+
+On the outskirts of Soissons we came upon a squadron of the Ninth
+Territorial Regiment, resting after the morning exercises.  These
+soldiers much resembled the "bushy-bearded" creatures whom I had seen
+guarding the Eastern Railway, save that they were even more picturesque,
+for most of them wore straw sombreros.  As we passed the captain on his
+horse, my companion lifted his hat and the officer replied with a
+salute.
+
+"A friend of yours?" I ventured.
+
+"No. Never saw him before."
+
+"But you bowed, I thought."
+
+"Certainly.  He's an officer on duty in time of war, and all civilians
+owe him that courtesy."
+
+I liked that and fancied it were old-time urbanity, though often since I
+have seen it proved that the custom is not obsolete.
+
+A little further on we came to a very jolly squadron, the cooks, who
+were peeling fresh vegetables and pouring them into immense
+wash-boilers, which, when filled, two privates seized by the handles and
+carried towards a big barracks some hundred yards distant.
+
+Presently we hit a cobbled road which must have been a joy to all heavy
+machines, but which nearly jolted us out of our light vehicle.  Patience
+and good humor were very rapidly disappearing when we rounded a curve,
+struck the good macadam, and I saw the twin spires of  St. Jean rising
+majestically against the clear blue summer sky.
+
+At our right I noticed the entrance gate to a chateau over which hung a
+big Red Cross, such as I coveted for my home, and then in a moment we
+were already in a _faubourg_ of Soissons.  It was not unlike the
+entrance to any other provincial city in ordinary times, save that there
+were many red-trousered men mixed in with the other population.  There
+were no chains across the road, but four soldiers in uniform mounted
+guard.  We showed _patte blanche_ and proceeded to ask for the Red Cross
+headquarters.
+
+"Madame Macherez is the president.  You must go to her.  Cross the city
+and go out east towards St. Paul.  Her chateau is there."
+
+Naturally we headed straight for our destination, but were stopped every
+other minute by police who side-tracked us into back streets.  The big
+thoroughfares must be kept clear for the army!
+
+I set down my old friend near the town hall, and told him that I should
+be returning about noon.  If he were ready, I would be glad to give him
+a lift. Would he meet us in front of the _Hotel du Soleil d'Or?_
+
+He was delighted, and promised to be on time.
+
+We crossed the Aisne; I must say rather heedlessly, little dreaming that
+in so short a time it would be the object of such desperate and bloody
+disputes--nor so historically famous.
+
+The Chateau de St. Paul sits, or rather, sat back from the road,
+surrounded by its lovely garden and a high wall.  I left my motor and
+entered the grounds, preceded by a servant who had opened the gate.  In
+a small drawing room I presented myself to a very charming young person
+already installed behind a desk, though it was scarcely half-past eight,
+and explained the object of my visit.
+
+"Madame Macherez will be delighted.  I'm her secretary, and I can assure
+you she will do all she can to further your plans.  Would you mind
+waiting just a few moments?  She'll be down presently.  You see," she
+continued, "we have been up all night.  We suddenly had part of a
+regiment quartered on us, and the officers who slept here were coming
+and going most of the time.  I beg you will excuse the dust, but they
+haven't been gone long enough for us to make things tidy. There were
+twenty here, and two hundred men in the outbuildings which makes quite a
+_remue menage._"
+
+Just then the president of the _Association des Dames Franpaises_ came
+in.
+
+Madame Macherez, a fine looking, elderly woman with iron-gray hair and
+clear blue eyes, is the widow of former Senator Macherez.  Her keen
+understanding and wonderful business ability have won her the respect
+and esteem of two entire nations; both friend and enemy are united in
+their praises of this wonderful person.
+
+I was not long in explaining my intentions--I could supply sixty beds,
+with room for the double; would take all the management of a hospital,
+gladly help with the nursing, but must have a doctor and other
+professional aid.
+
+Madame Macherez accepted my proposition, knew just the person I needed,
+and taking off her badge pinned it on to the lapel of my coat and made
+me a member of her society.
+
+"Now, then, let's get through with the formalities at once.  Here is
+your _carte d'identite_. You must paste your photo on to it.  With that
+and an armlet stamped from the War Department you will have free access
+to all the roads and you won't have to be bothered with other papers.
+Let us go at once to the city hall, where they will stamp their seal on
+your card, which makes it valid for your identity. From there we must
+hunt out the colonel in command and get his seal.  That makes it valid
+with military authorities."
+
+The president's motor was waiting outside the door.
+
+"How long shall we be?"
+
+"Ah, an hour at least."
+
+I turned to my chauffeur who was tampering with his punctured tire.
+
+"Go and see if you can't find a new inner tube, and meet me at the
+_Hotel du Soled d'Or_ where I will lunch, at eleven."
+
+"But I just put in a new inner tube."
+
+"Have you got an extra one?"
+
+"No, but I've my emergency wheel--"
+
+"Never mind.  Another inner tube may come in handy."
+
+"Very well, Madame."
+
+Madame Maeberez was waiting, so I jumped in next her and we drove to the
+town ball.  Though the war was scarcely a week old her office was
+already installed in the Hotel de Ville, and several hospitals were well
+on the way towards complete organization.  In a big room white-capped
+women (the first I had seen of the kind) were counting bandages, linen
+and underclothing, laying out huge piles for such and such a hospital.
+
+While Madame M. was answering numerous questions which besieged her on
+her entrance, her secretary took note of what was lacking in my
+ambulance, promised to forward it at once by motor, and gave me an
+agreement to sign.
+
+In the meantime, someone had carried my card to the mayor who affixed
+his seal, and my armlet appeared as though by magic.
+
+Now, then, for the colonel!  And we hastened away again at a moment's
+notice.
+
+As we drove through the quaint little city, my eye was attracted more
+than once by a splendid bit of Louis XIV architecture.  The college, the
+convent, the churches and even some private residences were wonderful
+examples of that exquisitely decorative period.  As it was my first
+visit to Soissons I regretted not having brought my kodak, but when I
+spoke of this to Madame Macherez she expressed her delight at my
+admiration of her native city, but was extremely glad that I had not
+ventured out alone with a camera.  Unknown persons with photographic
+paraphernalia were suspicious these times.  It was best to leave such
+things at home.
+
+Just then we were winding up a narrow street and the chauffeur was
+tooting in vain, trying to persuade a half-dozen soldiers carrying bales
+of bay on their backs, to make room for us to get by.  With much evident
+reluctance the first man drew a bit to the right, the second vociferated
+something in a picturesque patois, and just as we passed the third, I
+leaned forward and grabbed the driver by the collar.
+
+"Stop, stop a minute!" I gasped.
+
+He must have thought I was mad, and Madame M. probably imagined I had
+suddenly lost my wits, when she saw me plunge out of the motor, race
+towards one of the bales, tear it from the carrier's back with a
+violence that nearly upset the man, and then, throwing my arms about his
+neck, embrace him.
+
+"You?  Already?" gasped H., and then as we realized that we were making
+a public spectacle of ourselves, the color rose to our cheeks.
+
+A hasty explanation followed, in which I told my plans.
+
+"And you, what on earth are you doing here?" I questioned.
+
+"Well--just what you see.  All of us from Villiers have been sent to
+bring horses to the front, and a fine job it is.  I wish you could see
+the nags!  None of them rideable!"
+
+"But after they're delivered--what?"
+
+"I wish I knew myself."
+
+"And when can we meet?"
+
+"I'm afraid that's impossible.  We're off again to-night for God knows
+where!"
+
+And H. seeing that he was already far behind his companions, threw me a
+hasty adieu and was gone!
+
+The colonel was absent, but would return _tout de suite,_ and Madame
+Macberez and I lost nearly an hour waiting.  When he appeared, however,
+he was most gracious, excused himself very politely and immediately
+stamped my card.  Then having all the necessary papers, I begged Madame
+to drop me at the hotel, and to return to her bureau, where I knew there
+was work enough for a half-dozen such as she.  She did as I requested,
+and we parted--she promising to visit Villiers as soon as she could
+dispose of an afternoon.
+
+I was the only woman in the hotel dining room for luncheon.  The food
+was good, but the service impossible, as there were some forty men,
+mostly officers, very hungry, and only one decrepit waiter to do the
+work.  Good humor prevailed, each diner making allowances, and here for
+the first time I heard that expression, destined to become so popular as
+an excuse for almost anything: _Cest la guerre!_
+
+My chauffeur kept me waiting, but my friend the alderman was on time.
+Finally the motor made its appearance.  Something had happened on
+leaving St. Paul in the morning and the poor _hotelier_ had searched the
+entire city for a mechanic, but to no avail.  All were _au service de
+l'armee_.  Finally he had had to patch up things as best he could.  As
+to an extra inner tube--such a thing didn't exist. We would have to take
+our chances with the wheel he had.
+
+We started, but hadn't gone two hundred yards when a back tire blew off!
+
+Well, thank goodness, we hadn't left town.  So I returned to the hotel,
+and while Huberson and the alderman were fixing up damages and adjusting
+the emergency wheel, I had time to read all the back numbers of
+_Illustration,_ which the _Soled d'Or_ possessed, and commence a
+conversation with the proprietress, who sat in the court shelling peas
+for dinner.  She was certain that the war would be over in three months
+at the utmost!
+
+At length I went out to see if I couldn't be of some assistance in the
+motor business, but Huberson said it would be ready in a few moments. As
+far as I could make out, my alderman friend was mostly a decorative
+personality, for he stood there with his hat on the back of his head,
+gesticulating vehemently, but never deigning to help my chauffeur in the
+slightest manner.  When I asked him if he knew Soissons well and
+inquired if he could direct me to certain grocers where I could perhaps
+obtain a few provisions, he insisted on showing me the shops, with an
+alacrity which proved his incompetence at motor repairing.
+
+During that short promenade on foot, we encountered the whole Ninth
+Territorial Regiment--not under arms but _au repos_.  The men were
+seated in front of the barracks reading the papers or idly smoking their
+pipes, and all yearning for "something to do."  Their wish, I fear, has
+been more than satisfied.
+
+Start number two proved successful and we sped along very comfortably
+until we hit that long cobbled road.  The day was exceedingly warm, the
+stones sun-baked, and after the first mile or so I saw Huberson looking
+nervously at his fore wheel. His anxiety was well founded, for half a
+minute later, whizz!--I could feel the rubber splitting!
+
+We stopped and all climbed out.
+
+"It's all up!" he exclaimed.  "Not one--but two tires are burst, and the
+shoe of the emergency wheel is flapping like an old dirty rag!"
+
+"Now, in my time--" began the alderman.
+
+"Never mind about your time, old man.  If you want to get back to Oulchy
+and that mowing machine before Christmas, you've got to pitch in and
+help," cut in Huberson, whose nerves could no longer stand the strain.
+Our friend took the hint and began stripping off his coat.  We were
+eight miles from Soissons, on the upgrade of a cobbled road, full in the
+sun.  It was three P. M. on a stifling August day!
+
+The men must have spent an hour trying to make impossible repairs--they
+knew it was no use walking back to Soissons where aid had already been
+refused, and it was evident from the condition of the tubes that there
+was no hope of mending them.
+
+What to do?
+
+"I'll tell you," said I (and I must admit that I spoke for the sake of
+saying something), "I'll tell you!  Suppose you take out the inner tubes
+and stuff the shoes with grass!"
+
+The men looked at me as if I had suddenly gone out of my mind.  Their
+contempt was so apparent that it wilted me.
+
+"Yes--I'm serious."
+
+And then arose a series of protestations which common sense bade me
+heed, but which didn't advance our cause in the slightest.  When we had
+lost a full half-hour more arguing the question, I once again
+proclaimed my original idea.
+
+The driver glanced at me in despair and shrugged his shoulders.  "The
+least we can do is try."
+
+So saying, we fell to work tearing up grass and weeds.  And that is how
+I came to ride over thirty miles on three grass-stuffed tires, which,
+thanks to the heat, towards the end of the journey began sending forth
+little jets of green liquid much to the astonishment of all those who
+saw us pass.
+
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+The next few days following my eventful trip to Soissons were spent
+superintending the installation of my hospital.  For convenience's sake
+I decided to utilize the entire ground floor, first because there were
+fewer and more spacious apartments, each one being large enough to hold
+ten or twelve beds, thus forming a ward; second, because it would be
+better to avoid carrying the wounded up a flight of stairs.  The rooms
+above could be used in case of emergency.  All this of course
+necessitated the moving of most of my furniture and _objets d'art_, as
+well as the emptying of H.'s much encumbered studio--I having determined
+to keep but a small apartment in the east wing for private use.  It was
+really a tremendous undertaking, far worse than any "spring cleaning" I
+had ever experienced, especially as I was but poorly seconded by my
+much-depleted domestic staff, already more than busy trying to keep the
+farm going.
+
+From the boys--George and Leon--I learned that old father Poupard had
+not yet put in his appearance since his departure three days before with
+his nag, and that mother Poupard had abandoned her belligerent attitude
+and had resorted to tears. She could be seen three times a day, on her
+return from the fields, standing by the bridge corner, wailing her
+distress to any passerby who had time enough to stop and listen. Poupard
+now possessed all the qualities of mankind and it was probably through
+his noble soft-heartedness that some ill had befallen him.  What a
+misfortune, especially as the vines needed so much attention.
+
+Sunday, the ninth, I was preparing to go to early service at Charly (our
+own curate had been called to join his regiment) when on crossing the
+bridge, a bicycle whisked by the victoria.
+
+"He's coming--he's coming!" called the rider, as he passed us.
+
+"Who?" I said, rising, as George drew up.
+
+"Father Poupard!" called the boy.  "I'm going to tell his wife!"
+
+It was evident that the news had spread like wildfire, for looking up
+the street, I could see the villagers hurrying from their cottages.
+Already the hum of voices reached my ears, and anxious not to miss what
+promised to be a most dramatic meeting, I told George to drive to one
+side of the road and stop, and there we would await developments.
+
+In less than a minute mother Poupard appeared.  She was as good as her
+word, for now that she knew her lord and master was no longer in danger,
+she had cast sentiment to the winds and was actually brandishing that
+"big stick!"
+
+"Ah, the good-for-nothing old drunkard!" she vociferated as she ran.
+"Just let me lay hands on him!"
+
+Around the bend of the road came the excited peasants.  They pressed so
+closely about someone that until they were almost upon us I could not
+distinguish who it might be.  Then as mother Poupard pushed her way
+through the crowd, it parted and displayed her husband; drunk, but with
+pride; delirious, but with glory--proudly bearing his youngest grandson
+in his arms, leading the other by the hand.
+
+"Oh, Joseph--" gasped his astonished wife, every bit of anger gone from
+her voice.
+
+And then followed a very touching family scene in which the delinquent
+was forgiven, and during which time one of the bystanders explained that
+father Poupard had walked from Chateau-Thierry to Epernay, to fetch his
+orphan grandchildren, and had returned on foot, carrying first one and
+then the other accomplishing the hundred miles in not quite four days! A
+heroic undertaking for a man over seventy!
+
+The sun rose and set several times ere my interior arrangements were
+completed and nothing extraordinary happened to break the monotony of my
+new routine.  On Tuesday, the eleventh, the strange buzzing of a motor
+told us that an aeroplane was not far distant.  Our chateau lies in the
+valley between two hills, so to obtain a clear view of the horizon, I
+hurried to the roof with a pair of field glasses.
+
+Presently a tiny black speck appeared and as it grew within the scope of
+my glass, it was easy to recognize the shape of a _Taube_.  That was my
+introduction to the enemy.
+
+Without waiting a second I rushed to the telephone and asked central at
+Charly (the telephones now belonged to the army) to pass on the message
+that a German aeroplane had been sighted from the Chateau de Villiers,
+and was flying due west, head on for Paris.  The noise had grown louder
+and louder, and when I returned to my post of observation, I found most
+of the servants assembled, all craning their necks.  On came the
+_Taube_, and there we stood, gaping, never realizing an instant that we
+were running the slightest risk.  The machine passed directly over our
+heads, not low enough, however, for us to distinguish its contents with
+the naked eye.
+
+"There's another!" shouted someone.  And turning our backs on the enemy,
+we gave our entire attention to a second speck that had suddenly risen
+on the horizon.
+
+It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the armored head of the
+ever-on-coming aeroplane glittered splendidly in the golden rays of the
+afternoon sun.
+
+"_Cest un francais!_" cried George.
+
+"_Non!_"
+
+Allowing that an aeroplane flies at the rate of a mile a minute, one can
+easily imagine that we had not long to wait before number two sped over
+us.  Through my glass I was able to recognize the tri-color cockade
+painted underneath the plane, and when I announced this there went up a
+wild shriek of joy.
+
+At that moment a loud report in the west announced that the Germans had
+begun their deadly work on undefended territory.
+
+"That's a bomb for the railway crossing at Nanteuil, I'll bet!" said
+Leon, and while I was realizing that that projectile might just as well
+have been for us, the others were gesticulating and bowling
+encouragement to their compatriot some few hundred yards above them, as
+though he could bear every word they said:
+
+"Go it, old man!"
+
+"Bring down that cursed blackbird!"  "_Vive la France!_" and other
+similar ejaculations were drowned by the noise of the motor.
+
+The chase was on!  It was more exciting than any horserace I ever
+witnessed. The Frenchman was rapidly gaining on the other, but would
+they come into combat before they vanished from our horizon?  That was
+the question that filled us with anguish.
+
+On, on they sped, growing smaller and smaller every second.  Presently
+it became impossible to distinguish them apart, but we knew that they
+had come within range of each other, for the two specks rose and fell by
+turns now soaring high, now dipping precipitately, seeming almost to
+touch at times.  Then, just as they were about to disappear, one of them
+suddenly collapsed and fell.  Which one, we never knew.
+
+Towards dusk the _garde-champtre_ appeared and left orders that George
+and Leon must take their turns at mounting guard.  Four hours right out
+of the sleep of a peasant boy especially when he is overworked, is
+likely to leave him useless the next day.  It provoked me a little, but
+then it was duty and they must obey. The boys came on at eleven and
+having decided it would be better to get in an hour or so of rest
+beforehand, they retired to the hay loft.  I promised to look in on them
+in case they should fail to waken, and at the appointed time I put on my
+sweater and went down to find, as I had expected, both youths slumbering
+peacefully, blissfully unconscious of the time.  Poor little chaps, it
+seemed a pity to wake them, but what was to be done?  Presently an idea
+of replacing them myself dawned upon me: a second later it so enchanted
+me that I wouldn't have had them wake for anything.  The whole thing was
+beginning to be terribly romantic.
+
+Slipping quietly away, I went to my room and got my revolver, and then
+going to the south front of the chateau, I softly whistled for my dogs.
+Three big greyhounds, a shepherd dog and a setter responded immediately,
+and just as I was about to shut the little yellow door, old Betsy, my
+favorite Boston bull, came panting around the corner of the house.  With
+these five as bodyguard I sauntered up the road in the brilliant
+moonlight, arriving in front of the town hall just as the clock was
+striking eleven.  I must say that my appearance and announcement rather
+shocked two elderly men who had been on the watch since seven o'clock.
+
+Monsieur Demarcq protested that such a thing as a woman mounting guard
+had never been beard of, but I swiftly argued him out of that idea. What
+was required of me? That I stop every passer-by and every vehicle?
+Didn't he think me capable of doing so?  And I pointed to my dogs and my
+revolver.  The weight of the argument was so evidently on my side that
+they had nothing to do but to submit, and laughingly Mr. Foeter put me
+in possession of a heavy old gun, three packages of cartridges, and the
+lantern.  Then once again they asked if I couldn't be dissuaded, to
+which I jokingly replied that I would set my dogs after them and drive
+them home if they didn't make haste to go there at once. That admonition
+proved more efficacious than I had dared hope, and assured me that my
+faithful beasts rejoiced in a ferocious reputation.
+
+All sorts of fantastic ideas flitted through my brain as I took
+possession of my post.  I began, however, by setting the lantern in the
+middle of the road, exactly in the center of the chain, as a warning to
+any on-comer.  Then by the moonlight, I proceeded to examine my gun.  It
+was a very primitive arm, and after carefully weighing it in my hands, I
+decided to abandon all thought of stalking up and down the road with
+such an implement on my shoulder.  That kind of glory was not worth the
+morrow's ache, so I deposited the antiquated weapon in the hallway of
+the school house and resolved to rely on my Browning.
+
+Afterwards I came out and seating myself on the bench with my back
+against the wall, waited for something to happen.  My dogs seemed to
+have comprehended the gravity of my mission, and crouched close to my
+feet, cocking their ears at the slightest sound.
+
+Little by little the great harvest moon climbed high behind our old
+Roman church, perched on the embankment opposite, bathing everything in
+molten silver, and causing the tall pine-trees in the little cemetery
+adjacent to cast long black shadows on the road.  Down towards the
+Marne, the frogs were croaking merrily somewhere in the distance a night
+locust buzzed, and alarmed by the striking of midnight the owls who
+nested in the belfry, fluttered out into the night and settling on the
+church top, began their plaintive hooting.  Still no one passed.
+
+Such calm reigned that it was almost impossible to believe that over
+there, beyond those distant hills, battle and slaughter were probably
+raging.
+
+Presently a shiver warned me that I had been seated long enough; so,
+marking a hundred steps, I began to pace slowly up and down, watching
+the ever-changing firmament.  The first gray streaks of dawn were
+beginning to lighten the east when a growl from Tiger made me face about
+very abruptly.  I must admit that my heart began beating abnormally, and
+the hand in my pocket gripped my revolver as though it were a live
+animal and likely to escape.
+
+A second later all the dogs repeated the growl, and then I could hear
+the clicking of a pair of sabots on the road.  The noise approached, and
+my guardians looked towards me, every muscle in their bodies straining,
+waiting for the single word, "_Apporte!_"
+
+"_Couchez!_" I hissed, and awaited developments.
+
+The footsteps drew nearer and nearer, and in a moment the stooping
+figure of an old peasant came over the brow of the hill.  The gait was
+too familiar to be mistaken.  But what on earth was father Poupard doing
+on the highroad at that hour?
+
+When he was within speaking distance I came out from the shadow of the
+wall and put the question.  If he had suddenly been confronted with a
+spook I do not think the old man could have been more astonished.  He
+stopped dead still, as though not knowing whether to turn about and run,
+or to advance and take the consequences. Realizing his embarrassment, I
+hastily proffered a few words of greeting, and then he chose the latter
+prerogative.
+
+"-Vous?_" he said, when at length he found his tongue. "_Vous?_"
+
+"Yes--why not?"
+
+"Who's with you?"
+
+"Nobody.  Why?"
+
+He seemed more embarrassed than ever.  Evidently he hadn't yet "caught
+on."
+
+"What can I do for you?" I continued.
+
+He still hesitated, looking first at me and then at a bottle he carried
+in his hand.  Finally he resolved to make a clean breast of it.
+
+"Why," he said, "I didn't expect to find a woman here, least of all _une
+chatelaine_.  It rather startled me!  You see, I've got into the habit
+of coming round towards dawn.  The boys begin to get chilly about that
+time, and are glad enough to have a go at my fruit brandy.  They say I'm
+too old to mount guard, so I must serve my country as best I can.  Will
+you have some--my own brew?"
+
+I declined, but he was not offended; yet he seemed reluctant to go.
+
+"Sit down," I said.  "It won't belong before some of the men will be
+passing by on their way to the fields, and then you won't have made your
+journey for nothing."
+
+Pere Potipard gladly accepted, and after a generous swig at his brandy,
+began telling me about what happened at Villiers during the German
+invasion in 1870. As he talked on, night gradually disappeared, and when
+the clock in the belfry tolled three A. M. my successors came to relieve
+me.  I blew out the lantern and walked home in broad daylight.
+
+The boys looked very sheepish when they learned what had happened, but
+as I did not boast of my exploit, merely taking it as a matter of
+course, they had no way of approaching the subject, and like many other
+things of the kind, it was soon forgotten in the pursuing of  our
+onerous daily tasks, and the moral anxiety we were experiencing.
+
+There seemed to be no end to the fruit season that summer.  The lengthy
+table in the servants' hall was literally covered with glasses
+containing jam and jelly of every description, awaiting their paper
+lids.  Nini said there were over five hundred--to me it seemed
+thousands, and I was heartily glad of a lull before the hospital should
+open.  And I remember distinctly that the last thing I prepared was some
+thirty quarts of black currant brandy; that is to say, I had poured the
+raw alcohol on to the fruit and set the jars aside to await completion
+six months later!  Shortly afterwards I received word by a roundabout
+route from Soissons that I might expect my trained nurses and supplies
+at any moment.  In the meantime I was without word from H. since that
+eventful meeting a week before.
+
+Saturday, the fifteenth of August, was as little like a religious fete
+day as one can imagine.  At an early hour the winnowing machine rumbled
+up the road to the square beside the chateau.  Under the circumstances
+each one must take his turn at getting in his wheat and oats, and there
+was no choice of day or hour. Besides, the village had already been
+called on to furnish grain and fodder for the army, and the harvest must
+be measured and declared at once.  This only half concerned me, for my
+hay was already in the lofts before the war began, and two elderly men
+who had applied for work as bunchers, had been engaged for the last week
+in August.
+
+After service at Charly, I walked across to the post office.  The post
+mistress and telegraph operator, a delightful provincial maiden lady,
+always welcomes me most cordially, and at present I fancied she might
+have some news that had not yet reached Villiers.  (Mind you, since the
+second of August we had had but two newspapers, and those obtained with
+what difficulty!)  The _bureau_ now belonged to the army, and for a
+fortnight Mademoiselle Maupoix and her two young girl assistants had
+hardly had time to sleep, so busy were they transmitting ciphered
+dispatches, passing on orders, etc.  It was to this physical exhaustion
+that I attributed the swollen countenance of my little friend when she
+opened the door to her private sitting-room.  It was evident she had
+something to tell, but her exquisite breeding forbade that she go
+headlong into her subject, before having graciously inquired for my
+health, my husband and news of us both since last we met.
+
+"And the war, Mademoiselle, do you know anything about what has
+happened?"
+
+Two great tears swelled to Mademoiselle's eyes, which, however, bore a
+triumphant expression.
+
+"Madame--the French flag is flying over Mulhouse--but it cost fifteen
+thousand lives!  That is official news.  I cannot give you further
+details nor say how I obtained what I have told you."
+
+Then the armies had met and war was now a bloody reality!
+
+I shuddered.  Here was news of a victory and all we could do was weep!
+Once again the sons of France had generously shed their blood to
+reconquer their righteous belongings!
+
+I left Mademoiselle and rode home in silence. Should I tell the
+villagers?  Why not?  But how?
+
+The question answered itself, for as we approached the town hall I saw
+the school master and a number of elderly men seated on the bench beside
+the chain. When we pulled up to give Cesar breathing spell, they all
+came clustering around the carriage.  Did I know anything?  Had I heard
+anything?
+
+"Gentlemen," I said, with a decided huskiness in my throat, "the French
+flag flies over, Mulhouse, but fifteen thousand men are _hors de
+combat!_"
+
+Joy, followed almost instantaneously by an expression of sorrow,
+literally transfigured all their faces.  Tears sprang to the eyes of
+several, falling silently down their furrowed cheeks, and without
+uttering a word, as one man they all uncovered!  The respect for the
+glorious dead immediately abolished any desire for boisterous triumph.
+
+There was no necessity to add any comment, so I continued my route to
+the chateau.
+
+One night towards the end of the following week, I was awakened by the
+banging of doors and the shattering of window panes.  A violent storm
+had suddenly blown up and the wind was working havoc with unfastened
+blinds and shutters.  There was no use thinking of holding a candle or a
+lamp.  Besides, the lightning flashed so brightly that I was able to
+grope my way through the long line of empty rooms, tighten the
+fastenings, and shut the windows.  I had reached the second story
+without mishap and without hearing the slightest footstep within doors.
+All my little servants were so exhausted that even the thunder had not
+roused them. Presently, however, the sound of the gate bell broke on my
+ears.
+
+"Pooh," thought I.  "Some tree or branch has fallen on the wire.  Catch
+me getting wet going out to see what it is."
+
+The ringing continued, but more violently.  And at regular intervals.  I
+went down to the middle window and stuck my head out.  At the same
+moment, my dogs made one wild rush towards the gate and a woman's voice
+called, "_Madame Huard, ouvrez, s'il vous plait!_"
+
+By the light of another flash, I could distinguish a dripping figure in
+white. "Bah! someone is ill or dying and wants me to telephone for a
+doctor!"
+
+So I pulled the bell communicating with the servants' quarters, threw on
+a few warmer clothes, and went below.  At the foot of the stairs I came
+upon George and Leon much disheveled, but wide awake.
+
+"There is someone in distress at the gate," I hurriedly explained. "Call
+off the dogs and go and see who it is.  I'll light up in the refectory
+and wait for you there."
+
+They obeyed, and in the course of three or four minutes returned,
+bringing with them a much-bedraggled but smiling woman on whose coat was
+pinned the Red Cross medal.
+
+"I'm the trained nurse.  Madame Macherez sent me here to help with your
+hospital."
+
+"Oh!  I'm sure you're welcome, Madame--"
+
+"Guix is my name.  I received my orders to join you here three days ago,
+and communications are so bad that I've come most of the way on foot.  I
+humbly apologize for arriving at such an hour and in such a state."
+
+I hurried Madame Guix off to her apartment, told the boys to wake Julie
+and have her send us a cup of tea and some refreshments in my little
+drawing-room. Though it was the middle of August, the rain and dampness
+were so penetrating that I did not hesitate to touch a match to a
+brushwood fire that is always prepared in my grate.  In a short time my
+guest reappeared and as she refreshed herself, I busily plied her with
+questions concerning the events of the last two weeks.
+
+Madame Guix, a woman but little over thirty, came from Choisy-le-Roi
+(the city of famous Rouget de l'Isle).  _Merciere_ by trade, on the
+death of husband and baby she had adopted the career of _infirmiere_,
+and at the outbreak of the war found herself in possession of her
+diploma and ready to serve.  She had enlisted at the big military
+hospital her native town had installed in the school house, and for
+three long weeks had sat and waited for something to do.
+
+"Are there no wounded there?"
+
+"Not when I left."
+
+"Have you ever yet had occasion to nurse a soldier?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  Four days after the declaration when the Forty-ninth
+Territorials came through Choisy on their forced march to the front, we
+were suddenly filled up with cases of congestion.  You see, that
+regiment is Composed of men mostly over forty, and what with the heat,
+their guns and their sacs, and unaccustomed to such a life, many of them
+couldn't stand the strain.  My first patient was a sad little man named
+Bouteron.
+
+"Bouteron?  What Bouteron?"
+
+"Marcel Bouteron."
+
+"No!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Is he dead?"
+
+"No."
+
+I breathed again.  Thank God!   Bouteron, Bouteron, our Jolly little
+Bouteron, gaiety itself, who three weeks ago was the very life and soul
+of our last house party!  Was it possible?  Already "down and out!"  And
+to think that this strange woman should bring me the news.  I drew my
+chair nearer to Madame Guix and for two long hours we talked, as only
+women can.
+
+From Choisy she had sought to exercise her _métier_ to better advantage
+by approaching the front, so had addressed herself to Madame Macherez in
+Soissons. From there she had been sent to me.  Did she think there was
+any possibility of nursing wounded in our hospital?  We were so far
+south.
+
+She was confident that we would not be empty long.  Bloody battles were
+being waged from Alsace throughout the entire north.  Belgian territory
+had been violated and Liege was putting up a heroic defense.
+
+But our doctor and the pharmaceutical products?  From where and when
+would they arrive?  Food and bedding would go a long way, but were
+hardly sufficient to start a hospital!
+
+We were to count on Madame Macherez for both.  She had promised to do
+her utmost to reach us with our supplies, but the rules of circulation
+on the roads were so severe that even Red Cross supply cars had to stand
+in line and await permits.  In the meantime we must organize as best we
+could.
+
+The following morning a few moments' intercourse proved to me that
+Madame Guix's competence extended far beyond the bounds of her _métier_.
+She was a splendid worker, and no task was too difficult, so long as it
+furthered our purpose--namely, that of being ready in case of
+emergency.
+
+By noon we had decided that it would be useless to count upon my
+servants to help in the hospital.  They already had all they could do.
+So I went and asked our mayor if he knew of any women who, _de bonne
+volonte_, would come and assist us. Madame Guix volunteered to teach
+them the rudiments of bandaging between two and five on the coming
+afternoons, and we would establish a _roulement_ so that the little time
+that each disposed of might be properly and efficiently utilized.
+
+The drum beat and made the announcement, and at two the same afternoon
+we had the satisfaction of welcoming some twenty women.  In the meantime
+every bit of old linen I possessed was brought down and put on the
+dining room table, then measured and torn in _formes rilglementaires_
+ready to be sterilized and put aside.  Half a dozen bands were left out
+as models and it was with these that Madame Guix commenced her
+demonstrations.  She soon put her listeners at ease, and presently all
+were anxious to try a hand at bandaging.  The naive clumsiness of these
+poor souls was extremely pathetic, but such was their patriotism that
+they never considered themselves ridiculous for a single instant, and
+stood there fumbling the long linen rolls with bands that were hands
+more accustomed to wielding a spade or directing a plough.  Again and
+again they would recommence certain difficult proceedings, taking turns
+at playing the dummy, and offering as models calves and biceps of which
+many an athlete might have been proud.
+
+Of the score of women but two or three really acquired any facility, but
+we considered that sufficient, for in time of need the others could
+easily be put to work at necessary matters which were of less vital
+importance.
+
+From the windows of the dining-room where the _cours_ was held, we could
+look down the driveway and see all the children of the neighborhood
+standing on the wall of the moat, craning their necks in the hope of
+catching a glimpse of what was going on in the chateau.  It was
+evidently an interesting diversion, for every afternoon they reappeared,
+in spite of George's threats to send for the _gendarmes_.  The little
+demons seemed to know that the gendarmes were too busy to give them any
+attention, and I assure you, they profited by their liberty. Little John
+Poupard and his five-year-old brother were the leaders of the band, and
+I trembled lest some day their curiosity lead to a tragic end!
+
+Nor were my fears in vain, for one afternoon we beard a shriek and a
+splash, followed by cries of terror, and we knew for certain that some
+one had fallen into the moat.  The embankment is not eight feet high,
+and at that season of the year there is more mud than water in the
+river, so I was certain that whoever had fallen in was in no danger of
+drowning--but nevertheless I hastened with the others to the spot.
+
+George, who had also heard the noise, reached the scene of action before
+we did, and on our arrival we found him knee deep in the mud, preparing
+to hoist a little limp body on to the bank.
+
+Johnny Poupard!
+
+"Good heavens!" thought I.  "Decidedly that family had no intention of
+letting the village rust for want of dramatic situations!"
+
+"He's merely fainted; more frightened than hurt," declared Madame Guix,
+who had literally pounced upon him.  "Now then, ladies," she said,
+turning towards the women who stood gaping at us, "now then, here's a
+splendid opportunity to distinguish yourselves."
+
+And so little John Poupard was carried into the infirmary.  As first
+patient you may be sure that be received every attention.  Some ammonia
+was held under his nose.  This soon brought him around and after
+carefully sounding all his bones, Madame Guix decided that there were no
+fractures.  And the bandaging began!
+
+It makes me smile when I think of it all now--for the only wounds Johnny
+possessed were a few scratches on his bands, knees and head, caused by
+his sudden contact with a patch of stinging nettles which had sprung up
+on the river banks.
+
+Under ordinary circumstances, the child would probably have picked
+himself up and walked home, forgetting his woes an hour later.  But real
+live models who are actually in pain, are few and far between,
+especially at "courses" such as ours, and the amount of professional
+skill that was expended on that little urchin ought to have cured six of
+his kind.  But it all made the women so happy!
+
+At the end of half an hour, Johnny Poupard looked more like an Egyptian
+mummy than a human being, so much so that when his grandmother arrived
+upon the scene of action, she very nearly fainted and all but became
+patient number two at Auxiliary Hospital No. 7!
+
+We had some little difficulty reassuring her, but when her prodigal
+grandson sat up and asked for bread and jam, she forgot her anxiety and
+began scolding him for daring to give her such a fright, and us so much
+trouble.
+
+* * * *
+
+Towards the end of the third week in August the mobilization was
+considered finished and the Eastern Railroad opened again to the public;
+its time tables of course being limited and subject to instant change,
+the company refusing to be responsible for delays.  To us at the chateau
+this meant very little, save that we would receive our mail and the
+daily papers more frequently.  However, several friends who fancied I
+was unsafe alone and so far from the capital, kindly ventured to start
+to Villiers to try to persuade me to come up to town. It took them seven
+hours to reach Meaux (thirty miles from Paris); they were obliged to
+sleep there because it was because it was announced that their train
+went no further--and worse than all, they were eighteen hours getting
+home.
+
+"Wheren't people furious?" I questioned, when afterwards they told me of
+their adventure.
+
+"Not in the slightest.  Everyone bore it patiently as part of his
+tribute to his country.  'The army first' was their motto."
+
+The first batch of mail brought me any number of stale letters, which
+had arrived and been held in Paris over three weeks.  Invitations to a
+house party in Belgium and things of that kind that seemed so strangely
+out of place now. The two most important documents, however, came, one
+from my cousin, Marie Huard (Superior at the Convent of the Infant Jesus
+at Madrid) and the other from Elizabeth Gauthier.
+
+My cousin had taken upon herself to locate and communicate with every
+member of the Huard family called to arms (and they are numerous, when
+one considers that H. has no less than twelve married uncles!) and she
+enclosed me a sort of map, or family tree, indicating the names, ages,
+regiments, etc., of some fifty cousins, begging me to write and
+encourage them from time to time.
+
+Elizabeth Gauthier's letter bore a black border--and I trembled as I
+opened it. She was in Paris alone, and mourning the loss of her eldest
+brother, killed at the battle of Mulhouse, the ninth of August.  Her
+solitude preyed upon her, and she announced her departure for her
+sister's chateau in Burgundy.
+
+That was the first real sadness that the war had brought me so far.  It
+quite upset me, for Jean Bernard was not only a delightful friend, but
+one of the most promising engineers of the younger generation in France.
+Both family, friends and country might well deplore such a loss.
+
+Even the making and hoisting of a huge Red Cross flag over the chateau
+failed to arouse my enthusiasm all that day.  The blow was too cruel and
+had stimulated fears which heretofore had lain dormant within me.
+
+The next day, however, I was not permitted to brood over my grief, for
+Yvonne (she of the poultry farm) fell ill with a severe attack of
+sciatica, which kept her in her bed, every movement producing a scream
+of agony.
+
+Of course Madame Guix was there to lend a hand, but that hardly altered
+the situation, so I was obliged to ask the boys to give another "pull"
+and try to be equal  to the work.  Lleon accepted with such alacrity
+that for the first time it dawned on me that perhaps he had a soft spot
+in his heart for my pretty little goose girl, and this unsuspected
+romance, interwoven with the joys and anxieties of the moment, seemed
+all the more charming.
+
+To cap the climax of misfortune, old Cesar had run a nail into his hoof
+and Madame Guix spent most of her time between injections of oxygen on
+the first floor, and iodine and flaxseed poultices in the stables.  This
+of course meant that all errands outside the village must be made on
+bicycle, and George was "mustered into service."  Towards noon on the
+27th he made his first return trip from Charly, bringing the mail and
+the papers, and a very excited countenance.
+
+"Madame, I've seen one!" he shouted, as I appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Seen what?"
+
+"_Un casque a' point!_"
+
+"A what!"
+
+"Yes--a pointed helmet.  I was standing by the post office in Charly
+when a long line of motors passed by on the road to Paris.  I recognized
+the Belgium uniform, and one of the soldiers leaned out and held up a
+German helmet!  What a trophy!"
+
+"The Belgians!  What on earth are they doing down here?" thought I.  And
+George guessed my question.
+
+"Oh," he continued, "you see their regiment was cut in two by the
+Germans at Charleville and those who escaped managed to get motors and
+are on their way home--by a round-about route to Antrwerp via Havre.
+The hotel keeper said so. She offered some wine to one motor full that
+stopped."
+
+If that were true it was an amazing bit of news!  Then things were not
+going as well as the now very reticent papers led one to suppose.  But
+it all seemed so very distant that I refused to worry.
+
+However, I was about to seek out Madame Guix and tell her what George
+had reported when an amusing sight caught my eye.
+
+From her open window, towards which she had asked that we push her bed,
+Yvonne amused herself by calling her ducklings.
+
+"Bour-ree--bour-ree!"
+
+Then from the farmyard a good two hundred yards distant, would rise the
+reply, "Quack!  Quack!  Quack!"
+
+Big and small recognized the call of their little mistress and hastened
+to respond.
+
+"Bouree-bour-ree-bouree!" called Yvonne again and again.
+
+Evidently the ducks decided to hold a consultation and send delegates to
+see what on earth prevented their friend from caring for them in person
+since they could hear her voice.  For as I looked across the lawn
+towards the door, imagine my surprise on catching sight of some thirty
+or forty Rouenese ducks of all sizes waddling up the steps and into the
+vestibule.
+
+"Bour-ree, bouree!" Yvonne continued.
+
+"Quack, quack, quack!" came the reply, and when I reached the entrance
+hall, I found them all clustered together at the foot of the staircase,
+their beads cocked on one side, awaiting a decision of their drake
+before undertaking to mount the marble stairway.
+
+That same afternoon the _cour d'infirmieres_ transported itself to the
+lawn in front of the chateau.  It was too splendid weather to stay
+indoors.  The demonstrations were finished and most of the women had
+retired, when one of those who remained lifted her finger and asked for
+silence.  "Listen," she said, "the cannon!"  She didn't need to go any
+further.  In less than a second's time we were straining our ears
+towards the east!
+
+"There!" she said, "there it goes again!"
+
+Three of us had heard a sound which strangely resembled the popping of a
+cork at a very great distance.  Remembering my grandmother's Indian
+stories, I stretched out on the grass with my ear to the ground.  This
+time I heard the rolling so distinctly that my face must have altered,
+for two of the woman shuddered and took hasty leave.
+
+In a second I guessed that they were off to tell the news--so I made
+light of it by declaring that it must be the trying-out of some heavy
+artillery at Chalons; but when Madame Guix and I found ourselves alone,
+we looked at each other with interrogation points in our eyes.
+
+We thought of our hospital, of our supplies, of our perfect uselessness
+unless Soissons could yet reach us--and I resolved to go down to the
+druggist at Charly and see what could be done.  The following morning,
+Saturday, the twenty-ninth--I betook myself to Charly and there managed
+to beg the elements of a rudimentary infirmary from the old pharmacist,
+who must have thought me crazy.  Absorbent cotton I was able to procure
+in small rolled packages from the draper, and promising to send the boys
+down in the afternoon with a small band cart, I returned home, without
+having observed anything abnormal save the frequent passage of autos
+towards Paris--all going top speed and loaded with the queerest
+occupants and baggage.
+
+On my return great excitement reigned around our gate, for a private
+automobile containing wounded had halted on seeing our Red Cross flag,
+and Madame Guix welcomed them in.
+
+They were _petit blesses_, all able to travel, probably suffering more
+from heat and privation than from their wounds.  They had no orders to
+stop, but hoped we would let them rest a bit before going further--and
+could we give them something to eat?
+
+All this was very fortunate considering our precarious situation and we
+gladly did the best we knew how.  There were six poor chaps belonging to
+different regiments, but all so tired that it seemed cruel to prevent
+their snatching a rest by plying them with questions.  We could do that
+later on.
+
+The lads were hardly stretched out when another motor drew up before the
+gate. This one contained besides three privates a young officer with his
+arm in a sling, and he asked if we could give them water.  Leon told
+them that they would be very welcome if they would care to come in and
+rest--there were already a half-dozen wounded asleep in the house.  At
+these words the lieutenant jumped down and asked for the _medicin-chef_.
+He was rather startled when I appeared, and told him that there was no
+military authority as yet installed at the chateau.
+
+"Then I must take all the responsibility of the men," he said very
+kindly but firmly.  "I'm sorry, but they cannot remain here.  I must
+deliver them safe at some big center outside the zone of operations."
+
+The time had come for questions--and I learned with amazement that Liege
+had fallen, Belgium was invaded, and that hard fighting was going on at
+St. Quentin, but eighty miles away.  "The cannon of yesterday was no
+target practice," thought I.  The men all seemed so hopeful, though,
+that we never felt a qualm.
+
+"As you will, Monsieur," I said, and the weary boys were wakened and
+hurried off before we had time to ask names, addresses or any further
+details.
+
+All this had transpired so rapidly that we had had no time to call in
+our assistants, and presently Madame Guix and I found ourselves alone in
+the empty vestibule.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+Nothing further happened that afternoon.  Madame Guix's course went on
+as usual, with perhaps a little more animation in the conversation, and
+much speculation as to when and where those who had stopped at the
+chateau had been wounded.  No one really knew.  To tell the truth,
+though later Madame Guix and I had asked them, the soldiers themselves
+had but a very indistinct idea of time and date or whereabouts.
+
+That night I was awakened by the low rumbling of heavy carts on the road
+in front of the chateau.  Fancying that perhaps it was artillery on its
+way to the front, I put on my dressing gown and went as far as the gate.
+There in the pale moonlight I beheld a long stream of carriages and
+wagons of every description piled high with household goods, and filled
+with women and children.  The men walked beside the horses to prevent
+collision, for as far as eye could see, the lamentable _cortege_
+extended down the hill.
+
+What did this mean?
+
+"Who are you?" I called to one of the men as they passed.
+
+"Belgians--refugees."
+
+Refugees!  My mind flew back to descriptions of the French Revolution
+and the Reign of Terror, when so many people fled for their lives!  What
+nonsense!  Were we not in the twentieth century?  Wasn't there a Peace
+Palace at The Hague?  My thoughts became muddled.
+
+Opening the gate, I went out and accosted another man.
+
+"Won't you come in and rest?"
+
+"No, we can't.  We must make our twenty miles by dawn--and rest during
+the heat of the day."
+
+"But why do you leave home?"
+
+"Because the savages burned us out!"
+
+Bah, the man must be dreaming!
+
+I turned back and addressed myself to another:
+
+"What's your hurry?" I queried
+
+"They're on our heels!" came the reply.
+
+Surely this one was madder than the other!
+
+A third did not deign to reply, sturdily marching on ahead, his eyes
+fixed on the road in front of him.
+
+On top of a farm cart half filled with bay I saw the prostrate form of a
+woman with two others kneeling beside her ministering to her wants.  In
+the trap that followed was the most sorrowful group of old men and
+middle-aged women I ever hope to see.  All were sobbing.  Besides them
+rode two big boys on bicycles.  I stopped one of these.
+
+"What's the matter with her?" I questioned, pointing to the woman on the
+cart.
+
+"She's crazy."
+
+"?"
+
+"Yes, lost her mind."
+
+"How, when, where?"
+
+"Two days ago, when we left X.  (Try as I may, I cannot recall the name
+of the little Belgian town be mentioned.)  She was ill in bed with a
+fever when the Germans set fire to the place--barely giving us time to
+hoist her into the cart. Her husband lingered behind to scrape a few
+belongings together.  In spite of our efforts, she would stand up on the
+cart, and suddenly we heard an explosion and she saw her house burst
+into flame.  She fainted.  Outside in the woods we waited an hour, but
+her husband never came.  Perhaps it's just as well, for when she woke up
+her mind was a blank!"
+
+Ye gods!  I rubbed my eyes.  It couldn't be possible that all this was
+true!  I was asleep!  It was merely a horrible nightmare.  But no--the
+carts rolled on in the pale moonlight carrying their heavy burdens of
+human misery.
+
+It was more than I could stand.  All thought of sleep had vanished, so I
+went and woke Madame Guix.  We dressed and descended to the kitchen,
+where with a few smoldering embers, we soon managed to light a good
+fire.  Water was set to boil and in half an hour's time we carried out
+to the bridge two huge pails of hot coffee, a pail of cold water, and
+one of wine.  No one refused our offerings, and the hearty "God bless
+you's" of those kindly souls brought tears to our eyes more than once.
+
+Dawn, Monday, August 31st, found us still at our posts.  I rang the farm
+bell, assembled my servants, and told them we would abandon all but the
+most necessary farm work and minister to the wants of the refugees.  By
+eight o'clock they had peeled and prepared vegetables enough to fill two
+huge copper pots, and the soup was set to boil.  And still the long line
+of heavy vehicles followed one another down the road: moving vans,
+delivery wagons, huge drays, and even little three-wheeled carts drawn
+by dogs, rolled on towards the south.
+
+When asked where they were going, most of the people replied, "Straight
+ahead of us, _a' la grace de Dieu_."
+
+By the morning the heat had grown intolerable and a splendid looking man
+got down from a cart and came towards me.  Might he turn his party into
+the drive and rest a bit in the shade?
+
+I was only too willing, and gladly offered hot soup and stewed fruit to
+any who would accept.
+
+Two long heavy drays each drawn by a pair of the handsomest big bay
+horses with creamy manes that I have ever seen, pulled up in the
+courtyard.  Impromptu seats had been arranged in the wagons and from
+these climbed down some twenty or thirty old women, children and men,
+worn out by the fatigue, anxiety, and want of sleep. My heart went out
+to them, and in a generous moment I was about to offer them my beds so
+they could get a good rest before starting off again, but on second
+thought it dawned on me that I must keep them for the army!  What a
+pretty thing it would be if another auto full of wounded suddenly
+appeared and found all my wards occupied!
+
+I explained my position.  They grasped it at once.  It was too good of
+me.  They were all well and needed no beds--would I let them sleep in
+the bay for a few hours?
+
+But better still, I suggested, if the boys would carry a dozen or so
+extra mattresses I possessed into the harness room, the women might lie
+there, and the men could take to the hay.
+
+They had food, plenty of it, bought on the way from village dealers who
+had not yet been seized with panic and shut up shop.  So I told them
+that instead of building individual fires they might cook their noonday
+meal on my huge range. They might also use my kitchen utensils and china
+if they would wash up, and thus save unpacking their own.  Apparently
+this was unheard of generosity and I cannot tell you how many times that
+morning my soul was recommended to the tender protection of the Blessed
+Virgin.
+
+While the women prepared the meal, George had taken the men to the
+wash-house, where soap and water worked miracles on their dusty faces;
+one by one all the members of the group disappeared in that direction
+and when they gathered around the long table in the refectory, it was
+altogether a different company to that of an hour before.
+
+As they sat down it came over me that none of us had eaten since the
+night before, and dropping onto a chair, I suddenly realized that I was
+tired.  Berthe and Nini, however, wanted to know where I would lunch,
+and were rather startled when I informed them to lay a cloth on the
+kitchen table and to bring out all the cold meat, cheese, bread, butter
+and jam in the larder.  It would be a stand-up picnic lunch for everyone
+to-day, and what was more, it was very likely to be picnic dinner; so
+Julie was ordered to put two chickens to roast and some potatoes to
+boil--both needed but little attention and would always be ready when we
+might need them.
+
+The meal passed in silence in both rooms, and the "washing up" was done
+in no time.  Then as they all retired to take their naps, the man who
+had first asked me if they might turn into the chateau, and who seemed
+to be the leader of the party, came into the kitchen and, hat in hand,
+begged a word or so with me.
+
+He had come not only to express the gratitude of his compatriots, but
+also his astonishment that I should welcome strangers so cordially.  I
+tried to side-track the conversation which was very embarrassing, but he
+would hear none of it.
+
+"We are not gypsies, you know, Madame."  I smiled and told him that that
+was more than evident.  "Look at our horses and our dogs!"  And the good
+fellow proceeded to inform me that he was the keeper of a big estate
+that belonged to Madame Pyrme (sister of the senator of that name),
+situated in the little village of Hanzinell, Belgium.  He even offered
+to show his papers, but I shook my head.  His open-hearted sincerity
+and frank countenance were sufficient.
+
+But why had they come away?  That was what interested me.
+
+Because their country was invaded and one by one the towns and villages
+had been bombarded, looted and burned until little or nothing remained.
+Because all men under fifty were carried away as hostages or prisoners;
+because he had seen little children slain, and young girls tortured;
+because anything was better than falling helpless into the hands of such
+an enemy.
+
+"Madame, at Charleroi I've seen the blood running in the gutters like
+rain after a storm and that not a week ago!"
+
+It was impossible not to believe him.  His eye was not that of a coward.
+He told his story simply; he was almost reticent, and I had even to
+encourage him at times to make him finish a phrase.  Finally I asked him
+where he intended going, and why so far away.  Didn't he think he was
+safe here?
+
+No--_jamais!_  Yesterday in the night they had heard the cannon growing
+closer and closer.  They knew the sound.  The Germans were advancing. It
+was Paris they wanted and nothing would stop them till they reached
+their goal.
+
+"Except the French army," I said, with pride.
+
+"God grant you speak the truth, Madame!"  But in the meantime he seemed
+to consider that one was far safer in the way of some gigantic
+mowing-machine than on the path of the German army.  He had come to tell
+me the truth and to warn me that I ought to make ready to leave.
+
+"You are helpless here, Madame.  Three women, three little girls, and
+two boys! It's tempting fate."
+
+I couldn't seem to see it his way, however.  The papers though very
+mysterious, had given us no cause for alarm.  As yet we had not seen a
+single trooper.  If it were true that the French were retreating we
+would leave when the army appeared. That would be time enough.
+
+"Why, my good fellow," I said reassuringly, "if the Germans ever reach
+here Paris is doomed--and the war will be over!"
+
+"Perhaps--"
+
+"Besides, I can't go.  I've got a hospital on my hands, though the
+wounded are lacking.  Haven't you seen our Red Cross flag?  And if that
+isn't sufficient, I can prove that I'm an American born.  That ought to
+be protection enough for anyone!"
+
+I must admit that the incredulous smile that rose to his lips rather
+angered me, and I sought still another excuse.
+
+"Furthermore, one of my little maids is too ill to move, and I don't see
+us walking off with folded arms, and that's what would happen if I
+followed your advice, for the only horse the Army has left me is over
+twenty and so lame that he can't walk two steps.  If he could I'd have
+had to present him for the second inspection at Chateau Thierry on
+Wednesday."
+
+The poor fellow shook his head at my apparent foolhardiness, but was too
+polite to argue further.  He said that his party would be off in an hour
+and asked me if I possessed a road-map that he might consult.  I gladly
+showed him the one we had bought with H. the day of our hasty trip from
+Paris, since then pinned to the wall of the refectory.  I noticed that
+he studied it very carefully, noting all the little sidetracks where he
+thought his drays could pass, and thus avoid following in line behind
+the thousands of other vehicles that encumbered the main roads.
+
+Again he thanked me for all I had done, caressed my beautiful
+greyhounds, and left me his card so that we might meet when all was
+over.  Afterwards when I went into the court, I heard someone in the
+stable with George, and looking in, I saw my friend of a few moments
+before examining my horse's hoof and telling my boy what would make the
+sore heal quickly.  He was bound to do his best for me!
+
+By five o'clock the stables and grounds were empty, and our friends
+gone. Hanzinell had joined the column which had slackened a bit during
+the heat of the day, but had redoubled in volume since the sun had gone
+behind the hills.
+
+We had a moment's breathing space, during which we gave our entire
+attention to Yvonne, who was writhing with agony on her bed next my
+room.  For three days now Madame Guix had administered mild doses of
+morphine, but that treatment could not continue very long.  Water bags,
+friction and massage had proved fruitless against sciatica, so we
+resolved to try a warm bath, with the result that our patient was almost
+immediately eased but too weak to support the heat. She fainted in the
+tub and had to be carried back to bed.  We were still working over her
+when Nini appeared and said I was wanted below.  When Yvonne's eyelashes
+began to flutter, I left Madame Guix and regained the kitchen, now
+become the head-quarters.
+
+More refugees!  Would I let them come in?  They were traveling without a
+map or guide and dared not venture along the roads at night.
+
+Of course they were welcome, and the same hospitalty that had greeted
+the refugees from Hanzinell was offered to those from Thuilly-the whole
+village was there!--mayor, curate, smith and baker, all accompanied by
+different members of their immediate families, driven from home by the
+cruel invaders.  Terrified by the horrors they had witnessed, exhausted
+by their perilous journey, they were disinclined to talk; and as for
+myself, I was so busy, preoccupied and thoroughly spent, that curiosity
+was forgotten.  Here were people in need of what comforts I could offer.
+I gave and asked no questions.
+
+What was most evident at present was the fact that rations were shorter
+among this party than among those who had stopped in the morning, and
+certainly not for the lack of funds.  All of them had money--gold
+a-plenty.
+
+They had found less to buy--_voila tout_.  They were glad to accept the
+vegetable soup, rabbit stew and cooked fruit that we had prepared but
+insisted on paying for their portions, which of course I refused, much
+to their dismay, and I am certain the servants were well repaid for
+their trouble.
+
+And what were their plans?  To go as far south as possible.  Perhaps
+they would eventually cross to Morocco or Canada.  Why not?  The whole
+village was there--all the men had their trades.  They would colonize,
+for it was useless to think of going "home."  They no longer possessed
+one, and who could tell--the war might last a year or more?
+
+At that assertion I protested.  A year?  Never!  Why, the finances of
+the country couldn't stand it, and I went on to state how, when in
+England during the Agadir crisis three years previous, I had heard
+competent authorities state that three months was the very limit for the
+duration of hostilities!  That somewhat cheered them--especially as I
+announced the Russian advance, and on the map we noted the rapid
+progress of the famous "steam roller," which, if it continued as it had
+begun, would certainly reach Berlin by Christmas!  (I offer these
+statements without comment.)
+
+Before they retired Madame Guix asked if there were any who felt the
+slightest ill, for it were better to nip sickness in the bud, and she
+cheerfully lanced festers and pricked blisters, bathed, powdered and
+bandaged the feet of some dozen old and decrepit men and young children
+unaccustomed to such forced marching and unable to take proper care of
+themselves for want of time and hot water!  At that moment I felt she
+was heroic and I must say I admired her patience and endurance, for the
+sights witnessed were anything but agreeable. Poor souls!  And they
+hoped to reach Marseilles on foot.
+
+The Kaiser and his entire army might have ridden over us rough shod and
+we would have felt nothing, so soundly did we sleep for the first couple
+of hours after we touched our beds.  By two A. M. (September first),
+however, there was much moving about in the barns and stables, and my
+dogs, who were restless, began scratching at my door to be released.
+Anxious that no one leave without a cup of hot coffee, Madame Guix and I
+repaired to the kitchen as dawn broke, and an hour later we bade
+farewell to our "lodgers for a night."  I bethought me of my kodak, and
+as the sun peeped through the clouds I caught a snapshot of my departing
+guests as they turned the corner of the chateau.
+
+They joined in behind the stream of other carts which we were now
+accustomed to seeing.  In fact, this general exodus no longer astonished
+us.  It seemed as if the panic had spread over the whole of Flanders
+like a drop of oil on a sheet of paper.  To us, who consider ourselves
+as living in the suburbs of Paris, Belgium is so far away!
+
+I wound off my film and was returning towards the house, when two very
+distinguished looking girls stepped off their bicycles and asked for
+directions. I gave them with pleasure and in turn ventured a few
+questions.
+
+They were from St. Quentin!  That startled me.  They had been _en route_
+two days. They had not seen the Germans, but the town had been
+officially evacuated.  A man on a bicycle had sped by them the day
+before and announced the bombardment and destruction of their native
+city!  Hard fighting at La Fere.
+
+St. Quentin!  Then the Germans were on our soil!  The Belgians were
+right--they were evidently advancing rapidly.  But why worry?  We were
+safe as long as we had the French army between us and them.
+
+Thought as yet the day was but a couple of hours old, I was weary.  This
+business of  hotel-keeping on so large it scale with so little
+assistance was beginning to tell on my strength.  I opened the gate and
+told George and Leon to welcome any who wished to come in, and then
+repairing to the kitchen, I sat down and began helping the others
+prepare vegetables.  The discovery that in spite of all their good will
+guests had necessarily left many traces of their passage, brought me to
+my feet again, and we were all hard at work when a haggard female face
+looked in at the kitchen window.
+
+"Is there a doctor here?"
+
+"No,--but--"
+
+The woman burst into tears. Madame Guix and I hurried out into the
+court.  "My baby--I can't seem to warm her," moaned the poor mother.
+"She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday."
+
+And stretching out her arms, the woman showed us an infant that she had
+been carrying in her apron.  It was dead.
+
+I had difficulty in overcoming my emotion, but Madame Guix took the poor
+little corpse into her arms, and I helped the mother to an arm chair in
+the refectory.
+
+A cup of strong coffee brought back a little color to her wan cheeks and
+she told us she was from Charleville.  The Taubes had got in their
+sinister work to good advantage among the civil population but they were
+merely the forerunners of another and heavier bombardment.  The
+townspeople had fled in their night clothes.
+
+"Are you alone?"
+
+"Yes--I'm not a native of Charleville.  My husband and I have only been
+married a year.  He left the second of August and the baby was born the
+tenth.  She's only three weeks old."
+
+No wonder the mother looked haggard--one hundred and fifty miles on
+foot, with a newborn infant in her arms, fleeing for her life before the
+barbarous hordes!
+
+I pressed another cup of coffee with a drop of brandy in it upon her.
+She looked appealingly at both of us and then drank.
+
+"Was your husband good to you?" asked Madame Guix.
+
+"Ah, yes, Madame."
+
+"Do you love him well enough to endure another sacrifice like a true
+wife and mother that you are?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+And then we told her that her baby bad gone--gone to a brighter Country
+where war is unknown.  She looked at us in amazement, and burying her
+head on her arm, sobbed silently but submissively.
+
+"Come, come, you must sleep--and when you are rested we will help you to
+find room in a cart which will take you towards your parents."
+
+She cast a long, loving look at her first born, and let herself be led
+away.
+
+All we could do was to make an official declaration of the death at the
+town hall. A small linen sheet served as shroud, a clean, flower-lined
+soap box formed that baby's coffin, and Greorge and I were the grave
+diggers and chief mourners, who laid the tiny body at rest in the little
+vine-grown churchyard. War willed it thus.
+
+When I got back from the cemetery I found another load of refugees
+installed in the courtyard.  This time they proved to be a hotel keeper
+and her servants from the Ardennes.  They, however, had foreseen that
+flight was imminent and had carefully packed a greater part of their
+household belongings and valuables onto several wagons, taking care that
+all were well balanced and properly loaded so as to carry the maximum
+weight without tiring the horses.  They needed less attention than the
+others had required, for when I explained that the house was theirs,
+they went about their work swiftly and silently, getting in no one's way
+and attending to every want of their mistress, who sat in her coupe and
+gave orders.
+
+Later on they were joined by the occupants of numerous other equipages,
+all from the same district--but with whom I had but little intercourse.
+From one poor woman, however, I learned that her two daughters, aged
+sixteen and seventeen, had been lost from the party for two days.  They
+were in the cart with the curate who had stopped to water his horse,
+thus losing his place in line.  When they had reached the spot where the
+road forked, which direction had he taken? What had become of them?  She
+pinned her name and route on the refectory wall, begging me to give it
+to them if they ever inquired for her.  To my knowledge they never
+passed.
+
+At luncheon Madame Guix announced that Yvonne was better.  Far from
+well, but better.  That was a load off my mind.
+
+The mother of the poor little infant we had buried was peacefully
+slumbering on a cot in the hospital, and presently Leon came in to say
+that old Cesar had put his hoof on the ground for the first time in four
+days.  Bravo!  I felt much relieved.
+
+And still the carts rolled down the valley, their noise echoing between
+the hills. To-day there was no respite: right on through the heat of
+noon they rumbled past, thicker and faster it seemed to me.
+
+"Bother them!" I thought.  "They make so much noise that we couldn't
+hear the cannon if it were only a mile distant."  And hoping that
+perhaps I might seek some assurance from that sound, I was about to set
+off for the highest spot in the park to listen.  At the door, however, I
+was accosted by one of the two men who, for several days had been
+bundling my hay in the stable lofts.  He pleaded illness. Would I pay
+him and let him go?  He would come back to-morrow and finish if he felt
+better.
+
+As there was nothing unusual in his request, I settled his account and
+told him to go and rest.  I now know that he was a German spy, and have
+recently learned that a fortnight later he was caught and shot at
+Villers-Cotterets.
+
+I wonder what possessed me to make that long weary climb.  Evidently I
+found out what I wanted to know, but the news was anything but
+reassuring.  I heard the cannon distinctly: so distinctly that I was a
+trifle unnerved.  Not only had my ears caught the long ever-steady
+rolling (already observed three days since) but I had been able to make
+out a difference in the caliber of each piece that fired, and added to
+it all was a funny clattering sound, as when one drags a wooden stick
+along an iron barred fence.  _La Fere_ is putting up a heroic defense, I
+thought, blissfully unconscious of the fact that it is utterly
+impossible to hear a cannon at that distance--at half, no, even a
+quarter of that distance.  Judge then for yourselves what was its
+proximity to Villiers!
+
+For two days now the course in nursing had been abandoned, not for lack
+of enthusiasm but because each housewife had more than she could attend
+to at home. The chateau was not the only place where refugees halted,
+and all the villagers had done their best to make the travelers
+comfortable.  From where I stood overlooking the two valleys, I could
+see the interminable line of carts on all roads within scope of my view,
+and in every farm yard as well as on the side of the main thoroughfares,
+vehicles were drawn up and thin columns of blue smoke rising heavenward,
+told that the evening meal was under way.
+
+The population of my own courtyard had quadrupled by five o'clock.
+People from St. Quentin, Ternier, Chauny--each with a tale of horror and
+sorrow--sought refuge for the night.  Madame Guix was permanently
+established in the dispensary, and a line was formed as in front of the
+city clinics, each one waiting his turn, hoping that she might be able
+to relieve his suffering.  At dusk a cart turned into the drive and a
+gray-haired man asked if we had a litter on which to carry his son to
+the house.
+
+"What was the matter?" I inquired.
+
+"A cough--such a bad cough."
+
+I went with him towards the wagon, and there beheld the sad spectacle of
+a youth in the last stages of tuberculosis.  Thin beyond description, a
+living skeleton, the poor boy turned his great glassy eyes towards me in
+supplication.  I drew the father aside.  It was best to be frank.  I
+shook my head and said it would be useless to move his son.  We had no
+doctor, and his illness was beyond our competence.  Cover him well, and
+try to reach a big city as soon as possible.
+
+As I turned away, a sturdy youth tapped me gently on the arm, begging
+shelter for his great-grandmother, a woman ninety-three years old, whom
+he had carried on his back all the way from St. Quentin.  A cot in the
+entrance hall was all prudence permitted me to offer, and it was
+charming to see how tenderly the young fellow bore the poor little
+withered woman to her resting-place.  She was so dazed that I fear she
+hardly realized what was happening, but tears of gratitude streamed down
+her cheeks when her boy appeared with a bowl of hot soup, coaxing her to
+drink, like a child, and finally curling up on the rug beside her bed.
+
+Five times that evening the great refectory table was surrounded by
+hungry men and women; five times I ladled out soup and vegetables to
+forty persons, and five times we all helped to wash up.  So when all was
+finally cleaned away, and Madame Guix and I fell exhausted onto two
+kitchen chairs, it was well onto eleven P. M.
+
+My clever nurse informed me that she had arranged for the departure in a
+cart of the mother whose baby we had buried, and I in turn told her of
+my climb in the park and the approach of the cannon.  It was evident
+that the Germans were bearing down on us, and swiftly.  When we looked
+at the map and saw the names of the cities, towns and villages whose
+populations had succeeded each other down the road, it was clear that
+the French must be beating a forced retreat, or (and this was unlikely)
+panic had spread so quickly that the whole north of France was now
+moving south on a fool's errand.  We cast this second hypothesis aside.
+We had heard too many tales of woe and seen too much misery to believe
+anything of the sort.  Well, and then what?  Our case was simple--either
+the Germans would be stopped before they reached us, or the French army
+would put in an appearance, in which latter case it would be time enough
+to leave, unless we were officially evacuated before!  Having adopted
+this simple line of conduct, we retired, quite satisfied and not in the
+least uneasy.
+
+In the cool gray dawn of Wednesday morning, September second, when I
+opened my shutters and looked out into the little square that faces the
+chateau, I was amazed to see that the refugees who had halted there were
+in carts and wagons whose signs were most familiar.  They came from
+Soissons!
+
+"Hello," thought I, "I'll go and see what they have to say!  Things must
+be getting very bad if a big city like Soissons suddenly takes to its
+heels." (Soissons is but little over twenty miles from Villiers.)  As I
+came down stairs I heard the drum roll, and George, who just then
+appeared with the milk, announced that the requisition of horses which
+should have taken place at Chateau-Thierry that morning, was
+indefinitely postponed.  That was hardly reassuring, especially as it
+was the first official news we had received in a long time.
+
+So busy were we helping those who had slept at the chateau to depart,
+that I had no time to put my first intentions into execution, and when
+finally I had a moment, I looked out of the window and saw that my
+friends from Soissons had vanished.  They, too: well, well, well!
+
+I was not astonished; in fact I gave the matter but little heed.  We had
+taken our resolutions the night before and had no time to stop every
+five minutes and question as to whether we were right or wrong.  At
+noon, however, when an old peasant woman called me through the kitchen
+window and announced that all Charly was leaving post haste, I must
+admit that I winced, but only for a second.  If I had listened to all
+the different rumors that had been noised abroad within the last week I
+would have been a fit subject for a lunatic asylum by then!
+
+Resolved, however, to get at the core of the matter, I sent George to
+Charly (our market town, four miles away) to see what he could find out.
+He returned on his bicycle at luncheon time, bearing the following
+astonishing information.
+
+The hotel keeper and his wife, alarmed by the arrival of the Soissonais,
+had taken their auto and started for that city in quest of news.
+They had returned an hour later, having been unable to pass
+Oulchy-le-Chateau, fifteen miles from Charly, where all the bridges were
+cut or blown up!  They were making their preparations for departure.
+
+"And," continued George, in an excited tone, "as I came past the
+_Gendarmerie_ the _brigadier_ called to me and said good-bye.  All the
+_gendarmes_ had received orders to leave at once for their depot at--."
+(The name of some town the other side of the Marne, which I cannot
+remember.)
+
+Instead of frightening me this information stimulated my nerves, which
+were beginning to be depressed by much work and little news.
+
+"Good," I said.  "Now then, we can expect the soldiers at any minute.
+Poke up the fire, Julie, and we'll fall to work to have hot soup ready
+when our boys arrive."
+
+Then we were really going to be in the excitement.  How glorious to be
+able to help--for in my mind ours was the only solution possible to the
+question.
+
+I set to work with renewed vigor and, as on the day before, we were
+constantly in demand by refugees requiring treatment and attention.  How
+well I remember a group of four, two men and two women, who staggered
+into the court and timidly knocked at the window.  Three of them were
+glad to accept soup and wine, but the fourth, a middle-aged woman, sank
+down on the steps and buried her head in her hands.
+
+"Why doesn't one of you men relieve her of that heavy parcel she has
+strapped to her shoulders?" I asked.
+
+"She won't let us touch it.  She's never put it aside a minute since we
+left home six days ago!"
+
+"Is it as precious as all that?" I queried, eyeing the huge flat package
+which might have been the size of the double sheet of some daily paper.
+
+"It's her son's picture.  He's gone to the army and she's alone in the
+world."
+
+"But why on earth is she carrying frame, glass, and all?  It must be
+nearly killing her in this heat!"
+
+"Madame," said the woman's friend solemnly, "she worked six months and
+put all her savings into that frame!  Do you wonder she did not wish to
+leave it behind!"
+
+I opened a side door and showed them a foot path across the hills, a
+short cut which carriages could not take, and was just turning the key
+in the lock when the telephone rang.
+
+That was the first time since the second of August!  What could it mean?
+Probably the arrival of wounded.  I literally flew to answer the call.
+
+I had some little difficulty recognizing Mademoiselle Mauxpoix' voice:
+it was trembling with emotion.  She greeted me politely and then begging
+me not to be too alarmed, she announced that she had just received
+official orders to put all her telephones and telegraphic apparatus out
+of working order--to damage them so that repairs would be impossible.
+
+"I have ten minutes more left," she continued.  "A government motor is
+coming at four o'clock to take me, my employees and my books to Tours."
+
+"But, Mademoiselle--"
+
+She did not heed my interruption.  "You cannot stay, Madame Huard!  You
+must not! No woman is safe on their path.  I know this better than you,
+for I have been receiving official reports for more than a month!  The
+worst is true!  For the love of heaven, go--you've still got a chance
+though there's hard fighting going on in the streets of Chateau Thierry!
+For God's sake, don't hesitate. Adieu."
+
+She was gone!  And I stood there dazed!
+
+"Hard fighting at Chateau-Thierry!  That's only seven miles from here,"
+I counted.
+
+Go?  Go where?  How?  Go and abandon my post, with Yvonne still too ill
+to move, and all the others depending on my help?  Go?  By what means,
+when my only horse was too lame to cross the courtyard!  It was far
+better to stay and defend one's belongings!
+
+And then as I slowly returned through the corridors, it occurred to me
+that in spite of my desire to stay I might be forced out.  Suppose the
+chateau should suddenly become the target for the German guns?  Well, we
+could all take to the cellars, as the others had done in 1870.  But--and
+here was the point--suppose the French took possession and gave us women
+but a few minutes to leave before the battle began.  Then what!  Here
+was food for reflection.  I resolved to take Madame Guix and the two
+boys into my confidence.  Four heads were better than one!
+
+They received the news calmly, and I almost caught a glimpse of a
+twinkle in George's and Leon's eyes.  The excitement pleased them.
+
+If what Mademoiselle Mauxpoix had said was true, the Germans were now on
+their way to Villiers.  It was evident that the French were putting up a
+stubborn resistance, but there was little hope of their stopping them
+before they reached our vicinity.  Battle meant destruction of lives and
+property.  Well, since we still possessed the former, it was high time
+to think of saving the latter.  The sun was fast sinking behind the pine
+trees.  In an hour it would be dark.  What I decided to do must be done
+at once.
+
+"George and Leon, bring down my two big trunks, and tell Nini to hitch
+the donkey to his flat cart and drive to the side door."  I had resolved
+to save what I could of H.'s work, and going to the studio closet, I
+began selecting the portfolios containing mounted drawings and etchings.
+It was useless to think of the paintings.  They were too big.  The
+trunks were full in no time.  I had no other receptacles, so reluctantly
+closed the but half empty cupboards, consoling myself with the thought
+that all this was possibly useless preparation, and praying Heaven that
+I had made a good choice among the portfolios in case the worst came.
+
+The boys put the trunks onto the cart and set off in the direction of a
+sand quarry, where I knew we could dig in safety, and easily cause a
+miniature landslide, which would cover all traces of our hidden
+treasure.  I promised to join them in an hour--the time I judged it
+would take them to make so large an excavation, and returning to my
+room, gathered my jewels and papers into a little valise, and put them
+beside my fur coat and my kodak.  A few other trinkets and innumerable
+photographs were locked away in my desk, and perceiving that it would be
+utterly impossible to carry them with me, I wondered how on earth I
+might protect them.  Suddenly I bethought me of a tiny silk American
+flag that my mother had given me years before, when as a child I left
+home for my first trip to Europe.  I found it where I hoped, and
+shutting one edge of it into the drawer, I let the stripes hang downward
+and pinned the following inscription into its folds:
+
+"I swear that the contents of this desk are purely personal and can be
+of value to no one but myself.  I therefore leave it under the
+protection of my country's flag."
+
+I felt very proud when I had done this and then hurried into my
+dressing-room where I hastily filled my suit-case with a few warm
+underclothes, a change of costume, and an extra pair of shoes.  I had
+about finished and was heartily glad that this useless job was over,
+when on glancing out of the window I caught sight of fuzzy-haired Madame
+La Miche driving up the avenue in her dog cart.
+
+Madame La Miche and her husband run a big stock farm near Neuilly St.
+Front, some fifteen miles from Villiers.  I had often seen her at
+poultry and agricultural shows, where their farm products usually
+carried off any number of prizes.  It was she who sold me my cows hardly
+a year since.
+
+"You?" I said, as she drew up to the steps.
+
+"Yes.  En route--like all the others.  Our entire fortune is in live
+stock and I'm going to try to save as much as I can.  May we come in?"
+
+Certainly--and a half-hour later one of the largest farms in France had
+been moved bodily into my pasture land!  The whole thing was conducted
+in a very orderly manner by M. La Miche, who on horseback drew up the
+rear of this immense cavalcade composed of some two hundred white oxen,
+hitched two abreast, seventy or eighty horses, as many mares with young
+colts, and heaven knows how many cows and calves; all accompanied by the
+stable bands.  Poor tired beasts, how greedily they drank the cool water
+of our spring, and how willingly the cunning little colts, whose tender
+hoofs had been worn to the quick by their unheard-of journey, allowed
+the men to tie up their feet in coarse linen bandages with strips of old
+carpet for protection.
+
+Madame La Miche had been officially evacuated at noon, so I did not
+hesitate to tell her what I had heard.  She was not surprised, and said
+she intended leaving at midnight, but her animals, unaccustomed to such
+exercise, must have a few hours' rest.
+
+In the kitchen I found George and Leon, who had accomplished their task
+sooner than I expected.  Relying on their word that it was impossible to
+tell where they had buried the trunks, I did not go back to the sand
+quarry.  Half a mile was a distance to be considered, under the
+circumstances.
+
+While all this had been going on, Madame Guix had taken Julie into her
+confidence and asked her if she would follow us if we were obliged to
+leave. Julie is a native of Villiers, and her husband and children live
+in a little house near by. She had consulted her lord and they were
+willing to lend their big dray horse if they could all join our party.
+Of course we agreed and while it was light, we decided to put some bags
+of oats into the bottom of our hay cart, to cover these with hay, and
+then all the servants could pile on, the boys taking turns at walking
+since Yvonne must have room to be stretched out.
+
+How I hated all this business!  Madame Guix then counted the number of
+persons composing our party, and sent Nini to fetch as many blankets and
+pillows. These, with a box containing salt, sugar, chocolate, and other
+dry provisions, a valise packed with a few bandages and a little
+medicine, were put onto a little light farm-cart to which we might
+harness Cesar in case of great emergency.
+
+The two vehicles when loaded were run into an empty carriage house,
+whose door I locked, rather ashamed of my precautions.
+
+Night had fallen and the incoming stream of refugees demanded our every
+attention. Madame Guix was occupied with two women whose physical
+condition was such that it was impossible to refuse them beds, come what
+might--and as I crossed the vestibule in search of some instruments, the
+shadow of a woman and two little girls came up the steps.  "Could I give
+them lodgings?" begged the poor soul.  I looked at her--she was so
+frightened that it was most pathetic, and the two curly-beaded children
+clung to her skirts and shivered.
+
+"I've never been alone before," she explained, and her teeth fairly
+chattered with terror.  "I can pay, and pay well--I've thirty thousand
+francs in gold on me."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't let anyone know it!" I said, very
+abruptly.  "I don't want money, but there are others who may.  Be
+careful--a fortune like that may lead to your destruction.  Hide it!"
+
+She stared at me in amazement.  Evidently the idea that dishonesty
+existed never occurred to her.  She thanked me for the advice and hoped
+she had not offended me, and begged me to take pity on her.
+
+"Did anyone see you come in here?"
+
+She thought not.
+
+"For if they did I fear you will have to share the common lot.  I have
+no reason to give you preference.  The others might protest."
+
+I stuck my head out of the doorway.  When I turned around, those three
+helpless creatures stood clinging to one another in the big empty
+vestibule, making a most pitiable group.
+
+"Go up two flights of stairs--turn to your left and follow the corridor
+to the end.  The last door on your left opens into a room with a huge
+double bed.  It was too big for our hospital.  That's the only reason we
+didn't bring it down. It's at your disposal.  Don't thank me.
+Good-night."
+
+When I got a moment I went to Yvonne's room.  "Did she think she could
+get up a little: long enough to take some dinner?  Perhaps she might put
+on a few clothes and make an effort to walk around her room."  Ten days
+in bed had made her very weak.  She must try to gain a little strength.
+She promised and I departed. The idea of carrying her out bodily was
+anything but encouraging!
+
+At six-thirty the public distribution of soup recommenced.  Who my
+guests were I have no idea.  There were more than a hundred of them.
+That was clear enough from the dishes that were left.  Just as the last
+round had been served, George came in to say that the village was
+beginning to get uneasy--people from Neuilly St. Front and
+Lucy-le-Bocage and Essommes had already passed down the road, and the
+peasants looked to the chateau for a decision!
+
+I went out to the gate.  Yes, true enough, our neighbors from Lucy (five
+miles distant) had joined the procession.  Then there was a break, and a
+lull, such as had not occurred for two days, and in the silence I again
+recognized the same clattering sound that had caught my ear on the hill
+top the afternoon before. This time it was much more distinct, but was
+soon drowned out by the rumbling of heavy wheels on the road.
+
+Surely this time it was artillery!
+
+I wrapped my shawl closer about me and sat down on the low stone wall
+that borders the moat, while little groups of peasants, unable to sleep,
+clustered together on the roadside.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the clanking noise and presently a whole regiment
+of perambulators, four abreast, swung around the corner into the
+moonlight.
+
+Domptin!
+
+Domptin, our neighboring village, one mile up the road, had caught the
+fever and was moving out wholesale, transporting its ill and decrepit,
+its children and chattels, in heaven knows how many baby carriages!
+
+I had never seen so many in all my life.  The effect was altogether
+comic, and Madame Guix and I could not resist laughing--much to the
+dismay of these poor souls who saw little amusement at being obliged to
+leave home scantily clad in night clothes.
+
+They passed on, without further comment, and the last man had hardly
+turned the corner when a scream coming from up the road drew us to our
+feet, and sent us running in that direction.  Almost instantly, the
+figure of an old white-capped peasant woman appeared in the distance.
+She was wringing her hands and crying aloud.  When we were within ear
+shot, I caught the word, "Uhlans!"
+
+"Uhlans!  Where?"
+
+"_Dans le bois de la Mazure!_" (A half-mile from Villiers.)
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Saw their helmets glittering in the moonlight!"
+
+"What rot!  They're Frenchmen--dragoons.  You don't know your own
+countrymen when you see them!  Did you approach them?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what in the name of common sense sent you flying down here to
+scare us like that?  You've got no business spreading panic broadcast.
+If you don't turn around and scamper home, the way you came, I'll have
+you arrested.  _Allez!_"
+
+My nerves had stood the strain as long as possible.  This false alarm
+had roused my anger and in a jiffy I could see how thousands of people
+had been deceived, and were now erring homeless along the roads of
+France!
+
+"You can do what you like," I said, turning to the others, "but I've had
+enough of this for one day--I'm going to bed.  Good-night, gentlemen."
+
+"The _chatelaine_ is going to bed, the _chatelaine_ is going to bed!"
+"Let all go to bed," and similar phrases were echoed among the groups
+and presently we all separated, after many cordial _a demain_.
+
+The clock in the village church was striking midnight when I finally
+retired, after calling my greyhounds and Betsy into my room, and
+assuring myself that they all had on their collars, and that their
+leashes were hanging on my bed post.
+
+Nini, the little traitor, had evidently told Yvonne of my preparations
+for departure, and the two girls, whose beds were in the next room to
+mine, had been unable to close their eyes, for as I blew out my lamp, I
+could hear their childish voices repeating the rosary:
+
+"Hail Mary full of Grace--the Lord is with Thee..."
+
+* * * * *
+
+I may have slept an hour.  Then I can dimly remember hearing a wild yelp
+from my dogs, and when I found myself in the middle of my room rubbing
+my eyes, Yvonne was calling, "Madame!  Madame!" in terrified tones.  My
+pets were mad with excitement, and the sound of the farm bell was
+ringing in my ears!
+
+"Silence!" I yelled.
+
+Everything but the bell ceased.
+
+Heedless of my attire, I rushed to a back window and repeated my
+command.
+
+The bell stopped.
+
+"Who are you that you dare wake us like that!" I scolded.
+
+A boy between eighteen and nineteen let go the rope and stepped beneath
+the window.  I could see his blond hair in the moonlight.
+
+"Are you Madame Huard?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I've come with a message from your husband."
+
+I grew cold as ice.  Good God, what had happened?
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+In a bound I was down stairs and had opened the front door.
+
+"Is H. wounded?" I gasped.
+
+"No, Madame."
+
+I breathed again.
+
+"Where was he when you saw him?"
+
+"On the road between Villers-Cotterets and La Ferte Milon."
+
+"What's your message?"
+
+The boy put his hand to his breast pocket and drew forth a slip of
+paper.  The full moon shining on the white facade of the chateau threw
+such a brilliant reflection that I recognized a sheet from a sketch
+book, and could distinguish the following words scribbled in pencil:
+
+"Give bearer fifty francs, then in the name of the love you bear me,
+evacuate now; go south, not Paris."
+
+The last words were underscored three or four times.
+
+"What time was it when H. gave you this?"
+
+"Noon or thereabouts."
+
+"How did you come?  On foot?"
+
+"No, bicycle."
+
+"But it's after midnight!"
+
+"I know, but I got lost and had three bad punctures."
+
+Here were marching orders for fair, and if I intended obeying enough
+time had already been lost.  To stay in spite of everything was to be
+responsible for all the young lives that looked to me, for protection.
+Could I promise it?  No. Then go it was!
+
+At that same moment and as though to reinforce my decision, the strange
+clattering noise I had observed growing nearer and nearer during the
+last two days broke on the night air.
+
+"Hark!" said the boy.  "_La mitrailleuse!_"
+
+"The machine guns!" I echoed.
+
+"_Oui, Madame._"
+
+That sufficed.  "We'll be leaving in ten minutes.  Go to the kitchen.
+I'll send someone to look after you and we'll go together."
+
+All this had transpired in less time than it takes to tell it.  Awakened
+by the bell, the refugees in the stables came pouring into the
+courtyard.  A second later, George, lantern in hand, came running
+towards me.
+
+"Tell Leon to harness Cesar--then go and wake Julie and say that we are
+leaving in ten minutes.  I expect her, and her family, with their horse,
+to be ready. The courtyard in ten minutes.  Mind!"
+
+On the landing I met Madame Guix already fully dressed.
+
+"_Nous partons,_" was all I said.  She understood and followed me
+towards Yvonne's room.
+
+The two children, their teeth chattering, looked towards us in terror.
+
+"Nini, put on the warmest clothes you possess and help Madame Guix to
+dress Yvonne.  Then go to the kitchen and wait there without moving."
+
+My own toilet was brief, and five minutes later, lamp in hand, I was
+pounding on all the doors of the long corridors, fearful lest some one
+be forgotten and locked in the house.  When I reached the second floor I
+bethought me of the woman and her two children, and as I advanced I
+called, "Don't be frightened. This is merely a warning!"
+
+The poor soul must have been dreaming, for when I touched her door she
+screamed, and as I opened it and held the lamp over my head, I could see
+the two little creatures clinging to their mother, who on her knees
+begged, "Take me, but spare my babies!"
+
+I had some difficulty in reassuring her, but finally succeeded, and left
+her to go below to the hospital.
+
+At the first alarm, the women who were sleeping there had fled in
+terror, and when assured that all were gone, for safety's sake I went up
+into the vestibule and standing at the foot of' the stairs, called, "All
+out!  All out!  I'm closing up and leaving!"
+
+No one answering, I judged that my summons had been obeyed, and so
+hurried back to my own room to fetch jewels, kodak and pets.  On my way
+down I opened H.'s wardrobe and grabbed several overcoats, confident
+that the boys would forget theirs and need them.
+
+In the courtyard I found Julie and her family already perched on the
+hay-cart, where Yvonne had been hoisted and lay moaning, well covered in
+a blanket.  Both horses were hitched and my servants waiting orders.
+Beside ours, other big drays were being prepared for flight, yet there
+was no confusion--no loud talking--no lamenting.  I then told the boys
+to hurry to the farm yard and open all the gates so that the poultry and
+cows could have free access to the entire estate, which is closed in by
+a wall.  I was thus certain that though they might feel hungry they,
+would not die for want of food or water during the short time I intended
+to be gone.
+
+This done, I went to the kitchen where I found Nini, who had obeyed
+orders not to move but who had presence of mind enough to lay out bread
+and jam and wine for the famished youth who had brought the message.
+
+In the lamplight I caught sight of my road maps on the refectory wall,
+and setting my jewel box on the table I began unpinning and carefully
+folding them and put them in the pocket of my motor coat.  Almost at the
+same instant, the lamp flickered and Leon came in to say that all the
+dogs were found save the beagle hound and three fox terrier puppies,
+who, frightened by the bell and the commotion, had hidden in the hay
+lofts.  We went out, and I called and whistled in vain--none of them
+appeared.
+
+All this had taken more time than I expected.  The wagons full of
+refugees had disappeared, and we were alone.
+
+"_En route!_" I called, climbing into the _charette_, a big lump rising
+in my throat.
+
+"_En route!_" called George.
+
+Once again I counted our party to be sure all were there, and then
+slowly the heavy-laden hay-cart pulled out of the courtyard onto the
+high road.
+
+The first ten steps that my horse took he limped so painfully that my
+heart sank in my boots.
+
+What nonsense, this departure!  The poor beast would break down and we'd
+have to shoot him by the wayside, and other similar cheerful thoughts
+fled through my brain as we jogged up the narrow village street.
+
+In front of the town hall I halted, first of all to rest my steed,
+secondly to await George and Leon, who had remained behind to shut the
+entrance doors and bolt the gate, and finally because I was astonished
+to see all the windows illuminated.
+
+I Jumped down and approaching one of the panes looked through and saw
+the entire municipal council seated in a semi-circle, their faces grave
+with anxiety. Presently the boys, accompanied by H.'s messenger, rode up
+on their bicycles and handed me the keys.  I entered the room where Mr.
+Duguey, the schoolmaster and town clerk, greeted me.
+
+"Gentlemen, I've come to give you the keys to my estate.  I've received
+a message from my husband begging me to leave at once."
+
+"Then make haste, Madame, while there is still time.  We are just about
+to beat the call to arms and warn the population that those who hope to
+escape must leave at once.  Though we have no official orders to do this
+we have taken it on ourselves, for we now know for certain that the
+Uhlans have surrounded the village and are awaiting daylight to take
+possession.  They are probably bivouacking on the heights in your park."
+
+Then the old peasant woman had not lied!  Those were really Uhlans she
+had seen in the _bois de la Mazure_.  Ye gods, and here I was trying to
+get away with a lame horse!  Thank heaven, the Marne was not far!  I
+would cross it and then await developments.
+
+The clock in the little church struck two and an owl hooted mournfully
+in the belfry as silently our cortege plodded up the steep incline. When
+we reached the summit I could not resist turning around and casting a
+long affectionate glance on my lovely home-shining like a fairy palace
+in its setting of wonderful trees.  Who could tell?  I might never see
+it again!
+
+George, too, must have been penetrated with the same sentiment, for he
+rode up close to the cart and grasping the mud guard, turned on his
+saddle and wistfully shaking his bead, gave vent to his feelings by the
+following very inelegant but extremely expressive ejaculation:
+
+"_Quels cochons!  vous chasser d'une propriete parcille!_"
+
+A long shiver of emotion crept down my spine, and though it was but the
+second of September I instinctively drew the fur collar of my coat
+closer about my throat.
+
+In front of me I could bear the wheels of our heavy-laden hay-cart
+creaking as the big farm horse plodded on.  Its occupants were silent,
+and thanks to the moon and the lantern which hung up high behind, I
+could see Julie and Madame Guix nodding with sleep.
+
+My own poor beast limped on and besides thinking of all that I had left
+undone at the chateau and planning how and where we could go, I had the
+constant vision of his silent suffering in front of me.  At every little
+incline I would get down and throwing the reins over the neck of Betsy,
+my bull dog, who occupied the seat beside me, I would give Cesar his
+head and take my place with the boys behind.  He seemed to be grateful.
+
+Let it be said, however, that as our journey advanced the hoof, at first
+so tender from much poulticing, became firmer and firmer, and instead of
+increasing, the lameness rather grew less.
+
+We crossed our little market town of Charly amid dead silence.  Not a
+light in a single window, not a sound anywhere.  We seemed to be the
+only souls astir, and the foolhardiness of this midnight departure when
+everyone else was tucked up snug in his bed, angered me.  I was seized
+with a mad desire to turn about and go home.
+
+Just then George asked me which direction I intended taking, and
+remembering H.'s imperative "Go south," we turned sharp and headed for
+the first bridge across the Marne.
+
+High in front of me rose the dark wooded hills of Pavant, descending
+abruptly to that narrow strip of fertile plain which borders the river
+on both sides, but now half-veiled in a heavy blue mist.  Below me the
+swift current sped onward like a silver arrow, and before so impressive
+a spectacle I could not help thinking how meager is the art of the scene
+painter and dramatist which tries to depict a real battlefield.  For
+battlefield I felt this was, and my overstrained nerves no longer
+holding my imagination in check, I could already see human forms
+writhing in agony, and hear the moaning of souls on the brink of
+Eternity. As though to vivify this hallucination, the dying moon
+suddenly plunged behind a cloud, lighting the landscape but by strange
+lugubrious streaks, and in the distance behind us a long low rumble
+warned me that my dream might soon be a terrible reality.
+
+The Marne crossed, a weight was lifted from my shoulders, and settling
+back against the pile of blankets in my rig, I let the horse follow his
+own sweet will and we started to zig-zag up a steep incline.  At the end
+of five minutes' time I was so benumbed by the cold that sleep was
+impossible, so I left my seat and joined the others who, all save
+Yvonne, had been obliged to descend to relieve their horse.  What a
+climb that was--seven long kilometers from right to left, winding around
+that hill, as about a mountain, ever and again finding ourselves on a
+narrow ledge overlooking the valley.  The fog had spread until literally
+choked up between the bills and I could hardly persuade myself that it
+was not the sea that rolled below me.  Even the signal lamps on the
+distant railway line rose out of the labyrinth like a lighthouse in
+mid-ocean, making the illusion complete.
+
+Dawn was breaking as we reached the summit and pausing for a moment's
+breath, we could see people with bundles hurrying from cottages and farm
+yards, while the fields seemed dotted with horses and carts that sprang
+out of the semi-darkness like specters, following one another to the
+highway.  In less than no time the long caravan had re-formed and was
+again under way.
+
+We brought up the rear, preceded by five hundred snow-white oxen.  There
+was no way of' advancing faster than the _cortege_.  It was stay in line
+or lose your place, and as the sun rose over the plains, I was so
+impressed by the magnificence of our procession that I forgot the real
+cause of our flight and never for an instant realized that I now formed
+an intimate part of that column which but a few hours since inspired me
+with such genuine pity.
+
+As we passed through a small agglomeration of houses that one might
+hardly call a village, I recognized several familiar faces on the
+doorsteps, and presently comprehended why Charly was so dark and silent
+the night before.  It was empty--evacuated--and the greater part of its
+inhabitants were here on the roadside, preparing to continue their
+route.
+
+Where were we going?  I think none of us had a very definite idea.  We
+were following in line on the only road that crossed this wonderfully
+fertile country. The monotony of the landscape, the warmth of the sun,
+added to the gentle swing of my cart calmed my nerves and I fell back
+into a heavy sleep.
+
+When I opened my eyes I could hear water running over a dam, and see
+below me and but a very short distance away, a river flowing through a
+valley.  Someone said it was the Petit Morin; another announced that we
+had come seventeen kilometers and a third proffered that it was 6:30 A.
+M.--time for breakfast.  We ought not to attack the opposite hill on
+empty stomachs.
+
+Accordingly we crossed the Petit Morin and broke ranks in front of two
+little cottages that bordered the river at the entrance of an electric
+power house.  At the same time, a small covered gig halted beside our
+big cart and from it descended the mother of the two little girls she
+who had so much gold.
+
+Did I mind if she followed in our wake?
+
+Of course not.
+
+She was still as timid and frightened as the night before, and it didn't
+take much questioning to learn that she had never had a pair of reins in
+her hands before in her life.
+
+The boys took all the horses down to the river and carefully bathed
+their knees and legs.  In the meantime, coffee had been found and
+ground, someone had scurried about and found a house where milk could be
+had, and on an iron tripod that I had sense enough to bring along, water
+was set to boiling.
+
+It was very amusing that first picnic breakfast, and my! what appetites
+we had. The summer lodgers in one of the cottages gazed upon us in
+amazement--all save one little girl who, so it seems, had had a
+presentiment that some ill would befall her and for two days had not
+ceased weeping.
+
+The meal over, each one went to my cart and taking possession of a
+blanket and pillow, rolled up in it and went fast asleep in the
+brilliant sunshine.  How we blessed those warm, penetrating rays, for we
+had suffered much from the damp cold all night.
+
+Left alone, I overhauled my wagon and made the discovery that my jewel
+box was missing.  That did not alarm me much, for I was confident that I
+had left it on the refectory table, and would find it--like my silver
+chests--just where I had left them.
+
+My road map showed us to be at La Tretoire, midway between Charly and
+Rebais, but as there were no provisions to be had in so small a place, I
+decided to push on to the township where we might be able to get
+lodgings.  This, however, must be done before noon, or we would be
+obliged to sleep out of doors again, for it would be impossible to
+travel through the heat of the day.  Accordingly, at half past eight, I
+roused the boys and we started up the hill, bag and baggage.
+
+It was much the same kind of scene as at Pavant, only we were less
+excited and far more exhausted than at the outset of our trip.  Each one
+stalked on, gritting his teeth and wiping the big beads of perspiration
+from his brow.  By ten we reached the top and calling George, who had
+been walking beside the leader since we left home, I told him to take my
+place in the _charette_ and I would mount my bicycle.
+
+Leaving orders to follow the straight road to Rebais, I pushed on ahead,
+promising to do my best, and an hour later found myself on the outskirts
+of the little town--very weary and almost overcome by the heat.  In the
+hurry of my departure from Villiers I had wrapped a scarlet chiffon
+scarf about my head, never thinking that a hat would be a very useful
+article in the daytime.  For sixty minutes, then, as I had pedaled along
+that endless road, the sun had beaten down upon my head and shoulders,
+and when I came upon a public pump, I dropped down in the grass beside
+it, after wringing out my handkerchief in its refreshing water and
+bathing my burning face and arms.
+
+When I finally made my entrance into Rebais, I found that thousands of
+other persons had probably had the same idea as I and it took but little
+time to discover that all rooms, whether private or public, were
+occupied.  The place was overflowing with refugees.  The line outside
+the baker's shop warned me that I had a dozen hungry mouths dependent
+upon me and yesterday's supply of bread was well nigh exhausted, let
+alone being stale.  I took my place among the others and stood for a
+good hour waiting for the second ovenful to finish baking.
+
+Certainly no greasy pig at a county fair was ever more difficult to
+manage than that long nine-pound loaf of red hot bread.  There was no
+way of handling it--it burned everything it touched.  No sooner did I
+put it under one arm than I was obliged to change it to the other post
+haste.  Add to this the fact that I had not ridden a bicycle since a
+child, and realize that whether walking or riding the bread was equally
+hot and equally cumbersome.  It was too long to fit into the handlebars,
+besides how could I hold it there?  Too soft to be tied with string that
+I might buy.  At one moment I thought seriously of picking up my skirt
+and carrying the bread as peasant women do grass and fodder, but alas, a
+1914 skirt was too narrow to permit this. At length when almost
+disheartened and I had stood my loaf against the side of a house to
+cool, I recognized a familiar voice back of me, and George appeared on
+his wheel to announce that my party had camped in a young orchard two
+miles outside of Rebais, neither man nor beast being capable of going
+any farther.  We clapped our loaf into an overcoat that was strapped to
+the back of his machine, and swinging it between us, soon joined the
+others.
+
+Our noonday repast was composed of cold bam and fried potatoes.  I think
+I never ate better, though I must confess that the latter were stolen
+from a neighboring field.  By two o'clock a dozen weary inhabitants of
+Villiers were stretched out on their rugs and peacefully dreaming!  We
+had decided to rest before determining what to do for the night.
+
+I was awakened by a stiff feeling in my neck, and opened my eyes to find
+that the sun was rapidly disappearing in the west.  I had slept soundly
+four hours and was much refreshed, though the bumps in the ground had
+bruised me, and I could hardly move my head.
+
+Yvonne had stood the journey so far very well though unable as yet to
+walk, but as the cool of the evening came on I began to worry lest a
+night out of doors set her screaming with pain.  So as I laced my boots,
+I decided to go back to Rebais and make another desperate attempt to
+lodge her at least.
+
+"Did Madame see Maitre Baudoin this morning," asked Leon, to whom I
+imparted my plans.
+
+I gasped!  What a fool I was!  My mind was so upset that I had forgotten
+that my own notary was a prominent personality in Rebais.
+
+A quarter of an hour later I turned into the public square and beheld
+Maitre Baudoin and his wife standing on the doorstep watching the exodus
+of numerous refugees.
+
+"Madame Huard!" they exclaimed.  "You?  What on earth has happened?"
+
+I explained in a few words.
+
+"Why, come right in.  We were just going to sit down to dinner."
+
+I said I was not alone, and must first look after the others.  Without
+waiting a second, Maitre Baudoin crossed over to the town hall and soon
+returned with a key in his hand.
+
+"Here, here's the key to a bakery--there are rooms above.  Your people
+can lodge there and you come in with us.  All this will be over in a day
+or so; the news is good to-day.  The Germans will never reach the
+Marne!"
+
+I went and fetched our delighted caravan, and after safely depositing
+them in their new residence, I was crossing the main street to join my
+friends, when a big military auto whisked into the middle of the square
+and halted.  Ten seconds later it was followed by a dozen others, and by
+the time I had reached the Baudoins' the place was literally lined with
+motors, containing officers and orderlies.  We were just sitting down
+when some one pounded on the door and a deep authoritative voice called
+out, "You're to lodge a general and two officers!"  And we could hear
+the man hastily chalking the names on the door.
+
+Madame Baudoin looked from me to her husband, her eyes wide open with
+astonishment.  The meal was forgotten and we hurried out into the
+twilight to seek news.  The _Etat Major_ of a cavalry division was to
+bivouac at Rebais, would be leaving at midnight.
+
+My friends understood, and they who had not as yet seen a soldier since
+the war began, realized for the first time that they were now in the
+midst of the retreating army.  I begged them to make ready for flight
+and they hurried homewards while I returned to the bakery to hold
+council.
+
+As I reached the door, someone touched me on the shoulder and an
+officer, pointing to the Red Cross armlet I was wearing, said:
+
+"Go to the hospital at once.  We need your services.  Wounded."
+
+"Very well, sir," I replied, and stepped inside.
+
+"Madame Guix!  Madame Guix!" I called in the stairway from the shop.
+
+The others came clattering down all excitement, saying that Madame Guix
+had been recognized by her uniform and sent flying to the hospital.
+
+Just then a shadow barred the entrance door and turning I saw an army
+chauffeur standing there.
+
+"A piece of bread for God's sake," he begged.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, I'm nearly dead of hunger.  We've had no time to cook our food,
+and bread has been lacking for two days."
+
+I looked about me--the bread boxes were empty.  I had no right to do so,
+but I opened all the cupboards.  The least I could do was pay, if the
+bakers appeared. I found a stale loaf and chopped it in four with the
+big knife near the counter. The way that poor fellow bit into it brought
+tears to my eyes.
+
+"Wait a minute," I said as he turned away, and I rushed out to the court
+where my cart was standing.  In a moment I was back with a slice of ham
+and some sweet chocolate and Julie came up with a glass of water.
+
+I was about to ask questions when another form appeared, followed by
+still another.
+
+"Bread--oh, for heaven's sake, bread!" they implored.  Apparently there
+was no reason why I should not go on with my new trade until all the
+hungry chauffeurs in the army were satisfied.  But remembering the
+wounded, I turned over my job to Julie, with orders to deal out the
+bread as long as it lasted and to go lightly with the chocolate, as my
+provision was not endless.
+
+What a different aspect the main square presented to that of an hour
+before! Motors were lined up four deep on all sides, and I was obliged
+to elbow my way through the crowds of gapers, refugees, and officers
+that thronged the street.
+
+"Have you come for the wounded?" questioned a white-capped sister as I
+closed the convent door and strode up the steps.
+
+"Yes, sister."
+
+"Heaven be praised!  Come this way, quickly.  Your nurse is here, but
+cannot suffice alone.  We're of no use--there are only five of us to
+look after the almshouse, and a hundred refugees.  We know nothing of
+surgery or bandaging."
+
+All this was said sweetly and quietly as we hurried down a long
+corridor.  In the middle of a big, well-lighted room stood Madame Guix
+bandaging the arm of a fine looking fellow, who shut his eyes and grated
+his teeth as she worked.  On a half-dozen chairs sat as many men, some
+holding their heads in their hands, some doubled in two, others
+clenching their fists in agony.  Not a murmur escaped them. The floor in
+several places was stained with great red patches.
+
+"Quick, Madame Huard.  We must stop the hemorrhages at all costs.  The
+wounds are not bad, since the men have come on foot, but one never can
+tell with this heat."
+
+A sister tied a white apron around me and in a second I had washed my
+hands and begun.  The first shirt I split, my heart leapt to my lips.  I
+was neither a novice nor a coward, but the sight of human blood flowing
+so generously and given so ungrudgingly, gave me a queer feeling in my
+throat.  A second later that had all passed over and as I worked I
+questioned the young fellows as to home and family and finally at what
+place they had been wounded.  Some did not know, others named unfamiliar
+corners, but La Tretoire startled me.  Our morning halt!  Then the
+invaders had crossed the Marne?  For these were not wounds from
+exploding shell but Mauser bullets and pistol shots!
+
+Meanwhile the sisters brought iron beds and soft mattresses into the
+next room, and each boy in turn was put to rest.  Fortunately there was
+nothing very serious, for we had no doctor and knew not where to find
+one.  When we reached our last patient he was so limp that we feared he
+would faint.  Imagine, if you can, what it is to cut away a stout pair
+of trooper's boots, and undress an almost helpless man whose clothes are
+fairly glued to the skin with blood, dirt and perspiration.
+
+"Hold the ammonia closer to his nose," said Madame Guix, tugging at a
+wire that served as boot lace.
+
+"I'm afraid he's exhausted.  There he goes--" I had just time to catch
+the body as it slid from the chair.
+
+Madame Guix grasped his wrist.
+
+"His pulse is good.  Hold fast till I get my needle."
+
+The boy's lips parted and a familiar sound filled the room.
+
+"He's not fainted!" I gasped.  "He's asleep!  Snoring!"
+
+Poor little fellow, a bullet in the shoulder and one in the shin, and
+yet fatigue had overcome the pain!  When we finally had to wake him, he
+apologized so nicely for the trouble he had given us, and sighed with
+delight when he touched the cool linen sheets.
+
+"You must have found me a pretty mess.  I haven't been out of my saddle
+for three weeks, and we've been fighting every minute since we left
+Charleroi."
+
+Our patients all asleep, Madame Guix and I sought a moment's rest in the
+open. A door in the corridor led out into a lovely old-world garden,
+surrounded on four sides by a delicately plastered cloister. The harvest
+moon shone down, covering everything with a silver sheen, and such quiet
+and calm reigned that it was almost impossible to believe that we were
+not visitors to some famous landscape, leisurely enjoying a long-planned
+trip.
+
+We were given no time to dream, however, for hasty footsteps in the
+corridor and the appearance of a white-robed sister carrying a gun, told
+us that our task was not yet finished.
+
+On a bench in the cloister, his head buried in one arm, the other tied
+up in an impromptu sling, we found a blue-coated soldier.  He was the
+image of despair, and though we gently questioned him, he only shook his
+head from side to side without answering.  Finally I sat down on the
+bench beside him and gently stroking his well arm, pleaded that he would
+tell us his trouble so that we might help him.  He drew his head up with
+a jerk, and turning on me with an almost furious look in his big black
+eyes, he snapped, "Are you married?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then you know what it is.  My God, my wife and babies, shut up in
+Valenciennes. It isn't this that's killing me," he continued, slapping
+his bandaged arm. "It's only a flesh wound in the shoulder.  But it's
+the other--the other thoughts.  I've seen them at their work, the pack
+of cursed cowards! but if they ever touch my wife!  Perhaps they have,
+the dirty blackguards, and I'm not there to defend her. Curse them all!"
+
+And he beat his fist on his knees in rage.  Then anger, and agony having
+reached paroxysm, his lips trembled, his mouth twitched, and brusquely
+throwing his arm around my neck, he buried his head on my shoulder and
+burst into tears.
+
+The first instant of surprise over, it would have been stupid to be
+offended. The circumstances were such that it was impossible not to be
+moved.
+
+I had never seen a man weep before; I never want to again.  For a full
+quarter-hour he sobbed like a child--this great sturdy fellow of
+thirty-five, and through the mist in my eyes I could see that my
+companion had turned her back on us and was fumbling for her
+handkerchief in her pocket.
+
+Then little by little the choking sound disappeared, his shoulders
+ceased to heave and shake, and a moment later our soldier lifted his
+head and blubbered an apology.
+
+"Forgive me--you've done me so much good.  I know I'm a fool, but it had
+to come--I just couldn't stand it another minute--" and other similar
+phrases, which we nipped in the bud by asking if he would like a cup of
+hot soup, or come into the dispensary when we could bandage his wound.
+
+"Anywhere where it's light.  I want you to see her picture--she'd think
+you're great."
+
+And so before he would let us touch his wound, we had to feel in his
+breast pocket and draw forth a wallet from which he produced the
+cherished photographs.
+
+At length we completed his bandaging and I left Madame Guix to add the
+finishing touches and went to the kitchen where Soeur Laurent was
+standing over a huge range, ladling soup from two immense copper
+boilers.  There were men, women and children holding out cups and mugs,
+a half-dozen dusty cavalrymen were skinning two rabbits in one corner,
+and as many other soldiers were peeling vegetables which they threw into
+another pot full of boiling water.
+
+This was no time to ask permission.  The poor sister was already half
+distracted by the demands of the famished refugees and combatants, so
+taking a ladle from the wall, I dipped into the pot and strained some
+bouillon into a few cups that I found in a cupboard.  I intended giving
+this to our patients should they wake and call for drink, and I was just
+lifting my tray to go when a loud thumping on the front door made me set
+it down in haste.
+
+I looked at Soeur Laurent, who was preparing to answer the summons, much
+to the dismay of the soldiers.
+
+"I'll go," I called, and hurried out into the vestibule and down the
+wide white marble steps.  As I threw back the huge oak door someone
+brushed past me, calling "Two men and a stretcher," and there in the
+brilliant moonlight I beheld the most ghastly spectacle I had as yet
+witnessed.
+
+Thrown forward in his saddle, his arms clasped about the horse's neck,
+was the form of a dragoon.  The animal that bore him had once been
+white, but was now so splashed with blood that it was impossible to tell
+what color was his originally. Both man and beast were wounded, badly
+wounded, and how they had come here was a miracle.
+
+The alarm had reached the kitchen and hurrying forward, the troopers
+soon lifted their comrade from his mount and carried him in.  A lance
+had pierced his thigh and the horse's flank, which meant that it had
+been a hand-to-hand fight, and the blood still flowing freely, proved
+that the combat was not an hour old!
+
+Madame Guix and I were doing our best when the white face's of my notary
+and his wife appeared at the door of the dispensary.
+
+"Madame Huard, we've come to tell you you must go!"
+
+"Go?"
+
+"Yes, it is two o'clock and the general who was quartered on us slept
+four hours and has gone.  When leaving he warned us that the battle
+would be on here by morning.  We who have a motor are safe, but you who
+have but horses must flee at once!"
+
+"But I can't leave the wounded!"
+
+"But you must.  The worst that can happen to them is to be made
+prisoners--more than likely they will be carried away by one of our
+emergency ambulances.  But think of all the young people who look to you
+for protection!  You cannot desert them; you must go!"
+
+I looked at Madame Guix.
+
+"Go, Madame Huard, you must.  You owe it to the others.  None of you
+need me and I can be of service here, so if the sisters will keep me
+I'll stay."
+
+Reluctantly I shook hands with my nurse, and hastened down the steps.
+Maitre Baudoin and his wife took leave of me at the comer, and I elbowed
+my way between the horses of a cavalry regiment, whose riders were sound
+asleep on the hard cobble pavement beside them.
+
+On the further side of the square noisy rolling sounds told me that the
+artillery was crossing the city, and mounting a doorstep, I beheld
+battery after battery of the famous Seventy-fives clattering out of
+sight over the road we had come by in the morning.  When I got down, I
+found my way blocked by the 18th Chasseurs a cheval, who, four abreast
+and lance in hand, were setting out for battle.  They were anything but
+a beaten army--most of them were softly humming some popular song, while
+others were calmly filling their pipes and still others catching forty
+winks in their saddles.  One or two I noticed wore no caps, and their
+heads were bound in blood-stained bandages.
+
+There seemed to be no end to them and I was beginning to get anxious
+about our departure.  Plunging my hand into my coat pocket I touched a
+piece of stale bread and a bit of chocolate, forgotten since the day
+before, and hunger having seized me, I began gnawing my crust.
+
+"Say, sister, give us a bite," called one young chap from his horse as
+he passed.
+
+"Are you really hungry?"
+
+"You bet!"
+
+Without hesitating I offered my crust.
+
+"Hurray for the girl with the red scarf!" called another.  "Come on with
+us. We'll make room for you."  "We need a mascot," and other similar
+jolly phrases passed from mouth to mouth as gaily the flower of young
+France went forth to death.
+
+When finally they had disappeared I rushed across the street to find
+George and Emile (H.'s messenger) engaged in a conversation with the
+driver of an army supply wagon drawn up within an inch of the bakery
+steps.  Beside him on the seat sat a huge dragoon, his bead done up in a
+blood-stained towel.
+
+"We're lost," he was explaining.  "Been cut off from our regiment for
+three days."
+
+"Poor regiment!" I murmured, and calling the boys, I told Emile to wake
+the others and come down quickly to help hitch the horses.  He was only
+gone a second, and I could hear him calling.
+
+"_Allons, allons, Madame part de suite._"
+
+Then he reappeared carrying a lantern.
+
+"Where the devil did you get the light?" growled George.
+
+"In their room."
+
+"Then how in the name of heaven do you expect those people to dress and
+roll up their belongings in the dark?" I scolded.  "Here, George, go
+back with the lantern."
+
+George obeyed orders, and Emile, rather sheepishly, skulked away in the
+direction of the stable yard.  I heard a sliding door pushed open,
+followed by a long low whistle, and a second later Emile reappeared, his
+eyes popping out of his head with astonishment.
+
+"There's a horse missing--been stolen!"
+
+"No!  Impossible!"
+
+"The stable's empty!"
+
+I hurried to the spot, and found that he told the truth.
+
+"George!" I called, as my boy came around the corner of the house.
+"George, Cesar's been stolen!"
+
+"Who says so, Madame?"
+
+"Emile--the stable's empty."
+
+Calmly and easily George walked over towards Emile, and taking him by
+the collar, shook him violently.  "Look here, you!  What do you mean by
+frightening Madame like that?  Are you her servant?  No!  Well, then,
+mind your own business!"
+
+And opening a second door alongside the other, we found Cesar and
+Sausage munching their oats.
+
+It was no easy job harnessing in the dark and backing the heavy carts
+out of the narrow yard into the still narrower street.  But in ten
+minutes our caravan was again en route.
+
+We crossed the public square, now almost empty of men, horses and
+motors, and took the only road leading south.
+
+The first gray streaks of daylight lighted the east as we turned the
+corner, and we were obliged to pull suddenly to the extreme right, for a
+heavy Parisian motorbus swung round the bend and rushed on past us.
+
+Straining my eyes, I perceived that there was not one but hundreds of
+them, following each other at top speed down the hill.  There were armed
+men standing inside them, armed men on the platforms and steps, armed
+men even on the roofs and it was indeed a strange sight to see
+_Madeleine-Bastille_ and the _Galeries Lafayette_ out here in the open
+country, jammed full of grim infantrymen preparing for the fray.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion rent the air and shook the ground so
+that the horses stopped and trembled.
+
+"There goes the bridge at Nogent!" cried George.  "No--the power house
+at La Tretoire!"
+
+"_En avant!_" I called, knowing that the signal for battle had now been
+given.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+We had gone about two miles when the sight of my greyhounds tied behind
+the farm cart made me think of my little Boston bull.
+
+"Where's Betsy?" I asked of those perched on the hay.
+
+Julie, Nini and Yvonne grew white.
+
+It took little time to discover that no one had seen her that morning.
+It was evident she had been forgotten--left to die tied to the brass
+rail inside an abandoned bakery, for it was there I had fastened her on
+arriving the night before.  Pedaling ahead till I reached Leon who led
+the procession--
+
+"Keep straight on this road.  If it should fork, take the direction of
+the La Ferte Gauche.  I'll be back in no time."  Then turning about, I
+started a parallel race with an autobus, much to the delight of the
+occupants.
+
+Useless to say that my adversary gained on the up-grade, turned the
+corner, was gone, and was followed by another long before I reached the
+public square, breathless and full of anxiety.
+
+Rebais was empty--not even a tardy refugee straggled by the wayside, and
+before I reached the bakery I could hear the plaintive howls of my
+little brute.
+
+What a joyful welcome I received.  What hilarious waggings of that
+little screw tail!  But, there was no time to be lost, for the problem
+now was how Betsy was to catch up with the procession.  She was too
+heavy for me to carry under my arm, and too old and puffy to be expected
+to follow a bicycle--but it was one or the other, and tying her leash to
+the handle bar, off we started, after an encouraging pat on the head and
+the promise of a lump of sugar if she would only "be a good girl."
+
+On we sped, past the huge lumbering motorbuses, which terrified the poor
+animal who tugged vehemently at her string, at times almost choking
+herself.
+
+In half an hour we had caught up with the caravan, and as I lifted poor
+exhausted Betsy on to the hay, Nini roused from her dozing and pointing
+to the east, said, "Oh, look! what a big fire!"
+
+"You silly child, it's the sun rising; go back to sleep," I said,
+terrified by what I had seen, but unwilling to alarm the others
+uselessly.
+
+At the skyline of an immense plain that stretched on our left, huge
+columns of flame burst heavenward, covered a moment later by dense black
+smoke. Fortunately, however, the sun peeped over the horizon almost
+instantly, thereby diminishing the intensity of the conflagration.  But
+Nini was not to be thus hoodwinked.
+
+"See," she continued, "what funny little fluffy clouds those are!"
+
+"Nini, if you don't go to sleep at once you'll have to get down and
+walk, and let one of the boys take your place.  They'll be only too glad
+to, I know."
+
+Nini obeyed instantly.  She had come away with but one pair of shoes (in
+spite of my admonition to take all the footwear she possessed) and that
+pair of shoes pinched.
+
+Funny little fluffy clouds indeed!  The shaking of the earth beneath my
+feet and a second of reflection told me, they were not clouds, before
+they would be directed westward was but shells--and how long it would be
+a question that chilled the blood in my veins.
+
+The town we were heading for--La Ferte Gauche--lay southeast.  Though I
+had no glass, it was evident that it was now under the enemies' fire,
+and we might just as well run our necks into a noose as keep on in that
+direction.  It was southwest--or nothing.
+
+Without offering any explanation I rode ahead and told Leon to follow
+me.  Then turning abruptly to the right, I took the first side path that
+was wide enough for our cart wheels, and in and out, up and down, we
+followed it for over an hour, until coasting down a steep incline, I
+found myself in the midst of a delightful little village, nestled
+between two hills on the border of a river.
+
+The shops were just opening and people were going about their work as if
+nothing unusual were happening.  They gazed in astonishment at this
+hatless bicyclist, who wore a Red Cross armlet, and when I went into the
+baker shop, I was filled with joy at the sight of all the crisp loaves
+lined up in their racks ready for delivery.
+
+Refugees?
+
+They hadn't seen any.  Someone had heard an unaccustomed movement of
+wagons during the night, that was all.
+
+A signpost, as I turned into the square, told me that I was at
+Jouy-sur-Morin, and a few moments later, I came upon a group of
+gentlemen in frock coats standing talking on an embankment below the
+church.  If it had been in the afternoon instead of five A. M., I should
+have thought this assembly perfectly in harmony with the landscape.  In
+fact they looked so much like H.'s caricatures of his provincial
+compatriots that I couldn't help smiling as I passed.  This mutational
+gathering of the municipal council was the only outward sign of anxiety
+to be found in this picturesque township.
+
+The arrival of our caravan produced quite a sensation among the early
+risers at Jouy, thought the enthusiasm for telling their story had
+somewhat subsided among my servants.  They were footsore, sleepy, and
+hungry.
+
+The gentlemen in frock coats were too busy in their own affairs to give
+us much attention, and I was about to leave when one of them called me
+over and asked a few questions.  Anxious to be off, I answered briefly.
+The man probably took me for a poor demented female; how could he think
+otherwise down here in his little valley, where not a sound of gun and
+shell had penetrated as yet?
+
+History will tell you how, a few hours later, Jouy-sur-Morin was the
+scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Marne.
+
+At the dairy, my appearance aroused much curiosity, and when I brought
+out the money to pay for my milk, the woman held up her hand.  "No,
+never; I couldn't take pay from such forlorn creatures as you!"
+
+This unexpected pity brought the blood to my cheeks.  I was hot with
+indignation. Until now we had wanted for nothing, and with gold in my
+pocket charity was an insult.  I straightened my tie, looked at my dusty
+boots, and realized for the first time that my face was drawn with
+fatigue and anxiety--that my hair, though tidy, was sadly out of curl.
+Leaving my change on the table, I turned on my heel and departed.
+Explanations were tiresome and useless.
+
+We crossed a railroad track and then the river--the Grand Morin--and in
+a grass-grown granite quarry halted for breakfast, sheltering ourselves
+from the blistering sun in the shade of the immense rocks.
+
+The boys took the horses down to the river to drink and bathe, and a few
+seconds later came back for towels and soap.
+
+What a happy idea!  A quarter of a mile higher up the bank I found a
+well secluded spot, and plunged into the refreshing current.  It was the
+first time I had had my boots off since leaving Villiers.  Thanks to a
+small pocket glass and a fresh white blouse, I made myself quite
+presentable and as I approached our camp, the appetizing odor of fresh
+fried country sausage tickled my nostrils and made me glad to be alive.
+
+Hot coffee accompanied by buttered toast had been prepared by the girls
+during my absence, and we needed no coaxing to persuade us to do the
+meal justice. Already accustomed to this gypsy life, George's dry humor
+began to show itself, and now and again the silence would be broken by
+peals of laughter, caused by some quaint joke.
+
+We lingered lovingly over the repast, and I was trying to decide whether
+or not we would push on at once or wait and rest until afternoon when
+suddenly my question was answered for me.
+
+While we had been clearing up and loading the carts a long train of
+freight cars had noiselessly glided down the rails opposite our quarry,
+and had halted without pulling into the station.  There was nothing
+abnormal in this, and from where we sat a trifle below the level of the
+track, we could see but little of what was going on on the opposite
+platform.  Standing upright in my charette, carefully folding a blanket
+so as to take up the least possible space, my eye was attracted by
+several red specks scurrying up a steep incline.  A moment afterwards my
+gaze drifted downward and I realized that from the innocent looking
+freight cars hundreds of armed soldiers were disembarking and spreading
+themselves out, _en tirailleurs_, preparing an attack in ambush.  I had
+seen this same pretty feat successfully accomplished at the _grand
+manauvres_, the year before, but it was another thing entirely when one
+grasped that these men were in dead earnest.
+
+Just then a buggy, containing a disheveled woman and collarless man,
+galloped over the crossing and sped westward.  The occupants, whom I
+hailed, did not deign a reply, but beckoning with their arms, enjoined
+me to follow them.
+
+"It's time to break camp," I said, "if we intend to reach the next town
+before it gets too hot."
+
+So off we started, preceded by a heavy delivery wagon, a _Familistere_
+from the north, which crossed the rails just as we were pulling onto the
+road.  It was a big covered affair, filled to overflowing with bedding
+and household utensils--and even the top was loaded with huge boxes and
+baskets of provisions.  Behind it walked, or rather trotted, three stout
+women and a man, the former half-crazed with heat and anxiety, mopping
+their brows and their tears as the _cortege_ advanced.
+
+An hour and a half of steady climbing quite exhausted them, and when we
+reached the level, the three graces collapsed by the roadside, still
+weeping copiously. I observed this as I approached, and presently saw
+their companion mounted on the high hind wheel of their wagon, gazing
+intently towards the east through a pair of field glasses.
+
+"What can you see?" I asked as the _charette_ passed by them.
+
+"Come and have a look.  It's worth while.  My wife and family are too
+frightened."
+
+I halted, and climbing up by the spokes reached the top, and steadying
+myself with my left hand, took the proffered glass with my right.
+
+From one extremity to the other of the wide plains, from which we were
+separated by the valley of the Grand Morin, those same long columns of
+dense black smoke rose lazily in the brilliant sunlight.  Into some
+determined spot the enemy was pouring a perfect rain of shot and shell,
+and the dust rising after each explosion formed a curtain that blotted
+out the rest of the landscape.  Below, the _Senegalais_ had disappeared
+in ambush, but now and again the distant clattering of the
+_mitrailleuse_ told us they were at their deadly work.  And to think,
+all this was happening on ground we had traveled over only a few hours
+since!  And I had been fool enough to go back to Rebais--alone to
+recover my dog!
+
+I shuddered as I got down.  What was the use of trying to hurry?  We
+couldn't go any faster than the horses, and if we overworked them now we
+would have to rest longer later on.  So, urging our poor old nags, we
+trudged along the sun-baked roads between the high grown wheat fields of
+the Brie country.
+
+Still another couple of hours and we had reached Choisy-en-Brie, found a
+stable for our animals, and we ourselves stretched out on our blankets
+beneath the friendly shadow of the big stone church.
+
+I had finished luncheon and was just dozing off when a motor horn roused
+me from my lethargy.  A second later I recognized Maitre Baudoin and his
+wife, the latter holding their four-year-old daughter on her knees, her
+grandmother sitting alone in the back seat which was piled high with
+important documents, and their maid strapped to the steps of the car.
+
+We set up a shout which stopped them.  "We stayed until a shell burst on
+the house next door, then we thought it was time to go,"' explained
+Maitre Baudoin.
+
+"What time did you leave Rebais?"
+
+"Forty minutes ago.  You'd better be moving, too."
+
+"Sorry, but I can't.  The horses must rest."
+
+"Well, don't wait too long. Adieu."
+
+"Adieu," and they were off.
+
+I returned to my blanket and again was just closing my eyes when the
+unexpected sound of Gregorian chant made me sit up.  Nearer and nearer
+it drew, louder and louder rose the priests' voices, and then a
+much-befringed and flower-laden hearse, preceded by the clergy and
+followed by the mourners (the men in evening dress and the women in
+their Sunday clothes), rounded the corner, passed in front of us, and
+halted before the main door of the church.
+
+I couldn't help smiling.  The incongruity of this pompous _enterrement
+de premiere classe, en musique_, when the city was imminently menaced by
+a German bombardment, bordered on the pathetic and the ridiculous.
+However, the family of the defunct did not think so, and their deceased
+parent was chanted to eternity with all the rites and ceremonies that
+his will had provided for.
+
+Personally I was delighted at the idea of going to sleep to the sound of
+the organ, which pierced the thick granite walls and almost drowned the
+rumble of the cannon, to which we had now become so accustomed that we
+had ceased to be alarmed.
+
+"_Des soldats!_" cried someone.
+
+In a second I was on my feet.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Two-on bicycles, going into the hotel opposite."
+
+I reached there as soon as they did.  Their story was brief.
+
+"We're the forerunners of a cavalry depot, being transferred to Rozoy
+from Montmirail.  It's getting too hot down there!  How far is it to
+Rozoy?"
+
+I pulled out my map.
+
+"Seventeen kilometres."
+
+"Oh, Lord!"
+
+And the poor fellows wiped the great beads of perspiration from their
+dusty necks and faces.
+
+"Bring up a bottle of wine.  I'll stand for the drinks," called a man
+from a corner of the cafe.
+
+"What regiment do you belong to?"
+
+"_L'Escadron du train._"
+
+My heart leapt with expectancy.
+
+"Do you know a man named H.?"
+
+"No."
+
+My disappointment was even greater than my joy.
+
+"How many horses are you taking to Rozoy?"
+
+"Two hundred and some."
+
+"At what time will they pass here?"
+
+"They're due in half an hour, if they don't get cornered by the Boches
+on the way. We had a close call ourselves."  And swallowing their
+glasses of white wine and water, they were on their bicycles and gone,
+before we could get any further details.
+
+I had now had enough experience to know that it was high time to take to
+the road if we didn't wish to be captured.  Yet it seemed unfair to go
+and leave some two-score innocent people praying for the soul of their
+dear departed to a long drawn-out musical accompaniment.  So while the
+boys were harnessing I entered the sanctuary and approaching the chancel
+by a side aisle, beckoned an altar boy and whispered in his ear words to
+the effect that the curate would better hurry his mass and thereby give
+his flock time to escape the invaders.
+
+I said this calmly, and hoped he would follow my example in delivering
+my message, but imagine if you can the effect produced by this
+frightened individual, who, lifting his hands in the air, cried out in
+terror, "_Vite, vite, Monsieur le Cure'! Voila' les Prussiens!_"
+
+I didn't wait to see what happened, but went out and joined my group,
+which was making ready to start.  How far advanced was mass when I
+entered the church I did not observe, but what I do know is that it
+finished abruptly after my warning, and the poor hearse horse never
+before galloped towards the cemetery of Choisy at such a pace nor in
+such an undignified manner.  As to the mourners, they fairly flew beside
+it, greatly diminished in number, the others scattering like chaff
+before the wind.
+
+The half-hour's interval allowed by the cyclists for the horses to
+arrive was far overlapped by the time we once again took the road, but
+the sound of the cannonade had gradually grown closer.
+
+Wearied by this constant changing of camp, I made up my mind to go far
+enough in this next move to be able to really rest for a day or so.
+Consulting my map, I discovered Jouyle-Chatel to be at what I judged a
+safe distance--nearly thirty kilometres and considerably south of Paris.
+The afternoon was still young, so we would have time to make the town
+before dark.  At any rate, I told George to accompany me and explained
+that he and I would ride ahead full speed, and arrange for beds and a
+dinner by the time the others should arrive.  They were instructed not
+to let the dark halt them, but to come on.  Secretly I hoped that this
+would be our last stretch and that we would be able to remain at Jouy
+until it was wise to start homeward.
+
+It was an uneventful trip from Choisy to Jouy.  The roads were
+excellent, though very undulating and the only incident that marked our
+journey was an intoxicated individual who jumped across our path and,
+putting his hand on my handle bar, demanded tearfully what I had done
+with his wife and children.
+
+I declared myself innocent in the matter, which angered him
+considerably.
+
+"Now I know you're a spy!  Get down--"  George did not give him time to
+finish the phrase, but with a well-measured blow, sent him sprawling in
+the brambled ditch and we beat a hasty retreat without looking back.
+
+It was night by the time we reached Jouy, and at the entrance of the
+city I enquired for the best hotel.
+
+"_Le Grand Turc_--but the proprietress is closing up, making ready to
+leave."
+
+"What!  Here?  You don't mean to say the scare has reached this place,
+too?"
+
+"Well, we've had so many refugees these days that the women got
+frightened and want to go."
+
+George and I parted company, he to see what he could find since the best
+hotel was denied us, and I, undaunted, started off to try to persuade
+the proprietress to let us in.
+
+After much rattling at the door handles and pounding on the shutters, an
+acrid female voice enjoined me to be gone.
+
+"I'm closing up and leaving."
+
+"Leaving?  What for?"
+
+"To escape the Germans!"
+
+"How foolish!  They'll never reach here.  I've just come from the Marne
+and expected to find board and lodgings for my staff until the war is
+over."
+
+That encouraged her and cracking the door, she put her head out.
+
+"I belong to the Red Cross.  Here's my badge and my _carte didentite_.
+Don't you think you could find room for me?"
+
+"Well, we're packing up, but we'll have to wait for our horses, which
+are at a farm seven miles from here.  The farmer said he'd come if there
+was any danger."
+
+"Well, you see there isn't or he'd be here by now."
+
+My hostess seemed convinced and opening the door a little wider, let me
+pass.
+
+"How many of you are there?"
+
+"Fourteen."
+
+"Good heavens!  Fourteen rooms?  Never!"
+
+"I don't ask that, my good woman.  If you can find a bed for me and
+happen to have a bay loft or covered shed, the others will be glad
+enough to sleep there. As to the meals, we have our own provisions and
+will cook outside.  It's a little late to-night, however, so if you
+could manage to give them a cup of hot soup and an omelet when they
+arrive, I'd make it worth your while."
+
+She consented to the compromise, and sent one of her daughters to
+prepare my room. I then dispatched George, whose bicycle bell I heard
+ringing in the street, to the city gate to await and conduct the
+remainder of our party.  In the hour that elapsed before their arrival I
+gained in the hostess's good graces by lancing a festered finger and
+bandaging her small daughter's skinned knee.
+
+When the others arrived, George, who had not been idle during his wait,
+told me that Jouy was almost empty of inhabitants, and that most of the
+people from Mery-sur-Marne, a village near Villiers, were lodging for
+the night on bales of hay in the school house and town hall.
+
+Our meal over, none of us needed persuading to retire and the idea of a
+bed lured me early to my room.
+
+Naturally a light sleeper, I was constantly awakened by the coming and
+going and the conversation of our proprietress, who kept on packing
+right through the night. Another time I was roused by a bell ringing up
+and down the street, which passed beneath my window, and a deep
+masculine voice that enjoined all the people from Mery to hurry to the
+town hall.  The wagons were leaving in a quarter of an hour.
+
+"Poor fools," thought I, and rolled over in my bed.
+
+As it grew light, I could gee the interminable stream of refugees
+passing up the road, and when I had dressed and hastened to the
+courtyard I found the others had already kindled a fire and tea was
+awaiting me.
+
+"At what time should we start, Madame?"
+
+"Start where?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest intention of going any farther.  Haven't you
+all had enough of this kind of traveling?"
+
+The reply was affirmative and unanimous!
+
+"The noise of the cannon is hardly audible this morning, which is a very
+encouraging sign, I'm sure, so we'll try to make ourselves comfortable
+until it's safe to go home."
+
+And leaving Julie in charge, I set off by myself, glad of a moment's
+solitude.
+
+In my wanderings I found the church door open, and entering, rejoiced in
+the peace that reigned within.  It calmed my anxiety and as I withdrew
+my thoughts were clearer, and the burden of my responsibility seemed
+lightened.
+
+On my way to the hotel I was accosted by a woman who, with a baby in her
+arms, was leading a cow behind her.
+
+"Don't you want some milk?"
+
+"I hardly think so."
+
+"Please take it.  You see, I've only saved my baby and my cow, and I
+have to milk the latter twice a day.  I can't carry all she gives, so I
+keep what's necessary and throw the rest away.  It seems like such a
+waste."
+
+I agreed with her, and directed her towards the hotel court.  She would
+take no remuneration and thanking me, hastened on her way.
+
+As I watched her go someone touched me on the arm and asked me if I
+would go to the town hall; there were two refugees who needed
+assistance.  There I found a very old couple, brother and sister, the
+eldest aged ninety-two, the other two years younger.  They were from
+Mery, had lodged in a private house in Jouy, and were so decrepit that
+they had not arisen in time to catch the wagons which bore away their
+fellow townsmen the night before.  That had so upset the old man that he
+had broken down and lay moaning on the straw, while the mild little
+woman explained that the being left behind was not what troubled her,
+but it was her purse and belongings that had been carried off in the
+carts.
+
+I comforted them as best I could, promising to send them hot milk and
+biscuits, and wondering what else I could do for them.  Any way they
+should not starve, as long as we remained in Jouy.
+
+Luncheon was well under way when I returned to the hotel.  In a pot,
+standing on an iron tripod in the middle of the paved court, a rabbit
+was gently stewing. In another, a fricassee of chicken smelled
+temptingly good.  The women and girls were peeling potatoes and onions,
+which were to cook in the sauce and a peal of laughter went up from the
+merry group when a few moments later George and Emile appeared, covered
+with flour and dough from head to foot, and each bearing a bottle of
+white wine under his arm.
+
+"What on earth have you boys been up to?"
+
+"Behold in us the city bakers!" said George with a wave of the hand and
+he and his companion struck an attitude which again drew forth much
+hilarity from the onlookers.
+
+"It's no joke--there wasn't a baker left in the place, so we found an
+old fellow who said he'd show us how, and the dough is now setting.  By
+three o'clock we'll have fresh bread, you see if we don't!"
+
+From the window the proprietress and her daughters watched our impromptu
+kitchen with interest.  We formed such an amusing group that, handing my
+kodak to Leon, I told him to catch us as I bent over to taste the sauce.
+
+Snap went the shutter!
+
+At that same instant a shriek rose from the interior of the hotel.
+Looking up I saw that the proprietress and her two daughters had
+disappeared.
+
+"_Au secours!  Au secours!_"
+
+The boys and I made a rush for the house.  As we entered the _grande
+sale_, we saw a man bearing a human form in his arms staggering through
+the door.  Through the blood and dust that smeared the unfortunate boy's
+clothing, I recognized the uniform of a chasseur.  Not even an emergency
+bandage stopped the stream that was flowing from his cheek.
+
+"Quick--a mattress!" I shouted.
+
+The proprietress stood as though nailed to the doorway leading to the
+kitchen.
+
+"Is he wounded?"
+
+"No matter--a mattress!"
+
+"But he might soil it--"
+
+"Then I'll pay for it--but for the love of heaven, be quick!"
+
+Just then the boy's head lurched forward and the blood poured from his
+mouth. Leon jumped to help the old man who was holding him, and I had
+just time to catch the proprietress as she swooned on the floor.
+
+"Put the boy on the billiard table and stuff this blanket under his
+head," I said, grabbing the article mentioned from the top of a bundle
+near by.  "Come in here!" I called to the two daughters who were
+blubbering in the next room, terrified at what they had seen.  "Come in
+here--lay her flat, loosen her clothes, and dash some cold water over
+her.  She's not dead and I've no time to bother with her."
+
+While others laid the wounded man out on the table, I rushed for my
+emergency case which I had fortunately thought to bring along.
+
+With a sharp pair of scissors, I cut away the bloody garments and with a
+little warm water washed my patient so I could see what was the matter.
+He was but half conscious, and his eyes rolled wildly and his hand
+grasped mine and wrung it in agony.
+
+I discovered a tiny cheek wound and was congratulating myself that
+perhaps the bullet had lodged in the flesh, when on turning his head
+gently to one side, I was almost nauseated by the terrible wound that
+greeted my eyes.
+
+Either a Mauser pistol or an explosive bullet fired at but short
+distance had entered the cheek and gouged its way through the lad's
+head, carrying away part of the ear and well--let us not go any further.
+
+"Is there a doctor in the place still?" I called to the cook who stood
+looking in at the door.  "Run and see if you can get him--for I'm
+incompetent here. Quick! It's life or death!"
+
+And while she was gone I stuffed cotton and iodine into the tremendous
+cavity, hoping to stop the hemorrhage.  As I bandaged, I questioned the
+man who had brought him.
+
+"Where did you pick him up?"
+
+"Amillis--a mile and a half from here.  The Uhlans fired into me, too,
+when they saw me help him.  Look at the sole of my shoe!  They're
+following close on behind."
+
+I stepped to the window.  "George and Leon!  Quick!  Drop everything.
+Hitch and get out of here like lightning!  I'll follow in this man's
+cart.  Hitch and I'll tell you where to go."
+
+Fricasseed chicken and rabbit stew were forgotten and I could hear my
+people running wildly about the court, obeying orders.
+
+The doctor appeared.  I explained.  "Shall I unbandage?"
+
+"Useless."
+
+"Then don't say so out loud, as he's not yet unconscious."
+
+The poor fellow gripped my hand as proof.  The physician blushed
+scarlet.
+
+"I'll give him an injection of ether and then you take him in your cart
+to the nearest hospital--it's Provins--twenty miles from here."
+
+He jabbed in the needle, and then handing it with a phial to me:
+"Here--take this. I'm clearing out.  Got a wife and baby to save.  Keep
+his heart going--there's a ghost of a chance.  Adieu!"
+
+I stood petrified.
+
+"Take him away, I'm closing up!  Take him away--" screamed the hostess,
+who had recovered from her swoon.
+
+I looked at the old man who had brought the boy.
+
+"Where are you going with your cart?"
+
+"To Coulommiers--to save my sister-in-law and her children."
+
+"Good God, man!  Can't you see that if this boy was wounded at Amillis
+your road to Coulommiers is cut off!"
+
+"It may not be."
+
+"There's no time to argue.  My wagons are full to overflowing.  Are you
+going to let this boy stay and be finished by the Germans, or are you
+going to let me put him in your cart and drive to a hospital?"
+
+"But Provins must be occupied by this time.  It's east of here."
+
+"I never had any intention of going there.  I'm heading for Melun."
+
+"Melun?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good heavens!  That's seventy kilometers!  My poor sister-in-law! My
+horse!" wailed the old fellow.
+
+"Now then--one, two, three--" said I, gently patting my Browning which I
+had drawn from my outside pocket.  "Will you do it gracefully?  That's
+right.  Now stop your crying.  I'll release you as soon as I can find
+someone else to take me on.  The important thing is to get out of here
+and quick!  It may be too late now."
+
+The boys had fetched a mattress, had found pillows and a sheet,
+somewhere, and gently we laid the dying man on the old farm cart.
+
+"You boys take your bikes and go ahead.  Tell the refugees you meet to
+pull to the right and not encumber the whole road.  We're rushing a
+wounded man to the hospital.  When I think you've got the way clear I'll
+drive on full speed.  Tell our carts to head for Melun and keep on going
+till they get there.  I can't bother with them.  We'll meet at the first
+bridge over the Seine."
+
+They departed, and climbing in beside my patient, who writhed in agony,
+now lurching from one side, now rolling to the other, I tried to make
+him as comfortable as possible.  All the other carts had departed ere we
+got away, and my tearful driver kept on grumbling and lamenting.
+
+Two hundred yards from the hotel, where the road makes a sharp turn, we
+halted abruptly, for we had come upon a group composed of my boy George
+and three French chasseurs.  Two were on horseback, their naked swords
+glittering in the sunlight; the third on a bicycle--and all three, as
+well as George, were shrieking excitedly at a phlegmatic Tommy Atkins
+who, seated on a milestone, was calmly smoking his pipe.  Behind him,
+his horse was peacefully nibbling grass. At the sight of my armlet and
+the agitated white sheet in the wagon, the chasseurs approached in
+haste.
+
+"What have you got there?  Our comrade, Ballandreau?"
+
+"Yes."  (I had seen the boy's name in his military book.)
+
+"Is he dead?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Badly wounded?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Parlez-vous anglais?_" they fairly bawled, all three at once.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, for God's sake, tell that blockhead sitting on the stone and
+whose horse has gone lame, to seize the bicycle of that peasant standing
+there, and follow us."
+
+I translated politely.
+
+"Why?" queried the Englishman, drawing on his pipe.
+
+"Why?" I demanded of the chasseurs.
+
+"Why?  Do you see that?" said one on a bicycle, wheeling around and
+pointing down the road behind us.  "Do you see that?  That's the Uhlans.
+The ones that got Ballandreau a half-hour ago, the ones that got my
+horse and the ones that will get us all if we stop here much longer."
+
+"The Uhlans!" I cried to Tommy, showing him the advancing forms of a
+half-dozen cavalrymen, whose black leather helmets shone in the sun a
+mile up the road.
+
+"There are seven of them--on patrol--seven hundred following!  Come, old
+fellow, it's now or never!"
+
+"And I--where shall I go?" I said, jumping into the cart, George
+following.
+
+"To the devil if you like, but quick!"
+
+The warning came none too soon.  We had been seen, and sharp, whizzing
+noises in the grass, and over our beads told us that our German pursuers
+had no intention of letting us get away.
+
+"Down on your knees, man!" I yelled, pulling the old fellow with me as
+we ducked to the level of the dashboard.  And unfastening a breastpin, I
+jabbed it mercilessly into the flanks of our nag, who bounded forward,
+nearly, throwing us out.
+
+Whizz!  Whizz!  Whizz!
+
+It was as if a cloud of locusts were bumming about us.
+
+Then when I lifted my eyes, on top of the steep incline we were
+ascending, I could see several uniformed horsemen and back of them a
+huge column of smoke.
+
+"Heavens!" I gasped, "we're caught this time--but it's too late now to
+turn about. We're prisoners for sure!"
+
+Two cavalrymen then appeared and calmly started down the road in our
+direction. A second later I recognized the British uniform and breathed
+again.
+
+"Go back!" I yelled.  "Go back!  The Germans are on our heels!"
+
+Astonished at bearing their native tongue, the men approached.
+
+"Thank heaven, here's someone to direct us," they said as they came
+alongside and saluted.
+
+I replied with a nod.
+
+"We're lost," they said, "cut off from our brigade."
+
+"That's nothing.  How many of you are there?  Enough to fight?  The
+Germans are coming on hard and fast."
+
+"We're only two and our horses are done for.  We were driven out of
+Coulommiers this morning."
+
+My driver threw up his hands and sobbed.
+
+"Our friend John's horse went lame and we left him at the bottom of the
+hill while we came up to reconnoiter.  We can't leave him down there all
+alone."
+
+"He's gone--gone--I swear it.  Followed the French chasseurs on my
+bicycle, leading his mount!"
+
+"Thank God!"
+
+"Now then, how far the Germans will come is a question.  They'll
+probably go in and occupy the town, and there's just one thing for us to
+do--bolt."
+
+Whizz!  Whizz!  Whizz--the lead fairly splashed around us!
+
+Leon and Emile rode back to say that the road ahead was clear.
+
+"Les Boches," I said, pointing down the hill.
+
+"Come on, you cowards!" yelled my boys defiantly, George brandishing the
+rifle of my wounded man.
+
+"Oh, Madame, ask the Englishmen for their revolvers.  They've got their
+rifles--that's five of us armed, and Monsieur's revolver makes six!
+It's almost man to man.  Ah, please, Madame!" they implored.
+
+In the excitement of the moment I nearly lost my head and consented.  I
+was worked to such a point that any solution would have seemed a relief.
+The Britishers saw me put my hand in my pocket.
+
+"No!  No!" they pleaded.  "You can't--if we're caught you won't be
+killed--but murdered, tortured!  We're the only ones who have a right to
+fire!"
+
+"But they've been peppering my cart regardless of my sex!"
+
+"That's perhaps their way of waging war, but not ours.  Now then, off
+you go--quickly."
+
+We disappeared behind a clump of trees and tore down the clear road as
+fast as our horses would carry us.  George sneaked back on his wheel to
+see if our aggressors were following, and came back radiant to announce
+that after coming halfway up the bill, they had turned about and were
+cantering to take possession of Jouy--as I had predicted.
+
+"Where's our nearest barracks?" enquired one of the Scotsmen.  (I now
+saw that I had to do with the Scots a little.)  We slowed down a little.
+
+
+"Where is our nearest barracks?" enquired one of the Scotsmen.
+
+"How on earth do you expect me to know?  Up until I met you I hardly
+realized there were any British troops on the continent!"
+
+"Where are you bound for?"
+
+"Melun. There's a big French garrison there in time of peace.  You'll
+always be sure of getting orders there--unless we meet someone on the
+road."
+
+They thought that was the best idea, and fell back, cantering behind my
+caravan with which I had now caught up.
+
+On we trotted-up hill and down dale for several hours, my poor wounded
+boy still writhing on his bed of agony.
+
+Towards four o'clock we had reached a long smooth stretch where we could
+see right and left for several miles over the plains.  Presently, on a
+crossroad that ran perpendicular to ours, I spied a motor wagon.  It was
+soon followed by another and then another, and pressing forward we
+reached the crossing in time to see Harrods' Stores, Whitley's, Swan &
+Edgar, and an interminable number of English Army supply motors coming
+straight towards us.
+
+Knowing that it would be impossible to pass before the whole long line
+had gone by, I crossed over and now saw that the Scots Grays would soon
+find friends.  I called Leon and pulling out a card, told him to pedal
+back and dig out a bottle of champagne I had hidden in our hay cart, and
+to present it to our soldier friends as a bracer and a souvenir.  And
+then we pushed ahead.
+
+Two minutes later, to my utter surprise, a heavy motor horn tooted on
+the road behind me and looking back, I saw a private car emerge from
+behind one of the English motors, and whirl down in our direction.  It
+was a four-seater affair with but two occupants, a chauffeur and a woman
+wearing a streaming white veil.
+
+"Quick!" I shrieked, grabbing the reins and pulling our cart full into
+the middle of the road.  "They've got to take me and the boy to Melun!"
+
+Seeing his deliverance so near, my old friend obeyed at once.
+
+The motor, stupefied by our actions, slowed down.
+
+"Get out of the way!" yelled the chauffeur.  "Are you crazy!  Out or
+I'll run you down!"
+
+"Never!  Look here.  I don't care where you're bound for, but you've got
+to make room for me and a dying man in your machine.  It's Melun--or
+nothing!"
+
+"Wounded!  Heaven, the Germans!  We're caught!  Go on, quick, quick, I
+say!" shrieked the woman.
+
+The chauffeur made a movement as though to skid past us.
+
+"No, you don't," I said, once again producing my trusty Browning.
+
+The woman hid her face in her hands.
+
+"Now then, either you can make room for us or I'll blow off your tires
+and you'll have to get down and walk like all the rest of us!"
+
+My gray-headed driver was jubilant.
+
+"That's right, Madame, you've hit it!" he encouraged.
+
+There just wasn't any choice.  The chauffeur got down and began piling
+the gasoline cans behind on the back seat to one side.  Then, each of us
+grabbing a corner of the mattress, we hoisted the sufferer onto the
+machine, covering him with a sheet.  Try as we would, though, we could
+not get him to bend his knees, and in consequence all during the trip
+the poor chauffeur received constant kicks from the agonized soul we
+were rushing towards surgical aid.
+
+"Now then," I said, turning to my old driver.  "Thank you for your cart,
+and bon voyage to Coulommiers.  George, tell my people to meet me in
+Melun."
+
+And hatless, coatless, with but one golden louis in my pocket (I had
+confided my bag to Julie when the wounded man had arrived at Jouy), I
+started on our record-breaking trip to Melun.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+It was an exciting trip, that race for life and death--for every moment
+I knew my wounded boy was growing weaker, and every convulsive kick
+meant the disappearance of so much life blood.  During the numerous
+adventures which befell us between the time we left Jouy-le-Chatel and
+our encountering the motor, my hypodermic needle had received such
+violent treatment that it refused service.  So when we turned into
+Mormont at top speed, I was obliged to ask my driver to slow down and
+inquire for a doctor.  We were directed by a couple of gaping women on
+the borders of the little city, who didn't quite understand our mission.
+However, they must have been soon enlightened, for as we crossed the
+public square the British Red Cross ambulances were pouring in and
+lining up in battle array.  Behind them came a steady stream of
+ammunition wagons, both horse and motor trucks, and from Mormont to
+Melun the line was unbroken.
+
+The doctor was absent, but his wife willingly filled his place and with
+new hope dawning we backed out of the yard and sped southward.
+
+What was the landscape we passed through I really couldn't say.  I had a
+dreamy sensation of having run down a refugee's dog, and hearing its
+owner wishing us in warmer climes--as well as the feeling that my
+blood-stained apron and the agitated white sheet beside me created much
+curiosity among the drivers and occupants of the A. S. C. motors that
+took up all one side of the road.
+
+One by one the mile posts whizzed past and finally we came into Melun.
+
+"Where's the nearest hospital?" I enquired of a group of soldiers
+loitering outside a barracks.
+
+"Give it up!  All evacuated!"
+
+Our driver needed no more--and so we pushed on into the town, while I
+pantomimed to those behind that I had a wounded man in my arms.
+
+In front of the city hall stood a noisy gathering, and in reply to our
+questions, a middle-aged man jumped on to the step.
+
+"Go ahead--I'll guide you.  All the seven hospitals in Melun were
+transferred to Orleans this morning.  The mixed hospital is all that is
+left."
+
+After what seemed an interminable time we finally pulled up a long hill
+and after much parleying I succeeded in turning over my patient to the
+medical authorities.
+
+Through the half open door of the little stuffy office where I was
+conducted I could see a white-aproned doctor and a nurse properly
+bandaging my boy.  When my _compagnons de route_ had departed, I walked
+out into the ward and straight up to the bedside.
+
+"Is there any hope?"
+
+"Not one chance in a million!  Would to heaven we had the right to spare
+them such suffering!  Morphine is no longer helpful in his case!"
+
+It was a shock to hear this.  The lad, who a couple of hours before was
+unknown to me, suddenly became very dear.  I turned about to hide my
+emotion, but was startled out of it by the double line of white beds on
+which were writhing men and boys in the most awful agony, yet not a
+sound broke from their lips.  In the middle of the room a second doctor,
+a  slight man with a pointed beard, stood washing his hands and then
+began drawing on a pair of long rubber gloves.  He crossed over to a
+basin and, after sterilizing his instruments, looked around for an aid.
+
+"Can I do anything for you, doctor?"
+
+Not in the least surprised by my audacity he asked, "Are you a nurse?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you ever seen an operation."
+
+"Yes."
+
+I lied.
+
+"Have you a good temperament?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then come over here and hold this basin."  I obeyed, and then Doctor
+Jean Masbrennier began a series of operations which will remain graven
+in my memory forever.
+
+As he worked he talked--and informed me that the Red Cross Society had
+been hastily evacuated in the morning, doctors and all.  Only those who
+were unable to be moved had been left behind, and only two civilian
+doctors were left to attend them.  But one nurse remained to do all the
+bandaging.  That was why I had been rung into service.  It took but
+little time to find a mutual acquaintance in the person of Elizabeth
+Gauthier, and the doctor had long been familiar with H.'s work.
+
+It would be useless to describe the horrors that I witnessed, or try to
+do justice to the heroic way those first glorious wounded of this
+lengthy war accepted their fate.  I cannot, however, resist mentioning
+the endurance of a big black Senegalais, who won the admiration of both
+doctors and neighbors by refusing morphine or cocaine, and insisting on
+having the seven bullets that were lodged in his neck and throat
+withdrawn thus--never uttering a murmur!
+
+When it was over, and we finally laid him back on his pillow, the tears
+were rolling down his cheeks and he squeezed my hand in his big black
+paw and then gently drew it to his lips.
+
+How many wounded were there?  I did not count.  All I remember was that
+I promised to come the next day and write letters to wives, mothers and
+sweethearts of at least a dozen men and boys.
+
+It was late when the last basin was emptied and Dr. Masbrennier untied
+his apron.
+
+As we were washing up, I asked if he would be good enough to guide me
+out of the hospital and tell me where there was a respectable restaurant
+to which a woman might go alone.
+
+"I have neither hat, coat, nor gloves.  They're coming in the carts."
+
+"That's so; perhaps you haven't had anything since lunch and I've been
+making you work on an empty stomach!"
+
+"Worse than that!" I laughed.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Nothing since breakfast at Jouy-le-Chatel."
+
+"Good God, woman!"  And taking me by the arm, he hurried me down the
+hall.
+
+As we passed out of the entrance door, a superior officer stopped Dr.
+Masbrennier and though I advanced out of earshot the words, "evacuation"
+and "to-night" were distinctly audible.  A second later my companion
+caught up with me.
+
+"So sorry I can't accompany you, but the whole hospital goes to Orleans
+immediately.  Must make room for the new-comers!  I'll 'phone home.  The
+_gouvernante_ will make you comfortable."  And he continued to give me
+explicit directions how to reach his house.
+
+"You'd better come to Orleans where we can look after you."
+
+"Sorry, but I've gone far enough south."
+
+"_Alors au revoir et grand merci._"
+
+"_Au revoir._"
+
+And a second later I found myself outside in the chilly darkness.
+
+For the first time in my life I had the sensation of being utterly
+alone.  No one on earth knew where I was and if I had not had faith in
+Dr. Masbrennier's promise of a warm dinner, I should gladly have
+indulged in a little fit of despair.  And so I wandered on down the
+dingy, black streets of Melun, where not a lamp post nor shop window was
+lighted, not a human being seemed astir.  Where was my little troupe?
+How and when would we all meet?
+
+Thus ruminating I came to a bridge.  A sentry flashed a pocket lamp in
+my face.
+
+"_On ne passe pas!_"
+
+I showed my armlet and he stepped aside.
+
+Halfway across I distinguished two human forms leaning over the railing,
+and following their example I perceived a half-dozen _hommes du genie_
+hard at work mining the foundation of the center arch.  So these bridges
+were to be blown up, too!  What was I to do?  Stay on the other side and
+wait for my caravan or cross over and risk my chances alone?  A
+reflector from below swung upward, illuminating the bridge.
+
+"George!" I gasped.
+
+One of the two figures straightened abruptly!  In a second the boys had
+recognized me.  "What are you doing here?  Where are the others?"
+
+I poured out a dozen eager questions, not giving them time to reply.
+When almost breathless I stopped and they explained that the caravan had
+been halted on the outskirts of Melun.  No refugees were allowed in
+after nightfall. Fortunately the boys bethought themselves of my wounded
+man's clothes and arms, and thanks to these they were allowed to pass
+and deliver them to the gendarmerie.  Remembering that I had friends at
+Barbizon they had sent the others there by a round-about route, and had
+come on to find me.
+
+"But how did you get here?"
+
+"Cesar brought us."
+
+"Where is he?  And Betsy?"
+
+"Oh, we found a dentist who had an empty stable. He took them in.  Betsy
+refused to leave the cart.  She's never had such a picnic in her life:
+been traveling all day in a ten pound box of lump sugar!"
+
+All worry had vanished, now that I found my line of conduct traced for
+me.  The chief thing at present was to get something to eat.  So we
+pushed ahead up the hill in the ever-deepening obscurity.  We walked on
+in silence for what seemed an interminable distance.  Once I fancied I
+had mistaken directions and was about to despair when the tramp of feet
+coming toward us revived hope.  A second later a brawny arm turned a
+lantern into my face and a huge police dog growled close to my heels.
+
+"Are you the person who is going to Dr. Masbrennier's?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Tres bien_.  Are these boys with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then follow me.  We're closing up the doctor's house, but I'll look
+after you."
+
+Without further ado we trudged on behind our guide, who after another
+hundred yards, turned into a gateway and led us up the stone steps of a
+sumptuous dwelling.  Opening the door, he lit the electric light and
+stepped into the vestibule.
+
+"Come in," he said.  "I'll be back in a moment."  And he disappeared.
+
+There we stood, Leon, George and myself, waiting for something to
+happen, for someone to appear.  Five--ten--fifteen minutes must have
+elapsed--still not a sound anywhere.  I was just beginning to wonder if
+we had not been the dupes of some practical joke, when from a room
+opening into the vestibule a light shone forth.  The curtains parted and
+our friend of the highroad appeared.
+
+"Isn't much--but such as it is you're welcome.  Sit down and make
+yourselves comfortable."  And again he disappeared.
+
+On a snowy white table cloth three covers were laid and a tempting
+supper composed of bread and butter, cheese, a bottle of white wine, and
+a huge basket of most luscious hothouse grapes and pears--gladdened our
+hungry gaze.  We did not need a second invitation!  We fell to with a
+vengeance and at the end of a quarter-hour hardly a crumb remained.
+
+"When you've finished, come upstairs; Madame will take the first door to
+the right.  You boys come up a flight higher," called a voice from
+above.
+
+We obeyed, and before retiring I waited a good half-hour hoping our
+friend would reappear.  But no one came--so bolting my door, I offered
+up a prayer of thanks and was soon fast asleep.
+
+Sunday morning, September sixth, the sun was high in the heavens when I
+peeped from beneath my lace-bordered sheets and cocked my ear at the
+familiar sound of the cannon.  It was a long continuous roar, and now
+that I had become accustomed to distancing I estimated that the battle
+was on at Mormont.  And I was not mistaken.  A little later official
+news confirmed my guess.
+
+Finding no bell in my room, I opened the door to see a pitcher of hot
+water sitting before it, and on a chair beside it, a new comb, a clean
+linen duster, and a pocket handkerchief.  A brief note told me that I
+would find breakfast in the dining-room, and requested that I leave word
+on the table saying at what time I would be in for luncheon.  Decidedly
+the mystery deepened--for not a sound could be heard save in the garden
+where I spied George and Leon, who informed me that the house was empty,
+and "a gorgeous house, Madame!" they ejaculated in admiration.
+
+Though partially abandoned, Melun was full of life, thanks to the
+presence of numerous British troops and that same long line of A. S.
+C.'s now quadrupled on the highroad--two lines going, two lines coming.
+
+As I picked my way between them, and crossed the street, my attention
+was arrested by a French peasant who was conversing by means of the sign
+language with the handsome driver of one of those vans, while several
+children were clamoring to be allowed to sit on the seat a moment, "just
+to see how it seemed."
+
+"Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+"Rather!  Seems good to hear English, thank you."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Yes.  Might I ask where you come from?"
+
+"The States."
+
+"Do you know Cleveland?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I've got a mother and three brothers buried in that cemetery.
+Colonials, you know.  I'm English--from Bath--oldest son.  Couldn't see
+things their way. Done better perhaps if I'd joined the others out
+there."
+
+I smiled at this unexpected and impromptu confession.  The boy saw it
+and reddened.
+
+"Is there anything particular you want me to say to this man for you?"
+said I quickly, to cover his embarrassment.
+
+"No, thank you.  But there's one thing you might be able to tell me."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Do you think we'll be 'home' in time to eat Christmas dinner?"
+
+"Rather!"
+
+"Thank you so much!  Good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye and good luck to you."
+
+And after snapping his photograph I started on down the street in haste,
+for I could see George and Leon, who had gone on ahead, now running
+towards me.
+
+"_Vite_, Madame.  They need you!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"The English.  They can't make people understand."
+
+I pressed forward, and came upon a crowd of gapers standing outside a
+shop. Within two English officers were arguing in their native tongue
+with an irate butcher, who waved one arm wildly in the air, and
+brandished a huge knife in the other, shouting frantically all the
+while,
+
+"La' voila-la voila!" said George and Leon, almost dragging me forward,
+proud to exhibit my accomplishments.  "_La voila!  Vous etes sauves._"
+
+My greatest desire was to turn about and run, but the crowd parted to
+let me through.
+
+"Would you mind, Madame?" pleaded the lieutenant.  "We need your
+assistance to make this man understand that we're drafting meat for the
+army.  We'll pay cash, but be might just as well give it gracefully, for
+we have the right to force his ice box if he refuses."
+
+I explained gently, and when things were calm was about to slip away.
+The officer touched me on the shoulder.
+
+"I'm sorry, Madame, but I'm afraid we'll have to draft you, too.  Our
+time is limited and if a scene like this happen at every shop we'll be
+punished for tardiness!  Here's my order to draft an interpreter," and
+he put his hand into his pocket.
+
+I was somewhat abashed.
+
+"Might I ask when you will release me?"
+
+"Just as soon as we've the supply we need."
+
+"Will you give me ten minutes to arrange my affairs here?"
+
+"Certainly.  But remember you're on parole!"
+
+Outside I explained the situation to George and Leon, and scribbling a
+note to friends in Barbizon, told the boys to drive over and reassure
+the others--make them comfortable at the _Clef d'Or,_ and tell them to
+expect me that evening.
+
+"Whatever happens, wait there until I come.  There's no danger of the
+Germans reaching Barbizon, I fancy!"
+
+And that is how from nine in the morning until late in the afternoon I
+sat perched on the front of a British Army Supply truck, much to the
+amusement of the other Tommy Atkins we encountered in Melun and the
+neighboring villages.
+
+My officer friends very courteously drove me to the hospital where I
+learned that my poor wounded _chasseur_ Ballandreau had passed away in
+the night, and towards five o'clock, when their task was completed, they
+offered me tea and proposed to drive me to Barbizon.  As we jolted down
+the hill towards the railway crossing our attention was attracted by a
+huge gathering of citizens and soldiers, and above the roar of our
+motor, we could hear the rolling of a drum. Silence reigned instantly
+and an officer in uniform in the middle of the group read out a short
+message from a paper he held in his hand.  What he said we could not
+hear, but the mad shout of joy that went up when he had finished made us
+eager to learn the news.  Like lightning "Paris saved--the Germans
+retreating" ran from mouth to mouth, and the delirious excitement that
+seized that crowd was absolutely indescribable.  Young and old, English,
+and French, peasant and bourgeois, fell on each other's necks and
+exchanged a joyous embrace.  The awful tension of the last month was
+broken and the word victory was uttered by thousands of throats,
+suddenly grown husky with emotion.
+
+My arrival and the news I bore created a sensation among my servants and
+the remaining inhabitants of Millet's famous village.  Barbizon was
+dead--literally deserted, for not a single member of that delightful
+summer colony remained, several hotels were closed, and the others as
+empty as in the heart of winter. The proprietress of the _Clef d'Or_
+made me a very tempting offer for a _sejour_, but I judged, and rightly,
+that since the German retreat had begun, we would best follow on close
+behind the victorious army, for if we waited until order was restored,
+patrols would be organized and we who had no papers to identify us would
+not be allowed to pass.
+
+Before retiring I announced my intention of starting homeward, and the
+joy that illuminated those anxious faces somewhat calmed my own
+misgivings, for now that our adventure was safely over, I couldn't help
+worrying about the absent.
+
+When I touched my bed, I bethought me of my lodging the night before,
+and realized that I knew neither the name nor address of the generous
+person in whose sumptuous domicile I had been so cordially received and
+graciously cared for.  How and whom was I to thank?
+
+Leon, Emile and a sturdy butcher boy from Charly who had joined the
+others on the road, had now determined to enlist--so I could but
+encourage their patriotic sentiments, and went with them to the
+recruiting office to furnish proof of their identity.
+
+Evidently many other youths under military age had been inspired with
+the same idea, for there was a long line outside the door, and as we
+stood and waited, we examined with interest the mounts of the English
+cavalry regiment lined up in the street awaiting their riders.  George
+and Leon were eagerly fingering a long coil of rope thrown on the pommel
+of one saddle, when a deep voice from behind them ejaculated,
+
+"Guess you ain't ever seen the likes of that before.  That's a lasso."
+
+I explained, and then looking round, beheld a long, lanky individual,
+his hands on his hips, literally taking us all in.
+
+"Do you think you can tell 'em what that is, sister?"
+
+"I fancy so."
+
+"Then you must be from home!"
+
+"If you mean the States--yes."
+
+"To h--with the States!  The State--Texas!"
+
+I didn't find it necessary to translate that.  "Say, you haven't by any
+chance got a razor about you?" he inquired.  I replied that I was not in
+the habit of carrying such articles on my person.
+
+"No offense meant--but since you speak this language, perhaps you could
+persuade one of them kids to go and buy me one."
+
+I said I thought I might, and my compatriot producing an American double
+eagle, enjoined Leon to be quick and he'd make it worth his while.
+
+"You see," he explained, "a razor is all I need to complete my outfit.
+Got a Winchester, two revolvers, a Bowie knife, a lance and a lasso.
+Razor's flat and easy to carry.  Might be useful, too.  Nothing like
+being properly armed.  If I've got to sell my hide you bet I'll sell it
+dear!"
+
+Leon returned and I was about to ask my friend to give us a little
+exhibition of his skill with the rope, when the call to arms obliged him
+to leave.  So enjoining me to give his regards to Broadway, he departed
+much pleased with the world in general and himself in particular.
+
+From various sources, though none of them official, I learned that the
+road as far as Coulommiers was clear.  That was all we wanted to know,
+so after seeing the boys off for Orleans, a very much diminished caravan
+started on its homeward journey.  The horses, after two days' rest, were
+quite giddy, and the carts being light, they carried us on the new road
+north as far as Pezarches with but few halts.  The country we passed
+through, though abandoned by its inhabitants, showed no traces of
+invasion.  The Germans had not been able to push so far west.  I counted
+on making Coulonimiers to sleep, but night closed in early and with it
+came a chilly drizzle, which sent us in search of lodgings.  Not a soul
+was to be seen anywhere, and as all the houses were shut, I deemed it
+unwise to force a door.  So we pushed ahead into the border of the
+forest, hoping that the rain would soon cease.
+
+Presently someone discovered an abandoned hermitage, through whose low
+doorway we crept, and spreading out our blankets on the floor, prepared
+to make a night of it--glad of shelter from the dampness.
+
+"Hark!" hissed George, just as we were dropping off to sleep.
+
+We all sat up.
+
+"There!  That's the third bullet that's landed on this roof!"
+
+Ra-ta-pan-Ratapan!  There was no mistaking the sound--even through the
+wind and rain that raged outside.
+
+George crawled on his knees toward the opening, and a second later
+jumped back, clapping his hand to his head with a low shriek.
+
+"He's shot!" cried Julie.
+
+I leaped forward, grabbed the lantern, and holding it to the spot,
+opened the boy's clenched fingers.  As they parted, a heavy horse
+chestnut burr fell to the floor with a loud thump!
+
+We were too nervous to appreciate the humor of the situation, and had
+some little difficulty composing ourselves to rest.
+
+As we approached Coulommiers the next morning the horrors of war became
+more and more evident.  On both sides of the roadway the fields were
+strewn with bay and straw.  Every ten paces the earth was burned or
+charred, and in some places the smoke still rose from dying campfires.
+Bones, bottles and tin preserve cans in extraordinary quantities were
+strewn in every direction, and a half mile before we reached the town
+itself, a dead horse lay abandoned in a ditch.
+
+At this point we were hailed by a party of bedraggled refugees who
+warned us that it would be useless to try to enter Coulommiers.
+
+"We're from Neuilly--St. Front, on our way home, but there doesn't seem
+much chance of our getting any further.  The place is in the hands of
+the military authorities--with orders to let no one pass."
+
+We halted, and George went on ahead and interviewed a sentry, returning
+with a negative reply, and the information that Coulommiers was in a
+pretty mess after the looting.
+
+"It can't be worse than _La Ferte Gauche._"  And above the almost
+deafening roar of the cannon an elderly man told us bow his caravan had
+been caught by the Germans, stripped of everything they possessed,
+separated from their women folk, and with armed sentries back of them
+had been forced to work at the building of a temporary bridge to replace
+the one the French had blown up.
+
+"I got off easy--with only a few welts from a raw-hide," he murmured,
+"but my brother (and he pointed to a very stout masculine figure rolled
+in a blanket and sitting motionless on the steps of an abandoned road
+house)--"my brother's nearly done for!  You see he's near-sighted and
+not used to manual labor, and every time he missed his nail with the
+hammer, the German coward would jab him in the ribs with the point of
+his bayonet.  Seventy-two wounds!"
+
+"And your women?"
+
+"God knows what they did to them!  My wife hasn't stopped sobbing since
+we met. She's dazed--I can't make her talk."
+
+As he rambled on with his haphazard story, glad of fellow sympathy, I
+spied a line of British Army Supply carts advancing up the road.  The
+leader came to a halt and getting down, the driver entered the first of
+the abandoned dwellings before which we were standing.  Presently he
+reappeared.
+
+"Just my luck!  I say"--(and this addressed to our group with a sort of
+blank, hopeless expression)  "I don't suppose any of you Frenchies know
+where I could get a cup of tea!"
+
+I laughed outright, much to his astonishment.
+
+"Not anywhere around here, unless you're willing to wait until I can
+build fire enough to make you one!"
+
+The man blushed crimson.
+
+"Ah--I couldn't think--"
+
+"No trouble.  Get one of your men to make a blaze, and, boasting aside,
+I'll brew you a cup such as you haven't had since you left England."
+
+No sooner said than done, and quarter of an hour later, a half-dozen
+Tommy Atkins were sipping hot Kardomah with sugar and condensed milk
+from tin mugs.
+
+"You're certainly right--the French don't know how to do it, at least in
+these parts.  I had a teapotful yesterday morning that was as near a
+mixture of stewed herbs and Hunyadi water I ever hope to taste.  And
+now, isn't there something we can do for you?"
+
+"Tell me where you're bound for?"
+
+The man brought out a note-book and pointed to a name.
+
+"La Ferte-sous-Jouarre?"
+
+"Yes, that's it.  I wouldn't dare tackle it."
+
+"Is the road clear?  Can we go there?  It's only fifteen kilometers from
+my home."
+
+"I don't know if they'll let you by--but if you're clever and follow on
+close behind us with your Red Cross armlet, there's just a
+chance--that's all."
+
+I didn't need a second bidding and after warning my people not to talk
+if we met sentries but to have faith in me, we pushed ahead.  Our army
+friends with better horses soon left us in the rear, but undaunted we
+proceeded, finally reaching the heights that overlooked La Ferte--and
+led into the village, Jouarre, perched on the side of the hill running
+towards the Marne.
+
+Oh, the pitiful sights that met our gaze as we wended our way along
+those glorious roads, now full of ruts and knee-deep in mud!  As far as
+eye could see the entire country had served as a huge camp for the
+invader, and when forced to flee he had sacked and destroyed everything
+within his reach.  The wonderful fertile fields had been soiled,
+polluted, and among other damning evidences of their fury, the smoking
+ruins of every farm house stood like specters in the brilliant sunshine.
+
+At the entrance to La Ferte our road was barred by two sentinels,
+elderly peasants, by their looks.  I played mum and tapped my Red Cross
+armlet.
+
+"_Non, on ne passe pas!_"
+
+I beckoned them and fumbled among my papers for my _carte d'identite_.
+They approached the cart, but as they did so, my faithful Betsy let
+forth an angry growl.
+
+"Down!" I commanded in English.  "Down!  I say!  They're not going to
+hurt me!"
+
+Those phrases were my undoing!
+
+"Oh, ho!" said my interlocutors.  "And after that you think you're going
+to get past us?  We've had enough Boches in this place.  You can come
+in--but between us!"
+
+And jumping up on either side of me, one of them took the reins and
+started forward.  This being taken for a spy was an altogether new and
+very disagreeable sensation.
+
+"But, gentlemen," I protested calmly, "I'm known in this place.  If
+there's an inhabitant left I'll be identified in a second.  How green
+you'll feel if you drag me before an officer and find you're mistaken!"
+
+They were unrelenting.
+
+I invoked my identity card.
+
+No, they had heard me speak in a foreign tongue and all foreign tongues
+to them were German!
+
+And so we entered La Ferte.
+
+Doors and windows no longer existed--the former had been dashed to
+splinters by the butt ends of guns, while the latter were shattered to
+powder and from their apertures swung bed clothing, personal adornment
+and household belongings in shreds and tatters--all willfully soiled by
+mud and filth.
+
+It was useless to try to drive our cart up the main street, so calling a
+passing comrade, my detainers bid him hold my horse until they returned
+after having _fait leur affaire_, as they expressed it.
+
+The plate glass windows of every store lay in thousands of pieces below
+their sashes, and the entire stock of merchandise whether furniture or
+drapery, groceries or dairy products, had been hurled through them into
+the middle of the thoroughfare.  Above these were piled pell-mell
+bedding and chairs, wardrobes and wash basins, all splintered and
+broken--the whole making the most pitiable conglomeration I ever hope to
+witness.  One plucky dealer was already boarding up the great yawning
+cavities that were once show windows, and here and there a frightened
+female face peeped out from behind the ruins of her commerce.
+
+"Madame Huard!" cried a familiar voice behind me.  "_Mon Dieu_--you!"
+
+I turned and recognized my pastry baker's wife.
+
+"_Oui, moi; arretee._"
+
+"Arrested!"
+
+"Yes, unless you will be good enough to inform these gentlemen who I
+am?"
+
+"_Est-il possible!  Est-il possible!_  Why, of course, I know you--how
+dare they!"
+
+"You see," I said, turning to the _auxilaires_.
+
+But they were inflexible, bidding my friend follow on if she could swear
+to my identity.  She obeyed, but our group had attracted the attention
+of a couple of small boys who darted out of an alley way like rats from
+a cellar, calling, "_L'espionne--l'espionne!_"
+
+Thank fortune, at that instant we came upon an officer, whom I accosted
+at a distance, explained my case and produced my card and my pastry
+baker.  He understood in a moment, and hastily discharged my custodians.
+
+"I cannot scold them.  They're over zealous, but we've been so horribly
+betrayed all along.  You understand, I'm sure.  Please accept my
+apologies, Madame!"
+
+I bowed and he departed.  Then I turned to my friend.
+
+"You've heard the news, I suppose, Madame?"
+
+"No--what?"
+
+She suddenly grew white.
+
+"Quick--out with it, woman!"
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"Is H.--?"
+
+"_Non_, not that, Madame, but a quarter of an hour ago it was noised
+about that the enemy are still retreating, and that we were pounding
+into their headquarters--le chateau de Villiers."
+
+I felt myself whitening.  The woman saw it, and catching me by the arm.
+"Come, come," she said.  "You're tired; perhaps it isn't true, so many
+false alarms have been launched.  Come and have a cup of coffee--you'll
+excuse our back room--it's all we have left."
+
+I gladly followed her, picking my way through what had once been one of
+the most enticing of provincial pastry shops, the good soul apologizing
+all the time, as if she had been responsible for the damage.  As she
+prattled on, though my own brain was swimming I now and then grasped
+such phrases as three days of looting, two days' bombardment.  As she
+passed me a cup of coffee, she explained that the invaders had not been
+satisfied with violently appropriating all personal articles which they
+had found to their liking, but after having drunk all the wine in the
+cellars, they had willfully cut open the bags of flour and thrown it
+pell-mell in every direction.
+
+"And, Madame, they got into my reserve of eggs--five thousand of them--"
+she wept, "five thousand!  All my winter's store.  I wouldn't have
+minded if they had eaten them but to see them purposely crushed and
+wasted.  Two of those wretches spent half a day bringing them up from
+the cellar in their helmets, and then dragging me out, would hurl them
+at the walls and windows, savagely rejoicing in my distress!"
+
+I couldn't remain indoors--I had but one thought--get to Villiers or see
+someone who knew for certain what had happened there.
+
+Again I crossed the shop, paddling through that sticky yellow slime in
+which bits of furniture and clothing floated like croutons in a gigantic
+nauseating omelet.
+
+Outside, towards the end of the street that opened on to the quay, great
+animation reigned.  A bugle sounded and I could hear the tramp of
+soldiers' feet.
+
+"Look!" cried my friend.  "Look, all that is left of the Institut St.
+Joseph, the pride of La Ferte."
+
+Across the river between the broken spans of the bridge, my eye fell
+upon the gutted remains of what had once been a most exquisite bit of
+eighteenth century architecture.  The mansion which had sheltered Louis
+XVI and Marie Antoinette on their eventful return from Varennes, was now
+a smoking pile of ashes!
+
+"And to think we had to do it!  Oh, curse their hides!" muttered an
+elderly man close to my elbow.
+
+"We?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"?"
+
+"Why, when they had to get out of here they crossed the Marne, destroyed
+the bridge and entrenched themselves in the houses along the bank.  The
+English caught them like rats in a cage, but at what a price!  One
+fellow that's rowed across says he can bear them moaning, but you bet
+they can rot there before we'll go to 'em.  Begging your pardon for the
+language!"
+
+A dozen men of the _genie_ were busy constructing a temporary arch
+between two spans, and just as soon as a plank was laid a regiment from
+Cherbourg (almost all reservists) filed over one by one.  The population
+gave them an ovation, and it was a curious sight to see these care-worn,
+haggard-faced people simply going mad with joy, while around them was
+heaped desolation.
+
+"I hope you haven't come for your tea service, Madame?"
+
+I turned and recognized my china dealer, who smiled cynically as he
+motioned towards his shop.
+
+"It doesn't pay to be a glass merchant these days.  It only took two
+shells to send twenty years' earnings into splinters!  There's not a
+whole goblet or plate in the entire establishment!  But I wouldn't have
+cared if they hadn't maltreated the women.  I--"
+
+"Come and see!" cried another.  "Durant's house has tumbled down and his
+wife and family are smothering in the cellar.  Quick!"
+
+There was a general rush in that direction, but I pushed on towards the
+bridge. It was evident my carts could not cross, but there was just a
+hope that they would let George and me through with our bicycles.
+
+I accosted the sentry who stood mounting guard beside a motor which was
+thrown up on the side of the road, twisted and distorted like a tin toy
+one has walked on.
+
+No, the bridge was for the army only.
+
+I insisted.
+
+An officer came to my rescue, but could only confirm the sentry's
+orders.
+
+"You're not safe even here.  This is the firing line.  We don't know yet
+for certain whether we are going to hold the ground we gained. Villiers?
+Still in the Germans' hands."
+
+I sighed and was about to turn away.  "Then where's the nearest bridge
+across?"
+
+"Meaux."
+
+"But that's thirty kilometres west!  I'm only fifteen from home here!"
+
+"I wish I could help you, but there's no use trying to leave here unless
+you go that way."
+
+Then Meaux it must be, and though our trip was considerably lengthened,
+anything was better than inaction.
+
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+It was with much reluctance that we turned our backs on La Ferte the
+following morning and headed our horses westward.
+
+Naturally the right of way was reserved for the army, and the roads
+bordering the Marne were now lined with soldiers, guns, ambulances and
+supply vans rushing to the front.  After being side-tracked and halted
+no less than two score times, we finally reached Trilport, where the
+invaders had done but little material damage. The terrified civil
+population was even exultant, for two nights previously an automobile
+containing four German officers sped through the town, in the direction
+of Paris, and ignorant of the fact that the English had destroyed the
+bridge, had been precipitated into the river.  The affair seemed to be
+considered as a huge joke, and the chief amusement now consisted in
+hanging over the broken side and contemplating the gruesome spectacle of
+a half-submerged motor, and four human bodies lying inanimate on some
+rocks, rapidly swelling, thanks to heat and the current.
+
+"When we're sure they're good and dead, we'll bury 'em," explained a man
+whom I questioned.
+
+As I write this phrase, now that more than a year has elapsed, it seems
+cruel and heartless, but on the spur of the moment, and after all that
+each one had endured, it was but justice.
+
+Though barges were being rapidly brought into position so as to form a
+temporary bridge, I felt it would be a good two days before we could get
+across, and so following the course of the river, we wended our way in
+and out, round about, this time through peaceful country, until we
+reached Meaux.
+
+My heart leaped with joy when on approaching I saw the cathedral
+standing unharmed, like a guardian above the peaceful little city.
+
+The Germans had made but a brief stay here, merely an _entrée_ and
+_sortie_, and had been received by Bishop Marbeau, in such a fashion as
+is likely to be recorded in history and place his name beside that of
+his famous predecessor, Bossuet.
+
+One or two stray shells had fallen into the place, but the harm done was
+insignificant.  The most picturesque and melancholy sight was along the
+river front, where to head off the enemy's approach the French had been
+obliged to blow up those ancient bridges, landmarks of the fifteenth and
+sixteenth centuries, for, like the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, they were
+lined with houses and mills, whose pointed roofs and apparent beams had
+weathered nearly five hundred years!  Strange as it may seem, it was
+they that resisted the most, and, though the dynamite had severed their
+connection with land and shattered their pale-blue window panes, not a
+house had collapsed, and as they stood in the sun's dying blaze, they
+seemed to say, "Touch me, if you dare!"
+
+Washboats, rowboats, barges and every available means of navigation had
+been sunk or put out of working order and though the enemy was hardly
+ten miles distant, men and women were busily engaged in setting them
+afloat.
+
+Once again all we could do was to stand and gaze at the opposite bank
+and after assuring ourselves that there was no possible way of crossing,
+we hastily departed for Lagny.
+
+That night we slept in a shed hospitably offered by a lone peasant
+woman, and the next morning triumphantly crossed the river and set our
+faces homeward.
+
+Branching northward into the open country we chose all the by-roads and
+short cuts where our carts would pass, in order to avoid the long
+streams of ambulances and ammunition vans, as well as in the hope of
+finding better thoroughfares.  A drizzling rain had set in the night
+before, making the roads, which up until now had been covered with a
+thick layer of dust, slippery and uncomfortable.  Highways which
+heretofore had been seldom trodden, were full of ruts and bumps, and
+from Langy to Villiers there was hardly a corner but what showed signs
+of the invaders' passage.  Over these green and fertile fields whose
+crops had proudly waved their heads about the lovely Marne, were strewn
+straw and empty bottles in unimaginable quantities.  Thousands of
+blackened or charred spots dotting the countryside, told of campfires
+and hasty bivouacs, and as we silently plodded on towards Charny, the
+growing evidences of recent battle met our saddened gaze.
+
+Here a shell had burst on the road, in the midst of a bicycle squadron,
+scattering men and machines to the four winds of Heaven.  A little
+mound, a rough-hewn cross, marked the spot where some sixty soldiers lay
+in their last peaceful sleep, while the _melee_ of tangled wire and iron
+which had once been machines, as well as blood-stained garments, bits of
+shell, and even human flesh, made a gruesome and indescribable picture.
+
+Souvenirs?  The idea never entered my head.  And my kodak, which I had
+been so prompt to use to commemorate various events, seemed a vulgar,
+inquisitive instrument, and was left unheeded in the bottom of the cart.
+Each step brought us face to face with the horrors of warfare.  Towards
+Villeroy a number of battered Parisian taxicabs gave us the first hint
+of General Gallieni's clever maneuver which helped save the capital--and
+then the wind brought towards us a nauseating odor, which paralyzed our
+appetites, and sent us doggedly onwards: the stench of the battlefield.
+
+The girls in the cart drew closer together, shivering, though the air
+was warm and muggy.  Even old Cesar seemed to feel the awe of that
+Valley of Shadow, and no one murmured as we passed the first bloated
+carcasses of dead horses and came upon that far more horrid sight--human
+bodies--swelled to twice their natural size, lying as death had met
+them, some in piles, others farther apart--all unrecognizable, but once
+proud mothers' petted darlings.  I think they were our enemies.  I did
+not stop to investigate; the flies bothered us so terribly, and long low
+mounds with red kepis piled upon them told of the graves of France's
+defenders.  Far ahead I could discover groups of men with shovels,
+hastily burying those who remained.  To the right a lazy column of dense
+smoke rose reluctantly in the heavy air.  I fancied it came from a
+funeral pyre; we certainly smelled tar and petrol.  The ground beneath
+rocked with the thundering of the distant cannon, and as one peal burst
+louder a flock of jet black crows mounted heavenward, mournfully cawing
+in the semi-twilight.
+
+So we continued, a silent, foot-sore, rain-soaked community.  With the
+growing remoteness of imminent danger came the reaction of all we had
+passed through, and deep down in our hearts we welcomed the idea of
+entering a village.
+
+A village!  Alas!  As we reached the road leading to Barcy, there was a
+rift in the clouds, and a long golden ray shot through an enormous
+breach in the church tower, flickered a moment upon a group of roofless
+houses, and was gone.  Night closed in.
+
+Our spirits sank.  Yvonne began to moan with agony, her sciatica had
+returned with the dampness, and Nini for some unknown reason, began
+sobbing as though her heart would break.  I could see the moment not far
+distant when our whole party, seized with fear, would become
+panic-stricken, and that idea, together with the one of camping in the
+sodden fields surrounded by grim death, was anything but reassuring.
+
+"Come on," I urged.  "Surely Barcy is not entirely deserted."
+
+What mud!  What a road--sometimes entirely gutted, sometimes so
+obstructed with gasoline cans, hubs of wheels and scraps of iron, that I
+was obliged to lead Cesar by the bridle, while the others would walk
+ahead and clear a passage. Their progress was snail-like, for there was
+little oil left in our lantern and they hesitated before casting the
+refuse into the ditch for fear of profaning some unknown hero's grave.
+
+And so, stumbling and halting, we came into Barcy.  As we passed in
+front of the battered church we could see the huge bronze bell lying
+amid a pile of beams, at the foot of the belfry.  The _cadran_ of the
+clock tower was midway between the ruins of the edifice itself and those
+of what had once been the town hall.  Not a living soul was to be seen
+anywhere.  Stay--yes--there in front of us was a masculine figure.
+
+I called "Monsieur!"
+
+He halted an instant.  Then shook his head and skulked away.
+
+Through an oiled paper that had replaced the panes of a shattered window
+in a house which no longer had a second story I caught sight of a
+flickering light. I boldly knocked on the door.
+
+"_Qui est la?_--" asked a high-pitched, trembling female voice.
+
+"I, Madame H. of Villiers."
+
+"I don't know you--go your way."
+
+"But we are refugees."
+
+"I have nothing left.  _Allez-vous-en!_"
+
+That was categorical, to say the least.  So on we went, past the charred
+ruins of one-time happy homes.
+
+As we rounded a corner our lantern cast a dim glow on to the drawn
+shutters of a half-collapsed structure.
+
+"Stop a moment," said Julie; "there's something written on those
+blinds."
+
+I approached, and holding the light as close as possible I read the
+following sign, chalked in huge white letters:
+
+"Attention.  No Loitering.  Looters will be shot on the spot!"
+
+That was the last straw, and though it was obvious that the warning was
+intended for the troops now miles away, it sent us ahead with uncanny
+celerity.
+
+Our advance was short-lived, however, for it soon became evident that
+our horses were fagged out.  Yet where to go became an agonizing
+question, for though we were still within the limits of the village, not
+a roof was to be seen.  There seemed to be but one thing to do, and so,
+halting, I fumbled in the bottom of the cart and brought forth a handful
+of dry straw, and my precious bottle of brandy. Thanks to these, a match
+and a sheltering wall, a flame managed to blaze up, and from somewhere
+in the vicinity Julie procured a bundle of brush and an old broom.
+
+With the heat our spirits rose.  The girls dried themselves as best they
+could before the welcome fire, and though still awed by our
+surroundings, we nibbled a crust of dry bread and some stale cheese.
+
+Then silently Nini and Yvonne crept back into the cart, covered
+themselves with hay and a blanket, opened an umbrella above their beads,
+and soon were fast asleep.  The others begged me to share their bed
+beneath the cart, but tormented by the thought of what had become of H.,
+racked by the anxiety of what the future held in store, I could not
+resign myself to rest, and the first gray streaks of that cool September
+dawn found me seated on a stone, staring at the glowing embers of our
+watch-fire.
+
+Again the wind shifted in our direction, bringing with it that same
+loathsome smell.  I shivered and pulled myself together, and after
+carefully scrutinizing my road-map, decided that there was just a chance
+of reaching Villiers before night, but only if we started at once.  This
+living in suspense was beginning to tell on my nerves and anything, even
+the assurance of dreaded misfortune, would have seemed a relief.  After
+the state in which we had found Barcy there was little doubt that our
+part of the country had been treated the same way. Perhaps it was still
+in the Germans' hands; we had no way of knowing to the contrary.
+
+I roused the servants and told them of my intention, and in a few
+moments a pot of coffee was boiling on the tripod.  In spite of the
+early hour I did not hesitate to add a little brandy in each cup, for
+after twenty-four hours of continual rain a stimulant was not only
+necessary but welcome.  I tried to coax the dogs to take some, they
+seemed so wet and miserable, but they spurned my offer, and stood
+looking at me with most pitiful and mournful eyes.
+
+Presently Tiger disappeared behind the wall, and a second later we heard
+a low growl.  With childlike temerity Nini jumped up to see what was the
+cause of his alarm, and then almost instantly I heard her gasp, "_Un
+mort!_"
+
+That brought us to our feet and in a bound I was on the spot just in
+time to see her fearlessly approaching the prostrate form of a German
+soldier, the upper extremity of whose body was hidden beneath the top of
+a tin wash boiler.  The child raised the lid, beheld, as we did, a
+headless human trunk, and fell into a swoon.
+
+We were well on our road before she came to her senses, and there were
+moments when I almost wished she might remain dormant until we had
+passed beyond the gruesome plain that stretches between Barcy and
+Vareddes--now a historic battlefield.
+
+What a weird and wonderful sight it presented that gloomy September
+morning. Behind us Barcy, whose every edifice was decapitated or so
+degraded as to look like a gigantic sieve.  Around us and on all sides
+fields fairly ploughed up by shot and shell, and every fifty yards it
+seemed to me rose a freshly covered mound, extending as far as eye could
+see.  On these new-made graves were piled hundreds of red soldier caps,
+and here and there a hastily hewn wooden cross bearing such inscriptions
+as these, scrawled in lead pencil on a smooth space whittled by a jack
+knife:
+
+_Aux Braves du 248_
+
+When an officer was found and identified, he was buried alone and his
+name was carefully written on the cross, but more often we saw graves
+marked thus:
+
+-Ici reposent deux offlciers et quarante hommes du 28 ... ieme._
+
+Sometimes the tomb was in the ditch (to save digging) and once we saw
+the Parisian _pompiers_ burying some German corpses in the very trench
+they had dug and died in.
+
+Overhead tangled electric wires swung dangerously near the road, the
+poles shattered or knocked agog, while in the distance the stumps of a
+once-majestic row of poplars made the horizon look like a grinning
+toothless face.
+
+Time and again we were obliged to leave the road to avoid accident by
+passing over unexploded shells, and I shall always recall a gigantic oak
+tree which though still standing was cleft in twain by a 77-shell
+embedded intact in the yawning trunk; the impact, not the explosion, had
+caused the rift.
+
+The farther we advanced the more evident became the signs of recent
+conflict. Hay stacks seemed to have been a favorite target as well as
+refuge.  One we saw was almost completely tunneled through, and the
+blood bespattered sides of the opening told that the occupant had been
+caught as in a trap.  Around these stacks were scattered the remains of
+old boots and shoes, scarlet blood-soaked rags, dry beans, bits of soap,
+playing cards and songs.  Oh, lighthearted sons of France, it can be
+truly said that death held no terrors for you, since from Barcy to
+Soissons the ground you loved and so valiantly defended was strewn white
+with hundreds of thousands of tender ditties and _chansons de route_.
+
+From Vareddes we passed on to Congis, the only living soul we met being
+a little old white-haired parish priest, who had set himself the task of
+blessing each new-made grave.
+
+"If this rain continues some of them will be so effaced in a fortnight
+that we shall never find them.  See--this cross is but two bits of
+straw, bound together by a shoe string!"
+
+And he held up the fragile ornament for my inspection.
+
+"These are more durable," and he showed another relic made of a bayonet
+sheath, crossed on the blade itself!
+
+"And you--Monsieur le Cure--bow is it you are here?"
+
+"Alas--would to God they had taken me in the place of our boys!  Seven
+of them, Madame, carried off as hostages.  I was too old to be of use!"
+
+"And the women?"
+
+The poor little man hung his bead.
+
+"Twere better they had died!"
+
+I understood and shuddered.
+
+"God speed you, my daughter, and never cease to thank Him for preserving
+you!"
+
+Again we went our way.
+
+Lizy-sur-Ourq, which we reached in the late forenoon, presented a more
+animated, though hardly more pleasing spectacle.  On the tracks in front
+of the station dozens of flat cars and freight trains had been purposely
+run together.  Some had telescoped, others mounted high in piles, one
+upon the other, their locomotives as well as their contents being
+smashed and damaged--the whole scene presenting the aspect of a gigantic
+railway wreck.
+
+On the steps of the station, seated gun in hand, three soldiers sat
+playing a game of cards.  Across the street a sentry mounted guard in
+front of a large door over which floated a Red Cross flag.
+
+"What's in there?" I asked.
+
+"Prisoners and wounded."
+
+"Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+"Hardly--only flesh wounds."
+
+I peeked into the courtyard.
+
+In one corner lounging upon the ground were a dozen untidy, unshaven
+men, whom I recognized by their uniforms to be Germans.  One man cast an
+insolent glance toward me and turned his back.  Two others smiled and
+pointed toward the bread they held in their hands.  On some straw in a
+couple of drays lay five or six individuals, their arms in slings, their
+heads bandaged.
+
+"Nothing serious," explained a sergeant.  "We're waiting for our men to
+clear up the tracks and the _genie_ to throw a bridge across the canal.
+Then we'll evacuate them."
+
+He was neither sad nor triumphant.
+
+"Were you in the battle?"
+
+"Rather!"
+
+"How did your regiment come off?"
+
+"We're all that are left--forty-four of us," and he pointed toward the
+station where work was rapidly progressing.
+
+From them I procured some _singe_ or army beef, and we halted an hour to
+rest the horses and eat our luncheon.  We were beginning to reach
+familiar territory and the idea of getting home put new life into our
+tired limbs, and made each moment of delay seem uselessly long.
+
+From Lizy ours was a straight road and we made rapid progress.  The
+depressing signs of battle became fewer and fewer.  It was evident that
+the rush had been northwest, for while we encountered numerous proofs of
+the armies' passage, graves and shells, trenches and corpses gradually
+began to disappear.  At Cocherel, however, the enemy had burned a
+grocery shop when they had failed to find what they wanted.  The few men
+who remained had suffered much from ill treatment and passing by the
+open gate of a splendid estate I cast a glance up the long avenue and
+saw a sight which gave me a pang at the heart.  On the green in front of
+the chateau lay a battered billiard table and a grand piano, both turned
+on end, and much the worse for having served as a defense against a rain
+of shot.  Around them were strewn broken furniture, pictures, linen and
+bottles in such a sorry mess that I dared not even think what Villiers
+might now look like.
+
+Curiosity was quenched.  We cast a second glance, and turned our faces
+eastward.
+
+The afternoon was well advanced when we reached Montreuil-aux-Lions, our
+home country.  We found that here less damage had been done from heavy
+artillery, but all the edifices had suffered from close-range rifle
+fire.  An English sentry was pacing up and down in front of the town
+hall.  Over the entrance was nailed a Turkish towel on which a Red Cross
+was stained with human blood!
+
+"Prisoners?" I asked.
+
+"All wounded, thank you," was the courteous reply.
+
+I sought out my friend the inn-keeper who held up his hands in
+astonishment, bade us enter and made us partake of a warm meal.  The
+first we had had since we left home!
+
+"But how did you come to be spared?" I queried.
+
+"Because I was good to them."
+
+"Bah!  How could you?"
+
+"I didn't intend to, but, you see, they tricked me.  It was early
+morning when half a dozen officers on horseback rode up to the door.
+'Where are our Allies?' they asked.
+
+"I thought of course they were Englishmen.  The uniform was unfamiliar
+to me, but they all spoke perfect French.  Unwittingly I gave them the
+requested information, and they asked me to bring up some good wine.
+Then they threw a gold piece on to the table, and when I had poured out
+my Burgundy, they begged me to touch glasses with them.
+
+"'Ah, gentlemen, it is a pleasure to offer you the best I have.  Thank
+God, it is not for German stomachs!'
+
+"To my surprise, an uproarious laugh greeted my statement and brought my
+glass down with a shock.
+
+"'Poor fellow!' they tittered.  'Come, drink to our success and the
+Kaiser's health!'
+
+"I think they realized my fright and agony.  They did not force me--but
+laughed anew, drank and were gone."
+
+"What regiments drove them out?"
+
+"The English.  _Quels gaillards!_  And clean!  Well!"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Yes, they nearly used up all the water in Montreuil washing!"
+
+"Do you know anything of Villiers?"
+
+"No.  I spent most of my time in the cellar during the fight, and since
+they've been gone I'm living in terror lest they return."
+
+"Have you seen no one from down there?"
+
+"No, not a soul."
+
+"Do you think Villiers was bombarded?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.  "I know the English troops that were here
+headed in that direction."
+
+This suspense was too agonizing!  I fear I so abbreviated my stay at
+Montreuil that the good inn-keeper was offended.  I jumped on to my
+bicycle and knowing that the roads were now familiar to all, abandoned
+my little party, bidding them hurry to join me at home.
+
+On, on I sped, through the slippery mud, looking neither right nor left,
+but straight ahead in the hope of recognizing a familiar face or form.
+
+Twilight was deepening when I entered Bezu-le-Gury (our nearest home
+town), which seemed to show apparently but few signs of pillaging.  I
+did not even dismount to make inquiries, but pedaled on till I reached
+the summit of that long, long hill that leads straight down to my home.
+Excitement lent a new impulse to my energy, and my heart thumped hard as
+I recognized familiar cottages still standing.  This raised my hopes and
+sent me rocket-like down that steep incline.
+
+Still not a soul in sight--no noise save that of the guns roaring in the
+distance.
+
+But what was that in the semi-darkness ahead of me?  A dog?  Could it be
+true? I back-pedaled and whistled--a long, low, familiar howl greeted my
+ears and brought the tears to my eyes.
+
+And then my poor old beagle hound came trotting up the road to welcome
+me--his tail wagging joyously and a long frayed cord dangling from his
+collar.
+
+This was a relief and somewhat steadied and prepared me for what was to
+come. Through a gap in the trees I caught a glimpse of the roofs below.
+And so I rounded the corner and started on my last hundred yards.
+
+The broken and tangled grill of our stately gateway told of the
+invaders' visit. A few paces further and the chateau come into full
+view.
+
+Yes, it was standing, but only the shell of that lovely home I had fled
+from but fourteen days before.
+
+Dropping my machine I rushed towards the entrance hall, cast one glance
+through the broken panes into the vestibule, and turned away in despair.
+
+All the willful damage that human beings could do had been wrought on
+the contents of my home.
+
+The spell was broken.  My nerves relaxed and heedless of the filth I
+dropped on to the steps and wept.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+I think it was the stench from within that first roused me from my grief
+and made me realize that this was war and no time for tears.  I tried to
+comfort myself with the thought that at least I had a roof to cover me,
+but this was poor consolation.
+
+Pulling myself together, I started across the lawn towards the village
+in search of aid, for a second glance told me that it was useless even
+to think of entering the house, so great was the filth and disorder.
+
+Slowly I pushed onward, my head bent, my heart heavy with sorrow and
+worry. Twenty paces in front of me I discerned a low mound and then,
+horror of horrors, a huge black cross stood forth in the semi-darkness.
+A grave--a  German grave. Some poor souls interred on my greensward; but
+why, since our little cemetery is but a couple of hundred yards up the
+road?
+
+Villiers is not a cheerful village even in time of peace, but on this
+particular evening (September 14, 1914) it was even darker than ever. My
+eyes growing accustomed to the obscurity could see that most of the
+houses, though damaged from the battle, were still standing and in one
+or two windows the glow of a light gladdened my gaze.
+
+I went straight to the town hall where I pounded on the door and called
+my name. A familiar shuffling of feet told me that Monsieur Duguey had
+remained faithful to his post as town clerk (the only acting official
+since the army was mobilized) and when he opened the door and saw me,
+his eyes lit up with joy. Holding a candle high over his head, he smiled
+and then his face fell.
+
+"_Pauvre Madame,_" he said.  "Have you seen the chateau?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Ah, the vandals!  Not war, but highway robbery, I call it.  We poor
+peasants had little to lose, but with you, Madame, it is different."
+
+And then he told me how but a few hours after I had left the Germans
+took possession of the chateau and how for five nights and days in a
+ceaseless stream the flower of the Prussian army had poured down the
+road towards the coveted capital.
+
+At dawn on that eventful September morning an officer had ridden up to
+the town hall, called for the mayor or his representative, and on
+Monsieur Duguey's appearance, had demanded so much fodder for the
+horses, so much champagne for the officers, and Charles Huard!
+
+M. Duguey was taken hostage to respond to the first two demands and on
+having sworn on the cross that both my husband and I were absent, he was
+ordered to lead the way to our home, where for forty-eight hours he was
+detained as prisoner in the kitchen, while a staff of German noblemen
+raised riot in our home.
+
+Taunted and insulted by the soldiers who mounted guard in the kitchen
+where a chef prepared the general's food, he was bid hold his tongue and
+his temper by this same chef, who, for eleven years, had cooked at a
+well known hotel on the rue de Rivoli!  No wonder he spoke good French.
+
+"_Pauvre Madame!_  Perhaps you've come back too soon!  If we only knew
+they would not return!"
+
+The cannon in the distance shook the house as though to corroborate his
+statement.
+
+"Is there anyone left to help me clean place to sleep in?"
+
+"I'll go.  There are only one or two women who remained behind, but I
+presume sorry they did!  What a God-send you got away!"
+
+I understood and was thankful.
+
+Monsieur Duguey put his candle into lantern, shouldered a broom, and
+taking blanket, led the way towards the chateau.
+
+Want of words to express our fears and distress sealed our lips as we
+picked our way into a filthy, can-strewn, bottle-littered courtyard,
+towards a wing of the chateau where I had chosen to sleep.
+
+I hardly know what we plodded through the corridor.  My companion pushed
+things, into heaps in one corner of the room, and when I saw him sweep
+off a mattress and throw his blanket upon it, I realized that my bed was
+made.
+
+"You are not afraid, Madame?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then _a demain_. I will come and help you.  I fear, however, that I
+must leave you in darkness, for there are no matches in the village.  We
+have to borrow light for our fires, and our stock of candles is nearly
+gone.  They are only the butts the Germans left behind!"
+
+Exhausted I fell asleep, to be awakened with a start towards dawn by the
+clatter of horses' feet on the paved court beneath my window.
+
+Cavalry?
+
+I listened.
+
+Yes, surely.  But what cavalry?  Ours?
+
+Curiosity got the better of me, and I put my head out of the empty sash
+to behold a most pathetic sight.  There in the pouring rain stood some
+twenty shivering horses, once fine animals' but now wounded and broken.
+The lamentable little group, left-behinds of the invaders, was headed by
+my old gray donkey, who had gathered them together and was now leading
+them towards warmth and shelter.  This sympathy among animals moved me
+deeply, and I started down to see what I could do to alleviate their
+suffering.
+
+I am ashamed to say, however, that I never reached the stable, for the
+sights of filth and horror that I met on the way so distracted me that I
+pushed on through the whole house, anxious to see really how much damage
+had been done.
+
+I was still making my disheartening rounds when the others drove into
+the yard, and the wails of lamentation rose long and loud from their
+lips.
+
+How can one describe it?  It seems almost impossible.  Too much has
+already been said, too little is really known, so I shall content myself
+with a few brief statements.
+
+Above all I would have it understood that the chateau was first occupied
+by General von Muck and his staff.  The names crayoned on the doors of
+my bedrooms in big red letters bear testimony--as well as some soiled
+under-linen and a _glassentuch_ marked v. K.--and numerous papers
+stamped with the Imperial seal. These latter are all orders or reports
+belonging to the third army corps, and were left behind in the
+precipitation of the flight!
+
+As I now am able to see the matter in a cooler frame of mind, I realize
+that not only was efficiency carried out in warfare but in looting--for
+it seems that everything we possessed was systematically classified as
+good, bad or indifferent--the former and the latter being carefully
+packed into huge army supply carts, which for five long days stood
+backed up against our doorstep, leaving only when completely laden with
+spoils.
+
+Then what remained was thrown into corners and willfully soiled and
+smeared in the most disgusting and nauseating manner.
+
+A proof of the above-mentioned efficiency can be given in a description
+of my husband's studio, where I found all the frames standing empty--the
+canvases having been carefully cut from them with a razor, and rolled
+for convenience' sake.
+
+Useless to mention that tapestries, silver, jewels, blankets and
+household, as well as personal linen, were considered trophies of war.
+That to me is far more comprehensible than the fact that our chateau
+being installed with all modern sanitary conveniences, these were
+purposely ignored, and corridors and comers, satin window curtains and
+even beds, were used for the most ignoble purposes.
+
+Everywhere were sickening traces of sodden drunkenness.  On the table
+beside each bed (most of them now bereft of their mattresses) stood
+champagne bottles, and half emptied glasses.  The straw-strewn
+drawing-room much resembled a cheap beer garden after a Saturday night's
+riot, and the unfortunate upright piano was not only decked with empty
+champagne bottles but also contained some two to three hundred pots of
+jam poured down inside--glass and all, probably just for a joke. Oh,
+_Kultur!_
+
+I think that and the fact that most of my ducks and small animals had
+been killed and left to lie and rot, were the things that most angered
+me, and every time the guns boomed I prayed ardently for revenge!
+
+And 'twas I, who believing in Teuton chivalry, had imagined my
+love-letters, protected by my country's emblem, would be respected!  My
+poor little rosewood desk had been mercilessly jabbed with bayonets, and
+its contents strewn from one end of the village to the other.  As to the
+Stars and Stripes, when we finally disgorged the pipes of certain
+sanitary apparatus that one does not usually mention in polite society,
+they were found there in a lamentable condition and carried to the
+wash-house with a tongs.
+
+What a destitute little village we were.  Mine was but the common lot,
+for each one had lost in proportion to his fortune.  Yet there was no
+lamenting.  There was work to be done, for the vintage season was coming
+on and the vines in most places had been respected.  The German officers
+had even announced the fact that our country was already annexed, and
+that this was to be the champagne to commemorate the triumph of the
+Fatherland!
+
+My little servants took hold of their filthy job and worked unceasingly
+though it was a thankless task--for soap and soda did not exist, and
+food, save the vegetables and a little pork, was hard to get.
+
+A week sped by, and then one afternoon a military auto drove up to the
+door.  As I saw it enter the yard, I trembled lest it bring bad tidings
+of H., but a kindly officer reassured me, by stating that though he
+brought only word of mouth, my husband was still in the land of the
+living.  He also announced that it was his duty to requisition my
+property as a French emergency hospital and that he would be obliged if
+I would put all the beds I owned at his disposal.  A doctor and some
+_infirmiers_ would be sent immediately to put the place in working
+order.  Would I help?  And did I know of anyone I would care to have
+with me?
+
+"You will be voluntary prisoners, you know, for this is the _zone de
+operations_, and you will not be allowed to leave."
+
+I bethought me of Madame Guix.  Was she still alive?
+
+My friend said he would be glad to accompany me to Rebais, as that was
+as near as any place for recruiting a nurse.
+
+And so again I whisked across the Marne.  This time _en grande vitesse_,
+and in little over an hour was greeted by the gentle superior who 'mid
+the ruins of all the neighboring houses was quietly continuing her work
+in the convent.
+
+Yes. Madame Guix was there--a heroine, so I learned, loved and respected
+by every soul who had been obliged to remain in that unfortunate town. I
+found her ministering to twenty-six severely wounded men--French,
+English and Germans--quite alone to do all the work, an eighty-year-old
+doctor coming in but once every two days.
+
+"I cannot leave them," said she, pointing to the soldiers, when I asked
+her to ally forces in the reconstitution of my hospital.  "But just as
+soon as they are able to be removed, I will come, I promise."
+
+In the parlour below, the Sister Superior told me of the invasion, while
+I waited the return of the military motor which was to bear me home.
+
+"She is wonderful," said Soeur Laurent, referring to Madame Guix.
+"Wonderful--afraid of nothing.  Once at the beginning of the invasion
+she was put against the wall and a brute of a German aimed and pulled
+the trigger of a gun he had found in a corner.  She had accidentally
+covered it with a wounded man's great coat!  He accused her of hiding
+arms!  Then in the thick of the battle, she went out into the German
+lines and sought a doctor for our men--feeling herself incompetent. The
+whole German medical staff came in and felicitated her on her courage
+and devotion, before they left.  I tell you all this because she never
+will!"
+
+A couple of days later a doctor and the _infirmiers_ arrived, the latter
+not picked men, since in ordinary life they are a tax collector, a super
+at the Theatre de Belleville, an omnibus painter, a notary's clerk and a
+barber!  But they are all "good fellows," ready to work with no choice
+as to the "job."
+
+Madame Guix duly made her appearance, and our hospital was declared
+open.
+
+From loans and requisitions we accumulated a hundred beds, and for
+fifteen months now, by begging and strictest economy, we have managed to
+keep alive and to care, as best we can and in our primitive way, for all
+those of France's brave sons who come to us, sick or wounded.  With
+God's help, we shall go on doing so until the day of our complete
+victory.
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Home In The Field of Honor
+by Frances Wilson Huard
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+Project Gutenberg's My Home In The Field of Honor, by Frances Wilson Huard
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: My Home In The Field of Honor
+
+Author: Frances Wilson Huard
+
+Release Date: April 28, 2004 [EBook #12185]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sean Pobuda
+
+
+
+
+MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOUR
+
+BY FRANCES WILSON HUARD
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+The third week in July found a very merry gathering at the Chateau de
+Villiers. (Villiers is our summer home situated near Marne River, sixty
+miles or an hour by train to Paris.)
+
+Nothing, I think, could have been farther from thoughts than the idea of
+war. Our May Wilson Preston, the artist; Mrs. Chase, the editor of a
+well-known woman's magazine; Hugues Delorme, the French artist; and
+numerous other guests, discussed the theatre and the "Caillaux case"
+from every conceivable point of view, and their conversations were only
+interrupted by serious attempts to prove their national superiority at
+bridge, and long delightful walks in the park.
+
+As I look back now over those cheerful times, I can distinctly remember
+one bright sunny morning, when after a half-hour's climbing we reached
+the highest spot on our property.  Very warm and a trifle out of breath
+we sought shelter beneath a big purple beech, and I can still hear H.
+explaining to Mrs. Chase:
+
+"Below you on the right runs the Marne, and over there, beyond those
+hills, do you see that long straight line of trees?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, that's the road that lead's from Paris to Metz!"
+
+At that moment I'm confident he hadn't the slightest _arriere pensee_.
+
+On Monday, the 27th, Mrs. Preston, having decided to take her leave, I
+determined to accompany her to Paris.  Several members of the house
+party joined us, leaving H. and a half-dozen friends at Villiers.  We
+took an early morning train, and wrapped in our newspapers we were
+rolling peacefully towards the capital when someone called out, "For
+Heaven's sake, look at those funny soldiers!"
+
+Glancing through the window, I caught sight of numerous gray-haired,
+bushy-bearded men stationed at even distances along the line, while here
+and there little groups beneath or around a tent were preparing the
+morning meal.
+
+What strange looking creatures they were; anything but military in their
+dirty white overalls--the only things that betrayed their calling being
+their caps and their guns!
+
+"What on earth are they?" queried an American.
+
+"Oh, only some territorials serving their last period of twenty-nine
+days.  It's not worth while giving them uniforms for so short a time!"
+
+"Bah!" came from the other end of the compartment.  "I should think it
+was hot enough in the barracks without forcing men that age to mount a
+guard in the sun!"
+
+"It's about time for the _Grand manaeuvres_, isn't it?"
+
+And in like manner the conversation rose and dwindled, and we returned
+to our papers, paying no more attention to the territorials stationed
+along the rails.
+
+A theatre party having been arranged, I decided to stop over in Paris.
+The play was _Georgette Lemeunier_ at the Comedie Francaise.  The house
+was full--the audience chiefly composed of Americans and tourists, and
+throughout the entire piece even very significant allusions to current
+political events failed to arouse any unwonted enthusiasm on the part of
+the French contingent.  Outside not even an _edition speciale de la
+Presse_ betokened the slightest uneasiness.
+
+The next day, that is, Tuesday, the 28th, I had a business meeting with
+my friends, Mr. Gautron and Mr. Pierre Mortier, editor of the _Gil
+Blas_.  Mr. Gautron was on the minute, but Mr. Mortier kept us waiting
+over an hour and when finally we had despaired of his coming I heard
+someone hurrying across the court, and the bell was rung impatiently.
+Mr. Mortier rushed in, unannounced, very red, very excited, very
+apologetic.
+
+"A thousand pardons.  I'm horribly late, but you'll forgive me when you
+hear the news.  I've just come from the Foreign Office.  All diplomatic
+relations with Germany are suspended.  War will be declared Saturday!"
+
+Mr. Gautron and I looked at each other, then at Mr. Mortier, and smiled.
+
+"No, I'm not joking.  I'm as serious as I have ever been in my life. The
+proof: on leaving the Foreign Office I went and had a neglected tooth
+filled, and on my way down, stopped at my shoemaker's and ordered a pair
+of good strong boots for Saturday morning.  I'll be fit then to join my
+regiment."
+
+Our faces fell.
+
+"But why Saturday?"
+
+"Because Saturday's the first of August, and the idea of keeping the
+news back is to prevent a panic on the Bourse, and to let the July
+payments have time to be realized."
+
+"You don't really believe it's serious, do you?"
+
+"Yes, really.  I'm not fooling, and if I've any advice to give you it's
+this: draw out all the money you can from your bank, and take all the
+gold they'll give you. You may need it.  I've telephoned to the _Gil
+Blas_ for them to do as much for us. The worst of all though is, that
+every man on my paper is of an age bound to military service.  War means
+that when I leave, staff, printers and all will have to go the same day
+and the _Gil Blas_ shuts its doors.  We cease to exist--that's all."
+
+Somewhat disconcerted by this astonishing news, we had some little
+difficulty getting down to facts, but when we did business was speedily
+dispatched and Mr. Mortier took his leave.  Mr. Gautron carried me off
+to luncheon.
+
+"You must come," he protested when I pleaded an engagement.  "You must
+come, or my wife and the boys will never believe me."
+
+We found Madame Gautron and her two splendid sons waiting rather
+impatiently. We told our news.
+
+"Come, come now.  You can't make us take that as an excuse!"
+
+We protested our sincerity, and went in to luncheon which began rather
+silently.
+
+I questioned the boys as to their military duties.  Both were
+under-officers in an infantry regiment--bound to join their barracks
+within twenty-four hours after the call to arms.
+
+We did not linger over our coffee.  Each one seemed anxious to go about
+his affairs.  I left the Gautron boys at the comer of their street, each
+carrying his army shoes under his arm.
+
+"To be greased--in case of accident," they laughingly explained.
+
+That was the last time I ever saw them.  They fell "on the Field of
+Honour" both the same day, and hardly a month later.
+
+But to return to my affairs.
+
+A trifle upset by what Mr. Mortier had told me, I hurried to the nearest
+telephone station and asked for Villiers.  When after what seemed an
+interminable time I got the connection, I explained to H. what had
+happened.
+
+"For Heaven's sake leave politics alone and take the five o'clock train
+home! We need you to make a second fourth at bridge."  H.'s
+lightheartedness somewhat reassured me, though for prudence's sake I
+went to my bank and asked to withdraw my entire account.
+
+"Why, Madame Huard," said the clerk in surprise, "you   mean to say you
+are frightened?"
+
+I explained what I had heard in the morning.
+
+"_Pensez-vous?  Non!_  We would be the first to be notified.  We were
+ever so much closer to war two years ago--at Agadir!  There is no cause
+for alarm."
+
+He almost persuaded me, but after hesitating a moment I decided to abide
+by my original intentions.
+
+"I can always put my money back in a week or so if all blows over and I
+find I don't need it," I argued.
+
+"Certainly, Madame--as you will."
+
+And the twenty-eighth of July the _Societe Generale_ gave me all the
+gold I requested.
+
+As the five o'clock express hurried me back home I began to understand
+the gravity of the situation--for the "queer looking soldiers" were
+nearer together all along the railway line, and it dawned on me that
+theirs was a very serious mission--namely, that of safeguarding the
+steel artery which leads from Paris to the eastern frontier.
+
+At Charly, our station, I was much surprised to see three French
+officers in full uniform get off the train and step into the
+taxi-autobus which deposits its travelers at the only hotel in the
+vicinity.
+
+At the chateau my story failed to make an impression.  The men
+pooh-poohed the idea of war, and returned to the evening papers and the
+_proces Caillaux_, which was the most exciting question of the moment.
+In the pantry the news was greeted with hilarity, and coachman and
+gardener declared that they would shoulder their spades and _faire la
+guerre en sabots_.
+
+My friend and neighbor, Elizabeth Gauthier, was the only one who took
+the matter seriously, and that because she had no less than five
+brothers and a husband who would be obliged to serve in case of serious
+events.  I felt rather ashamed when I saw her countenance darken, for
+after all, she was alone in Villiers with two tiny children; her
+husband, the well-known archivist, coming down but for the week-end.
+"What is the sense of alarming people so uselessly?" I thought.
+
+Wednesday, the 29th, the papers began to talk of "a tension in the
+political relations between France and Germany" which, however, did not
+quench the gaiety of a picnic luncheon in the grove by our river.
+
+In the afternoon the old _garde-champetre_ asked for H. in the
+courtyard.
+
+"In case of mobilization," said he, "you have three horses and your farm
+cart to present to the authorities.  Your cart must have its awnings
+complete.  And your horses harnessed with their halters!"
+
+H. laughed and told him that he was giving himself a lot of useless
+trouble.
+
+Thursday, the 30th, market day at Charly, the nearest town to Villiers.
+We both drove down in the victoria, and were not surprised to see my
+officers of the day before seated in the hotel dining-room, finishing
+breakfast.
+
+"What are they down here for?" I queried of the proprietor.
+
+"Oh, they belong to the _Etat Major_ and are out here to verify their
+maps.  The Mayor has given them an office in the town hall.  They go off
+on their bicycles early every morning and only return for meals."
+
+"It's rather a treat to see a uniform out here, where hardly an officer
+has appeared since last year when we had Prince George of Servia and his
+staff for three days."
+
+The general topic on the market place was certainly _not_ war, and we
+drove home somewhat reassured.
+
+Friday, the 31st, however, the tone of the newspapers was serious and
+our little village began to grow alarmed when several soldiers on
+holiday leave received individual official telegrams to rejoin their
+regiments immediately.  Little knots of peasants could be seen grouped
+together along the village street, a thing unheard of in that busy
+season when vineyards need so much attention. Towards noon the news ran
+like wildfire that men belonging to the youngest classes had received
+their official notices and we're leaving to join their corps.  Yet there
+was no commotion anywhere.
+
+"It will last three weeks and they'll all come home, safe and sound.
+It's bothersome, though, that the Government should choose just our
+busiest season to take the men out for a holiday!" declared one peasant.
+
+There was less hilarity in the servants' hall when I entered after
+luncheon.  At least I fancied so.  The men had gone about their work
+quicker than usual, and the women were silently washing up.
+
+"Does Madame know that the _fils Poupard_ is leaving by the four o'clock
+train---and that Cranger and Veron are going too?" asked my faithful
+Catherine.
+
+"No."
+
+"Yes, Madame--and Honorine is in the wash-house crying as though her
+heart would break."
+
+I turned on my heel and walked toward the river.  In the wash-house I
+found Honorine  bending over her linen, the great tears streaming down
+her face, in spite of her every effort to control them.
+
+"Why, Honorine, what's the matter?"
+
+"He's gone, Madame--gone without my seeing him--without even a clean
+pair of socks!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"My son, Madame!"
+
+And the tears burst out afresh, though in silence.
+
+"Yes, Madame, I found this under the door when I came in at noon.--"  She
+drew a crumpled paper from her apron pocket.  I smoothed it out and
+read:
+
+"_Je viens de recevior ma feuille.  Je pars de suite.  Je prends les
+deux francs sur la cheminee.  Jean._"  (I've just received my notice. Am
+leaving at once. Have taken the two francs that are on the mantel.
+Jean.)
+
+I cannot say what an impression that brief but heroic note made upon me.
+In my mind it has always stood as characteristic of that wonderful
+national resolution to do one's duty, and to make the least possible
+fuss about it.
+
+At tea-time the male contingent of the house-party was decidedly
+restless.
+
+"Let's go up to Paris and see what's going on."
+
+"There's no use doing that.  Elizabeth Gauthier went this morning and
+will be back in an hour with all the news.  It's too late to go to town,
+anyway!"
+
+"Well, if things don't look better to-morrow I've got to go.  My
+military book is somewhere in my desk at home and it's best to have it
+_en regle_ in case of necessity," said Delorme.
+
+"Mine's at home, too," echoed our friend Boutiteron.
+
+"We'll all go to-morrow, and make a day of it," decided H.
+
+Just then the silhouette of the three officers on bicycles passed up the
+road.
+
+"Let's go out and ask them what's up," suggested someone.
+
+"Pooh!  Do you think they know anything more than we do?  And if they do
+know something, they wouldn't tell _you!_  Don't make a fool of
+yourself, Hugues!"
+
+Presently Elizabeth Gauthier arrived, placid and cool as though
+everything were normal.  "Paris is calm; calm as Paris always is in
+August."
+
+"But the papers?  Your husband?  What does he say?"
+
+"There are no extras--Leon doesn't seem over-alarmed, though as captain
+in the reserves he would have to leave within an hour after any
+declaration of hostilities.  He has a special mission to perform.  But
+he's certain of coming down by the five o'clock train to-morrow."
+
+We went in to dinner but conversation lagged.  Each one seemed
+preoccupied and no one minded the long silences.  We were so quiet that
+the Angelus ringing at Charly, some four miles away, roused us with
+something of a shock.
+
+Saturday morning, August 1st, the carryall rolled up to the station for
+the early train.  All made a general rush for the papers which had just
+arrived and all of us were equally horrified when a glance showed the
+headline-Jaures, the Great Socialist Leader, Assassinated.  Decidedly
+the plot thickened and naturally we all jumped to the same conclusion--a
+political crime.
+
+"There's a stronger hand than the murderer's back of that felony,"
+murmured a plain man from the corner of our compartment.
+
+"What makes you say that?"
+
+"Why, can't you see, Monsieur, that our enemies are counting on the deed
+to stir up the revolutionary party and breed discord in the country!
+It's as plain as day!"
+
+That was rather opening the door to a lengthy discussion, but our
+friends refused to debate, especially as we could hear excited masculine
+voices rising high above the ordinary tone in the compartments on either
+side of us.
+
+The journey drew to a close without any further remarkable incident.  It
+seemed to me that we passed more up trains than usual, but were not a
+moment overdue. There was nothing to complain of.  As we approached La
+Villette and drew into the Gare de l'Est everybody noticed the
+extraordinary number of locomotives that were getting up steam in the
+yards.  There were rows and rows of them, just as close together as it
+was possible to range them, and as far as the eye could see their
+glittering boilers extended down the tracks in even lines.  Each one had
+a freshly glued yellow label, on which was printed in big black capitals
+the name of its home station.  That was the most significant preparation
+we had witnessed as yet. Presently we observed that the platforms of
+freight and express depots had been swept clear of every obstacles and
+the usually encumbered Gare de l'Est was clean and empty as the hand of
+man could make it.
+
+In the courtyard our party separated, promising to meet for the five
+o'clock express--"Unless something serious prevents."
+
+I accompanied H. to the _Caserne des Minimes_ where he went to see if
+his military situation was registered up to date in his _livret_, and
+all along the streets leading from the station we met women silently
+wiping their eyes.
+
+What a sight the courtyard of that barracks presented!  Some five or six
+thousand men of all ages, classes and conditions who up until that
+moment had never thought that the loss of a military book entailed the
+slightest consequence, had one and all been pushed by that single
+thought, "Be ready for duty."  Here they were, boys of twenty and men of
+forty, standing in line, braving their all-time enemy, the _gendarme_,
+each silently waiting his turn to explain his situation.  To the credit
+of the _gendarme_ and all those in authority, it must be said that
+contrary to their usual custom they acted like loving fathers with these
+prodigal sons of the Republic--possible information without the sign of
+a grumble, and advising those who were still streaming in at the door to
+come back towards five o'clock, when the line should have advanced a
+little.  It was then scarcely ten A. M.!
+
+H. had finished in no time.
+
+"All I've got to do is to go home and wait until I am called for," he
+explained as we walked away at a brisk gait.
+
+Like most country people when they come to town I had numerous errands
+to do, so we set off towards the _Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville_, renowned
+for its farming implements.
+
+At the corner of the Rue des Archives we met Monsieur Gauthier on his
+way to his Museum.
+
+"_Grave--tre's grave--la situation, Monsieur_," was all he could say.
+
+"What would you advise us to do?"
+
+"Well, to speak plainly, I should advise you to shut up the chateau,
+leave a guardian, and open your Paris apartment.  You're in the east,
+you know!  I shall go down by the five train and bring back Elizabeth
+and the children.  I'd be easier in my mind if I knew they were in a big
+city!  I If you have to leave, Madame Huard would be better off here."
+
+H. was very sober as we left Mr. Gauthier.
+
+"Bah!  Cheer up!  I'm afraid our friend is an alarmist.  You know he has
+two young children!"
+
+We entered the Bazar, which is the "biggest" of the big stores in Paris.
+Every day in the week, and Sundays included, it is usually so crowded
+with buyers and sellers that one has to elbow one's way, and literally
+serve one's self.  To our amazement it was empty--literally empty.  Not
+a single customer--not a single clerk to be seen. The long stretches of
+floor and counters were vacant as though the store were closed.  I
+gasped a little in surprise and just as I did so a female voice from
+behind a distant desk called out:
+
+"What is your pleasure, Madame?"
+
+I turned, and a little woman in black advanced towards me.
+
+"Yes, I know the place looks queer, but you see all our clerks are young
+men and everyone of them has been obliged to join his regiment since
+closing time last evening!"
+
+"Leave farming alone and come over to Conard's.  He's bound to have some
+news," said H. impatiently.
+
+Conard's is a big publishing firm on the boulevard, renowned as a
+meeting place for most of the well-known political men.
+
+Conard greeted us in silence.  He knew no more than we, and we fell to
+talking of the latest events and trying to come to a conclusion.  Then
+one of the _habitues_ stepped in.
+
+"_Eh bien, Monsieur_, what news?"
+
+The person addressed kept on perusing the titles of the books spread
+along the counter, and drawing a long puff from his cigarette and
+without lifting his eyes, said, "The mobilization is for four o'clock!
+Official.  Have you something entertaining to read on my way to the
+front?"
+
+"_What?_"
+
+"Yes, gentlemen."
+
+"War?"'
+
+"It looks very much like it!"
+
+Though almost expected, the news gave us a thrill.  We stood spellbound
+and tongue-tied.
+
+What to do?  There were so many decisions to be made at a moment's
+notice!  H. was for our coming to Paris, as all the men must necessarily
+leave the chateau.
+
+"Mobilization doesn't necessarily mean war, man.  Besides if it does
+come it can't last long.  You'd better go back to your place in the
+country, Huard.  A big estate like that needs looking after," said
+Conard.
+
+"Where do you live?" questioned the gentleman who had given us the news.
+
+"Villiers--sixty miles _east_ of Paris."
+
+"Well, if you decide to go there I advise you to take the soonest train.
+The eastern railway belongs to the army, and only the army, beginning at
+noon to-day."
+
+H. looked at his watch.  It was nearly eleven, and our next train left
+at noon sharp.  We jumped into a taxi.
+
+"Drive to the Gare de l'Est and on the way stop at Tarides!  We must
+have maps, good road maps of the entire north and east," said H.,
+turning to me.
+
+It seemed as though he had had that thought in common with the entire
+Parisian population, for all down the boulevards the bookshops and
+stationers were already overflowing with men, chiefly in regimentals,
+and as to the shoe-shops and boot-makers--there was a line waiting
+outside of each.  Yet there was no excitement, no shouting, not even an
+"extra."
+
+What a different sight our station presented to that of two hours
+before!  The great iron gates were shut, and guarded by a line of
+_sergents de ville_.  Only men joining their regiments and persons
+returning to their legitimate dwellings were allowed to pass. And there
+were thousands of both.  Around the grillwork hovered dense groups of
+women, bravely waving tearless adieux to their men folk.
+
+After assuring himself that there was still a noon train, H. led me to
+the restaurant directly opposite the station.
+
+"We'll have a bite here.  Heaven knows what time we shall reach home!"
+
+The room was filled to overflowing; the lunchers being mostly officers.
+At the table on our right sat a young fellow whose military harnessings
+were very new and very stiff, but  in spite of the heat, a high collar
+and all his trappings he managed to put away a very comfortable repast.
+
+On our left was a party composed of a captain, his wife and two other
+_freres d'armes_.  That brave little Parisian woman at once won my
+admiration, for though, in spite of superhuman efforts, the tears would
+trickle down her face, she never gave in one second to her emotion but
+played her part as hostess, trying her best to put her guests at ease
+and smilingly inquiring after their family and friends as though she
+were receiving under ordinary circumstances in her own home.
+
+At a quarter before noon we left them and elbowed our way through the
+ever-gathering crowd towards our train.
+
+"The twelve o'clock express--what platform?" H. inquired.
+
+"The ten o'clock train hasn't gone yet, Monsieur!"
+
+"Is there any danger of its _not_ going?"
+
+"Oh, no; but there's every danger of its being the last."
+
+And the man spoke the truth, for as our friend the politician predicted,
+at noon military authority took over the station and all those who were
+so unfortunate as to have been left behind were obliged to wait in Paris
+three mortal weeks. On the Eastern Railway all passenger service was
+immediately sacrificed to the transportation of troops.
+
+It seems to me that this was the longest train I have ever seen.  The
+coaches stretched far out beyond the station into torrid sunlight. Every
+carriage was filled up to and beyond its normal capacity.  There could
+be no question of what class one would travel--it was travel where one
+could!  Yet no one seemed to mind. I managed to find a seat in it
+compartment already occupied by two young St. Cyr students in full
+uniform and white gloves, a very portly aged couple and half a dozen men
+of the working classes.
+
+"We'll take turns at sitting, Monsieur," said one of them as H. pushed
+further on into the corridor.
+
+At the end of five minutes' time the conversation had become general.
+Although as yet there had been no official declaration everyone present
+was convinced that the news would shortly be made public, and though the
+crowd  was certainly not a merry one, it was certainly not sad.  Most of
+the men had received their orders in the morning, and had said good-bye
+to their loved ones at home.  In consequence, there were no
+heart-rending scenes of farewell, no tearful leave-takings from family
+and friends, no useless manifestations.
+
+Through the doorway of our stifling compartment, which up until the last
+moment was left open for air, we could see the train on the opposite
+platform silently, rapidly filling with men, each carrying a new pair of
+shoes either slung over the shoulders or neatly tied in a box or paper
+parcel.  Then without any warning, without any hilarious vociferations
+on the part of its occupants, it quietly drew out of the station, to be
+instantly replaced by another train of cars.
+
+Five times we watched the same operation recommence ere the ten o'clock
+train decided to leave Paris.  Then as the guard went along the platform
+slamming the doors, a boyish face poked its way into the aperture of our
+compartment.
+
+"Hello, Louis," said he, addressing one of the workmen.  "Hello, Louis,
+you here, too?"
+
+"_Eh bien, cette fois je crois quon y va!  Hein?_"
+
+Our door closed and the trainman whistled.
+
+"_Bon voyage!_" shouted the boy through the window.
+
+"The same to you," replied the other.  That was all.
+
+It was not a very eventful journey.  It was merely hot and lengthy.  We
+stopped at every little way station either to let down or take on
+passengers.  We were side-tracked and forgotten for what seemed hours
+at a time, to allow speedy express trains filled with men and bound for
+the eastern frontier to pass on and be gone.
+
+At Changis-St. Jean I put my head out of the window and there witnessed
+a most touching sight.  A youngish man in a well-fitting captain's
+uniform, accompanied by his wife and two pretty babies, was preparing to
+take his leave.  He was evidently well known and esteemed in his little
+village, for the curate, the mayor, the municipal council and numerous
+friends had come to see him off.  The couple bore up bravely until the
+whistle blew-then, clasping each other in an almost brutal embrace, they
+parted, he to jump into the moving train mid the shouts of well-wishers,
+and she, her shoulders shaking with emotion, to return to her empty
+home.
+
+Four months later, almost to a day, I again put my head out of the car
+window as we stopped at Changis.  Imagine my surprise on seeing almost
+the same group!  I recognized the mayor, the curate and the others, and
+a little shiver went down my back as I caught sight of the pretty
+captain's wife--her eyes red and swollen beneath the long widow's veil
+that covered her face.  That same hopeful little assembly of August
+first had once again gathered on the station platform to take possession
+of and to conduct to their last resting place the mortal remains of
+their heroic defunct.
+
+Naturally, as they did not expect us before six at the chateau, there
+was no carriage to meet us.
+
+"We'll take the hotel taxi as far as Charly, and from there we'll
+telephone home," said H. as we got down from the train.
+
+But there was neither hotel trap nor vehicle of any description at the
+station. True it was that our train was nearly two hours late!  The idea
+of walking some four miles in the broiling sun was anything but amusing,
+but there seemed to be nothing else to do.  So after a quarter of an
+hour uselessly spent in trying to get a carriage about our lonesome
+station, we started off on foot.  We had scarcely gone two hundred yards
+when we caught sight of a PARISIAN taxi!  H. hailed him!
+
+"What are you doing down _here?_"
+
+"I brought down a gentleman who was in a hurry.  You see there are no
+more trains out of Paris on this line since noon!  And there are not
+likely to be any for some time to come."
+
+"Will you take us as far as Charly?"
+
+"If it's on the way to Paris--yes!  I'm in a hurry to get back.  I've
+got to join my regiment at the Gaxe du Nord before midnight, but I'd
+like to ring in another job like this before that.  It's worth while at
+150 per trip!"
+
+"You've got to cross Charly--there's no other way to Paris."
+
+So we made our price and were whisked into our little market-town.
+
+The inhabitants were on their doorsteps or  chatting in little groups,
+and we created quite a sensation in our Parisian vehicle.  H. went to
+the Gendarmerie at once to see if there was any official news by wire
+since we had left town.
+
+"You're the one who ought to bring us news, Monsieur," said the
+_brigadier_. "What do they say in Paris?"
+
+"The mobilization will be posted at four o'clock."
+
+A hearty peal of laughter, that was most refreshing in the tension of
+the moment, burst from all three gendarmes.
+
+"Well, it's five minutes of four now.  And if what you say is so, I
+should think we'd know something about it by this time!  Don't worry.
+It's not so bad as you fancy--"
+
+H. shook hands and we left.  At the hotel we got the chateau on the wire
+and asked for the victoria at once. As the horse had to be harnessed and
+there is a two-mile drive down to Charley, we stopped a moment and spoke
+to the proprietress of the hotel.
+
+"How does it happen that your motor was not at the station?" said H.
+
+"Oh," she replied, "our officers hired it early this morning and my
+husband bad to drive them post-haste to Soissons.  He hasn't got back
+yet!"
+
+Before going farther in my narrative I shall say here, lest I forget it,
+that two of the supposed officers were caught within the fortnight and
+shot at Meaux as German spies--the third managed to make his escape.
+
+Hearing the carriage coming down the hill, we walked towards the
+doorway.  At that same moment we saw the white-trousered _gendarme_
+hastening towards the town hall. Catching might of H., he held up the
+sealed envelope he held in his band, and shouted, "You were right,
+Monsieur.  It has come!"
+
+We jumped into the victoria, but as we crossed the square the
+_garde-champetre_ caught the bridle and stopped our turnout.
+
+"One moment, Monsieur."
+
+Then the town-crier appeared, instantly causing the staggering groups to
+cluster into one.  He had no need to ring his bell.  He merely lifted
+his hand and obtained instant silence, and then slowly read out in deep,
+solemn, measured tones, which I shall never forget until my dying day.
+
+"_Extrme urgence.  Ordre de mobilisation generale.  Le premier jour de
+la mobilization est le dimanche deux aout!_"
+
+That was all!  It was enough!  The tension of those last two days was
+broken. No matter what the news, it was a relief.  And we drove away
+'mid the rising hum of hundreds of tongues, loosened after the agonizing
+suspense.
+
+The news had not yet reached Villiers when we drove through the village
+street. We turned into the chateau and found Elizabeth Gauthier, her
+children and almost all the servants, grouped near the entrance ball.
+They looked towards us with an appealing gaze.
+
+As H. opened his mouth to answer, the sharp pealing of the _tocsin_,
+such as it rings only in cases of great emergency, followed by the
+rolling of the drum, told them better than we could that the worst bad
+come.
+
+The servants retired in silence and still the bell rang on.  Presently
+we could hear the clicking of the sabots on the bard road as the
+peasants hurried from the fields towards the _Mairie_.
+
+I can see us all now, standing there in the brilliant afternoon
+sunlight--Elizabeth murmuring between her sobs, "O God, don't take my
+husband!" little Jules clinging to her skirts, amazed at her distress,
+and happy, lighthearted, curly-headed baby Colette, chasing butterflies
+on the lawn in front of us!
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+_August first._
+
+The _tocsin_ ceased, but the drum rolled on.
+
+In a moment we had recovered from the first shock, and all went out to
+the highroad to hear the declaration.  To H. and me it was already a
+thing of the past, but we wanted to see how the peasants would take it.
+
+At Villiers as at Charly, it was the _garde champetre_ who was charged
+with this solemn mission, and the old man made a most pathetic figure as
+he stood there with his drumsticks in his hand, his spectacles pushed
+back, and the perspiration rolling down his tanned and withered cheeks.
+
+"What have you got to say?" queried one woman, who was too impatient to
+wait until all had assembled.
+
+"_Bien de bon--_" was the philosophic reply, and our friend proceeded to
+clear his throat and make his announcement.
+
+It was received in dead silence.  Not a murmur, not a comment rose from
+the crowd, as the groups dispersed, and each one returned to his
+lodgings.
+
+We followed suit, and I went with H. towards the servants' hall.
+
+"Give me the keys to the wine cellar," said he.  "And, Nini," he
+continued, addressing my youngest maid, aged ten, "Nini, lay a cloth and
+bring out the champagne glasses.  The boys shan't go without a last
+joyful toast."
+
+There were four of them; four of them whose military books ordered them
+to reach the nearest railway station, with two days' rations, as soon as
+possible after the declaration of mobilization.  H. had hardly time to
+bring up the champagne before we could bear the men clattering down the
+stairs from their rooms.  Their luggage was quickly packed--a change of
+underclothes and a second pair of shoes composed their trousseaux--and
+Julie came hurrying forward with bread, sausages and chocolate!  "Put
+this into your bags," she said.  Though no one had told them, all those
+who remained seemed to have guessed what to do, for in like manner
+George, one of the younger gardeners, had hitched the horses to the farm
+cart and drove up to the kitchen entrance.
+
+A moment later Catherine called me aside and tearfully begged permission
+to accompany husband and brother as far as Paris.  The circumstances
+were too serious to refuse such a request and I nodded my assent.
+
+"Come on, boys," shouted H.  "Ring the farm-bell, Nini, and call the
+others in."
+
+Their faces radiant with excitement, they gathered around the long
+table.  H. filled up the glasses and then raising his--
+
+"Here's to France, and to your safe return!" said he.
+
+"To France, and our safe return!" they echoed.
+
+We all touched glasses and the frothy amber liquid disappeared as by
+magic. Then followed a hearty handshaking and they all piled into the
+little cart. George cracked the whip and in a moment they had turned the
+comer and were gone.
+
+Gone--gone forever--for in the long months that followed how often did I
+recall that joyful toast, and now, a year later, as I write these lines,
+I know for certain that none of them will ever make that "safe return."
+
+Elizabeth Gauthier bore up wonderfully under the strain.  She was the
+first to admit that after all it would have been too trying to say
+good-bye to her husband. H. and I then decided that it was best for her
+to bring her children and maid and come over to the chateau where we
+would share our lot in common. There was no time for lamenting--for the
+sudden disappearance of cook, butler, and the three most important
+farm-hands, left a very large breach which had to be filled at once.
+There was nothing to do but to "double up," and the girls and women
+willingly offered to do their best.
+
+Julie, the only person over thirty, offered to take over the kitchen. To
+George and Leon fell the gardens, the stables, the horses, dogs, pigs
+and cattle. Yvonne, aged seventeen, offered to milk the cows, make
+butter and cheese, look after the chickens and my duck farm, while
+Berthe and Nini, aged fourteen and ten, were left to take care of the
+chateau!  Not a very brilliant equipment to run as large an
+establishment as ours, but all so willing and so full of good humour
+that things were less neglected than one might imagine.
+
+The excitement of the day had been such that after a very hasty meal we
+retired exhausted at an early hour.  The night was still--so still that
+though four miles from the station we could hear the roar of the trains
+as they passed along the river front.
+
+"Hark!" said H.  "How close together they are running!"
+
+We timed them.  Scarcely a minute between each.  Then, our ears becoming
+accustomed, we were soon able to distinguish the passenger from the
+freight trains, as well as the empty ones returning to Paris.
+
+"Listen!  Those last two were for the troops!  That one is for the
+ammunition. Oh, what a heavy one!  It must be for the artillery!"  And
+we fell asleep before the noise ceased.  Indeed for three long weeks
+there was no end to it, as night and day the Eastern Railway rushed its
+human freight towards the Eastern frontier.
+
+Sunday morning, August second, found us all at our posts as the sun
+rose. Elizabeth and I drove down to Charly for eight o'clock mass, and
+all along the road met men and boys on their way to the station.  The
+church was full, but there were only women and elderly men in the
+assembly; why, we knew but too well, and many wives and mothers had come
+there to hide their grief.  Our curate was a very old man, and the news
+had given him such a shock that he was unable to say a word after
+reaching the pulpit and stood there, tongue-tied, with the tears
+streaming down his face for nearly five minutes--finally retiring
+without uttering a sound. Not exactly the most fortunate thing that
+could have happened, for his attitude encouraged others to give way to
+their emotions, and there was a most impressive silence followed by much
+sniffling and nose-blowing! All seemed better, though, after the shower,
+and the congregation disbanded with a certain sense of relief.
+
+Before leaving home H. told me to seek out the grocer, and to lay in a
+stock of everything she dispensed.
+
+"You see," said he, "we're now cut off from all resources.  There are no
+big cities where we can get supplies, within driving reach, and our
+grocers will have nothing to sell once their stock is exhausted.  We're
+living in the hope that the mobilization will last three weeks.  That
+will you do if it lasts longer?  It never hurts to have a supply on
+hand!"
+
+"All my salt, sugar and gasoline has been put aside for the army.  I was
+ordered to do that this morning--but come around to the back door and
+I'll see what I can do for you," said my amiable grocery-woman.
+
+"That's pleasant," thought I.  "No gasoline--no motor--no electricity!
+Privation is beginning early.  But why grumble!  We'll go to bed with
+the chickens and won't miss it!"
+
+Madame Leger and I made out a long list of groceries and household
+necessities, and she set to work weighing and packing, and finally began
+piling the bundles into the trap drawn up close to her side door.
+
+Our dear old Cesar must have been surprised by the load he had to carry
+home, but Elizabeth and I decided that a "bird in the hand is worth two
+in the bush," and one never could tell what astonishing "order"
+to-morrow might bring forth.
+
+How H. laughed when he saw us driving up the avenue.
+
+"I didn't think you'd take me so literally," said he.  "Why, war isn't
+even declared, and here we are preparing for a siege!"
+
+"Never mind," I returned, "you must remember that there are twelve
+persons to feed, and we'll soon get away with all I've got here."
+
+The afternoon was spent in arranging our apartments.  For convenience
+sake, we decided to close part of the chateau and all live as near
+together as possible in one wing.  The children and younger servants
+seemed to consider the whole as a huge joke--or rather, a prolonged
+picnic party, and the house rang with peals of jolly laughter.
+
+Monday, the third, Elizabeth and I tackled the provisions which were
+piled high on the table in the servants' hall.  A visit to the storeroom
+and a little calculation showed that there were sufficient groceries
+already on hand to last the month out.
+
+"Very good," said I.  "Now, the rest we'll divide into three even parts
+--that makes September, October and November assured.  By that time
+we'll know what precautions to take!"
+
+"Well, I should hope so!" came the smiling reply.  And we set to work.
+It all recalled the days of my childhood when I used to play at
+housekeeping and would measure out on the scales of my dolls' house so
+much rice, so much flour, so much macaroni, etc.  I could hardly believe
+I was in earnest.
+
+We were right in the midst of our task when our gardeners appeared
+bearing between them a clothes basket full of plums.
+
+"Madame, they can't wait a day longer.  They're ready to cook now."
+
+It was almost a disagreeable surprise, for we were already as busy as we
+could be. But there was no way of waiting, or the fruit would be
+spoiled.
+
+"Is that all the plums?"
+
+"Ah, no, Madame, there are fully two baskets more.  And in a day or two
+the blackberries and black currants must be picked or they'll rot on the
+vines."
+
+"Heaven preserve us!" thought I.  "Will we ever come to the end of it
+all!"  But by four o'clock the first basket of plums was stoned, the
+sugar weighed, and a huge copper basin of _confiture_ was merrily
+boiling on the stove.
+
+"Where are you going to hide your provisions now you've got them so
+beautifully tied up?" enquired H., his eyes twinkling.
+
+"Hide them?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"What for?"
+
+"In case of invasion."
+
+We all simply shook with laughter.
+
+"Well, if the Germans ever reach here there won't be much hope for us
+all," I returned.
+
+"No, but joking aside; suppose we suddenly get the French troops
+quartered on us, are you calmly going to produce your stock, let it be
+devoured in a day or so, and remain empty-handed when they depart?  You
+see, it isn't the little fellows who'll suffer.  A big place like this
+with all its rooms and its stables is just the spot for a camp!"
+
+That idea had never dawned upon us, and we set to thinking where we
+could securely hide our groceries in three different places.  Finally it
+was agreed that one part should be put back of the piles of sheets in
+the linen closet; the second part hidden on the top shelf of a very high
+cupboard in my dressing-room with toilet articles grouped in front of
+it; while the third was carried up a tiny flight of stairs to the attic
+and there pushed through a small opening into the dark space that leads
+to the beams and rafters.  It was all so infantile that we clapped our
+hands and were as happy as kings when we had discovered such a good
+cachette.
+
+Night was coming on as I stood pouring the last of the plum jam into the
+glasses lined up along the kitchen table.  Berthe had counted nearly a
+hundred, and I was seriously thinking of adopting jam-making as a
+profession, when with much noise and trumpeting, a closed auto whisked
+up the avenue and stopped before the entrance.  I hurried to the kitchen
+door, untying my apron as I ran, arriving just as an officer jumped from
+the motor, and before I had time to recognize him in his new uniform,
+Captain Gauthier rushed forward, exclaiming:
+
+"I've come to fetch Elizabeth and the children!"
+
+The others, too, had heard the motor, and in an instant there was quite
+an assembly in the courtyard.
+
+"I had great difficulty leaving Paris at all.  My passport is only good
+until midnight," the captain was explaining as his wife and H. appeared,
+and almost without time for greeting.  "Make haste," he continued,
+turning to Madame Gauthier.  "We must be off in a quarter of an hour, or
+our machine will never reach town on time."
+
+I hurried with Elizabeth to her apartment, where we woke and dressed two
+very astonished children, while the little maid literally threw the
+toilet necessities and a few clothes into a huge Gladstone bag.
+
+"Leon evidently doesn't think us safe down here!  You'd better come,
+too," murmured Elizabeth as we went downstairs.
+
+In the meantime, H. had questioned our friend as to what had transpired
+in Paris within the last twenty-four hours.
+
+"England will probably join us--and there is every possibility of
+Italy's remaining neutral," he announced, as we made our appearance. And
+then--"You must come to Paris.  You're too near the front here," he
+continued, as he piled wife, babies and servant into the taxi.
+
+And so, with hardly time for an adieu, the motor whisked away as it had
+come, leaving H. and me looking beyond it into the night.
+
+When I returned to the pantry, I found Nini weeping copiously. Imagining
+she had become frightened by the sudden departure of our friends, I was
+collecting my wits to console and reassure her, when she burst forth,
+"Oh, Madame--Madame--the _pates--_"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The lovely _pates!_--all burned to cinders!  Such a waste!"
+
+In our excitement we had forgotten to take from the oven two handsome
+_Pates de lievre_ of which I was more than duly proud.  And as Nini
+expressed it, they were burned to cinders.  How H. chuckled at our first
+domestic mishap.
+
+"Fine cooks, you are," said he, turning to Berthe and Nini, who hung
+their heads and blushed crimson.  "And it's to you that I'm going to
+entrust Madame when I leave!"
+
+Tuesday, the fourth, the drum rolled at an early hour and the
+_garde-champetre_ announced the declaration of war.  It was not news to
+anyone, for all had considered the mobilization as the real thing.
+
+We were breakfasting when we heard a strange rumbling up the road.  It
+was such a funny noise--midway between that of a steam roller and a
+threshing machine--that we both went out towards the lodge to see what
+was passing by.  We were not a little surprised on perceiving our
+gendarmes sitting in an antiquated motor, whose puffing and wheezing
+betokened its age.  They stopped when they saw us, and after exchanging
+greetings, laughingly poked fun at their vehicle--far less imposing than
+their well-groomed horses, but the only thing that could cover between
+seventy and eighty miles a day!  From them we learned that the
+mobilization was being carried out in perfection, and in all their tours
+to outlying villages and hamlets not a single delinquent had been found
+--not a single man was missing! All had willingly answered the call to
+arms!
+
+Between the excitement and all the work that had to be done at Villiers,
+time passed with phenomenal rapidity.  As yet we had had no occasion to
+perceive the lack of mail and daily papers, and though I had always had
+a sub-conscious feeling that H. would eventually receive his marching
+orders, it was rather a shock when they came.  Being in a frontier
+department he was called out earlier than expected.  And instead of
+being sent around-circuit way to reach his regiment south of Paris, he
+was ordered to gain _Chateau Thierry_ at once, and there await
+instructions.
+
+Of course I packed and unpacked his bag for the twentieth time since
+Sunday, in the hope of finding a tiny space to squeeze in one more
+useful article--and then descending, I jumped into the cart and waited
+for him to join me.  In spite of the solemnity of the moment, I couldn't
+help laughing when he appeared, for disdaining the immaculate costume I
+had carefully laid out, he had put on a most disreputable-looking pair
+of trousers, and an old paint-stained Norfolk jacket. A faded flannel
+shirt and a silk bandanna tied about his throat completed this weird
+accoutrement, which was topped by a long-vizored cap and a dilapidated
+canvas gunny sack, the latter but half full and slung lightly over one
+shoulder. Anticipating my question, he explained that it was useless to
+throw away a perfectly new suit of clothes.  When he should receive his
+uniform, his civilian outfit ought to be put in safe keeping for his
+return.  This was customary in time of peace, but who could tell?--he
+might never even get a uniform, let alone hoping to see the clothes
+again.
+
+And then, when I began examining the paltry contents of his sack, he
+made light of my disappointment, saying that his father, who had served
+in the campaign of 1870, had always told him that a ball of strong
+string and a jackknife were sufficient baggage for any soldier.  I
+supposed he ought to know, and was just going to ask another question,
+when--
+
+"Listen," he said, as he put his foot on the step.  "Listen--before I
+forget. My will is at my notary's in Paris, and on your table is a
+letter to your father--if anything happens to me you know what to do."
+
+We drove away in silence.
+
+I let the horses walk almost all the way home and my thoughts were busy,
+very busy along the way.  Here I was alone--husband and friends had
+vanished as by magic. My nearest relatives over five thousand miles
+away--and communication with the outside world entirely cut off, for
+Heaven knew how long.  Evidently there was nothing to do but to face the
+situation, especially as all those in my employ save Julie were under
+twenty, and looked to me for moral support.  This was no time to
+collapse.  If I broke down anarchy would reign at once.
+
+But what to do?  Go on living like a hermit on that great big estate?
+The idea appalled me.  It seemed such a useless existence--and in a few
+moments' time I had decided to turn the place into a hospital.  But how
+and to whom should I offer it?
+
+I stopped at the _Gendarmerie_, where our friends were able to give me
+information.
+
+"The nearest sanitary formation was Soissons--the Red Cross Society. The
+president would probably be able to help me--"  So I thanked the
+_gendarme_ and left there, having decided to drive thence on the morrow.
+
+Soissons is but twenty miles as a bird flies, but almost double that by
+the winding roadway, and I was calculating what time I should start and
+where I would rest the span, as I entered the yard.
+
+"Anything new, George?" I said, as he took the bridle.
+
+"Nothing, Madame, save that we have received orders that all the horses
+must be presented at Chateau Thierry for the revision to-morrow before
+ten."
+
+"All the horses?"
+
+"Yes, Madame, with full harnessing, halters and the farm carts."
+
+That was a surprise!  Suppose they are all taken, thought I, I shall be
+almost a prisoner.  And my trip to Soissons?
+
+"Don't unharness!" I called, as George drove towards the stable.  "I'm
+going back to Charly."
+
+In our little township I managed to buy a lady's bicycle.  "It may come
+in handy," I thought.  It was the last machine that was left.  From the
+shop I went to the hotel.
+
+"Where's your husband?" I said to the proprietress.
+
+"Why, he's gone with the chauffeur to take our motorbuses and taxi to
+the requisition committee."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, Madame."
+
+"But I wanted him to motor me over to Soissons to-morrow!"
+
+"Well, if he gets back to-night and they leave him a single machine,
+I'll let you know, Madame."
+
+In the afternoon the drum beat anew and I learned that all the bakers in
+the village (there were three of them) having been called to the front,
+we were likely to be without the staff of life.  In the presence,
+therefore, of the impending calamity, the village government had decided
+to take over the bakery--it had found an old man and a very young
+apprentice who would do the work, but each citizen was requested to
+declare the number of persons composing his household and in order to
+economize flour, so much bread would be allowed per bead and each family
+must come and fetch his supply at the town hall between eleven and
+twelve o'clock!
+
+Needless to say, it must be paid for in cash, though the Board reserved
+the right to look after the village poor.  In like manner, all the salt
+had been reserved for the army, and we were to be rationed to
+seventy-five grammes a week per person!  It all sounded rather terrible,
+but when put into practice it was proved that the rations were very
+generous and no one had reason to complain.
+
+By four o'clock the next morning there was a perpetual stream of farm
+carts down the road leading towards Chateau Thierry.  I dressed and went
+to the stables where George and Leon were already harnessing.  More than
+once I had a tight feeling in my throat as I patted the glossy backs of
+dear old Cesar and my lovely span.
+
+The girls had decorated the carts with huge bunches of poppies, daisies
+and corn-flowers and in addition to these tri-color bouquets, a little
+branch of laurel was stuck up over each horse's bridle.  There was a
+generous distribution of sugar, and each horse was kissed on the tip of
+his nose, and then the boys joined the procession on the highroad.
+
+I watched them out of sight.  "Shall we ever get through saying
+'good-bye'? When will these departures cease?" thought I, as I turned
+from the gate.  But I was given no time to muse, for a most amazing
+clamor arose from a gateway a little higher up the road, and glancing in
+that direction, I saw old father Poupard leading his horse and cart into
+the open.  He was followed by his wife and daughter-in-law, two brawny
+peasant women, who were loudly lamenting the departure of their steed!
+
+"No, no!" literally howled mother Poupard.
+
+"This is the last straw!  Both sons gone, and now our horse!  Who's
+going to bring in our crop?  The Lord is unjust."
+
+"And brother's babies--poor motherless things--in an orphan asylum at
+Epernay! How can we get to them now?  Oh, no!  Oh, no--" wailed Julia.
+
+"Poupard!" exclaimed his wife, drying her tears on the corner of her
+apron and fixing her sharp blue eyes on her husband, "Poupard, no
+loitering!  If they pay you for your horse, remember, no foolishness.
+You bustle back here with the money--we need you to help in the
+vineyard."
+
+"This is no time for sprees," wept Julia.
+
+"Father Poupard," admonished his irate mate, brandishing a spade,
+"Father Poupard, mind what I say!"
+
+And then in a more moderate tone, but which was distinctly audible some
+thirty yards away, "I've put a bottle into your lunch basket.  You won't
+need to buy anything more."
+
+There was a distinct emphasis on the word _buy_, which told me that
+mother Poupard, evidently accustomed to her husband's ways, had provided
+plentifully for his journey but had carefully emptied his pockets before
+he started.
+
+I went back to my preserves, but as the day wore on the lack of all
+communication with the outside world began to prey on me.  Towards four
+o'clock I took my bicycle and started down to Charly.  A quarter of a
+mile from our gate, in front of the town hall, a mason had driven two
+huge posts, into the ground on either side of the road, and was swinging
+a heavy chain between them.
+
+I looked askance at the schoolmaster who stood in the doorway surveying
+the work. He explained that he had received instructions to the effect
+that all passers-by unknown to this village were to be stopped and asked
+for their papers.  The men and boys who remained were to take turns
+mounting guard, and thus to help to eradicate the circulation of spies.
+Two suspicious motors and a man on a bicycle had already been signaled.
+Should they appear and fail to produce their papers, immediate arrest
+would follow.  Should they offer the slightest opposition or attempt
+escape, the sentinels had orders to shoot.
+
+I enquired if it would be necessary for we to have a _sauf-conduit,_
+being bound for Charly, and possibly the station at Nogent, where I
+hoped that the soldiers of a passing train would throw me a newspaper.
+
+Mr. Duguey replied that he would gladly present me with the first
+passport, and seemed wonderfully taken with my idea about the papers. He
+admitted that living in darkness was beginning to get on his nerves,
+too, and asked me, in case my plan should prove successful, if I would
+be willing to put it on the public sign board so all could see the news.
+I acquiesced willingly, and after he had asked a few questions as to
+names, age, characteristics and destination, he stamped the seal on my
+paper, and I departed.
+
+At Charly the same preparations had been made, and two elderly men,
+leaning on their guns, smiled as I presented my paper for their
+inspection.
+
+At the hotel, the proprietor had just returned after having waited
+nearly twenty-four hours in line to present his machines.  All save one
+had been bought for the army.  But with his double-seated taxi he
+promised to drive me to Soissons the following morning.
+
+I continued my road, and reached Nogent to find that I was not alone in
+my idea about begging the papers.  Several others from neighboring
+villages, so I heard, had already succeeded in obtaining a sheet, and
+had driven off hastily with their trophies.  My proceeding was very
+simple.  It consisted of crossing the rails to the up-train platform, to
+stand in line with the other women already assembled, there to wait like
+birds on a fence until a train coming from Paris passed by. Then as it
+whizzed through the station, we shouted in chorus, "_Les journaux! Les
+jour-naux!_"
+
+It worked like magic.  We had hardly been there two minutes when a train
+was signaled.
+
+As it approached, we could see that engine and cars were decorated with
+garlands of flowers, and trailing vines, while such inscriptions as,
+"_Train de Plaisir pour Berlin,_" and numerous caricatures had been
+chalked on the varnished sides of the carriages.
+
+Our appeals were not in vain.  With joyful shouts, the boys gladly threw
+us the papers which were welcomed like the rain of manna in the desert.
+I managed to collect two, _L'Action Franfaise_, and _Le Bonnet Rouge_.
+
+Until others and fresher were procured, the Royalist and the
+Revolutionary sheets hung side by side on the public sign board at
+Villiers, proving that under the Third Republic, _Liberte', Egalite',
+Fraternite_ are not vain words.
+
+The news of the violation of Luxembourg and Belgian territory created
+less sensation than one might have expected.  In the circumstances news
+of any kind seemed a blessing.
+
+There was still quite a gathering in front of the town hall when the
+first carts began to return from the revision.  They were few and far
+between, compared with the double line that had driven past in the
+morning.  My heart leapt with joy, as I saw George, driving Cesar, turn
+into the court.
+
+"Too old, Madame," he said, his eyes shining.  "Though still so game
+that they nearly kept him.  He's reserved for a second call."
+
+"And Florentin and Cognac?"
+
+The boy put his hand into his pocket and held out a slip of paper. I
+took it and read, "_Bon pour 1,200 francs, prix de 2 chevaux, etc._"
+
+"Well, thank God, we've got one left anyhow," thought I as I entered the
+hall. Just then the gate creaked and I could vaguely distinguish in the
+deepening twilight the forms of mother Poupard and Julia hurrying
+towards the stables.  I followed.
+
+"George!  George!" called Julia.
+
+"Well?" came the answer from within.
+
+"George--where's the old man?" queried mother Poupard in excited tones.
+
+"How do I know?"
+
+"Was our horse taken?  Can you tell us that?"
+
+"I think so; yes."
+
+"Then why didn't Poupard come back with you and Leon in the cart?  Did
+you see him?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Where was he?"
+
+"In front of a cafe as we drove past."
+
+"Oh, the old villain!  The wretch!  Oh, _mon Dieu,_ what shall we do!
+Oh, the wicked old man--if I had him here, I'd thrash him good!"
+
+And mother Poupard began brandishing a pitch-fork with such violence
+that I commenced to fear that failing her delinquent spouse, she would
+fall upon George to wreak vengeance.
+
+"Oh, the old devil!  Oh--"
+
+"Look here, I'm not his nurse--now clear out, the lot of you!"
+
+The injunction served its purpose, for remembering they were "not at
+home," the two women retired in high dudgeon, wailing and lamenting in
+such audible tones that their neighbors came out to see what was the
+matter, and laughed at mother Poupard's threat of what she would do if
+ever she got _le vieux_ into her clutches.
+
+By six A. M. on the Friday I had breakfasted and was ready to leave for
+Soissons. The taxi from the Hotel du Balcon made its appearance a few
+moments later, and after a visit to the town hall, where we secured the
+necessary passports, we set off on our journey.
+
+At the entrance to every little village we were obliged to halt and
+exhibit our papers--after which formality the chain would be let down
+and we allowed to go our way.
+
+Half an hour later as we crossed Chateau Thierry we could see the rows
+of horses that had not yet been examined lined up along the square.  The
+commissaries had worked all night and their task was still far from
+finished.
+
+Until we reached Oulchy-le-Chateau, the chains were the only outward
+signs that betokened the belligerent state of the country, and even then
+as those who mounted guard were not in uniform, it seemed rather as
+though we were passing a series of toll-gates.  However, as we ran along
+the splendid roads between the great fertile plains, I observed that the
+harvesting was being done chiefly by women, and that the roads
+themselves were empty of any vehicle.  Evidently only those who had an
+important errand were allowed on the _routes nationals_, thus kept clear
+for the transport of troops or ammunition.
+
+At Oulchy, half-way to Soissons, we halted at a railway crossing to let
+a long, lazy train drag out of the station.  When at length the bars
+were drawn up, much excitement reigned on the little platform which we
+had been unable to see from the other side of the rails.  Young girls
+with pails and dippers in their hands stood chattering with women in
+wrappers, whose disheveled appearance told plainly that they had been
+hastily awakened and had hurried thence without thinking of their
+_toilette_.
+
+"What is it?" I asked of the _garde-barriere_.
+
+"Wounded!"
+
+"Wounded?"
+
+"Yes--the first.  Not badly wounded and they are able to travel, but
+unable to hold a gun.  And they were all so thirsty!"
+
+Poor fellows, thought I, already out of the ranks and the first week is
+not yet passed.
+
+More persuaded than ever of the utility of my mission, I did not stop
+longer but pushed on towards Soissons.  Half a mile further up the road,
+an elderly man carrying a package, hailed the motor.  We slowed down,
+and hat in hand he approached.
+
+"I beg pardon for the liberty I'm taking,"' he said, "but might I ask
+where you're bound?"
+
+"Soissons."
+
+"You would be rendering a great service to the municipality if you would
+allow me to ride with you in the empty seat.  You see, the youngsters
+who are left to reap the crops have broken the only machine in the
+community, and we can't go on harvesting until it is repaired or
+replaced.  There are no mechanics left, and moreover, no horses that
+could take us to Soissons to find one, so I've offered to go on
+foot--but that means at least two full days lost before we can continue
+our work."
+
+"Get in at once," I said, and we rolled off.
+
+It was not long before I had drawn his history from this village
+alderman, an Alsatian by birth, and his tales of the war of 1870 helped
+to wile away the time we were obliged to spend idling along the roadside
+while our chauffeur repaired our first puncture.  The emergency wheel
+clapped on, we were soon en route again. My companion duly uncovered as
+we passed the monument to the soldiers of the Franco-Prussian War,
+almost hidden in a lovely chestnut grove, in the heart of the forest of
+Hartennes.
+
+On the outskirts of Soissons we came upon a squadron of the Ninth
+Territorial Regiment, resting after the morning exercises.  These
+soldiers much resembled the "bushy-bearded" creatures whom I had seen
+guarding the Eastern Railway, save that they were even more picturesque,
+for most of them wore straw sombreros.  As we passed the captain on his
+horse, my companion lifted his hat and the officer replied with a
+salute.
+
+"A friend of yours?" I ventured.
+
+"No. Never saw him before."
+
+"But you bowed, I thought."
+
+"Certainly.  He's an officer on duty in time of war, and all civilians
+owe him that courtesy."
+
+I liked that and fancied it were old-time urbanity, though often since I
+have seen it proved that the custom is not obsolete.
+
+A little further on we came to a very jolly squadron, the cooks, who
+were peeling fresh vegetables and pouring them into immense
+wash-boilers, which, when filled, two privates seized by the handles and
+carried towards a big barracks some hundred yards distant.
+
+Presently we hit a cobbled road which must have been a joy to all heavy
+machines, but which nearly jolted us out of our light vehicle.  Patience
+and good humor were very rapidly disappearing when we rounded a curve,
+struck the good macadam, and I saw the twin spires of  St. Jean rising
+majestically against the clear blue summer sky.
+
+At our right I noticed the entrance gate to a chateau over which hung a
+big Red Cross, such as I coveted for my home, and then in a moment we
+were already in a _faubourg_ of Soissons.  It was not unlike the
+entrance to any other provincial city in ordinary times, save that there
+were many red-trousered men mixed in with the other population.  There
+were no chains across the road, but four soldiers in uniform mounted
+guard.  We showed _patte blanche_ and proceeded to ask for the Red Cross
+headquarters.
+
+"Madame Macherez is the president.  You must go to her.  Cross the city
+and go out east towards St. Paul.  Her chateau is there."
+
+Naturally we headed straight for our destination, but were stopped every
+other minute by police who side-tracked us into back streets.  The big
+thoroughfares must be kept clear for the army!
+
+I set down my old friend near the town hall, and told him that I should
+be returning about noon.  If he were ready, I would be glad to give him
+a lift. Would he meet us in front of the _Hotel du Soleil d'Or?_
+
+He was delighted, and promised to be on time.
+
+We crossed the Aisne; I must say rather heedlessly, little dreaming that
+in so short a time it would be the object of such desperate and bloody
+disputes--nor so historically famous.
+
+The Chateau de St. Paul sits, or rather, sat back from the road,
+surrounded by its lovely garden and a high wall.  I left my motor and
+entered the grounds, preceded by a servant who had opened the gate.  In
+a small drawing room I presented myself to a very charming young person
+already installed behind a desk, though it was scarcely half-past eight,
+and explained the object of my visit.
+
+"Madame Macherez will be delighted.  I'm her secretary, and I can assure
+you she will do all she can to further your plans.  Would you mind
+waiting just a few moments?  She'll be down presently.  You see," she
+continued, "we have been up all night.  We suddenly had part of a
+regiment quartered on us, and the officers who slept here were coming
+and going most of the time.  I beg you will excuse the dust, but they
+haven't been gone long enough for us to make things tidy. There were
+twenty here, and two hundred men in the outbuildings which makes quite a
+_remue menage._"
+
+Just then the president of the _Association des Dames Franpaises_ came
+in.
+
+Madame Macherez, a fine looking, elderly woman with iron-gray hair and
+clear blue eyes, is the widow of former Senator Macherez.  Her keen
+understanding and wonderful business ability have won her the respect
+and esteem of two entire nations; both friend and enemy are united in
+their praises of this wonderful person.
+
+I was not long in explaining my intentions--I could supply sixty beds,
+with room for the double; would take all the management of a hospital,
+gladly help with the nursing, but must have a doctor and other
+professional aid.
+
+Madame Macherez accepted my proposition, knew just the person I needed,
+and taking off her badge pinned it on to the lapel of my coat and made
+me a member of her society.
+
+"Now, then, let's get through with the formalities at once.  Here is
+your _carte d'identite_. You must paste your photo on to it.  With that
+and an armlet stamped from the War Department you will have free access
+to all the roads and you won't have to be bothered with other papers.
+Let us go at once to the city hall, where they will stamp their seal on
+your card, which makes it valid for your identity. From there we must
+hunt out the colonel in command and get his seal.  That makes it valid
+with military authorities."
+
+The president's motor was waiting outside the door.
+
+"How long shall we be?"
+
+"Ah, an hour at least."
+
+I turned to my chauffeur who was tampering with his punctured tire.
+
+"Go and see if you can't find a new inner tube, and meet me at the
+_Hotel du Soled d'Or_ where I will lunch, at eleven."
+
+"But I just put in a new inner tube."
+
+"Have you got an extra one?"
+
+"No, but I've my emergency wheel--"
+
+"Never mind.  Another inner tube may come in handy."
+
+"Very well, Madame."
+
+Madame Maeberez was waiting, so I jumped in next her and we drove to the
+town ball.  Though the war was scarcely a week old her office was
+already installed in the Hotel de Ville, and several hospitals were well
+on the way towards complete organization.  In a big room white-capped
+women (the first I had seen of the kind) were counting bandages, linen
+and underclothing, laying out huge piles for such and such a hospital.
+
+While Madame M. was answering numerous questions which besieged her on
+her entrance, her secretary took note of what was lacking in my
+ambulance, promised to forward it at once by motor, and gave me an
+agreement to sign.
+
+In the meantime, someone had carried my card to the mayor who affixed
+his seal, and my armlet appeared as though by magic.
+
+Now, then, for the colonel!  And we hastened away again at a moment's
+notice.
+
+As we drove through the quaint little city, my eye was attracted more
+than once by a splendid bit of Louis XIV architecture.  The college, the
+convent, the churches and even some private residences were wonderful
+examples of that exquisitely decorative period.  As it was my first
+visit to Soissons I regretted not having brought my kodak, but when I
+spoke of this to Madame Macherez she expressed her delight at my
+admiration of her native city, but was extremely glad that I had not
+ventured out alone with a camera.  Unknown persons with photographic
+paraphernalia were suspicious these times.  It was best to leave such
+things at home.
+
+Just then we were winding up a narrow street and the chauffeur was
+tooting in vain, trying to persuade a half-dozen soldiers carrying bales
+of bay on their backs, to make room for us to get by.  With much evident
+reluctance the first man drew a bit to the right, the second vociferated
+something in a picturesque patois, and just as we passed the third, I
+leaned forward and grabbed the driver by the collar.
+
+"Stop, stop a minute!" I gasped.
+
+He must have thought I was mad, and Madame M. probably imagined I had
+suddenly lost my wits, when she saw me plunge out of the motor, race
+towards one of the bales, tear it from the carrier's back with a
+violence that nearly upset the man, and then, throwing my arms about his
+neck, embrace him.
+
+"You?  Already?" gasped H., and then as we realized that we were making
+a public spectacle of ourselves, the color rose to our cheeks.
+
+A hasty explanation followed, in which I told my plans.
+
+"And you, what on earth are you doing here?" I questioned.
+
+"Well--just what you see.  All of us from Villiers have been sent to
+bring horses to the front, and a fine job it is.  I wish you could see
+the nags!  None of them rideable!"
+
+"But after they're delivered--what?"
+
+"I wish I knew myself."
+
+"And when can we meet?"
+
+"I'm afraid that's impossible.  We're off again to-night for God knows
+where!"
+
+And H. seeing that he was already far behind his companions, threw me a
+hasty adieu and was gone!
+
+The colonel was absent, but would return _tout de suite,_ and Madame
+Macberez and I lost nearly an hour waiting.  When he appeared, however,
+he was most gracious, excused himself very politely and immediately
+stamped my card.  Then having all the necessary papers, I begged Madame
+to drop me at the hotel, and to return to her bureau, where I knew there
+was work enough for a half-dozen such as she.  She did as I requested,
+and we parted--she promising to visit Villiers as soon as she could
+dispose of an afternoon.
+
+I was the only woman in the hotel dining room for luncheon.  The food
+was good, but the service impossible, as there were some forty men,
+mostly officers, very hungry, and only one decrepit waiter to do the
+work.  Good humor prevailed, each diner making allowances, and here for
+the first time I heard that expression, destined to become so popular as
+an excuse for almost anything: _Cest la guerre!_
+
+My chauffeur kept me waiting, but my friend the alderman was on time.
+Finally the motor made its appearance.  Something had happened on
+leaving St. Paul in the morning and the poor _hotelier_ had searched the
+entire city for a mechanic, but to no avail.  All were _au service de
+l'armee_.  Finally he had had to patch up things as best he could.  As
+to an extra inner tube--such a thing didn't exist. We would have to take
+our chances with the wheel he had.
+
+We started, but hadn't gone two hundred yards when a back tire blew off!
+
+Well, thank goodness, we hadn't left town.  So I returned to the hotel,
+and while Huberson and the alderman were fixing up damages and adjusting
+the emergency wheel, I had time to read all the back numbers of
+_Illustration,_ which the _Soled d'Or_ possessed, and commence a
+conversation with the proprietress, who sat in the court shelling peas
+for dinner.  She was certain that the war would be over in three months
+at the utmost!
+
+At length I went out to see if I couldn't be of some assistance in the
+motor business, but Huberson said it would be ready in a few moments. As
+far as I could make out, my alderman friend was mostly a decorative
+personality, for he stood there with his hat on the back of his head,
+gesticulating vehemently, but never deigning to help my chauffeur in the
+slightest manner.  When I asked him if he knew Soissons well and
+inquired if he could direct me to certain grocers where I could perhaps
+obtain a few provisions, he insisted on showing me the shops, with an
+alacrity which proved his incompetence at motor repairing.
+
+During that short promenade on foot, we encountered the whole Ninth
+Territorial Regiment--not under arms but _au repos_.  The men were
+seated in front of the barracks reading the papers or idly smoking their
+pipes, and all yearning for "something to do."  Their wish, I fear, has
+been more than satisfied.
+
+Start number two proved successful and we sped along very comfortably
+until we hit that long cobbled road.  The day was exceedingly warm, the
+stones sun-baked, and after the first mile or so I saw Huberson looking
+nervously at his fore wheel. His anxiety was well founded, for half a
+minute later, whizz!--I could feel the rubber splitting!
+
+We stopped and all climbed out.
+
+"It's all up!" he exclaimed.  "Not one--but two tires are burst, and the
+shoe of the emergency wheel is flapping like an old dirty rag!"
+
+"Now, in my time--" began the alderman.
+
+"Never mind about your time, old man.  If you want to get back to Oulchy
+and that mowing machine before Christmas, you've got to pitch in and
+help," cut in Huberson, whose nerves could no longer stand the strain.
+Our friend took the hint and began stripping off his coat.  We were
+eight miles from Soissons, on the upgrade of a cobbled road, full in the
+sun.  It was three P. M. on a stifling August day!
+
+The men must have spent an hour trying to make impossible repairs--they
+knew it was no use walking back to Soissons where aid had already been
+refused, and it was evident from the condition of the tubes that there
+was no hope of mending them.
+
+What to do?
+
+"I'll tell you," said I (and I must admit that I spoke for the sake of
+saying something), "I'll tell you!  Suppose you take out the inner tubes
+and stuff the shoes with grass!"
+
+The men looked at me as if I had suddenly gone out of my mind.  Their
+contempt was so apparent that it wilted me.
+
+"Yes--I'm serious."
+
+And then arose a series of protestations which common sense bade me
+heed, but which didn't advance our cause in the slightest.  When we had
+lost a full half-hour more arguing the question, I once again
+proclaimed my original idea.
+
+The driver glanced at me in despair and shrugged his shoulders.  "The
+least we can do is try."
+
+So saying, we fell to work tearing up grass and weeds.  And that is how
+I came to ride over thirty miles on three grass-stuffed tires, which,
+thanks to the heat, towards the end of the journey began sending forth
+little jets of green liquid much to the astonishment of all those who
+saw us pass.
+
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+The next few days following my eventful trip to Soissons were spent
+superintending the installation of my hospital.  For convenience's sake
+I decided to utilize the entire ground floor, first because there were
+fewer and more spacious apartments, each one being large enough to hold
+ten or twelve beds, thus forming a ward; second, because it would be
+better to avoid carrying the wounded up a flight of stairs.  The rooms
+above could be used in case of emergency.  All this of course
+necessitated the moving of most of my furniture and _objets d'art_, as
+well as the emptying of H.'s much encumbered studio--I having determined
+to keep but a small apartment in the east wing for private use.  It was
+really a tremendous undertaking, far worse than any "spring cleaning" I
+had ever experienced, especially as I was but poorly seconded by my
+much-depleted domestic staff, already more than busy trying to keep the
+farm going.
+
+From the boys--George and Leon--I learned that old father Poupard had
+not yet put in his appearance since his departure three days before with
+his nag, and that mother Poupard had abandoned her belligerent attitude
+and had resorted to tears. She could be seen three times a day, on her
+return from the fields, standing by the bridge corner, wailing her
+distress to any passerby who had time enough to stop and listen. Poupard
+now possessed all the qualities of mankind and it was probably through
+his noble soft-heartedness that some ill had befallen him.  What a
+misfortune, especially as the vines needed so much attention.
+
+Sunday, the ninth, I was preparing to go to early service at Charly (our
+own curate had been called to join his regiment) when on crossing the
+bridge, a bicycle whisked by the victoria.
+
+"He's coming--he's coming!" called the rider, as he passed us.
+
+"Who?" I said, rising, as George drew up.
+
+"Father Poupard!" called the boy.  "I'm going to tell his wife!"
+
+It was evident that the news had spread like wildfire, for looking up
+the street, I could see the villagers hurrying from their cottages.
+Already the hum of voices reached my ears, and anxious not to miss what
+promised to be a most dramatic meeting, I told George to drive to one
+side of the road and stop, and there we would await developments.
+
+In less than a minute mother Poupard appeared.  She was as good as her
+word, for now that she knew her lord and master was no longer in danger,
+she had cast sentiment to the winds and was actually brandishing that
+"big stick!"
+
+"Ah, the good-for-nothing old drunkard!" she vociferated as she ran.
+"Just let me lay hands on him!"
+
+Around the bend of the road came the excited peasants.  They pressed so
+closely about someone that until they were almost upon us I could not
+distinguish who it might be.  Then as mother Poupard pushed her way
+through the crowd, it parted and displayed her husband; drunk, but with
+pride; delirious, but with glory--proudly bearing his youngest grandson
+in his arms, leading the other by the hand.
+
+"Oh, Joseph--" gasped his astonished wife, every bit of anger gone from
+her voice.
+
+And then followed a very touching family scene in which the delinquent
+was forgiven, and during which time one of the bystanders explained that
+father Poupard had walked from Chateau-Thierry to Epernay, to fetch his
+orphan grandchildren, and had returned on foot, carrying first one and
+then the other accomplishing the hundred miles in not quite four days! A
+heroic undertaking for a man over seventy!
+
+The sun rose and set several times ere my interior arrangements were
+completed and nothing extraordinary happened to break the monotony of my
+new routine.  On Tuesday, the eleventh, the strange buzzing of a motor
+told us that an aeroplane was not far distant.  Our chateau lies in the
+valley between two hills, so to obtain a clear view of the horizon, I
+hurried to the roof with a pair of field glasses.
+
+Presently a tiny black speck appeared and as it grew within the scope of
+my glass, it was easy to recognize the shape of a _Taube_.  That was my
+introduction to the enemy.
+
+Without waiting a second I rushed to the telephone and asked central at
+Charly (the telephones now belonged to the army) to pass on the message
+that a German aeroplane had been sighted from the Chateau de Villiers,
+and was flying due west, head on for Paris.  The noise had grown louder
+and louder, and when I returned to my post of observation, I found most
+of the servants assembled, all craning their necks.  On came the
+_Taube_, and there we stood, gaping, never realizing an instant that we
+were running the slightest risk.  The machine passed directly over our
+heads, not low enough, however, for us to distinguish its contents with
+the naked eye.
+
+"There's another!" shouted someone.  And turning our backs on the enemy,
+we gave our entire attention to a second speck that had suddenly risen
+on the horizon.
+
+It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the armored head of the
+ever-on-coming aeroplane glittered splendidly in the golden rays of the
+afternoon sun.
+
+"_Cest un francais!_" cried George.
+
+"_Non!_"
+
+Allowing that an aeroplane flies at the rate of a mile a minute, one can
+easily imagine that we had not long to wait before number two sped over
+us.  Through my glass I was able to recognize the tri-color cockade
+painted underneath the plane, and when I announced this there went up a
+wild shriek of joy.
+
+At that moment a loud report in the west announced that the Germans had
+begun their deadly work on undefended territory.
+
+"That's a bomb for the railway crossing at Nanteuil, I'll bet!" said
+Leon, and while I was realizing that that projectile might just as well
+have been for us, the others were gesticulating and bowling
+encouragement to their compatriot some few hundred yards above them, as
+though he could bear every word they said:
+
+"Go it, old man!"
+
+"Bring down that cursed blackbird!"  "_Vive la France!_" and other
+similar ejaculations were drowned by the noise of the motor.
+
+The chase was on!  It was more exciting than any horserace I ever
+witnessed. The Frenchman was rapidly gaining on the other, but would
+they come into combat before they vanished from our horizon?  That was
+the question that filled us with anguish.
+
+On, on they sped, growing smaller and smaller every second.  Presently
+it became impossible to distinguish them apart, but we knew that they
+had come within range of each other, for the two specks rose and fell by
+turns now soaring high, now dipping precipitately, seeming almost to
+touch at times.  Then, just as they were about to disappear, one of them
+suddenly collapsed and fell.  Which one, we never knew.
+
+Towards dusk the _garde-champtre_ appeared and left orders that George
+and Leon must take their turns at mounting guard.  Four hours right out
+of the sleep of a peasant boy especially when he is overworked, is
+likely to leave him useless the next day.  It provoked me a little, but
+then it was duty and they must obey. The boys came on at eleven and
+having decided it would be better to get in an hour or so of rest
+beforehand, they retired to the hay loft.  I promised to look in on them
+in case they should fail to waken, and at the appointed time I put on my
+sweater and went down to find, as I had expected, both youths slumbering
+peacefully, blissfully unconscious of the time.  Poor little chaps, it
+seemed a pity to wake them, but what was to be done?  Presently an idea
+of replacing them myself dawned upon me: a second later it so enchanted
+me that I wouldn't have had them wake for anything.  The whole thing was
+beginning to be terribly romantic.
+
+Slipping quietly away, I went to my room and got my revolver, and then
+going to the south front of the chateau, I softly whistled for my dogs.
+Three big greyhounds, a shepherd dog and a setter responded immediately,
+and just as I was about to shut the little yellow door, old Betsy, my
+favorite Boston bull, came panting around the corner of the house.  With
+these five as bodyguard I sauntered up the road in the brilliant
+moonlight, arriving in front of the town hall just as the clock was
+striking eleven.  I must say that my appearance and announcement rather
+shocked two elderly men who had been on the watch since seven o'clock.
+
+Monsieur Demarcq protested that such a thing as a woman mounting guard
+had never been beard of, but I swiftly argued him out of that idea. What
+was required of me? That I stop every passer-by and every vehicle?
+Didn't he think me capable of doing so?  And I pointed to my dogs and my
+revolver.  The weight of the argument was so evidently on my side that
+they had nothing to do but to submit, and laughingly Mr. Foeter put me
+in possession of a heavy old gun, three packages of cartridges, and the
+lantern.  Then once again they asked if I couldn't be dissuaded, to
+which I jokingly replied that I would set my dogs after them and drive
+them home if they didn't make haste to go there at once. That admonition
+proved more efficacious than I had dared hope, and assured me that my
+faithful beasts rejoiced in a ferocious reputation.
+
+All sorts of fantastic ideas flitted through my brain as I took
+possession of my post.  I began, however, by setting the lantern in the
+middle of the road, exactly in the center of the chain, as a warning to
+any on-comer.  Then by the moonlight, I proceeded to examine my gun.  It
+was a very primitive arm, and after carefully weighing it in my hands, I
+decided to abandon all thought of stalking up and down the road with
+such an implement on my shoulder.  That kind of glory was not worth the
+morrow's ache, so I deposited the antiquated weapon in the hallway of
+the school house and resolved to rely on my Browning.
+
+Afterwards I came out and seating myself on the bench with my back
+against the wall, waited for something to happen.  My dogs seemed to
+have comprehended the gravity of my mission, and crouched close to my
+feet, cocking their ears at the slightest sound.
+
+Little by little the great harvest moon climbed high behind our old
+Roman church, perched on the embankment opposite, bathing everything in
+molten silver, and causing the tall pine-trees in the little cemetery
+adjacent to cast long black shadows on the road.  Down towards the
+Marne, the frogs were croaking merrily somewhere in the distance a night
+locust buzzed, and alarmed by the striking of midnight the owls who
+nested in the belfry, fluttered out into the night and settling on the
+church top, began their plaintive hooting.  Still no one passed.
+
+Such calm reigned that it was almost impossible to believe that over
+there, beyond those distant hills, battle and slaughter were probably
+raging.
+
+Presently a shiver warned me that I had been seated long enough; so,
+marking a hundred steps, I began to pace slowly up and down, watching
+the ever-changing firmament.  The first gray streaks of dawn were
+beginning to lighten the east when a growl from Tiger made me face about
+very abruptly.  I must admit that my heart began beating abnormally, and
+the hand in my pocket gripped my revolver as though it were a live
+animal and likely to escape.
+
+A second later all the dogs repeated the growl, and then I could hear
+the clicking of a pair of sabots on the road.  The noise approached, and
+my guardians looked towards me, every muscle in their bodies straining,
+waiting for the single word, "_Apporte!_"
+
+"_Couchez!_" I hissed, and awaited developments.
+
+The footsteps drew nearer and nearer, and in a moment the stooping
+figure of an old peasant came over the brow of the hill.  The gait was
+too familiar to be mistaken.  But what on earth was father Poupard doing
+on the highroad at that hour?
+
+When he was within speaking distance I came out from the shadow of the
+wall and put the question.  If he had suddenly been confronted with a
+spook I do not think the old man could have been more astonished.  He
+stopped dead still, as though not knowing whether to turn about and run,
+or to advance and take the consequences. Realizing his embarrassment, I
+hastily proffered a few words of greeting, and then he chose the latter
+prerogative.
+
+"-Vous?_" he said, when at length he found his tongue. "_Vous?_"
+
+"Yes--why not?"
+
+"Who's with you?"
+
+"Nobody.  Why?"
+
+He seemed more embarrassed than ever.  Evidently he hadn't yet "caught
+on."
+
+"What can I do for you?" I continued.
+
+He still hesitated, looking first at me and then at a bottle he carried
+in his hand.  Finally he resolved to make a clean breast of it.
+
+"Why," he said, "I didn't expect to find a woman here, least of all _une
+chatelaine_.  It rather startled me!  You see, I've got into the habit
+of coming round towards dawn.  The boys begin to get chilly about that
+time, and are glad enough to have a go at my fruit brandy.  They say I'm
+too old to mount guard, so I must serve my country as best I can.  Will
+you have some--my own brew?"
+
+I declined, but he was not offended; yet he seemed reluctant to go.
+
+"Sit down," I said.  "It won't belong before some of the men will be
+passing by on their way to the fields, and then you won't have made your
+journey for nothing."
+
+Pere Potipard gladly accepted, and after a generous swig at his brandy,
+began telling me about what happened at Villiers during the German
+invasion in 1870. As he talked on, night gradually disappeared, and when
+the clock in the belfry tolled three A. M. my successors came to relieve
+me.  I blew out the lantern and walked home in broad daylight.
+
+The boys looked very sheepish when they learned what had happened, but
+as I did not boast of my exploit, merely taking it as a matter of
+course, they had no way of approaching the subject, and like many other
+things of the kind, it was soon forgotten in the pursuing of  our
+onerous daily tasks, and the moral anxiety we were experiencing.
+
+There seemed to be no end to the fruit season that summer.  The lengthy
+table in the servants' hall was literally covered with glasses
+containing jam and jelly of every description, awaiting their paper
+lids.  Nini said there were over five hundred--to me it seemed
+thousands, and I was heartily glad of a lull before the hospital should
+open.  And I remember distinctly that the last thing I prepared was some
+thirty quarts of black currant brandy; that is to say, I had poured the
+raw alcohol on to the fruit and set the jars aside to await completion
+six months later!  Shortly afterwards I received word by a roundabout
+route from Soissons that I might expect my trained nurses and supplies
+at any moment.  In the meantime I was without word from H. since that
+eventful meeting a week before.
+
+Saturday, the fifteenth of August, was as little like a religious fete
+day as one can imagine.  At an early hour the winnowing machine rumbled
+up the road to the square beside the chateau.  Under the circumstances
+each one must take his turn at getting in his wheat and oats, and there
+was no choice of day or hour. Besides, the village had already been
+called on to furnish grain and fodder for the army, and the harvest must
+be measured and declared at once.  This only half concerned me, for my
+hay was already in the lofts before the war began, and two elderly men
+who had applied for work as bunchers, had been engaged for the last week
+in August.
+
+After service at Charly, I walked across to the post office.  The post
+mistress and telegraph operator, a delightful provincial maiden lady,
+always welcomes me most cordially, and at present I fancied she might
+have some news that had not yet reached Villiers.  (Mind you, since the
+second of August we had had but two newspapers, and those obtained with
+what difficulty!)  The _bureau_ now belonged to the army, and for a
+fortnight Mademoiselle Maupoix and her two young girl assistants had
+hardly had time to sleep, so busy were they transmitting ciphered
+dispatches, passing on orders, etc.  It was to this physical exhaustion
+that I attributed the swollen countenance of my little friend when she
+opened the door to her private sitting-room.  It was evident she had
+something to tell, but her exquisite breeding forbade that she go
+headlong into her subject, before having graciously inquired for my
+health, my husband and news of us both since last we met.
+
+"And the war, Mademoiselle, do you know anything about what has
+happened?"
+
+Two great tears swelled to Mademoiselle's eyes, which, however, bore a
+triumphant expression.
+
+"Madame--the French flag is flying over Mulhouse--but it cost fifteen
+thousand lives!  That is official news.  I cannot give you further
+details nor say how I obtained what I have told you."
+
+Then the armies had met and war was now a bloody reality!
+
+I shuddered.  Here was news of a victory and all we could do was weep!
+Once again the sons of France had generously shed their blood to
+reconquer their righteous belongings!
+
+I left Mademoiselle and rode home in silence. Should I tell the
+villagers?  Why not?  But how?
+
+The question answered itself, for as we approached the town hall I saw
+the school master and a number of elderly men seated on the bench beside
+the chain. When we pulled up to give Cesar breathing spell, they all
+came clustering around the carriage.  Did I know anything?  Had I heard
+anything?
+
+"Gentlemen," I said, with a decided huskiness in my throat, "the French
+flag flies over, Mulhouse, but fifteen thousand men are _hors de
+combat!_"
+
+Joy, followed almost instantaneously by an expression of sorrow,
+literally transfigured all their faces.  Tears sprang to the eyes of
+several, falling silently down their furrowed cheeks, and without
+uttering a word, as one man they all uncovered!  The respect for the
+glorious dead immediately abolished any desire for boisterous triumph.
+
+There was no necessity to add any comment, so I continued my route to
+the chateau.
+
+One night towards the end of the following week, I was awakened by the
+banging of doors and the shattering of window panes.  A violent storm
+had suddenly blown up and the wind was working havoc with unfastened
+blinds and shutters.  There was no use thinking of holding a candle or a
+lamp.  Besides, the lightning flashed so brightly that I was able to
+grope my way through the long line of empty rooms, tighten the
+fastenings, and shut the windows.  I had reached the second story
+without mishap and without hearing the slightest footstep within doors.
+All my little servants were so exhausted that even the thunder had not
+roused them. Presently, however, the sound of the gate bell broke on my
+ears.
+
+"Pooh," thought I.  "Some tree or branch has fallen on the wire.  Catch
+me getting wet going out to see what it is."
+
+The ringing continued, but more violently.  And at regular intervals.  I
+went down to the middle window and stuck my head out.  At the same
+moment, my dogs made one wild rush towards the gate and a woman's voice
+called, "_Madame Huard, ouvrez, s'il vous plait!_"
+
+By the light of another flash, I could distinguish a dripping figure in
+white. "Bah! someone is ill or dying and wants me to telephone for a
+doctor!"
+
+So I pulled the bell communicating with the servants' quarters, threw on
+a few warmer clothes, and went below.  At the foot of the stairs I came
+upon George and Leon much disheveled, but wide awake.
+
+"There is someone in distress at the gate," I hurriedly explained. "Call
+off the dogs and go and see who it is.  I'll light up in the refectory
+and wait for you there."
+
+They obeyed, and in the course of three or four minutes returned,
+bringing with them a much-bedraggled but smiling woman on whose coat was
+pinned the Red Cross medal.
+
+"I'm the trained nurse.  Madame Macherez sent me here to help with your
+hospital."
+
+"Oh!  I'm sure you're welcome, Madame--"
+
+"Guix is my name.  I received my orders to join you here three days ago,
+and communications are so bad that I've come most of the way on foot.  I
+humbly apologize for arriving at such an hour and in such a state."
+
+I hurried Madame Guix off to her apartment, told the boys to wake Julie
+and have her send us a cup of tea and some refreshments in my little
+drawing-room. Though it was the middle of August, the rain and dampness
+were so penetrating that I did not hesitate to touch a match to a
+brushwood fire that is always prepared in my grate.  In a short time my
+guest reappeared and as she refreshed herself, I busily plied her with
+questions concerning the events of the last two weeks.
+
+Madame Guix, a woman but little over thirty, came from Choisy-le-Roi
+(the city of famous Rouget de l'Isle).  _Merciere_ by trade, on the
+death of husband and baby she had adopted the career of _infirmiere_,
+and at the outbreak of the war found herself in possession of her
+diploma and ready to serve.  She had enlisted at the big military
+hospital her native town had installed in the school house, and for
+three long weeks had sat and waited for something to do.
+
+"Are there no wounded there?"
+
+"Not when I left."
+
+"Have you ever yet had occasion to nurse a soldier?"
+
+"Yes, of course.  Four days after the declaration when the Forty-ninth
+Territorials came through Choisy on their forced march to the front, we
+were suddenly filled up with cases of congestion.  You see, that
+regiment is Composed of men mostly over forty, and what with the heat,
+their guns and their sacs, and unaccustomed to such a life, many of them
+couldn't stand the strain.  My first patient was a sad little man named
+Bouteron.
+
+"Bouteron?  What Bouteron?"
+
+"Marcel Bouteron."
+
+"No!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Is he dead?"
+
+"No."
+
+I breathed again.  Thank God!   Bouteron, Bouteron, our Jolly little
+Bouteron, gaiety itself, who three weeks ago was the very life and soul
+of our last house party!  Was it possible?  Already "down and out!"  And
+to think that this strange woman should bring me the news.  I drew my
+chair nearer to Madame Guix and for two long hours we talked, as only
+women can.
+
+From Choisy she had sought to exercise her _metier_ to better advantage
+by approaching the front, so had addressed herself to Madame Macherez in
+Soissons. From there she had been sent to me.  Did she think there was
+any possibility of nursing wounded in our hospital?  We were so far
+south.
+
+She was confident that we would not be empty long.  Bloody battles were
+being waged from Alsace throughout the entire north.  Belgian territory
+had been violated and Liege was putting up a heroic defense.
+
+But our doctor and the pharmaceutical products?  From where and when
+would they arrive?  Food and bedding would go a long way, but were
+hardly sufficient to start a hospital!
+
+We were to count on Madame Macherez for both.  She had promised to do
+her utmost to reach us with our supplies, but the rules of circulation
+on the roads were so severe that even Red Cross supply cars had to stand
+in line and await permits.  In the meantime we must organize as best we
+could.
+
+The following morning a few moments' intercourse proved to me that
+Madame Guix's competence extended far beyond the bounds of her _metier_.
+She was a splendid worker, and no task was too difficult, so long as it
+furthered our purpose--namely, that of being ready in case of
+emergency.
+
+By noon we had decided that it would be useless to count upon my
+servants to help in the hospital.  They already had all they could do.
+So I went and asked our mayor if he knew of any women who, _de bonne
+volonte_, would come and assist us. Madame Guix volunteered to teach
+them the rudiments of bandaging between two and five on the coming
+afternoons, and we would establish a _roulement_ so that the little time
+that each disposed of might be properly and efficiently utilized.
+
+The drum beat and made the announcement, and at two the same afternoon
+we had the satisfaction of welcoming some twenty women.  In the meantime
+every bit of old linen I possessed was brought down and put on the
+dining room table, then measured and torn in _formes rilglementaires_
+ready to be sterilized and put aside.  Half a dozen bands were left out
+as models and it was with these that Madame Guix commenced her
+demonstrations.  She soon put her listeners at ease, and presently all
+were anxious to try a hand at bandaging.  The naive clumsiness of these
+poor souls was extremely pathetic, but such was their patriotism that
+they never considered themselves ridiculous for a single instant, and
+stood there fumbling the long linen rolls with bands that were hands
+more accustomed to wielding a spade or directing a plough.  Again and
+again they would recommence certain difficult proceedings, taking turns
+at playing the dummy, and offering as models calves and biceps of which
+many an athlete might have been proud.
+
+Of the score of women but two or three really acquired any facility, but
+we considered that sufficient, for in time of need the others could
+easily be put to work at necessary matters which were of less vital
+importance.
+
+From the windows of the dining-room where the _cours_ was held, we could
+look down the driveway and see all the children of the neighborhood
+standing on the wall of the moat, craning their necks in the hope of
+catching a glimpse of what was going on in the chateau.  It was
+evidently an interesting diversion, for every afternoon they reappeared,
+in spite of George's threats to send for the _gendarmes_.  The little
+demons seemed to know that the gendarmes were too busy to give them any
+attention, and I assure you, they profited by their liberty. Little John
+Poupard and his five-year-old brother were the leaders of the band, and
+I trembled lest some day their curiosity lead to a tragic end!
+
+Nor were my fears in vain, for one afternoon we beard a shriek and a
+splash, followed by cries of terror, and we knew for certain that some
+one had fallen into the moat.  The embankment is not eight feet high,
+and at that season of the year there is more mud than water in the
+river, so I was certain that whoever had fallen in was in no danger of
+drowning--but nevertheless I hastened with the others to the spot.
+
+George, who had also heard the noise, reached the scene of action before
+we did, and on our arrival we found him knee deep in the mud, preparing
+to hoist a little limp body on to the bank.
+
+Johnny Poupard!
+
+"Good heavens!" thought I.  "Decidedly that family had no intention of
+letting the village rust for want of dramatic situations!"
+
+"He's merely fainted; more frightened than hurt," declared Madame Guix,
+who had literally pounced upon him.  "Now then, ladies," she said,
+turning towards the women who stood gaping at us, "now then, here's a
+splendid opportunity to distinguish yourselves."
+
+And so little John Poupard was carried into the infirmary.  As first
+patient you may be sure that be received every attention.  Some ammonia
+was held under his nose.  This soon brought him around and after
+carefully sounding all his bones, Madame Guix decided that there were no
+fractures.  And the bandaging began!
+
+It makes me smile when I think of it all now--for the only wounds Johnny
+possessed were a few scratches on his bands, knees and head, caused by
+his sudden contact with a patch of stinging nettles which had sprung up
+on the river banks.
+
+Under ordinary circumstances, the child would probably have picked
+himself up and walked home, forgetting his woes an hour later.  But real
+live models who are actually in pain, are few and far between,
+especially at "courses" such as ours, and the amount of professional
+skill that was expended on that little urchin ought to have cured six of
+his kind.  But it all made the women so happy!
+
+At the end of half an hour, Johnny Poupard looked more like an Egyptian
+mummy than a human being, so much so that when his grandmother arrived
+upon the scene of action, she very nearly fainted and all but became
+patient number two at Auxiliary Hospital No. 7!
+
+We had some little difficulty reassuring her, but when her prodigal
+grandson sat up and asked for bread and jam, she forgot her anxiety and
+began scolding him for daring to give her such a fright, and us so much
+trouble.
+
+* * * *
+
+Towards the end of the third week in August the mobilization was
+considered finished and the Eastern Railroad opened again to the public;
+its time tables of course being limited and subject to instant change,
+the company refusing to be responsible for delays.  To us at the chateau
+this meant very little, save that we would receive our mail and the
+daily papers more frequently.  However, several friends who fancied I
+was unsafe alone and so far from the capital, kindly ventured to start
+to Villiers to try to persuade me to come up to town. It took them seven
+hours to reach Meaux (thirty miles from Paris); they were obliged to
+sleep there because it was because it was announced that their train
+went no further--and worse than all, they were eighteen hours getting
+home.
+
+"Wheren't people furious?" I questioned, when afterwards they told me of
+their adventure.
+
+"Not in the slightest.  Everyone bore it patiently as part of his
+tribute to his country.  'The army first' was their motto."
+
+The first batch of mail brought me any number of stale letters, which
+had arrived and been held in Paris over three weeks.  Invitations to a
+house party in Belgium and things of that kind that seemed so strangely
+out of place now. The two most important documents, however, came, one
+from my cousin, Marie Huard (Superior at the Convent of the Infant Jesus
+at Madrid) and the other from Elizabeth Gauthier.
+
+My cousin had taken upon herself to locate and communicate with every
+member of the Huard family called to arms (and they are numerous, when
+one considers that H. has no less than twelve married uncles!) and she
+enclosed me a sort of map, or family tree, indicating the names, ages,
+regiments, etc., of some fifty cousins, begging me to write and
+encourage them from time to time.
+
+Elizabeth Gauthier's letter bore a black border--and I trembled as I
+opened it. She was in Paris alone, and mourning the loss of her eldest
+brother, killed at the battle of Mulhouse, the ninth of August.  Her
+solitude preyed upon her, and she announced her departure for her
+sister's chateau in Burgundy.
+
+That was the first real sadness that the war had brought me so far.  It
+quite upset me, for Jean Bernard was not only a delightful friend, but
+one of the most promising engineers of the younger generation in France.
+Both family, friends and country might well deplore such a loss.
+
+Even the making and hoisting of a huge Red Cross flag over the chateau
+failed to arouse my enthusiasm all that day.  The blow was too cruel and
+had stimulated fears which heretofore had lain dormant within me.
+
+The next day, however, I was not permitted to brood over my grief, for
+Yvonne (she of the poultry farm) fell ill with a severe attack of
+sciatica, which kept her in her bed, every movement producing a scream
+of agony.
+
+Of course Madame Guix was there to lend a hand, but that hardly altered
+the situation, so I was obliged to ask the boys to give another "pull"
+and try to be equal  to the work.  Lleon accepted with such alacrity
+that for the first time it dawned on me that perhaps he had a soft spot
+in his heart for my pretty little goose girl, and this unsuspected
+romance, interwoven with the joys and anxieties of the moment, seemed
+all the more charming.
+
+To cap the climax of misfortune, old Cesar had run a nail into his hoof
+and Madame Guix spent most of her time between injections of oxygen on
+the first floor, and iodine and flaxseed poultices in the stables.  This
+of course meant that all errands outside the village must be made on
+bicycle, and George was "mustered into service."  Towards noon on the
+27th he made his first return trip from Charly, bringing the mail and
+the papers, and a very excited countenance.
+
+"Madame, I've seen one!" he shouted, as I appeared in the doorway.
+
+"Seen what?"
+
+"_Un casque a' point!_"
+
+"A what!"
+
+"Yes--a pointed helmet.  I was standing by the post office in Charly
+when a long line of motors passed by on the road to Paris.  I recognized
+the Belgium uniform, and one of the soldiers leaned out and held up a
+German helmet!  What a trophy!"
+
+"The Belgians!  What on earth are they doing down here?" thought I.  And
+George guessed my question.
+
+"Oh," he continued, "you see their regiment was cut in two by the
+Germans at Charleville and those who escaped managed to get motors and
+are on their way home--by a round-about route to Antrwerp via Havre.
+The hotel keeper said so. She offered some wine to one motor full that
+stopped."
+
+If that were true it was an amazing bit of news!  Then things were not
+going as well as the now very reticent papers led one to suppose.  But
+it all seemed so very distant that I refused to worry.
+
+However, I was about to seek out Madame Guix and tell her what George
+had reported when an amusing sight caught my eye.
+
+From her open window, towards which she had asked that we push her bed,
+Yvonne amused herself by calling her ducklings.
+
+"Bour-ree--bour-ree!"
+
+Then from the farmyard a good two hundred yards distant, would rise the
+reply, "Quack!  Quack!  Quack!"
+
+Big and small recognized the call of their little mistress and hastened
+to respond.
+
+"Bouree-bour-ree-bouree!" called Yvonne again and again.
+
+Evidently the ducks decided to hold a consultation and send delegates to
+see what on earth prevented their friend from caring for them in person
+since they could hear her voice.  For as I looked across the lawn
+towards the door, imagine my surprise on catching sight of some thirty
+or forty Rouenese ducks of all sizes waddling up the steps and into the
+vestibule.
+
+"Bour-ree, bouree!" Yvonne continued.
+
+"Quack, quack, quack!" came the reply, and when I reached the entrance
+hall, I found them all clustered together at the foot of the staircase,
+their beads cocked on one side, awaiting a decision of their drake
+before undertaking to mount the marble stairway.
+
+That same afternoon the _cour d'infirmieres_ transported itself to the
+lawn in front of the chateau.  It was too splendid weather to stay
+indoors.  The demonstrations were finished and most of the women had
+retired, when one of those who remained lifted her finger and asked for
+silence.  "Listen," she said, "the cannon!"  She didn't need to go any
+further.  In less than a second's time we were straining our ears
+towards the east!
+
+"There!" she said, "there it goes again!"
+
+Three of us had heard a sound which strangely resembled the popping of a
+cork at a very great distance.  Remembering my grandmother's Indian
+stories, I stretched out on the grass with my ear to the ground.  This
+time I heard the rolling so distinctly that my face must have altered,
+for two of the woman shuddered and took hasty leave.
+
+In a second I guessed that they were off to tell the news--so I made
+light of it by declaring that it must be the trying-out of some heavy
+artillery at Chalons; but when Madame Guix and I found ourselves alone,
+we looked at each other with interrogation points in our eyes.
+
+We thought of our hospital, of our supplies, of our perfect uselessness
+unless Soissons could yet reach us--and I resolved to go down to the
+druggist at Charly and see what could be done.  The following morning,
+Saturday, the twenty-ninth--I betook myself to Charly and there managed
+to beg the elements of a rudimentary infirmary from the old pharmacist,
+who must have thought me crazy.  Absorbent cotton I was able to procure
+in small rolled packages from the draper, and promising to send the boys
+down in the afternoon with a small band cart, I returned home, without
+having observed anything abnormal save the frequent passage of autos
+towards Paris--all going top speed and loaded with the queerest
+occupants and baggage.
+
+On my return great excitement reigned around our gate, for a private
+automobile containing wounded had halted on seeing our Red Cross flag,
+and Madame Guix welcomed them in.
+
+They were _petit blesses_, all able to travel, probably suffering more
+from heat and privation than from their wounds.  They had no orders to
+stop, but hoped we would let them rest a bit before going further--and
+could we give them something to eat?
+
+All this was very fortunate considering our precarious situation and we
+gladly did the best we knew how.  There were six poor chaps belonging to
+different regiments, but all so tired that it seemed cruel to prevent
+their snatching a rest by plying them with questions.  We could do that
+later on.
+
+The lads were hardly stretched out when another motor drew up before the
+gate. This one contained besides three privates a young officer with his
+arm in a sling, and he asked if we could give them water.  Leon told
+them that they would be very welcome if they would care to come in and
+rest--there were already a half-dozen wounded asleep in the house.  At
+these words the lieutenant jumped down and asked for the _medicin-chef_.
+He was rather startled when I appeared, and told him that there was no
+military authority as yet installed at the chateau.
+
+"Then I must take all the responsibility of the men," he said very
+kindly but firmly.  "I'm sorry, but they cannot remain here.  I must
+deliver them safe at some big center outside the zone of operations."
+
+The time had come for questions--and I learned with amazement that Liege
+had fallen, Belgium was invaded, and that hard fighting was going on at
+St. Quentin, but eighty miles away.  "The cannon of yesterday was no
+target practice," thought I.  The men all seemed so hopeful, though,
+that we never felt a qualm.
+
+"As you will, Monsieur," I said, and the weary boys were wakened and
+hurried off before we had time to ask names, addresses or any further
+details.
+
+All this had transpired so rapidly that we had had no time to call in
+our assistants, and presently Madame Guix and I found ourselves alone in
+the empty vestibule.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+Nothing further happened that afternoon.  Madame Guix's course went on
+as usual, with perhaps a little more animation in the conversation, and
+much speculation as to when and where those who had stopped at the
+chateau had been wounded.  No one really knew.  To tell the truth,
+though later Madame Guix and I had asked them, the soldiers themselves
+had but a very indistinct idea of time and date or whereabouts.
+
+That night I was awakened by the low rumbling of heavy carts on the road
+in front of the chateau.  Fancying that perhaps it was artillery on its
+way to the front, I put on my dressing gown and went as far as the gate.
+There in the pale moonlight I beheld a long stream of carriages and
+wagons of every description piled high with household goods, and filled
+with women and children.  The men walked beside the horses to prevent
+collision, for as far as eye could see, the lamentable _cortege_
+extended down the hill.
+
+What did this mean?
+
+"Who are you?" I called to one of the men as they passed.
+
+"Belgians--refugees."
+
+Refugees!  My mind flew back to descriptions of the French Revolution
+and the Reign of Terror, when so many people fled for their lives!  What
+nonsense!  Were we not in the twentieth century?  Wasn't there a Peace
+Palace at The Hague?  My thoughts became muddled.
+
+Opening the gate, I went out and accosted another man.
+
+"Won't you come in and rest?"
+
+"No, we can't.  We must make our twenty miles by dawn--and rest during
+the heat of the day."
+
+"But why do you leave home?"
+
+"Because the savages burned us out!"
+
+Bah, the man must be dreaming!
+
+I turned back and addressed myself to another:
+
+"What's your hurry?" I queried
+
+"They're on our heels!" came the reply.
+
+Surely this one was madder than the other!
+
+A third did not deign to reply, sturdily marching on ahead, his eyes
+fixed on the road in front of him.
+
+On top of a farm cart half filled with bay I saw the prostrate form of a
+woman with two others kneeling beside her ministering to her wants.  In
+the trap that followed was the most sorrowful group of old men and
+middle-aged women I ever hope to see.  All were sobbing.  Besides them
+rode two big boys on bicycles.  I stopped one of these.
+
+"What's the matter with her?" I questioned, pointing to the woman on the
+cart.
+
+"She's crazy."
+
+"?"
+
+"Yes, lost her mind."
+
+"How, when, where?"
+
+"Two days ago, when we left X.  (Try as I may, I cannot recall the name
+of the little Belgian town be mentioned.)  She was ill in bed with a
+fever when the Germans set fire to the place--barely giving us time to
+hoist her into the cart. Her husband lingered behind to scrape a few
+belongings together.  In spite of our efforts, she would stand up on the
+cart, and suddenly we heard an explosion and she saw her house burst
+into flame.  She fainted.  Outside in the woods we waited an hour, but
+her husband never came.  Perhaps it's just as well, for when she woke up
+her mind was a blank!"
+
+Ye gods!  I rubbed my eyes.  It couldn't be possible that all this was
+true!  I was asleep!  It was merely a horrible nightmare.  But no--the
+carts rolled on in the pale moonlight carrying their heavy burdens of
+human misery.
+
+It was more than I could stand.  All thought of sleep had vanished, so I
+went and woke Madame Guix.  We dressed and descended to the kitchen,
+where with a few smoldering embers, we soon managed to light a good
+fire.  Water was set to boil and in half an hour's time we carried out
+to the bridge two huge pails of hot coffee, a pail of cold water, and
+one of wine.  No one refused our offerings, and the hearty "God bless
+you's" of those kindly souls brought tears to our eyes more than once.
+
+Dawn, Monday, August 31st, found us still at our posts.  I rang the farm
+bell, assembled my servants, and told them we would abandon all but the
+most necessary farm work and minister to the wants of the refugees.  By
+eight o'clock they had peeled and prepared vegetables enough to fill two
+huge copper pots, and the soup was set to boil.  And still the long line
+of heavy vehicles followed one another down the road: moving vans,
+delivery wagons, huge drays, and even little three-wheeled carts drawn
+by dogs, rolled on towards the south.
+
+When asked where they were going, most of the people replied, "Straight
+ahead of us, _a' la grace de Dieu_."
+
+By the morning the heat had grown intolerable and a splendid looking man
+got down from a cart and came towards me.  Might he turn his party into
+the drive and rest a bit in the shade?
+
+I was only too willing, and gladly offered hot soup and stewed fruit to
+any who would accept.
+
+Two long heavy drays each drawn by a pair of the handsomest big bay
+horses with creamy manes that I have ever seen, pulled up in the
+courtyard.  Impromptu seats had been arranged in the wagons and from
+these climbed down some twenty or thirty old women, children and men,
+worn out by the fatigue, anxiety, and want of sleep. My heart went out
+to them, and in a generous moment I was about to offer them my beds so
+they could get a good rest before starting off again, but on second
+thought it dawned on me that I must keep them for the army!  What a
+pretty thing it would be if another auto full of wounded suddenly
+appeared and found all my wards occupied!
+
+I explained my position.  They grasped it at once.  It was too good of
+me.  They were all well and needed no beds--would I let them sleep in
+the bay for a few hours?
+
+But better still, I suggested, if the boys would carry a dozen or so
+extra mattresses I possessed into the harness room, the women might lie
+there, and the men could take to the hay.
+
+They had food, plenty of it, bought on the way from village dealers who
+had not yet been seized with panic and shut up shop.  So I told them
+that instead of building individual fires they might cook their noonday
+meal on my huge range. They might also use my kitchen utensils and china
+if they would wash up, and thus save unpacking their own.  Apparently
+this was unheard of generosity and I cannot tell you how many times that
+morning my soul was recommended to the tender protection of the Blessed
+Virgin.
+
+While the women prepared the meal, George had taken the men to the
+wash-house, where soap and water worked miracles on their dusty faces;
+one by one all the members of the group disappeared in that direction
+and when they gathered around the long table in the refectory, it was
+altogether a different company to that of an hour before.
+
+As they sat down it came over me that none of us had eaten since the
+night before, and dropping onto a chair, I suddenly realized that I was
+tired.  Berthe and Nini, however, wanted to know where I would lunch,
+and were rather startled when I informed them to lay a cloth on the
+kitchen table and to bring out all the cold meat, cheese, bread, butter
+and jam in the larder.  It would be a stand-up picnic lunch for everyone
+to-day, and what was more, it was very likely to be picnic dinner; so
+Julie was ordered to put two chickens to roast and some potatoes to
+boil--both needed but little attention and would always be ready when we
+might need them.
+
+The meal passed in silence in both rooms, and the "washing up" was done
+in no time.  Then as they all retired to take their naps, the man who
+had first asked me if they might turn into the chateau, and who seemed
+to be the leader of the party, came into the kitchen and, hat in hand,
+begged a word or so with me.
+
+He had come not only to express the gratitude of his compatriots, but
+also his astonishment that I should welcome strangers so cordially.  I
+tried to side-track the conversation which was very embarrassing, but he
+would hear none of it.
+
+"We are not gypsies, you know, Madame."  I smiled and told him that that
+was more than evident.  "Look at our horses and our dogs!"  And the good
+fellow proceeded to inform me that he was the keeper of a big estate
+that belonged to Madame Pyrme (sister of the senator of that name),
+situated in the little village of Hanzinell, Belgium.  He even offered
+to show his papers, but I shook my head.  His open-hearted sincerity
+and frank countenance were sufficient.
+
+But why had they come away?  That was what interested me.
+
+Because their country was invaded and one by one the towns and villages
+had been bombarded, looted and burned until little or nothing remained.
+Because all men under fifty were carried away as hostages or prisoners;
+because he had seen little children slain, and young girls tortured;
+because anything was better than falling helpless into the hands of such
+an enemy.
+
+"Madame, at Charleroi I've seen the blood running in the gutters like
+rain after a storm and that not a week ago!"
+
+It was impossible not to believe him.  His eye was not that of a coward.
+He told his story simply; he was almost reticent, and I had even to
+encourage him at times to make him finish a phrase.  Finally I asked him
+where he intended going, and why so far away.  Didn't he think he was
+safe here?
+
+No--_jamais!_  Yesterday in the night they had heard the cannon growing
+closer and closer.  They knew the sound.  The Germans were advancing. It
+was Paris they wanted and nothing would stop them till they reached
+their goal.
+
+"Except the French army," I said, with pride.
+
+"God grant you speak the truth, Madame!"  But in the meantime he seemed
+to consider that one was far safer in the way of some gigantic
+mowing-machine than on the path of the German army.  He had come to tell
+me the truth and to warn me that I ought to make ready to leave.
+
+"You are helpless here, Madame.  Three women, three little girls, and
+two boys! It's tempting fate."
+
+I couldn't seem to see it his way, however.  The papers though very
+mysterious, had given us no cause for alarm.  As yet we had not seen a
+single trooper.  If it were true that the French were retreating we
+would leave when the army appeared. That would be time enough.
+
+"Why, my good fellow," I said reassuringly, "if the Germans ever reach
+here Paris is doomed--and the war will be over!"
+
+"Perhaps--"
+
+"Besides, I can't go.  I've got a hospital on my hands, though the
+wounded are lacking.  Haven't you seen our Red Cross flag?  And if that
+isn't sufficient, I can prove that I'm an American born.  That ought to
+be protection enough for anyone!"
+
+I must admit that the incredulous smile that rose to his lips rather
+angered me, and I sought still another excuse.
+
+"Furthermore, one of my little maids is too ill to move, and I don't see
+us walking off with folded arms, and that's what would happen if I
+followed your advice, for the only horse the Army has left me is over
+twenty and so lame that he can't walk two steps.  If he could I'd have
+had to present him for the second inspection at Chateau Thierry on
+Wednesday."
+
+The poor fellow shook his head at my apparent foolhardiness, but was too
+polite to argue further.  He said that his party would be off in an hour
+and asked me if I possessed a road-map that he might consult.  I gladly
+showed him the one we had bought with H. the day of our hasty trip from
+Paris, since then pinned to the wall of the refectory.  I noticed that
+he studied it very carefully, noting all the little sidetracks where he
+thought his drays could pass, and thus avoid following in line behind
+the thousands of other vehicles that encumbered the main roads.
+
+Again he thanked me for all I had done, caressed my beautiful
+greyhounds, and left me his card so that we might meet when all was
+over.  Afterwards when I went into the court, I heard someone in the
+stable with George, and looking in, I saw my friend of a few moments
+before examining my horse's hoof and telling my boy what would make the
+sore heal quickly.  He was bound to do his best for me!
+
+By five o'clock the stables and grounds were empty, and our friends
+gone. Hanzinell had joined the column which had slackened a bit during
+the heat of the day, but had redoubled in volume since the sun had gone
+behind the hills.
+
+We had a moment's breathing space, during which we gave our entire
+attention to Yvonne, who was writhing with agony on her bed next my
+room.  For three days now Madame Guix had administered mild doses of
+morphine, but that treatment could not continue very long.  Water bags,
+friction and massage had proved fruitless against sciatica, so we
+resolved to try a warm bath, with the result that our patient was almost
+immediately eased but too weak to support the heat. She fainted in the
+tub and had to be carried back to bed.  We were still working over her
+when Nini appeared and said I was wanted below.  When Yvonne's eyelashes
+began to flutter, I left Madame Guix and regained the kitchen, now
+become the head-quarters.
+
+More refugees!  Would I let them come in?  They were traveling without a
+map or guide and dared not venture along the roads at night.
+
+Of course they were welcome, and the same hospitalty that had greeted
+the refugees from Hanzinell was offered to those from Thuilly-the whole
+village was there!--mayor, curate, smith and baker, all accompanied by
+different members of their immediate families, driven from home by the
+cruel invaders.  Terrified by the horrors they had witnessed, exhausted
+by their perilous journey, they were disinclined to talk; and as for
+myself, I was so busy, preoccupied and thoroughly spent, that curiosity
+was forgotten.  Here were people in need of what comforts I could offer.
+I gave and asked no questions.
+
+What was most evident at present was the fact that rations were shorter
+among this party than among those who had stopped in the morning, and
+certainly not for the lack of funds.  All of them had money--gold
+a-plenty.
+
+They had found less to buy--_voila tout_.  They were glad to accept the
+vegetable soup, rabbit stew and cooked fruit that we had prepared but
+insisted on paying for their portions, which of course I refused, much
+to their dismay, and I am certain the servants were well repaid for
+their trouble.
+
+And what were their plans?  To go as far south as possible.  Perhaps
+they would eventually cross to Morocco or Canada.  Why not?  The whole
+village was there--all the men had their trades.  They would colonize,
+for it was useless to think of going "home."  They no longer possessed
+one, and who could tell--the war might last a year or more?
+
+At that assertion I protested.  A year?  Never!  Why, the finances of
+the country couldn't stand it, and I went on to state how, when in
+England during the Agadir crisis three years previous, I had heard
+competent authorities state that three months was the very limit for the
+duration of hostilities!  That somewhat cheered them--especially as I
+announced the Russian advance, and on the map we noted the rapid
+progress of the famous "steam roller," which, if it continued as it had
+begun, would certainly reach Berlin by Christmas!  (I offer these
+statements without comment.)
+
+Before they retired Madame Guix asked if there were any who felt the
+slightest ill, for it were better to nip sickness in the bud, and she
+cheerfully lanced festers and pricked blisters, bathed, powdered and
+bandaged the feet of some dozen old and decrepit men and young children
+unaccustomed to such forced marching and unable to take proper care of
+themselves for want of time and hot water!  At that moment I felt she
+was heroic and I must say I admired her patience and endurance, for the
+sights witnessed were anything but agreeable. Poor souls!  And they
+hoped to reach Marseilles on foot.
+
+The Kaiser and his entire army might have ridden over us rough shod and
+we would have felt nothing, so soundly did we sleep for the first couple
+of hours after we touched our beds.  By two A. M. (September first),
+however, there was much moving about in the barns and stables, and my
+dogs, who were restless, began scratching at my door to be released.
+Anxious that no one leave without a cup of hot coffee, Madame Guix and I
+repaired to the kitchen as dawn broke, and an hour later we bade
+farewell to our "lodgers for a night."  I bethought me of my kodak, and
+as the sun peeped through the clouds I caught a snapshot of my departing
+guests as they turned the corner of the chateau.
+
+They joined in behind the stream of other carts which we were now
+accustomed to seeing.  In fact, this general exodus no longer astonished
+us.  It seemed as if the panic had spread over the whole of Flanders
+like a drop of oil on a sheet of paper.  To us, who consider ourselves
+as living in the suburbs of Paris, Belgium is so far away!
+
+I wound off my film and was returning towards the house, when two very
+distinguished looking girls stepped off their bicycles and asked for
+directions. I gave them with pleasure and in turn ventured a few
+questions.
+
+They were from St. Quentin!  That startled me.  They had been _en route_
+two days. They had not seen the Germans, but the town had been
+officially evacuated.  A man on a bicycle had sped by them the day
+before and announced the bombardment and destruction of their native
+city!  Hard fighting at La Fere.
+
+St. Quentin!  Then the Germans were on our soil!  The Belgians were
+right--they were evidently advancing rapidly.  But why worry?  We were
+safe as long as we had the French army between us and them.
+
+Thought as yet the day was but a couple of hours old, I was weary.  This
+business of  hotel-keeping on so large it scale with so little
+assistance was beginning to tell on my strength.  I opened the gate and
+told George and Leon to welcome any who wished to come in, and then
+repairing to the kitchen, I sat down and began helping the others
+prepare vegetables.  The discovery that in spite of all their good will
+guests had necessarily left many traces of their passage, brought me to
+my feet again, and we were all hard at work when a haggard female face
+looked in at the kitchen window.
+
+"Is there a doctor here?"
+
+"No,--but--"
+
+The woman burst into tears. Madame Guix and I hurried out into the
+court.  "My baby--I can't seem to warm her," moaned the poor mother.
+"She hasn't eaten anything since yesterday."
+
+And stretching out her arms, the woman showed us an infant that she had
+been carrying in her apron.  It was dead.
+
+I had difficulty in overcoming my emotion, but Madame Guix took the poor
+little corpse into her arms, and I helped the mother to an arm chair in
+the refectory.
+
+A cup of strong coffee brought back a little color to her wan cheeks and
+she told us she was from Charleville.  The Taubes had got in their
+sinister work to good advantage among the civil population but they were
+merely the forerunners of another and heavier bombardment.  The
+townspeople had fled in their night clothes.
+
+"Are you alone?"
+
+"Yes--I'm not a native of Charleville.  My husband and I have only been
+married a year.  He left the second of August and the baby was born the
+tenth.  She's only three weeks old."
+
+No wonder the mother looked haggard--one hundred and fifty miles on
+foot, with a newborn infant in her arms, fleeing for her life before the
+barbarous hordes!
+
+I pressed another cup of coffee with a drop of brandy in it upon her.
+She looked appealingly at both of us and then drank.
+
+"Was your husband good to you?" asked Madame Guix.
+
+"Ah, yes, Madame."
+
+"Do you love him well enough to endure another sacrifice like a true
+wife and mother that you are?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+And then we told her that her baby bad gone--gone to a brighter Country
+where war is unknown.  She looked at us in amazement, and burying her
+head on her arm, sobbed silently but submissively.
+
+"Come, come, you must sleep--and when you are rested we will help you to
+find room in a cart which will take you towards your parents."
+
+She cast a long, loving look at her first born, and let herself be led
+away.
+
+All we could do was to make an official declaration of the death at the
+town hall. A small linen sheet served as shroud, a clean, flower-lined
+soap box formed that baby's coffin, and Greorge and I were the grave
+diggers and chief mourners, who laid the tiny body at rest in the little
+vine-grown churchyard. War willed it thus.
+
+When I got back from the cemetery I found another load of refugees
+installed in the courtyard.  This time they proved to be a hotel keeper
+and her servants from the Ardennes.  They, however, had foreseen that
+flight was imminent and had carefully packed a greater part of their
+household belongings and valuables onto several wagons, taking care that
+all were well balanced and properly loaded so as to carry the maximum
+weight without tiring the horses.  They needed less attention than the
+others had required, for when I explained that the house was theirs,
+they went about their work swiftly and silently, getting in no one's way
+and attending to every want of their mistress, who sat in her coupe and
+gave orders.
+
+Later on they were joined by the occupants of numerous other equipages,
+all from the same district--but with whom I had but little intercourse.
+From one poor woman, however, I learned that her two daughters, aged
+sixteen and seventeen, had been lost from the party for two days.  They
+were in the cart with the curate who had stopped to water his horse,
+thus losing his place in line.  When they had reached the spot where the
+road forked, which direction had he taken? What had become of them?  She
+pinned her name and route on the refectory wall, begging me to give it
+to them if they ever inquired for her.  To my knowledge they never
+passed.
+
+At luncheon Madame Guix announced that Yvonne was better.  Far from
+well, but better.  That was a load off my mind.
+
+The mother of the poor little infant we had buried was peacefully
+slumbering on a cot in the hospital, and presently Leon came in to say
+that old Cesar had put his hoof on the ground for the first time in four
+days.  Bravo!  I felt much relieved.
+
+And still the carts rolled down the valley, their noise echoing between
+the hills. To-day there was no respite: right on through the heat of
+noon they rumbled past, thicker and faster it seemed to me.
+
+"Bother them!" I thought.  "They make so much noise that we couldn't
+hear the cannon if it were only a mile distant."  And hoping that
+perhaps I might seek some assurance from that sound, I was about to set
+off for the highest spot in the park to listen.  At the door, however, I
+was accosted by one of the two men who, for several days had been
+bundling my hay in the stable lofts.  He pleaded illness. Would I pay
+him and let him go?  He would come back to-morrow and finish if he felt
+better.
+
+As there was nothing unusual in his request, I settled his account and
+told him to go and rest.  I now know that he was a German spy, and have
+recently learned that a fortnight later he was caught and shot at
+Villers-Cotterets.
+
+I wonder what possessed me to make that long weary climb.  Evidently I
+found out what I wanted to know, but the news was anything but
+reassuring.  I heard the cannon distinctly: so distinctly that I was a
+trifle unnerved.  Not only had my ears caught the long ever-steady
+rolling (already observed three days since) but I had been able to make
+out a difference in the caliber of each piece that fired, and added to
+it all was a funny clattering sound, as when one drags a wooden stick
+along an iron barred fence.  _La Fere_ is putting up a heroic defense, I
+thought, blissfully unconscious of the fact that it is utterly
+impossible to hear a cannon at that distance--at half, no, even a
+quarter of that distance.  Judge then for yourselves what was its
+proximity to Villiers!
+
+For two days now the course in nursing had been abandoned, not for lack
+of enthusiasm but because each housewife had more than she could attend
+to at home. The chateau was not the only place where refugees halted,
+and all the villagers had done their best to make the travelers
+comfortable.  From where I stood overlooking the two valleys, I could
+see the interminable line of carts on all roads within scope of my view,
+and in every farm yard as well as on the side of the main thoroughfares,
+vehicles were drawn up and thin columns of blue smoke rising heavenward,
+told that the evening meal was under way.
+
+The population of my own courtyard had quadrupled by five o'clock.
+People from St. Quentin, Ternier, Chauny--each with a tale of horror and
+sorrow--sought refuge for the night.  Madame Guix was permanently
+established in the dispensary, and a line was formed as in front of the
+city clinics, each one waiting his turn, hoping that she might be able
+to relieve his suffering.  At dusk a cart turned into the drive and a
+gray-haired man asked if we had a litter on which to carry his son to
+the house.
+
+"What was the matter?" I inquired.
+
+"A cough--such a bad cough."
+
+I went with him towards the wagon, and there beheld the sad spectacle of
+a youth in the last stages of tuberculosis.  Thin beyond description, a
+living skeleton, the poor boy turned his great glassy eyes towards me in
+supplication.  I drew the father aside.  It was best to be frank.  I
+shook my head and said it would be useless to move his son.  We had no
+doctor, and his illness was beyond our competence.  Cover him well, and
+try to reach a big city as soon as possible.
+
+As I turned away, a sturdy youth tapped me gently on the arm, begging
+shelter for his great-grandmother, a woman ninety-three years old, whom
+he had carried on his back all the way from St. Quentin.  A cot in the
+entrance hall was all prudence permitted me to offer, and it was
+charming to see how tenderly the young fellow bore the poor little
+withered woman to her resting-place.  She was so dazed that I fear she
+hardly realized what was happening, but tears of gratitude streamed down
+her cheeks when her boy appeared with a bowl of hot soup, coaxing her to
+drink, like a child, and finally curling up on the rug beside her bed.
+
+Five times that evening the great refectory table was surrounded by
+hungry men and women; five times I ladled out soup and vegetables to
+forty persons, and five times we all helped to wash up.  So when all was
+finally cleaned away, and Madame Guix and I fell exhausted onto two
+kitchen chairs, it was well onto eleven P. M.
+
+My clever nurse informed me that she had arranged for the departure in a
+cart of the mother whose baby we had buried, and I in turn told her of
+my climb in the park and the approach of the cannon.  It was evident
+that the Germans were bearing down on us, and swiftly.  When we looked
+at the map and saw the names of the cities, towns and villages whose
+populations had succeeded each other down the road, it was clear that
+the French must be beating a forced retreat, or (and this was unlikely)
+panic had spread so quickly that the whole north of France was now
+moving south on a fool's errand.  We cast this second hypothesis aside.
+We had heard too many tales of woe and seen too much misery to believe
+anything of the sort.  Well, and then what?  Our case was simple--either
+the Germans would be stopped before they reached us, or the French army
+would put in an appearance, in which latter case it would be time enough
+to leave, unless we were officially evacuated before!  Having adopted
+this simple line of conduct, we retired, quite satisfied and not in the
+least uneasy.
+
+In the cool gray dawn of Wednesday morning, September second, when I
+opened my shutters and looked out into the little square that faces the
+chateau, I was amazed to see that the refugees who had halted there were
+in carts and wagons whose signs were most familiar.  They came from
+Soissons!
+
+"Hello," thought I, "I'll go and see what they have to say!  Things must
+be getting very bad if a big city like Soissons suddenly takes to its
+heels." (Soissons is but little over twenty miles from Villiers.)  As I
+came down stairs I heard the drum roll, and George, who just then
+appeared with the milk, announced that the requisition of horses which
+should have taken place at Chateau-Thierry that morning, was
+indefinitely postponed.  That was hardly reassuring, especially as it
+was the first official news we had received in a long time.
+
+So busy were we helping those who had slept at the chateau to depart,
+that I had no time to put my first intentions into execution, and when
+finally I had a moment, I looked out of the window and saw that my
+friends from Soissons had vanished.  They, too: well, well, well!
+
+I was not astonished; in fact I gave the matter but little heed.  We had
+taken our resolutions the night before and had no time to stop every
+five minutes and question as to whether we were right or wrong.  At
+noon, however, when an old peasant woman called me through the kitchen
+window and announced that all Charly was leaving post haste, I must
+admit that I winced, but only for a second.  If I had listened to all
+the different rumors that had been noised abroad within the last week I
+would have been a fit subject for a lunatic asylum by then!
+
+Resolved, however, to get at the core of the matter, I sent George to
+Charly (our market town, four miles away) to see what he could find out.
+He returned on his bicycle at luncheon time, bearing the following
+astonishing information.
+
+The hotel keeper and his wife, alarmed by the arrival of the Soissonais,
+had taken their auto and started for that city in quest of news.
+They had returned an hour later, having been unable to pass
+Oulchy-le-Chateau, fifteen miles from Charly, where all the bridges were
+cut or blown up!  They were making their preparations for departure.
+
+"And," continued George, in an excited tone, "as I came past the
+_Gendarmerie_ the _brigadier_ called to me and said good-bye.  All the
+_gendarmes_ had received orders to leave at once for their depot at--."
+(The name of some town the other side of the Marne, which I cannot
+remember.)
+
+Instead of frightening me this information stimulated my nerves, which
+were beginning to be depressed by much work and little news.
+
+"Good," I said.  "Now then, we can expect the soldiers at any minute.
+Poke up the fire, Julie, and we'll fall to work to have hot soup ready
+when our boys arrive."
+
+Then we were really going to be in the excitement.  How glorious to be
+able to help--for in my mind ours was the only solution possible to the
+question.
+
+I set to work with renewed vigor and, as on the day before, we were
+constantly in demand by refugees requiring treatment and attention.  How
+well I remember a group of four, two men and two women, who staggered
+into the court and timidly knocked at the window.  Three of them were
+glad to accept soup and wine, but the fourth, a middle-aged woman, sank
+down on the steps and buried her head in her hands.
+
+"Why doesn't one of you men relieve her of that heavy parcel she has
+strapped to her shoulders?" I asked.
+
+"She won't let us touch it.  She's never put it aside a minute since we
+left home six days ago!"
+
+"Is it as precious as all that?" I queried, eyeing the huge flat package
+which might have been the size of the double sheet of some daily paper.
+
+"It's her son's picture.  He's gone to the army and she's alone in the
+world."
+
+"But why on earth is she carrying frame, glass, and all?  It must be
+nearly killing her in this heat!"
+
+"Madame," said the woman's friend solemnly, "she worked six months and
+put all her savings into that frame!  Do you wonder she did not wish to
+leave it behind!"
+
+I opened a side door and showed them a foot path across the hills, a
+short cut which carriages could not take, and was just turning the key
+in the lock when the telephone rang.
+
+That was the first time since the second of August!  What could it mean?
+Probably the arrival of wounded.  I literally flew to answer the call.
+
+I had some little difficulty recognizing Mademoiselle Mauxpoix' voice:
+it was trembling with emotion.  She greeted me politely and then begging
+me not to be too alarmed, she announced that she had just received
+official orders to put all her telephones and telegraphic apparatus out
+of working order--to damage them so that repairs would be impossible.
+
+"I have ten minutes more left," she continued.  "A government motor is
+coming at four o'clock to take me, my employees and my books to Tours."
+
+"But, Mademoiselle--"
+
+She did not heed my interruption.  "You cannot stay, Madame Huard!  You
+must not! No woman is safe on their path.  I know this better than you,
+for I have been receiving official reports for more than a month!  The
+worst is true!  For the love of heaven, go--you've still got a chance
+though there's hard fighting going on in the streets of Chateau Thierry!
+For God's sake, don't hesitate. Adieu."
+
+She was gone!  And I stood there dazed!
+
+"Hard fighting at Chateau-Thierry!  That's only seven miles from here,"
+I counted.
+
+Go?  Go where?  How?  Go and abandon my post, with Yvonne still too ill
+to move, and all the others depending on my help?  Go?  By what means,
+when my only horse was too lame to cross the courtyard!  It was far
+better to stay and defend one's belongings!
+
+And then as I slowly returned through the corridors, it occurred to me
+that in spite of my desire to stay I might be forced out.  Suppose the
+chateau should suddenly become the target for the German guns?  Well, we
+could all take to the cellars, as the others had done in 1870.  But--and
+here was the point--suppose the French took possession and gave us women
+but a few minutes to leave before the battle began.  Then what!  Here
+was food for reflection.  I resolved to take Madame Guix and the two
+boys into my confidence.  Four heads were better than one!
+
+They received the news calmly, and I almost caught a glimpse of a
+twinkle in George's and Leon's eyes.  The excitement pleased them.
+
+If what Mademoiselle Mauxpoix had said was true, the Germans were now on
+their way to Villiers.  It was evident that the French were putting up a
+stubborn resistance, but there was little hope of their stopping them
+before they reached our vicinity.  Battle meant destruction of lives and
+property.  Well, since we still possessed the former, it was high time
+to think of saving the latter.  The sun was fast sinking behind the pine
+trees.  In an hour it would be dark.  What I decided to do must be done
+at once.
+
+"George and Leon, bring down my two big trunks, and tell Nini to hitch
+the donkey to his flat cart and drive to the side door."  I had resolved
+to save what I could of H.'s work, and going to the studio closet, I
+began selecting the portfolios containing mounted drawings and etchings.
+It was useless to think of the paintings.  They were too big.  The
+trunks were full in no time.  I had no other receptacles, so reluctantly
+closed the but half empty cupboards, consoling myself with the thought
+that all this was possibly useless preparation, and praying Heaven that
+I had made a good choice among the portfolios in case the worst came.
+
+The boys put the trunks onto the cart and set off in the direction of a
+sand quarry, where I knew we could dig in safety, and easily cause a
+miniature landslide, which would cover all traces of our hidden
+treasure.  I promised to join them in an hour--the time I judged it
+would take them to make so large an excavation, and returning to my
+room, gathered my jewels and papers into a little valise, and put them
+beside my fur coat and my kodak.  A few other trinkets and innumerable
+photographs were locked away in my desk, and perceiving that it would be
+utterly impossible to carry them with me, I wondered how on earth I
+might protect them.  Suddenly I bethought me of a tiny silk American
+flag that my mother had given me years before, when as a child I left
+home for my first trip to Europe.  I found it where I hoped, and
+shutting one edge of it into the drawer, I let the stripes hang downward
+and pinned the following inscription into its folds:
+
+"I swear that the contents of this desk are purely personal and can be
+of value to no one but myself.  I therefore leave it under the
+protection of my country's flag."
+
+I felt very proud when I had done this and then hurried into my
+dressing-room where I hastily filled my suit-case with a few warm
+underclothes, a change of costume, and an extra pair of shoes.  I had
+about finished and was heartily glad that this useless job was over,
+when on glancing out of the window I caught sight of fuzzy-haired Madame
+La Miche driving up the avenue in her dog cart.
+
+Madame La Miche and her husband run a big stock farm near Neuilly St.
+Front, some fifteen miles from Villiers.  I had often seen her at
+poultry and agricultural shows, where their farm products usually
+carried off any number of prizes.  It was she who sold me my cows hardly
+a year since.
+
+"You?" I said, as she drew up to the steps.
+
+"Yes.  En route--like all the others.  Our entire fortune is in live
+stock and I'm going to try to save as much as I can.  May we come in?"
+
+Certainly--and a half-hour later one of the largest farms in France had
+been moved bodily into my pasture land!  The whole thing was conducted
+in a very orderly manner by M. La Miche, who on horseback drew up the
+rear of this immense cavalcade composed of some two hundred white oxen,
+hitched two abreast, seventy or eighty horses, as many mares with young
+colts, and heaven knows how many cows and calves; all accompanied by the
+stable bands.  Poor tired beasts, how greedily they drank the cool water
+of our spring, and how willingly the cunning little colts, whose tender
+hoofs had been worn to the quick by their unheard-of journey, allowed
+the men to tie up their feet in coarse linen bandages with strips of old
+carpet for protection.
+
+Madame La Miche had been officially evacuated at noon, so I did not
+hesitate to tell her what I had heard.  She was not surprised, and said
+she intended leaving at midnight, but her animals, unaccustomed to such
+exercise, must have a few hours' rest.
+
+In the kitchen I found George and Leon, who had accomplished their task
+sooner than I expected.  Relying on their word that it was impossible to
+tell where they had buried the trunks, I did not go back to the sand
+quarry.  Half a mile was a distance to be considered, under the
+circumstances.
+
+While all this had been going on, Madame Guix had taken Julie into her
+confidence and asked her if she would follow us if we were obliged to
+leave. Julie is a native of Villiers, and her husband and children live
+in a little house near by. She had consulted her lord and they were
+willing to lend their big dray horse if they could all join our party.
+Of course we agreed and while it was light, we decided to put some bags
+of oats into the bottom of our hay cart, to cover these with hay, and
+then all the servants could pile on, the boys taking turns at walking
+since Yvonne must have room to be stretched out.
+
+How I hated all this business!  Madame Guix then counted the number of
+persons composing our party, and sent Nini to fetch as many blankets and
+pillows. These, with a box containing salt, sugar, chocolate, and other
+dry provisions, a valise packed with a few bandages and a little
+medicine, were put onto a little light farm-cart to which we might
+harness Cesar in case of great emergency.
+
+The two vehicles when loaded were run into an empty carriage house,
+whose door I locked, rather ashamed of my precautions.
+
+Night had fallen and the incoming stream of refugees demanded our every
+attention. Madame Guix was occupied with two women whose physical
+condition was such that it was impossible to refuse them beds, come what
+might--and as I crossed the vestibule in search of some instruments, the
+shadow of a woman and two little girls came up the steps.  "Could I give
+them lodgings?" begged the poor soul.  I looked at her--she was so
+frightened that it was most pathetic, and the two curly-beaded children
+clung to her skirts and shivered.
+
+"I've never been alone before," she explained, and her teeth fairly
+chattered with terror.  "I can pay, and pay well--I've thirty thousand
+francs in gold on me."
+
+"Then, for Heaven's sake, don't let anyone know it!" I said, very
+abruptly.  "I don't want money, but there are others who may.  Be
+careful--a fortune like that may lead to your destruction.  Hide it!"
+
+She stared at me in amazement.  Evidently the idea that dishonesty
+existed never occurred to her.  She thanked me for the advice and hoped
+she had not offended me, and begged me to take pity on her.
+
+"Did anyone see you come in here?"
+
+She thought not.
+
+"For if they did I fear you will have to share the common lot.  I have
+no reason to give you preference.  The others might protest."
+
+I stuck my head out of the doorway.  When I turned around, those three
+helpless creatures stood clinging to one another in the big empty
+vestibule, making a most pitiable group.
+
+"Go up two flights of stairs--turn to your left and follow the corridor
+to the end.  The last door on your left opens into a room with a huge
+double bed.  It was too big for our hospital.  That's the only reason we
+didn't bring it down. It's at your disposal.  Don't thank me.
+Good-night."
+
+When I got a moment I went to Yvonne's room.  "Did she think she could
+get up a little: long enough to take some dinner?  Perhaps she might put
+on a few clothes and make an effort to walk around her room."  Ten days
+in bed had made her very weak.  She must try to gain a little strength.
+She promised and I departed. The idea of carrying her out bodily was
+anything but encouraging!
+
+At six-thirty the public distribution of soup recommenced.  Who my
+guests were I have no idea.  There were more than a hundred of them.
+That was clear enough from the dishes that were left.  Just as the last
+round had been served, George came in to say that the village was
+beginning to get uneasy--people from Neuilly St. Front and
+Lucy-le-Bocage and Essommes had already passed down the road, and the
+peasants looked to the chateau for a decision!
+
+I went out to the gate.  Yes, true enough, our neighbors from Lucy (five
+miles distant) had joined the procession.  Then there was a break, and a
+lull, such as had not occurred for two days, and in the silence I again
+recognized the same clattering sound that had caught my ear on the hill
+top the afternoon before. This time it was much more distinct, but was
+soon drowned out by the rumbling of heavy wheels on the road.
+
+Surely this time it was artillery!
+
+I wrapped my shawl closer about me and sat down on the low stone wall
+that borders the moat, while little groups of peasants, unable to sleep,
+clustered together on the roadside.
+
+Nearer and nearer drew the clanking noise and presently a whole regiment
+of perambulators, four abreast, swung around the corner into the
+moonlight.
+
+Domptin!
+
+Domptin, our neighboring village, one mile up the road, had caught the
+fever and was moving out wholesale, transporting its ill and decrepit,
+its children and chattels, in heaven knows how many baby carriages!
+
+I had never seen so many in all my life.  The effect was altogether
+comic, and Madame Guix and I could not resist laughing--much to the
+dismay of these poor souls who saw little amusement at being obliged to
+leave home scantily clad in night clothes.
+
+They passed on, without further comment, and the last man had hardly
+turned the corner when a scream coming from up the road drew us to our
+feet, and sent us running in that direction.  Almost instantly, the
+figure of an old white-capped peasant woman appeared in the distance.
+She was wringing her hands and crying aloud.  When we were within ear
+shot, I caught the word, "Uhlans!"
+
+"Uhlans!  Where?"
+
+"_Dans le bois de la Mazure!_" (A half-mile from Villiers.)
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Saw their helmets glittering in the moonlight!"
+
+"What rot!  They're Frenchmen--dragoons.  You don't know your own
+countrymen when you see them!  Did you approach them?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what in the name of common sense sent you flying down here to
+scare us like that?  You've got no business spreading panic broadcast.
+If you don't turn around and scamper home, the way you came, I'll have
+you arrested.  _Allez!_"
+
+My nerves had stood the strain as long as possible.  This false alarm
+had roused my anger and in a jiffy I could see how thousands of people
+had been deceived, and were now erring homeless along the roads of
+France!
+
+"You can do what you like," I said, turning to the others, "but I've had
+enough of this for one day--I'm going to bed.  Good-night, gentlemen."
+
+"The _chatelaine_ is going to bed, the _chatelaine_ is going to bed!"
+"Let all go to bed," and similar phrases were echoed among the groups
+and presently we all separated, after many cordial _a demain_.
+
+The clock in the village church was striking midnight when I finally
+retired, after calling my greyhounds and Betsy into my room, and
+assuring myself that they all had on their collars, and that their
+leashes were hanging on my bed post.
+
+Nini, the little traitor, had evidently told Yvonne of my preparations
+for departure, and the two girls, whose beds were in the next room to
+mine, had been unable to close their eyes, for as I blew out my lamp, I
+could hear their childish voices repeating the rosary:
+
+"Hail Mary full of Grace--the Lord is with Thee..."
+
+* * * * *
+
+I may have slept an hour.  Then I can dimly remember hearing a wild yelp
+from my dogs, and when I found myself in the middle of my room rubbing
+my eyes, Yvonne was calling, "Madame!  Madame!" in terrified tones.  My
+pets were mad with excitement, and the sound of the farm bell was
+ringing in my ears!
+
+"Silence!" I yelled.
+
+Everything but the bell ceased.
+
+Heedless of my attire, I rushed to a back window and repeated my
+command.
+
+The bell stopped.
+
+"Who are you that you dare wake us like that!" I scolded.
+
+A boy between eighteen and nineteen let go the rope and stepped beneath
+the window.  I could see his blond hair in the moonlight.
+
+"Are you Madame Huard?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I've come with a message from your husband."
+
+I grew cold as ice.  Good God, what had happened?
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+In a bound I was down stairs and had opened the front door.
+
+"Is H. wounded?" I gasped.
+
+"No, Madame."
+
+I breathed again.
+
+"Where was he when you saw him?"
+
+"On the road between Villers-Cotterets and La Ferte Milon."
+
+"What's your message?"
+
+The boy put his hand to his breast pocket and drew forth a slip of
+paper.  The full moon shining on the white facade of the chateau threw
+such a brilliant reflection that I recognized a sheet from a sketch
+book, and could distinguish the following words scribbled in pencil:
+
+"Give bearer fifty francs, then in the name of the love you bear me,
+evacuate now; go south, not Paris."
+
+The last words were underscored three or four times.
+
+"What time was it when H. gave you this?"
+
+"Noon or thereabouts."
+
+"How did you come?  On foot?"
+
+"No, bicycle."
+
+"But it's after midnight!"
+
+"I know, but I got lost and had three bad punctures."
+
+Here were marching orders for fair, and if I intended obeying enough
+time had already been lost.  To stay in spite of everything was to be
+responsible for all the young lives that looked to me, for protection.
+Could I promise it?  No. Then go it was!
+
+At that same moment and as though to reinforce my decision, the strange
+clattering noise I had observed growing nearer and nearer during the
+last two days broke on the night air.
+
+"Hark!" said the boy.  "_La mitrailleuse!_"
+
+"The machine guns!" I echoed.
+
+"_Oui, Madame._"
+
+That sufficed.  "We'll be leaving in ten minutes.  Go to the kitchen.
+I'll send someone to look after you and we'll go together."
+
+All this had transpired in less time than it takes to tell it.  Awakened
+by the bell, the refugees in the stables came pouring into the
+courtyard.  A second later, George, lantern in hand, came running
+towards me.
+
+"Tell Leon to harness Cesar--then go and wake Julie and say that we are
+leaving in ten minutes.  I expect her, and her family, with their horse,
+to be ready. The courtyard in ten minutes.  Mind!"
+
+On the landing I met Madame Guix already fully dressed.
+
+"_Nous partons,_" was all I said.  She understood and followed me
+towards Yvonne's room.
+
+The two children, their teeth chattering, looked towards us in terror.
+
+"Nini, put on the warmest clothes you possess and help Madame Guix to
+dress Yvonne.  Then go to the kitchen and wait there without moving."
+
+My own toilet was brief, and five minutes later, lamp in hand, I was
+pounding on all the doors of the long corridors, fearful lest some one
+be forgotten and locked in the house.  When I reached the second floor I
+bethought me of the woman and her two children, and as I advanced I
+called, "Don't be frightened. This is merely a warning!"
+
+The poor soul must have been dreaming, for when I touched her door she
+screamed, and as I opened it and held the lamp over my head, I could see
+the two little creatures clinging to their mother, who on her knees
+begged, "Take me, but spare my babies!"
+
+I had some difficulty in reassuring her, but finally succeeded, and left
+her to go below to the hospital.
+
+At the first alarm, the women who were sleeping there had fled in
+terror, and when assured that all were gone, for safety's sake I went up
+into the vestibule and standing at the foot of' the stairs, called, "All
+out!  All out!  I'm closing up and leaving!"
+
+No one answering, I judged that my summons had been obeyed, and so
+hurried back to my own room to fetch jewels, kodak and pets.  On my way
+down I opened H.'s wardrobe and grabbed several overcoats, confident
+that the boys would forget theirs and need them.
+
+In the courtyard I found Julie and her family already perched on the
+hay-cart, where Yvonne had been hoisted and lay moaning, well covered in
+a blanket.  Both horses were hitched and my servants waiting orders.
+Beside ours, other big drays were being prepared for flight, yet there
+was no confusion--no loud talking--no lamenting.  I then told the boys
+to hurry to the farm yard and open all the gates so that the poultry and
+cows could have free access to the entire estate, which is closed in by
+a wall.  I was thus certain that though they might feel hungry they,
+would not die for want of food or water during the short time I intended
+to be gone.
+
+This done, I went to the kitchen where I found Nini, who had obeyed
+orders not to move but who had presence of mind enough to lay out bread
+and jam and wine for the famished youth who had brought the message.
+
+In the lamplight I caught sight of my road maps on the refectory wall,
+and setting my jewel box on the table I began unpinning and carefully
+folding them and put them in the pocket of my motor coat.  Almost at the
+same instant, the lamp flickered and Leon came in to say that all the
+dogs were found save the beagle hound and three fox terrier puppies,
+who, frightened by the bell and the commotion, had hidden in the hay
+lofts.  We went out, and I called and whistled in vain--none of them
+appeared.
+
+All this had taken more time than I expected.  The wagons full of
+refugees had disappeared, and we were alone.
+
+"_En route!_" I called, climbing into the _charette_, a big lump rising
+in my throat.
+
+"_En route!_" called George.
+
+Once again I counted our party to be sure all were there, and then
+slowly the heavy-laden hay-cart pulled out of the courtyard onto the
+high road.
+
+The first ten steps that my horse took he limped so painfully that my
+heart sank in my boots.
+
+What nonsense, this departure!  The poor beast would break down and we'd
+have to shoot him by the wayside, and other similar cheerful thoughts
+fled through my brain as we jogged up the narrow village street.
+
+In front of the town hall I halted, first of all to rest my steed,
+secondly to await George and Leon, who had remained behind to shut the
+entrance doors and bolt the gate, and finally because I was astonished
+to see all the windows illuminated.
+
+I Jumped down and approaching one of the panes looked through and saw
+the entire municipal council seated in a semi-circle, their faces grave
+with anxiety. Presently the boys, accompanied by H.'s messenger, rode up
+on their bicycles and handed me the keys.  I entered the room where Mr.
+Duguey, the schoolmaster and town clerk, greeted me.
+
+"Gentlemen, I've come to give you the keys to my estate.  I've received
+a message from my husband begging me to leave at once."
+
+"Then make haste, Madame, while there is still time.  We are just about
+to beat the call to arms and warn the population that those who hope to
+escape must leave at once.  Though we have no official orders to do this
+we have taken it on ourselves, for we now know for certain that the
+Uhlans have surrounded the village and are awaiting daylight to take
+possession.  They are probably bivouacking on the heights in your park."
+
+Then the old peasant woman had not lied!  Those were really Uhlans she
+had seen in the _bois de la Mazure_.  Ye gods, and here I was trying to
+get away with a lame horse!  Thank heaven, the Marne was not far!  I
+would cross it and then await developments.
+
+The clock in the little church struck two and an owl hooted mournfully
+in the belfry as silently our cortege plodded up the steep incline. When
+we reached the summit I could not resist turning around and casting a
+long affectionate glance on my lovely home-shining like a fairy palace
+in its setting of wonderful trees.  Who could tell?  I might never see
+it again!
+
+George, too, must have been penetrated with the same sentiment, for he
+rode up close to the cart and grasping the mud guard, turned on his
+saddle and wistfully shaking his bead, gave vent to his feelings by the
+following very inelegant but extremely expressive ejaculation:
+
+"_Quels cochons!  vous chasser d'une propriete parcille!_"
+
+A long shiver of emotion crept down my spine, and though it was but the
+second of September I instinctively drew the fur collar of my coat
+closer about my throat.
+
+In front of me I could bear the wheels of our heavy-laden hay-cart
+creaking as the big farm horse plodded on.  Its occupants were silent,
+and thanks to the moon and the lantern which hung up high behind, I
+could see Julie and Madame Guix nodding with sleep.
+
+My own poor beast limped on and besides thinking of all that I had left
+undone at the chateau and planning how and where we could go, I had the
+constant vision of his silent suffering in front of me.  At every little
+incline I would get down and throwing the reins over the neck of Betsy,
+my bull dog, who occupied the seat beside me, I would give Cesar his
+head and take my place with the boys behind.  He seemed to be grateful.
+
+Let it be said, however, that as our journey advanced the hoof, at first
+so tender from much poulticing, became firmer and firmer, and instead of
+increasing, the lameness rather grew less.
+
+We crossed our little market town of Charly amid dead silence.  Not a
+light in a single window, not a sound anywhere.  We seemed to be the
+only souls astir, and the foolhardiness of this midnight departure when
+everyone else was tucked up snug in his bed, angered me.  I was seized
+with a mad desire to turn about and go home.
+
+Just then George asked me which direction I intended taking, and
+remembering H.'s imperative "Go south," we turned sharp and headed for
+the first bridge across the Marne.
+
+High in front of me rose the dark wooded hills of Pavant, descending
+abruptly to that narrow strip of fertile plain which borders the river
+on both sides, but now half-veiled in a heavy blue mist.  Below me the
+swift current sped onward like a silver arrow, and before so impressive
+a spectacle I could not help thinking how meager is the art of the scene
+painter and dramatist which tries to depict a real battlefield.  For
+battlefield I felt this was, and my overstrained nerves no longer
+holding my imagination in check, I could already see human forms
+writhing in agony, and hear the moaning of souls on the brink of
+Eternity. As though to vivify this hallucination, the dying moon
+suddenly plunged behind a cloud, lighting the landscape but by strange
+lugubrious streaks, and in the distance behind us a long low rumble
+warned me that my dream might soon be a terrible reality.
+
+The Marne crossed, a weight was lifted from my shoulders, and settling
+back against the pile of blankets in my rig, I let the horse follow his
+own sweet will and we started to zig-zag up a steep incline.  At the end
+of five minutes' time I was so benumbed by the cold that sleep was
+impossible, so I left my seat and joined the others who, all save
+Yvonne, had been obliged to descend to relieve their horse.  What a
+climb that was--seven long kilometers from right to left, winding around
+that hill, as about a mountain, ever and again finding ourselves on a
+narrow ledge overlooking the valley.  The fog had spread until literally
+choked up between the bills and I could hardly persuade myself that it
+was not the sea that rolled below me.  Even the signal lamps on the
+distant railway line rose out of the labyrinth like a lighthouse in
+mid-ocean, making the illusion complete.
+
+Dawn was breaking as we reached the summit and pausing for a moment's
+breath, we could see people with bundles hurrying from cottages and farm
+yards, while the fields seemed dotted with horses and carts that sprang
+out of the semi-darkness like specters, following one another to the
+highway.  In less than no time the long caravan had re-formed and was
+again under way.
+
+We brought up the rear, preceded by five hundred snow-white oxen.  There
+was no way of' advancing faster than the _cortege_.  It was stay in line
+or lose your place, and as the sun rose over the plains, I was so
+impressed by the magnificence of our procession that I forgot the real
+cause of our flight and never for an instant realized that I now formed
+an intimate part of that column which but a few hours since inspired me
+with such genuine pity.
+
+As we passed through a small agglomeration of houses that one might
+hardly call a village, I recognized several familiar faces on the
+doorsteps, and presently comprehended why Charly was so dark and silent
+the night before.  It was empty--evacuated--and the greater part of its
+inhabitants were here on the roadside, preparing to continue their
+route.
+
+Where were we going?  I think none of us had a very definite idea.  We
+were following in line on the only road that crossed this wonderfully
+fertile country. The monotony of the landscape, the warmth of the sun,
+added to the gentle swing of my cart calmed my nerves and I fell back
+into a heavy sleep.
+
+When I opened my eyes I could hear water running over a dam, and see
+below me and but a very short distance away, a river flowing through a
+valley.  Someone said it was the Petit Morin; another announced that we
+had come seventeen kilometers and a third proffered that it was 6:30 A.
+M.--time for breakfast.  We ought not to attack the opposite hill on
+empty stomachs.
+
+Accordingly we crossed the Petit Morin and broke ranks in front of two
+little cottages that bordered the river at the entrance of an electric
+power house.  At the same time, a small covered gig halted beside our
+big cart and from it descended the mother of the two little girls she
+who had so much gold.
+
+Did I mind if she followed in our wake?
+
+Of course not.
+
+She was still as timid and frightened as the night before, and it didn't
+take much questioning to learn that she had never had a pair of reins in
+her hands before in her life.
+
+The boys took all the horses down to the river and carefully bathed
+their knees and legs.  In the meantime, coffee had been found and
+ground, someone had scurried about and found a house where milk could be
+had, and on an iron tripod that I had sense enough to bring along, water
+was set to boiling.
+
+It was very amusing that first picnic breakfast, and my! what appetites
+we had. The summer lodgers in one of the cottages gazed upon us in
+amazement--all save one little girl who, so it seems, had had a
+presentiment that some ill would befall her and for two days had not
+ceased weeping.
+
+The meal over, each one went to my cart and taking possession of a
+blanket and pillow, rolled up in it and went fast asleep in the
+brilliant sunshine.  How we blessed those warm, penetrating rays, for we
+had suffered much from the damp cold all night.
+
+Left alone, I overhauled my wagon and made the discovery that my jewel
+box was missing.  That did not alarm me much, for I was confident that I
+had left it on the refectory table, and would find it--like my silver
+chests--just where I had left them.
+
+My road map showed us to be at La Tretoire, midway between Charly and
+Rebais, but as there were no provisions to be had in so small a place, I
+decided to push on to the township where we might be able to get
+lodgings.  This, however, must be done before noon, or we would be
+obliged to sleep out of doors again, for it would be impossible to
+travel through the heat of the day.  Accordingly, at half past eight, I
+roused the boys and we started up the hill, bag and baggage.
+
+It was much the same kind of scene as at Pavant, only we were less
+excited and far more exhausted than at the outset of our trip.  Each one
+stalked on, gritting his teeth and wiping the big beads of perspiration
+from his brow.  By ten we reached the top and calling George, who had
+been walking beside the leader since we left home, I told him to take my
+place in the _charette_ and I would mount my bicycle.
+
+Leaving orders to follow the straight road to Rebais, I pushed on ahead,
+promising to do my best, and an hour later found myself on the outskirts
+of the little town--very weary and almost overcome by the heat.  In the
+hurry of my departure from Villiers I had wrapped a scarlet chiffon
+scarf about my head, never thinking that a hat would be a very useful
+article in the daytime.  For sixty minutes, then, as I had pedaled along
+that endless road, the sun had beaten down upon my head and shoulders,
+and when I came upon a public pump, I dropped down in the grass beside
+it, after wringing out my handkerchief in its refreshing water and
+bathing my burning face and arms.
+
+When I finally made my entrance into Rebais, I found that thousands of
+other persons had probably had the same idea as I and it took but little
+time to discover that all rooms, whether private or public, were
+occupied.  The place was overflowing with refugees.  The line outside
+the baker's shop warned me that I had a dozen hungry mouths dependent
+upon me and yesterday's supply of bread was well nigh exhausted, let
+alone being stale.  I took my place among the others and stood for a
+good hour waiting for the second ovenful to finish baking.
+
+Certainly no greasy pig at a county fair was ever more difficult to
+manage than that long nine-pound loaf of red hot bread.  There was no
+way of handling it--it burned everything it touched.  No sooner did I
+put it under one arm than I was obliged to change it to the other post
+haste.  Add to this the fact that I had not ridden a bicycle since a
+child, and realize that whether walking or riding the bread was equally
+hot and equally cumbersome.  It was too long to fit into the handlebars,
+besides how could I hold it there?  Too soft to be tied with string that
+I might buy.  At one moment I thought seriously of picking up my skirt
+and carrying the bread as peasant women do grass and fodder, but alas, a
+1914 skirt was too narrow to permit this. At length when almost
+disheartened and I had stood my loaf against the side of a house to
+cool, I recognized a familiar voice back of me, and George appeared on
+his wheel to announce that my party had camped in a young orchard two
+miles outside of Rebais, neither man nor beast being capable of going
+any farther.  We clapped our loaf into an overcoat that was strapped to
+the back of his machine, and swinging it between us, soon joined the
+others.
+
+Our noonday repast was composed of cold bam and fried potatoes.  I think
+I never ate better, though I must confess that the latter were stolen
+from a neighboring field.  By two o'clock a dozen weary inhabitants of
+Villiers were stretched out on their rugs and peacefully dreaming!  We
+had decided to rest before determining what to do for the night.
+
+I was awakened by a stiff feeling in my neck, and opened my eyes to find
+that the sun was rapidly disappearing in the west.  I had slept soundly
+four hours and was much refreshed, though the bumps in the ground had
+bruised me, and I could hardly move my head.
+
+Yvonne had stood the journey so far very well though unable as yet to
+walk, but as the cool of the evening came on I began to worry lest a
+night out of doors set her screaming with pain.  So as I laced my boots,
+I decided to go back to Rebais and make another desperate attempt to
+lodge her at least.
+
+"Did Madame see Maitre Baudoin this morning," asked Leon, to whom I
+imparted my plans.
+
+I gasped!  What a fool I was!  My mind was so upset that I had forgotten
+that my own notary was a prominent personality in Rebais.
+
+A quarter of an hour later I turned into the public square and beheld
+Maitre Baudoin and his wife standing on the doorstep watching the exodus
+of numerous refugees.
+
+"Madame Huard!" they exclaimed.  "You?  What on earth has happened?"
+
+I explained in a few words.
+
+"Why, come right in.  We were just going to sit down to dinner."
+
+I said I was not alone, and must first look after the others.  Without
+waiting a second, Maitre Baudoin crossed over to the town hall and soon
+returned with a key in his hand.
+
+"Here, here's the key to a bakery--there are rooms above.  Your people
+can lodge there and you come in with us.  All this will be over in a day
+or so; the news is good to-day.  The Germans will never reach the
+Marne!"
+
+I went and fetched our delighted caravan, and after safely depositing
+them in their new residence, I was crossing the main street to join my
+friends, when a big military auto whisked into the middle of the square
+and halted.  Ten seconds later it was followed by a dozen others, and by
+the time I had reached the Baudoins' the place was literally lined with
+motors, containing officers and orderlies.  We were just sitting down
+when some one pounded on the door and a deep authoritative voice called
+out, "You're to lodge a general and two officers!"  And we could hear
+the man hastily chalking the names on the door.
+
+Madame Baudoin looked from me to her husband, her eyes wide open with
+astonishment.  The meal was forgotten and we hurried out into the
+twilight to seek news.  The _Etat Major_ of a cavalry division was to
+bivouac at Rebais, would be leaving at midnight.
+
+My friends understood, and they who had not as yet seen a soldier since
+the war began, realized for the first time that they were now in the
+midst of the retreating army.  I begged them to make ready for flight
+and they hurried homewards while I returned to the bakery to hold
+council.
+
+As I reached the door, someone touched me on the shoulder and an
+officer, pointing to the Red Cross armlet I was wearing, said:
+
+"Go to the hospital at once.  We need your services.  Wounded."
+
+"Very well, sir," I replied, and stepped inside.
+
+"Madame Guix!  Madame Guix!" I called in the stairway from the shop.
+
+The others came clattering down all excitement, saying that Madame Guix
+had been recognized by her uniform and sent flying to the hospital.
+
+Just then a shadow barred the entrance door and turning I saw an army
+chauffeur standing there.
+
+"A piece of bread for God's sake," he begged.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, I'm nearly dead of hunger.  We've had no time to cook our food,
+and bread has been lacking for two days."
+
+I looked about me--the bread boxes were empty.  I had no right to do so,
+but I opened all the cupboards.  The least I could do was pay, if the
+bakers appeared. I found a stale loaf and chopped it in four with the
+big knife near the counter. The way that poor fellow bit into it brought
+tears to my eyes.
+
+"Wait a minute," I said as he turned away, and I rushed out to the court
+where my cart was standing.  In a moment I was back with a slice of ham
+and some sweet chocolate and Julie came up with a glass of water.
+
+I was about to ask questions when another form appeared, followed by
+still another.
+
+"Bread--oh, for heaven's sake, bread!" they implored.  Apparently there
+was no reason why I should not go on with my new trade until all the
+hungry chauffeurs in the army were satisfied.  But remembering the
+wounded, I turned over my job to Julie, with orders to deal out the
+bread as long as it lasted and to go lightly with the chocolate, as my
+provision was not endless.
+
+What a different aspect the main square presented to that of an hour
+before! Motors were lined up four deep on all sides, and I was obliged
+to elbow my way through the crowds of gapers, refugees, and officers
+that thronged the street.
+
+"Have you come for the wounded?" questioned a white-capped sister as I
+closed the convent door and strode up the steps.
+
+"Yes, sister."
+
+"Heaven be praised!  Come this way, quickly.  Your nurse is here, but
+cannot suffice alone.  We're of no use--there are only five of us to
+look after the almshouse, and a hundred refugees.  We know nothing of
+surgery or bandaging."
+
+All this was said sweetly and quietly as we hurried down a long
+corridor.  In the middle of a big, well-lighted room stood Madame Guix
+bandaging the arm of a fine looking fellow, who shut his eyes and grated
+his teeth as she worked.  On a half-dozen chairs sat as many men, some
+holding their heads in their hands, some doubled in two, others
+clenching their fists in agony.  Not a murmur escaped them. The floor in
+several places was stained with great red patches.
+
+"Quick, Madame Huard.  We must stop the hemorrhages at all costs.  The
+wounds are not bad, since the men have come on foot, but one never can
+tell with this heat."
+
+A sister tied a white apron around me and in a second I had washed my
+hands and begun.  The first shirt I split, my heart leapt to my lips.  I
+was neither a novice nor a coward, but the sight of human blood flowing
+so generously and given so ungrudgingly, gave me a queer feeling in my
+throat.  A second later that had all passed over and as I worked I
+questioned the young fellows as to home and family and finally at what
+place they had been wounded.  Some did not know, others named unfamiliar
+corners, but La Tretoire startled me.  Our morning halt!  Then the
+invaders had crossed the Marne?  For these were not wounds from
+exploding shell but Mauser bullets and pistol shots!
+
+Meanwhile the sisters brought iron beds and soft mattresses into the
+next room, and each boy in turn was put to rest.  Fortunately there was
+nothing very serious, for we had no doctor and knew not where to find
+one.  When we reached our last patient he was so limp that we feared he
+would faint.  Imagine, if you can, what it is to cut away a stout pair
+of trooper's boots, and undress an almost helpless man whose clothes are
+fairly glued to the skin with blood, dirt and perspiration.
+
+"Hold the ammonia closer to his nose," said Madame Guix, tugging at a
+wire that served as boot lace.
+
+"I'm afraid he's exhausted.  There he goes--" I had just time to catch
+the body as it slid from the chair.
+
+Madame Guix grasped his wrist.
+
+"His pulse is good.  Hold fast till I get my needle."
+
+The boy's lips parted and a familiar sound filled the room.
+
+"He's not fainted!" I gasped.  "He's asleep!  Snoring!"
+
+Poor little fellow, a bullet in the shoulder and one in the shin, and
+yet fatigue had overcome the pain!  When we finally had to wake him, he
+apologized so nicely for the trouble he had given us, and sighed with
+delight when he touched the cool linen sheets.
+
+"You must have found me a pretty mess.  I haven't been out of my saddle
+for three weeks, and we've been fighting every minute since we left
+Charleroi."
+
+Our patients all asleep, Madame Guix and I sought a moment's rest in the
+open. A door in the corridor led out into a lovely old-world garden,
+surrounded on four sides by a delicately plastered cloister. The harvest
+moon shone down, covering everything with a silver sheen, and such quiet
+and calm reigned that it was almost impossible to believe that we were
+not visitors to some famous landscape, leisurely enjoying a long-planned
+trip.
+
+We were given no time to dream, however, for hasty footsteps in the
+corridor and the appearance of a white-robed sister carrying a gun, told
+us that our task was not yet finished.
+
+On a bench in the cloister, his head buried in one arm, the other tied
+up in an impromptu sling, we found a blue-coated soldier.  He was the
+image of despair, and though we gently questioned him, he only shook his
+head from side to side without answering.  Finally I sat down on the
+bench beside him and gently stroking his well arm, pleaded that he would
+tell us his trouble so that we might help him.  He drew his head up with
+a jerk, and turning on me with an almost furious look in his big black
+eyes, he snapped, "Are you married?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then you know what it is.  My God, my wife and babies, shut up in
+Valenciennes. It isn't this that's killing me," he continued, slapping
+his bandaged arm. "It's only a flesh wound in the shoulder.  But it's
+the other--the other thoughts.  I've seen them at their work, the pack
+of cursed cowards! but if they ever touch my wife!  Perhaps they have,
+the dirty blackguards, and I'm not there to defend her. Curse them all!"
+
+And he beat his fist on his knees in rage.  Then anger, and agony having
+reached paroxysm, his lips trembled, his mouth twitched, and brusquely
+throwing his arm around my neck, he buried his head on my shoulder and
+burst into tears.
+
+The first instant of surprise over, it would have been stupid to be
+offended. The circumstances were such that it was impossible not to be
+moved.
+
+I had never seen a man weep before; I never want to again.  For a full
+quarter-hour he sobbed like a child--this great sturdy fellow of
+thirty-five, and through the mist in my eyes I could see that my
+companion had turned her back on us and was fumbling for her
+handkerchief in her pocket.
+
+Then little by little the choking sound disappeared, his shoulders
+ceased to heave and shake, and a moment later our soldier lifted his
+head and blubbered an apology.
+
+"Forgive me--you've done me so much good.  I know I'm a fool, but it had
+to come--I just couldn't stand it another minute--" and other similar
+phrases, which we nipped in the bud by asking if he would like a cup of
+hot soup, or come into the dispensary when we could bandage his wound.
+
+"Anywhere where it's light.  I want you to see her picture--she'd think
+you're great."
+
+And so before he would let us touch his wound, we had to feel in his
+breast pocket and draw forth a wallet from which he produced the
+cherished photographs.
+
+At length we completed his bandaging and I left Madame Guix to add the
+finishing touches and went to the kitchen where Soeur Laurent was
+standing over a huge range, ladling soup from two immense copper
+boilers.  There were men, women and children holding out cups and mugs,
+a half-dozen dusty cavalrymen were skinning two rabbits in one corner,
+and as many other soldiers were peeling vegetables which they threw into
+another pot full of boiling water.
+
+This was no time to ask permission.  The poor sister was already half
+distracted by the demands of the famished refugees and combatants, so
+taking a ladle from the wall, I dipped into the pot and strained some
+bouillon into a few cups that I found in a cupboard.  I intended giving
+this to our patients should they wake and call for drink, and I was just
+lifting my tray to go when a loud thumping on the front door made me set
+it down in haste.
+
+I looked at Soeur Laurent, who was preparing to answer the summons, much
+to the dismay of the soldiers.
+
+"I'll go," I called, and hurried out into the vestibule and down the
+wide white marble steps.  As I threw back the huge oak door someone
+brushed past me, calling "Two men and a stretcher," and there in the
+brilliant moonlight I beheld the most ghastly spectacle I had as yet
+witnessed.
+
+Thrown forward in his saddle, his arms clasped about the horse's neck,
+was the form of a dragoon.  The animal that bore him had once been
+white, but was now so splashed with blood that it was impossible to tell
+what color was his originally. Both man and beast were wounded, badly
+wounded, and how they had come here was a miracle.
+
+The alarm had reached the kitchen and hurrying forward, the troopers
+soon lifted their comrade from his mount and carried him in.  A lance
+had pierced his thigh and the horse's flank, which meant that it had
+been a hand-to-hand fight, and the blood still flowing freely, proved
+that the combat was not an hour old!
+
+Madame Guix and I were doing our best when the white face's of my notary
+and his wife appeared at the door of the dispensary.
+
+"Madame Huard, we've come to tell you you must go!"
+
+"Go?"
+
+"Yes, it is two o'clock and the general who was quartered on us slept
+four hours and has gone.  When leaving he warned us that the battle
+would be on here by morning.  We who have a motor are safe, but you who
+have but horses must flee at once!"
+
+"But I can't leave the wounded!"
+
+"But you must.  The worst that can happen to them is to be made
+prisoners--more than likely they will be carried away by one of our
+emergency ambulances.  But think of all the young people who look to you
+for protection!  You cannot desert them; you must go!"
+
+I looked at Madame Guix.
+
+"Go, Madame Huard, you must.  You owe it to the others.  None of you
+need me and I can be of service here, so if the sisters will keep me
+I'll stay."
+
+Reluctantly I shook hands with my nurse, and hastened down the steps.
+Maitre Baudoin and his wife took leave of me at the comer, and I elbowed
+my way between the horses of a cavalry regiment, whose riders were sound
+asleep on the hard cobble pavement beside them.
+
+On the further side of the square noisy rolling sounds told me that the
+artillery was crossing the city, and mounting a doorstep, I beheld
+battery after battery of the famous Seventy-fives clattering out of
+sight over the road we had come by in the morning.  When I got down, I
+found my way blocked by the 18th Chasseurs a cheval, who, four abreast
+and lance in hand, were setting out for battle.  They were anything but
+a beaten army--most of them were softly humming some popular song, while
+others were calmly filling their pipes and still others catching forty
+winks in their saddles.  One or two I noticed wore no caps, and their
+heads were bound in blood-stained bandages.
+
+There seemed to be no end to them and I was beginning to get anxious
+about our departure.  Plunging my hand into my coat pocket I touched a
+piece of stale bread and a bit of chocolate, forgotten since the day
+before, and hunger having seized me, I began gnawing my crust.
+
+"Say, sister, give us a bite," called one young chap from his horse as
+he passed.
+
+"Are you really hungry?"
+
+"You bet!"
+
+Without hesitating I offered my crust.
+
+"Hurray for the girl with the red scarf!" called another.  "Come on with
+us. We'll make room for you."  "We need a mascot," and other similar
+jolly phrases passed from mouth to mouth as gaily the flower of young
+France went forth to death.
+
+When finally they had disappeared I rushed across the street to find
+George and Emile (H.'s messenger) engaged in a conversation with the
+driver of an army supply wagon drawn up within an inch of the bakery
+steps.  Beside him on the seat sat a huge dragoon, his bead done up in a
+blood-stained towel.
+
+"We're lost," he was explaining.  "Been cut off from our regiment for
+three days."
+
+"Poor regiment!" I murmured, and calling the boys, I told Emile to wake
+the others and come down quickly to help hitch the horses.  He was only
+gone a second, and I could hear him calling.
+
+"_Allons, allons, Madame part de suite._"
+
+Then he reappeared carrying a lantern.
+
+"Where the devil did you get the light?" growled George.
+
+"In their room."
+
+"Then how in the name of heaven do you expect those people to dress and
+roll up their belongings in the dark?" I scolded.  "Here, George, go
+back with the lantern."
+
+George obeyed orders, and Emile, rather sheepishly, skulked away in the
+direction of the stable yard.  I heard a sliding door pushed open,
+followed by a long low whistle, and a second later Emile reappeared, his
+eyes popping out of his head with astonishment.
+
+"There's a horse missing--been stolen!"
+
+"No!  Impossible!"
+
+"The stable's empty!"
+
+I hurried to the spot, and found that he told the truth.
+
+"George!" I called, as my boy came around the corner of the house.
+"George, Cesar's been stolen!"
+
+"Who says so, Madame?"
+
+"Emile--the stable's empty."
+
+Calmly and easily George walked over towards Emile, and taking him by
+the collar, shook him violently.  "Look here, you!  What do you mean by
+frightening Madame like that?  Are you her servant?  No!  Well, then,
+mind your own business!"
+
+And opening a second door alongside the other, we found Cesar and
+Sausage munching their oats.
+
+It was no easy job harnessing in the dark and backing the heavy carts
+out of the narrow yard into the still narrower street.  But in ten
+minutes our caravan was again en route.
+
+We crossed the public square, now almost empty of men, horses and
+motors, and took the only road leading south.
+
+The first gray streaks of daylight lighted the east as we turned the
+corner, and we were obliged to pull suddenly to the extreme right, for a
+heavy Parisian motorbus swung round the bend and rushed on past us.
+
+Straining my eyes, I perceived that there was not one but hundreds of
+them, following each other at top speed down the hill.  There were armed
+men standing inside them, armed men on the platforms and steps, armed
+men even on the roofs and it was indeed a strange sight to see
+_Madeleine-Bastille_ and the _Galeries Lafayette_ out here in the open
+country, jammed full of grim infantrymen preparing for the fray.
+
+Suddenly a tremendous explosion rent the air and shook the ground so
+that the horses stopped and trembled.
+
+"There goes the bridge at Nogent!" cried George.  "No--the power house
+at La Tretoire!"
+
+"_En avant!_" I called, knowing that the signal for battle had now been
+given.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+We had gone about two miles when the sight of my greyhounds tied behind
+the farm cart made me think of my little Boston bull.
+
+"Where's Betsy?" I asked of those perched on the hay.
+
+Julie, Nini and Yvonne grew white.
+
+It took little time to discover that no one had seen her that morning.
+It was evident she had been forgotten--left to die tied to the brass
+rail inside an abandoned bakery, for it was there I had fastened her on
+arriving the night before.  Pedaling ahead till I reached Leon who led
+the procession--
+
+"Keep straight on this road.  If it should fork, take the direction of
+the La Ferte Gauche.  I'll be back in no time."  Then turning about, I
+started a parallel race with an autobus, much to the delight of the
+occupants.
+
+Useless to say that my adversary gained on the up-grade, turned the
+corner, was gone, and was followed by another long before I reached the
+public square, breathless and full of anxiety.
+
+Rebais was empty--not even a tardy refugee straggled by the wayside, and
+before I reached the bakery I could hear the plaintive howls of my
+little brute.
+
+What a joyful welcome I received.  What hilarious waggings of that
+little screw tail!  But, there was no time to be lost, for the problem
+now was how Betsy was to catch up with the procession.  She was too
+heavy for me to carry under my arm, and too old and puffy to be expected
+to follow a bicycle--but it was one or the other, and tying her leash to
+the handle bar, off we started, after an encouraging pat on the head and
+the promise of a lump of sugar if she would only "be a good girl."
+
+On we sped, past the huge lumbering motorbuses, which terrified the poor
+animal who tugged vehemently at her string, at times almost choking
+herself.
+
+In half an hour we had caught up with the caravan, and as I lifted poor
+exhausted Betsy on to the hay, Nini roused from her dozing and pointing
+to the east, said, "Oh, look! what a big fire!"
+
+"You silly child, it's the sun rising; go back to sleep," I said,
+terrified by what I had seen, but unwilling to alarm the others
+uselessly.
+
+At the skyline of an immense plain that stretched on our left, huge
+columns of flame burst heavenward, covered a moment later by dense black
+smoke. Fortunately, however, the sun peeped over the horizon almost
+instantly, thereby diminishing the intensity of the conflagration.  But
+Nini was not to be thus hoodwinked.
+
+"See," she continued, "what funny little fluffy clouds those are!"
+
+"Nini, if you don't go to sleep at once you'll have to get down and
+walk, and let one of the boys take your place.  They'll be only too glad
+to, I know."
+
+Nini obeyed instantly.  She had come away with but one pair of shoes (in
+spite of my admonition to take all the footwear she possessed) and that
+pair of shoes pinched.
+
+Funny little fluffy clouds indeed!  The shaking of the earth beneath my
+feet and a second of reflection told me, they were not clouds, before
+they would be directed westward was but shells--and how long it would be
+a question that chilled the blood in my veins.
+
+The town we were heading for--La Ferte Gauche--lay southeast.  Though I
+had no glass, it was evident that it was now under the enemies' fire,
+and we might just as well run our necks into a noose as keep on in that
+direction.  It was southwest--or nothing.
+
+Without offering any explanation I rode ahead and told Leon to follow
+me.  Then turning abruptly to the right, I took the first side path that
+was wide enough for our cart wheels, and in and out, up and down, we
+followed it for over an hour, until coasting down a steep incline, I
+found myself in the midst of a delightful little village, nestled
+between two hills on the border of a river.
+
+The shops were just opening and people were going about their work as if
+nothing unusual were happening.  They gazed in astonishment at this
+hatless bicyclist, who wore a Red Cross armlet, and when I went into the
+baker shop, I was filled with joy at the sight of all the crisp loaves
+lined up in their racks ready for delivery.
+
+Refugees?
+
+They hadn't seen any.  Someone had heard an unaccustomed movement of
+wagons during the night, that was all.
+
+A signpost, as I turned into the square, told me that I was at
+Jouy-sur-Morin, and a few moments later, I came upon a group of
+gentlemen in frock coats standing talking on an embankment below the
+church.  If it had been in the afternoon instead of five A. M., I should
+have thought this assembly perfectly in harmony with the landscape.  In
+fact they looked so much like H.'s caricatures of his provincial
+compatriots that I couldn't help smiling as I passed.  This mutational
+gathering of the municipal council was the only outward sign of anxiety
+to be found in this picturesque township.
+
+The arrival of our caravan produced quite a sensation among the early
+risers at Jouy, thought the enthusiasm for telling their story had
+somewhat subsided among my servants.  They were footsore, sleepy, and
+hungry.
+
+The gentlemen in frock coats were too busy in their own affairs to give
+us much attention, and I was about to leave when one of them called me
+over and asked a few questions.  Anxious to be off, I answered briefly.
+The man probably took me for a poor demented female; how could he think
+otherwise down here in his little valley, where not a sound of gun and
+shell had penetrated as yet?
+
+History will tell you how, a few hours later, Jouy-sur-Morin was the
+scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the Marne.
+
+At the dairy, my appearance aroused much curiosity, and when I brought
+out the money to pay for my milk, the woman held up her hand.  "No,
+never; I couldn't take pay from such forlorn creatures as you!"
+
+This unexpected pity brought the blood to my cheeks.  I was hot with
+indignation. Until now we had wanted for nothing, and with gold in my
+pocket charity was an insult.  I straightened my tie, looked at my dusty
+boots, and realized for the first time that my face was drawn with
+fatigue and anxiety--that my hair, though tidy, was sadly out of curl.
+Leaving my change on the table, I turned on my heel and departed.
+Explanations were tiresome and useless.
+
+We crossed a railroad track and then the river--the Grand Morin--and in
+a grass-grown granite quarry halted for breakfast, sheltering ourselves
+from the blistering sun in the shade of the immense rocks.
+
+The boys took the horses down to the river to drink and bathe, and a few
+seconds later came back for towels and soap.
+
+What a happy idea!  A quarter of a mile higher up the bank I found a
+well secluded spot, and plunged into the refreshing current.  It was the
+first time I had had my boots off since leaving Villiers.  Thanks to a
+small pocket glass and a fresh white blouse, I made myself quite
+presentable and as I approached our camp, the appetizing odor of fresh
+fried country sausage tickled my nostrils and made me glad to be alive.
+
+Hot coffee accompanied by buttered toast had been prepared by the girls
+during my absence, and we needed no coaxing to persuade us to do the
+meal justice. Already accustomed to this gypsy life, George's dry humor
+began to show itself, and now and again the silence would be broken by
+peals of laughter, caused by some quaint joke.
+
+We lingered lovingly over the repast, and I was trying to decide whether
+or not we would push on at once or wait and rest until afternoon when
+suddenly my question was answered for me.
+
+While we had been clearing up and loading the carts a long train of
+freight cars had noiselessly glided down the rails opposite our quarry,
+and had halted without pulling into the station.  There was nothing
+abnormal in this, and from where we sat a trifle below the level of the
+track, we could see but little of what was going on on the opposite
+platform.  Standing upright in my charette, carefully folding a blanket
+so as to take up the least possible space, my eye was attracted by
+several red specks scurrying up a steep incline.  A moment afterwards my
+gaze drifted downward and I realized that from the innocent looking
+freight cars hundreds of armed soldiers were disembarking and spreading
+themselves out, _en tirailleurs_, preparing an attack in ambush.  I had
+seen this same pretty feat successfully accomplished at the _grand
+manauvres_, the year before, but it was another thing entirely when one
+grasped that these men were in dead earnest.
+
+Just then a buggy, containing a disheveled woman and collarless man,
+galloped over the crossing and sped westward.  The occupants, whom I
+hailed, did not deign a reply, but beckoning with their arms, enjoined
+me to follow them.
+
+"It's time to break camp," I said, "if we intend to reach the next town
+before it gets too hot."
+
+So off we started, preceded by a heavy delivery wagon, a _Familistere_
+from the north, which crossed the rails just as we were pulling onto the
+road.  It was a big covered affair, filled to overflowing with bedding
+and household utensils--and even the top was loaded with huge boxes and
+baskets of provisions.  Behind it walked, or rather trotted, three stout
+women and a man, the former half-crazed with heat and anxiety, mopping
+their brows and their tears as the _cortege_ advanced.
+
+An hour and a half of steady climbing quite exhausted them, and when we
+reached the level, the three graces collapsed by the roadside, still
+weeping copiously. I observed this as I approached, and presently saw
+their companion mounted on the high hind wheel of their wagon, gazing
+intently towards the east through a pair of field glasses.
+
+"What can you see?" I asked as the _charette_ passed by them.
+
+"Come and have a look.  It's worth while.  My wife and family are too
+frightened."
+
+I halted, and climbing up by the spokes reached the top, and steadying
+myself with my left hand, took the proffered glass with my right.
+
+From one extremity to the other of the wide plains, from which we were
+separated by the valley of the Grand Morin, those same long columns of
+dense black smoke rose lazily in the brilliant sunlight.  Into some
+determined spot the enemy was pouring a perfect rain of shot and shell,
+and the dust rising after each explosion formed a curtain that blotted
+out the rest of the landscape.  Below, the _Senegalais_ had disappeared
+in ambush, but now and again the distant clattering of the
+_mitrailleuse_ told us they were at their deadly work.  And to think,
+all this was happening on ground we had traveled over only a few hours
+since!  And I had been fool enough to go back to Rebais--alone to
+recover my dog!
+
+I shuddered as I got down.  What was the use of trying to hurry?  We
+couldn't go any faster than the horses, and if we overworked them now we
+would have to rest longer later on.  So, urging our poor old nags, we
+trudged along the sun-baked roads between the high grown wheat fields of
+the Brie country.
+
+Still another couple of hours and we had reached Choisy-en-Brie, found a
+stable for our animals, and we ourselves stretched out on our blankets
+beneath the friendly shadow of the big stone church.
+
+I had finished luncheon and was just dozing off when a motor horn roused
+me from my lethargy.  A second later I recognized Maitre Baudoin and his
+wife, the latter holding their four-year-old daughter on her knees, her
+grandmother sitting alone in the back seat which was piled high with
+important documents, and their maid strapped to the steps of the car.
+
+We set up a shout which stopped them.  "We stayed until a shell burst on
+the house next door, then we thought it was time to go,"' explained
+Maitre Baudoin.
+
+"What time did you leave Rebais?"
+
+"Forty minutes ago.  You'd better be moving, too."
+
+"Sorry, but I can't.  The horses must rest."
+
+"Well, don't wait too long. Adieu."
+
+"Adieu," and they were off.
+
+I returned to my blanket and again was just closing my eyes when the
+unexpected sound of Gregorian chant made me sit up.  Nearer and nearer
+it drew, louder and louder rose the priests' voices, and then a
+much-befringed and flower-laden hearse, preceded by the clergy and
+followed by the mourners (the men in evening dress and the women in
+their Sunday clothes), rounded the corner, passed in front of us, and
+halted before the main door of the church.
+
+I couldn't help smiling.  The incongruity of this pompous _enterrement
+de premiere classe, en musique_, when the city was imminently menaced by
+a German bombardment, bordered on the pathetic and the ridiculous.
+However, the family of the defunct did not think so, and their deceased
+parent was chanted to eternity with all the rites and ceremonies that
+his will had provided for.
+
+Personally I was delighted at the idea of going to sleep to the sound of
+the organ, which pierced the thick granite walls and almost drowned the
+rumble of the cannon, to which we had now become so accustomed that we
+had ceased to be alarmed.
+
+"_Des soldats!_" cried someone.
+
+In a second I was on my feet.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Two-on bicycles, going into the hotel opposite."
+
+I reached there as soon as they did.  Their story was brief.
+
+"We're the forerunners of a cavalry depot, being transferred to Rozoy
+from Montmirail.  It's getting too hot down there!  How far is it to
+Rozoy?"
+
+I pulled out my map.
+
+"Seventeen kilometres."
+
+"Oh, Lord!"
+
+And the poor fellows wiped the great beads of perspiration from their
+dusty necks and faces.
+
+"Bring up a bottle of wine.  I'll stand for the drinks," called a man
+from a corner of the cafe.
+
+"What regiment do you belong to?"
+
+"_L'Escadron du train._"
+
+My heart leapt with expectancy.
+
+"Do you know a man named H.?"
+
+"No."
+
+My disappointment was even greater than my joy.
+
+"How many horses are you taking to Rozoy?"
+
+"Two hundred and some."
+
+"At what time will they pass here?"
+
+"They're due in half an hour, if they don't get cornered by the Boches
+on the way. We had a close call ourselves."  And swallowing their
+glasses of white wine and water, they were on their bicycles and gone,
+before we could get any further details.
+
+I had now had enough experience to know that it was high time to take to
+the road if we didn't wish to be captured.  Yet it seemed unfair to go
+and leave some two-score innocent people praying for the soul of their
+dear departed to a long drawn-out musical accompaniment.  So while the
+boys were harnessing I entered the sanctuary and approaching the chancel
+by a side aisle, beckoned an altar boy and whispered in his ear words to
+the effect that the curate would better hurry his mass and thereby give
+his flock time to escape the invaders.
+
+I said this calmly, and hoped he would follow my example in delivering
+my message, but imagine if you can the effect produced by this
+frightened individual, who, lifting his hands in the air, cried out in
+terror, "_Vite, vite, Monsieur le Cure'! Voila' les Prussiens!_"
+
+I didn't wait to see what happened, but went out and joined my group,
+which was making ready to start.  How far advanced was mass when I
+entered the church I did not observe, but what I do know is that it
+finished abruptly after my warning, and the poor hearse horse never
+before galloped towards the cemetery of Choisy at such a pace nor in
+such an undignified manner.  As to the mourners, they fairly flew beside
+it, greatly diminished in number, the others scattering like chaff
+before the wind.
+
+The half-hour's interval allowed by the cyclists for the horses to
+arrive was far overlapped by the time we once again took the road, but
+the sound of the cannonade had gradually grown closer.
+
+Wearied by this constant changing of camp, I made up my mind to go far
+enough in this next move to be able to really rest for a day or so.
+Consulting my map, I discovered Jouyle-Chatel to be at what I judged a
+safe distance--nearly thirty kilometres and considerably south of Paris.
+The afternoon was still young, so we would have time to make the town
+before dark.  At any rate, I told George to accompany me and explained
+that he and I would ride ahead full speed, and arrange for beds and a
+dinner by the time the others should arrive.  They were instructed not
+to let the dark halt them, but to come on.  Secretly I hoped that this
+would be our last stretch and that we would be able to remain at Jouy
+until it was wise to start homeward.
+
+It was an uneventful trip from Choisy to Jouy.  The roads were
+excellent, though very undulating and the only incident that marked our
+journey was an intoxicated individual who jumped across our path and,
+putting his hand on my handle bar, demanded tearfully what I had done
+with his wife and children.
+
+I declared myself innocent in the matter, which angered him
+considerably.
+
+"Now I know you're a spy!  Get down--"  George did not give him time to
+finish the phrase, but with a well-measured blow, sent him sprawling in
+the brambled ditch and we beat a hasty retreat without looking back.
+
+It was night by the time we reached Jouy, and at the entrance of the
+city I enquired for the best hotel.
+
+"_Le Grand Turc_--but the proprietress is closing up, making ready to
+leave."
+
+"What!  Here?  You don't mean to say the scare has reached this place,
+too?"
+
+"Well, we've had so many refugees these days that the women got
+frightened and want to go."
+
+George and I parted company, he to see what he could find since the best
+hotel was denied us, and I, undaunted, started off to try to persuade
+the proprietress to let us in.
+
+After much rattling at the door handles and pounding on the shutters, an
+acrid female voice enjoined me to be gone.
+
+"I'm closing up and leaving."
+
+"Leaving?  What for?"
+
+"To escape the Germans!"
+
+"How foolish!  They'll never reach here.  I've just come from the Marne
+and expected to find board and lodgings for my staff until the war is
+over."
+
+That encouraged her and cracking the door, she put her head out.
+
+"I belong to the Red Cross.  Here's my badge and my _carte didentite_.
+Don't you think you could find room for me?"
+
+"Well, we're packing up, but we'll have to wait for our horses, which
+are at a farm seven miles from here.  The farmer said he'd come if there
+was any danger."
+
+"Well, you see there isn't or he'd be here by now."
+
+My hostess seemed convinced and opening the door a little wider, let me
+pass.
+
+"How many of you are there?"
+
+"Fourteen."
+
+"Good heavens!  Fourteen rooms?  Never!"
+
+"I don't ask that, my good woman.  If you can find a bed for me and
+happen to have a bay loft or covered shed, the others will be glad
+enough to sleep there. As to the meals, we have our own provisions and
+will cook outside.  It's a little late to-night, however, so if you
+could manage to give them a cup of hot soup and an omelet when they
+arrive, I'd make it worth your while."
+
+She consented to the compromise, and sent one of her daughters to
+prepare my room. I then dispatched George, whose bicycle bell I heard
+ringing in the street, to the city gate to await and conduct the
+remainder of our party.  In the hour that elapsed before their arrival I
+gained in the hostess's good graces by lancing a festered finger and
+bandaging her small daughter's skinned knee.
+
+When the others arrived, George, who had not been idle during his wait,
+told me that Jouy was almost empty of inhabitants, and that most of the
+people from Mery-sur-Marne, a village near Villiers, were lodging for
+the night on bales of hay in the school house and town hall.
+
+Our meal over, none of us needed persuading to retire and the idea of a
+bed lured me early to my room.
+
+Naturally a light sleeper, I was constantly awakened by the coming and
+going and the conversation of our proprietress, who kept on packing
+right through the night. Another time I was roused by a bell ringing up
+and down the street, which passed beneath my window, and a deep
+masculine voice that enjoined all the people from Mery to hurry to the
+town hall.  The wagons were leaving in a quarter of an hour.
+
+"Poor fools," thought I, and rolled over in my bed.
+
+As it grew light, I could gee the interminable stream of refugees
+passing up the road, and when I had dressed and hastened to the
+courtyard I found the others had already kindled a fire and tea was
+awaiting me.
+
+"At what time should we start, Madame?"
+
+"Start where?"
+
+"I haven't the slightest intention of going any farther.  Haven't you
+all had enough of this kind of traveling?"
+
+The reply was affirmative and unanimous!
+
+"The noise of the cannon is hardly audible this morning, which is a very
+encouraging sign, I'm sure, so we'll try to make ourselves comfortable
+until it's safe to go home."
+
+And leaving Julie in charge, I set off by myself, glad of a moment's
+solitude.
+
+In my wanderings I found the church door open, and entering, rejoiced in
+the peace that reigned within.  It calmed my anxiety and as I withdrew
+my thoughts were clearer, and the burden of my responsibility seemed
+lightened.
+
+On my way to the hotel I was accosted by a woman who, with a baby in her
+arms, was leading a cow behind her.
+
+"Don't you want some milk?"
+
+"I hardly think so."
+
+"Please take it.  You see, I've only saved my baby and my cow, and I
+have to milk the latter twice a day.  I can't carry all she gives, so I
+keep what's necessary and throw the rest away.  It seems like such a
+waste."
+
+I agreed with her, and directed her towards the hotel court.  She would
+take no remuneration and thanking me, hastened on her way.
+
+As I watched her go someone touched me on the arm and asked me if I
+would go to the town hall; there were two refugees who needed
+assistance.  There I found a very old couple, brother and sister, the
+eldest aged ninety-two, the other two years younger.  They were from
+Mery, had lodged in a private house in Jouy, and were so decrepit that
+they had not arisen in time to catch the wagons which bore away their
+fellow townsmen the night before.  That had so upset the old man that he
+had broken down and lay moaning on the straw, while the mild little
+woman explained that the being left behind was not what troubled her,
+but it was her purse and belongings that had been carried off in the
+carts.
+
+I comforted them as best I could, promising to send them hot milk and
+biscuits, and wondering what else I could do for them.  Any way they
+should not starve, as long as we remained in Jouy.
+
+Luncheon was well under way when I returned to the hotel.  In a pot,
+standing on an iron tripod in the middle of the paved court, a rabbit
+was gently stewing. In another, a fricassee of chicken smelled
+temptingly good.  The women and girls were peeling potatoes and onions,
+which were to cook in the sauce and a peal of laughter went up from the
+merry group when a few moments later George and Emile appeared, covered
+with flour and dough from head to foot, and each bearing a bottle of
+white wine under his arm.
+
+"What on earth have you boys been up to?"
+
+"Behold in us the city bakers!" said George with a wave of the hand and
+he and his companion struck an attitude which again drew forth much
+hilarity from the onlookers.
+
+"It's no joke--there wasn't a baker left in the place, so we found an
+old fellow who said he'd show us how, and the dough is now setting.  By
+three o'clock we'll have fresh bread, you see if we don't!"
+
+From the window the proprietress and her daughters watched our impromptu
+kitchen with interest.  We formed such an amusing group that, handing my
+kodak to Leon, I told him to catch us as I bent over to taste the sauce.
+
+Snap went the shutter!
+
+At that same instant a shriek rose from the interior of the hotel.
+Looking up I saw that the proprietress and her two daughters had
+disappeared.
+
+"_Au secours!  Au secours!_"
+
+The boys and I made a rush for the house.  As we entered the _grande
+sale_, we saw a man bearing a human form in his arms staggering through
+the door.  Through the blood and dust that smeared the unfortunate boy's
+clothing, I recognized the uniform of a chasseur.  Not even an emergency
+bandage stopped the stream that was flowing from his cheek.
+
+"Quick--a mattress!" I shouted.
+
+The proprietress stood as though nailed to the doorway leading to the
+kitchen.
+
+"Is he wounded?"
+
+"No matter--a mattress!"
+
+"But he might soil it--"
+
+"Then I'll pay for it--but for the love of heaven, be quick!"
+
+Just then the boy's head lurched forward and the blood poured from his
+mouth. Leon jumped to help the old man who was holding him, and I had
+just time to catch the proprietress as she swooned on the floor.
+
+"Put the boy on the billiard table and stuff this blanket under his
+head," I said, grabbing the article mentioned from the top of a bundle
+near by.  "Come in here!" I called to the two daughters who were
+blubbering in the next room, terrified at what they had seen.  "Come in
+here--lay her flat, loosen her clothes, and dash some cold water over
+her.  She's not dead and I've no time to bother with her."
+
+While others laid the wounded man out on the table, I rushed for my
+emergency case which I had fortunately thought to bring along.
+
+With a sharp pair of scissors, I cut away the bloody garments and with a
+little warm water washed my patient so I could see what was the matter.
+He was but half conscious, and his eyes rolled wildly and his hand
+grasped mine and wrung it in agony.
+
+I discovered a tiny cheek wound and was congratulating myself that
+perhaps the bullet had lodged in the flesh, when on turning his head
+gently to one side, I was almost nauseated by the terrible wound that
+greeted my eyes.
+
+Either a Mauser pistol or an explosive bullet fired at but short
+distance had entered the cheek and gouged its way through the lad's
+head, carrying away part of the ear and well--let us not go any further.
+
+"Is there a doctor in the place still?" I called to the cook who stood
+looking in at the door.  "Run and see if you can get him--for I'm
+incompetent here. Quick! It's life or death!"
+
+And while she was gone I stuffed cotton and iodine into the tremendous
+cavity, hoping to stop the hemorrhage.  As I bandaged, I questioned the
+man who had brought him.
+
+"Where did you pick him up?"
+
+"Amillis--a mile and a half from here.  The Uhlans fired into me, too,
+when they saw me help him.  Look at the sole of my shoe!  They're
+following close on behind."
+
+I stepped to the window.  "George and Leon!  Quick!  Drop everything.
+Hitch and get out of here like lightning!  I'll follow in this man's
+cart.  Hitch and I'll tell you where to go."
+
+Fricasseed chicken and rabbit stew were forgotten and I could hear my
+people running wildly about the court, obeying orders.
+
+The doctor appeared.  I explained.  "Shall I unbandage?"
+
+"Useless."
+
+"Then don't say so out loud, as he's not yet unconscious."
+
+The poor fellow gripped my hand as proof.  The physician blushed
+scarlet.
+
+"I'll give him an injection of ether and then you take him in your cart
+to the nearest hospital--it's Provins--twenty miles from here."
+
+He jabbed in the needle, and then handing it with a phial to me:
+"Here--take this. I'm clearing out.  Got a wife and baby to save.  Keep
+his heart going--there's a ghost of a chance.  Adieu!"
+
+I stood petrified.
+
+"Take him away, I'm closing up!  Take him away--" screamed the hostess,
+who had recovered from her swoon.
+
+I looked at the old man who had brought the boy.
+
+"Where are you going with your cart?"
+
+"To Coulommiers--to save my sister-in-law and her children."
+
+"Good God, man!  Can't you see that if this boy was wounded at Amillis
+your road to Coulommiers is cut off!"
+
+"It may not be."
+
+"There's no time to argue.  My wagons are full to overflowing.  Are you
+going to let this boy stay and be finished by the Germans, or are you
+going to let me put him in your cart and drive to a hospital?"
+
+"But Provins must be occupied by this time.  It's east of here."
+
+"I never had any intention of going there.  I'm heading for Melun."
+
+"Melun?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Good heavens!  That's seventy kilometers!  My poor sister-in-law! My
+horse!" wailed the old fellow.
+
+"Now then--one, two, three--" said I, gently patting my Browning which I
+had drawn from my outside pocket.  "Will you do it gracefully?  That's
+right.  Now stop your crying.  I'll release you as soon as I can find
+someone else to take me on.  The important thing is to get out of here
+and quick!  It may be too late now."
+
+The boys had fetched a mattress, had found pillows and a sheet,
+somewhere, and gently we laid the dying man on the old farm cart.
+
+"You boys take your bikes and go ahead.  Tell the refugees you meet to
+pull to the right and not encumber the whole road.  We're rushing a
+wounded man to the hospital.  When I think you've got the way clear I'll
+drive on full speed.  Tell our carts to head for Melun and keep on going
+till they get there.  I can't bother with them.  We'll meet at the first
+bridge over the Seine."
+
+They departed, and climbing in beside my patient, who writhed in agony,
+now lurching from one side, now rolling to the other, I tried to make
+him as comfortable as possible.  All the other carts had departed ere we
+got away, and my tearful driver kept on grumbling and lamenting.
+
+Two hundred yards from the hotel, where the road makes a sharp turn, we
+halted abruptly, for we had come upon a group composed of my boy George
+and three French chasseurs.  Two were on horseback, their naked swords
+glittering in the sunlight; the third on a bicycle--and all three, as
+well as George, were shrieking excitedly at a phlegmatic Tommy Atkins
+who, seated on a milestone, was calmly smoking his pipe.  Behind him,
+his horse was peacefully nibbling grass. At the sight of my armlet and
+the agitated white sheet in the wagon, the chasseurs approached in
+haste.
+
+"What have you got there?  Our comrade, Ballandreau?"
+
+"Yes."  (I had seen the boy's name in his military book.)
+
+"Is he dead?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Badly wounded?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Parlez-vous anglais?_" they fairly bawled, all three at once.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then, for God's sake, tell that blockhead sitting on the stone and
+whose horse has gone lame, to seize the bicycle of that peasant standing
+there, and follow us."
+
+I translated politely.
+
+"Why?" queried the Englishman, drawing on his pipe.
+
+"Why?" I demanded of the chasseurs.
+
+"Why?  Do you see that?" said one on a bicycle, wheeling around and
+pointing down the road behind us.  "Do you see that?  That's the Uhlans.
+The ones that got Ballandreau a half-hour ago, the ones that got my
+horse and the ones that will get us all if we stop here much longer."
+
+"The Uhlans!" I cried to Tommy, showing him the advancing forms of a
+half-dozen cavalrymen, whose black leather helmets shone in the sun a
+mile up the road.
+
+"There are seven of them--on patrol--seven hundred following!  Come, old
+fellow, it's now or never!"
+
+"And I--where shall I go?" I said, jumping into the cart, George
+following.
+
+"To the devil if you like, but quick!"
+
+The warning came none too soon.  We had been seen, and sharp, whizzing
+noises in the grass, and over our beads told us that our German pursuers
+had no intention of letting us get away.
+
+"Down on your knees, man!" I yelled, pulling the old fellow with me as
+we ducked to the level of the dashboard.  And unfastening a breastpin, I
+jabbed it mercilessly into the flanks of our nag, who bounded forward,
+nearly, throwing us out.
+
+Whizz!  Whizz!  Whizz!
+
+It was as if a cloud of locusts were bumming about us.
+
+Then when I lifted my eyes, on top of the steep incline we were
+ascending, I could see several uniformed horsemen and back of them a
+huge column of smoke.
+
+"Heavens!" I gasped, "we're caught this time--but it's too late now to
+turn about. We're prisoners for sure!"
+
+Two cavalrymen then appeared and calmly started down the road in our
+direction. A second later I recognized the British uniform and breathed
+again.
+
+"Go back!" I yelled.  "Go back!  The Germans are on our heels!"
+
+Astonished at bearing their native tongue, the men approached.
+
+"Thank heaven, here's someone to direct us," they said as they came
+alongside and saluted.
+
+I replied with a nod.
+
+"We're lost," they said, "cut off from our brigade."
+
+"That's nothing.  How many of you are there?  Enough to fight?  The
+Germans are coming on hard and fast."
+
+"We're only two and our horses are done for.  We were driven out of
+Coulommiers this morning."
+
+My driver threw up his hands and sobbed.
+
+"Our friend John's horse went lame and we left him at the bottom of the
+hill while we came up to reconnoiter.  We can't leave him down there all
+alone."
+
+"He's gone--gone--I swear it.  Followed the French chasseurs on my
+bicycle, leading his mount!"
+
+"Thank God!"
+
+"Now then, how far the Germans will come is a question.  They'll
+probably go in and occupy the town, and there's just one thing for us to
+do--bolt."
+
+Whizz!  Whizz!  Whizz--the lead fairly splashed around us!
+
+Leon and Emile rode back to say that the road ahead was clear.
+
+"Les Boches," I said, pointing down the hill.
+
+"Come on, you cowards!" yelled my boys defiantly, George brandishing the
+rifle of my wounded man.
+
+"Oh, Madame, ask the Englishmen for their revolvers.  They've got their
+rifles--that's five of us armed, and Monsieur's revolver makes six!
+It's almost man to man.  Ah, please, Madame!" they implored.
+
+In the excitement of the moment I nearly lost my head and consented.  I
+was worked to such a point that any solution would have seemed a relief.
+The Britishers saw me put my hand in my pocket.
+
+"No!  No!" they pleaded.  "You can't--if we're caught you won't be
+killed--but murdered, tortured!  We're the only ones who have a right to
+fire!"
+
+"But they've been peppering my cart regardless of my sex!"
+
+"That's perhaps their way of waging war, but not ours.  Now then, off
+you go--quickly."
+
+We disappeared behind a clump of trees and tore down the clear road as
+fast as our horses would carry us.  George sneaked back on his wheel to
+see if our aggressors were following, and came back radiant to announce
+that after coming halfway up the bill, they had turned about and were
+cantering to take possession of Jouy--as I had predicted.
+
+"Where's our nearest barracks?" enquired one of the Scotsmen.  (I now
+saw that I had to do with the Scots a little.)  We slowed down a little.
+
+
+"Where is our nearest barracks?" enquired one of the Scotsmen.
+
+"How on earth do you expect me to know?  Up until I met you I hardly
+realized there were any British troops on the continent!"
+
+"Where are you bound for?"
+
+"Melun. There's a big French garrison there in time of peace.  You'll
+always be sure of getting orders there--unless we meet someone on the
+road."
+
+They thought that was the best idea, and fell back, cantering behind my
+caravan with which I had now caught up.
+
+On we trotted-up hill and down dale for several hours, my poor wounded
+boy still writhing on his bed of agony.
+
+Towards four o'clock we had reached a long smooth stretch where we could
+see right and left for several miles over the plains.  Presently, on a
+crossroad that ran perpendicular to ours, I spied a motor wagon.  It was
+soon followed by another and then another, and pressing forward we
+reached the crossing in time to see Harrods' Stores, Whitley's, Swan &
+Edgar, and an interminable number of English Army supply motors coming
+straight towards us.
+
+Knowing that it would be impossible to pass before the whole long line
+had gone by, I crossed over and now saw that the Scots Grays would soon
+find friends.  I called Leon and pulling out a card, told him to pedal
+back and dig out a bottle of champagne I had hidden in our hay cart, and
+to present it to our soldier friends as a bracer and a souvenir.  And
+then we pushed ahead.
+
+Two minutes later, to my utter surprise, a heavy motor horn tooted on
+the road behind me and looking back, I saw a private car emerge from
+behind one of the English motors, and whirl down in our direction.  It
+was a four-seater affair with but two occupants, a chauffeur and a woman
+wearing a streaming white veil.
+
+"Quick!" I shrieked, grabbing the reins and pulling our cart full into
+the middle of the road.  "They've got to take me and the boy to Melun!"
+
+Seeing his deliverance so near, my old friend obeyed at once.
+
+The motor, stupefied by our actions, slowed down.
+
+"Get out of the way!" yelled the chauffeur.  "Are you crazy!  Out or
+I'll run you down!"
+
+"Never!  Look here.  I don't care where you're bound for, but you've got
+to make room for me and a dying man in your machine.  It's Melun--or
+nothing!"
+
+"Wounded!  Heaven, the Germans!  We're caught!  Go on, quick, quick, I
+say!" shrieked the woman.
+
+The chauffeur made a movement as though to skid past us.
+
+"No, you don't," I said, once again producing my trusty Browning.
+
+The woman hid her face in her hands.
+
+"Now then, either you can make room for us or I'll blow off your tires
+and you'll have to get down and walk like all the rest of us!"
+
+My gray-headed driver was jubilant.
+
+"That's right, Madame, you've hit it!" he encouraged.
+
+There just wasn't any choice.  The chauffeur got down and began piling
+the gasoline cans behind on the back seat to one side.  Then, each of us
+grabbing a corner of the mattress, we hoisted the sufferer onto the
+machine, covering him with a sheet.  Try as we would, though, we could
+not get him to bend his knees, and in consequence all during the trip
+the poor chauffeur received constant kicks from the agonized soul we
+were rushing towards surgical aid.
+
+"Now then," I said, turning to my old driver.  "Thank you for your cart,
+and bon voyage to Coulommiers.  George, tell my people to meet me in
+Melun."
+
+And hatless, coatless, with but one golden louis in my pocket (I had
+confided my bag to Julie when the wounded man had arrived at Jouy), I
+started on our record-breaking trip to Melun.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+It was an exciting trip, that race for life and death--for every moment
+I knew my wounded boy was growing weaker, and every convulsive kick
+meant the disappearance of so much life blood.  During the numerous
+adventures which befell us between the time we left Jouy-le-Chatel and
+our encountering the motor, my hypodermic needle had received such
+violent treatment that it refused service.  So when we turned into
+Mormont at top speed, I was obliged to ask my driver to slow down and
+inquire for a doctor.  We were directed by a couple of gaping women on
+the borders of the little city, who didn't quite understand our mission.
+However, they must have been soon enlightened, for as we crossed the
+public square the British Red Cross ambulances were pouring in and
+lining up in battle array.  Behind them came a steady stream of
+ammunition wagons, both horse and motor trucks, and from Mormont to
+Melun the line was unbroken.
+
+The doctor was absent, but his wife willingly filled his place and with
+new hope dawning we backed out of the yard and sped southward.
+
+What was the landscape we passed through I really couldn't say.  I had a
+dreamy sensation of having run down a refugee's dog, and hearing its
+owner wishing us in warmer climes--as well as the feeling that my
+blood-stained apron and the agitated white sheet beside me created much
+curiosity among the drivers and occupants of the A. S. C. motors that
+took up all one side of the road.
+
+One by one the mile posts whizzed past and finally we came into Melun.
+
+"Where's the nearest hospital?" I enquired of a group of soldiers
+loitering outside a barracks.
+
+"Give it up!  All evacuated!"
+
+Our driver needed no more--and so we pushed on into the town, while I
+pantomimed to those behind that I had a wounded man in my arms.
+
+In front of the city hall stood a noisy gathering, and in reply to our
+questions, a middle-aged man jumped on to the step.
+
+"Go ahead--I'll guide you.  All the seven hospitals in Melun were
+transferred to Orleans this morning.  The mixed hospital is all that is
+left."
+
+After what seemed an interminable time we finally pulled up a long hill
+and after much parleying I succeeded in turning over my patient to the
+medical authorities.
+
+Through the half open door of the little stuffy office where I was
+conducted I could see a white-aproned doctor and a nurse properly
+bandaging my boy.  When my _compagnons de route_ had departed, I walked
+out into the ward and straight up to the bedside.
+
+"Is there any hope?"
+
+"Not one chance in a million!  Would to heaven we had the right to spare
+them such suffering!  Morphine is no longer helpful in his case!"
+
+It was a shock to hear this.  The lad, who a couple of hours before was
+unknown to me, suddenly became very dear.  I turned about to hide my
+emotion, but was startled out of it by the double line of white beds on
+which were writhing men and boys in the most awful agony, yet not a
+sound broke from their lips.  In the middle of the room a second doctor,
+a  slight man with a pointed beard, stood washing his hands and then
+began drawing on a pair of long rubber gloves.  He crossed over to a
+basin and, after sterilizing his instruments, looked around for an aid.
+
+"Can I do anything for you, doctor?"
+
+Not in the least surprised by my audacity he asked, "Are you a nurse?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Have you ever seen an operation."
+
+"Yes."
+
+I lied.
+
+"Have you a good temperament?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then come over here and hold this basin."  I obeyed, and then Doctor
+Jean Masbrennier began a series of operations which will remain graven
+in my memory forever.
+
+As he worked he talked--and informed me that the Red Cross Society had
+been hastily evacuated in the morning, doctors and all.  Only those who
+were unable to be moved had been left behind, and only two civilian
+doctors were left to attend them.  But one nurse remained to do all the
+bandaging.  That was why I had been rung into service.  It took but
+little time to find a mutual acquaintance in the person of Elizabeth
+Gauthier, and the doctor had long been familiar with H.'s work.
+
+It would be useless to describe the horrors that I witnessed, or try to
+do justice to the heroic way those first glorious wounded of this
+lengthy war accepted their fate.  I cannot, however, resist mentioning
+the endurance of a big black Senegalais, who won the admiration of both
+doctors and neighbors by refusing morphine or cocaine, and insisting on
+having the seven bullets that were lodged in his neck and throat
+withdrawn thus--never uttering a murmur!
+
+When it was over, and we finally laid him back on his pillow, the tears
+were rolling down his cheeks and he squeezed my hand in his big black
+paw and then gently drew it to his lips.
+
+How many wounded were there?  I did not count.  All I remember was that
+I promised to come the next day and write letters to wives, mothers and
+sweethearts of at least a dozen men and boys.
+
+It was late when the last basin was emptied and Dr. Masbrennier untied
+his apron.
+
+As we were washing up, I asked if he would be good enough to guide me
+out of the hospital and tell me where there was a respectable restaurant
+to which a woman might go alone.
+
+"I have neither hat, coat, nor gloves.  They're coming in the carts."
+
+"That's so; perhaps you haven't had anything since lunch and I've been
+making you work on an empty stomach!"
+
+"Worse than that!" I laughed.
+
+"What?"
+
+"Nothing since breakfast at Jouy-le-Chatel."
+
+"Good God, woman!"  And taking me by the arm, he hurried me down the
+hall.
+
+As we passed out of the entrance door, a superior officer stopped Dr.
+Masbrennier and though I advanced out of earshot the words, "evacuation"
+and "to-night" were distinctly audible.  A second later my companion
+caught up with me.
+
+"So sorry I can't accompany you, but the whole hospital goes to Orleans
+immediately.  Must make room for the new-comers!  I'll 'phone home.  The
+_gouvernante_ will make you comfortable."  And he continued to give me
+explicit directions how to reach his house.
+
+"You'd better come to Orleans where we can look after you."
+
+"Sorry, but I've gone far enough south."
+
+"_Alors au revoir et grand merci._"
+
+"_Au revoir._"
+
+And a second later I found myself outside in the chilly darkness.
+
+For the first time in my life I had the sensation of being utterly
+alone.  No one on earth knew where I was and if I had not had faith in
+Dr. Masbrennier's promise of a warm dinner, I should gladly have
+indulged in a little fit of despair.  And so I wandered on down the
+dingy, black streets of Melun, where not a lamp post nor shop window was
+lighted, not a human being seemed astir.  Where was my little troupe?
+How and when would we all meet?
+
+Thus ruminating I came to a bridge.  A sentry flashed a pocket lamp in
+my face.
+
+"_On ne passe pas!_"
+
+I showed my armlet and he stepped aside.
+
+Halfway across I distinguished two human forms leaning over the railing,
+and following their example I perceived a half-dozen _hommes du genie_
+hard at work mining the foundation of the center arch.  So these bridges
+were to be blown up, too!  What was I to do?  Stay on the other side and
+wait for my caravan or cross over and risk my chances alone?  A
+reflector from below swung upward, illuminating the bridge.
+
+"George!" I gasped.
+
+One of the two figures straightened abruptly!  In a second the boys had
+recognized me.  "What are you doing here?  Where are the others?"
+
+I poured out a dozen eager questions, not giving them time to reply.
+When almost breathless I stopped and they explained that the caravan had
+been halted on the outskirts of Melun.  No refugees were allowed in
+after nightfall. Fortunately the boys bethought themselves of my wounded
+man's clothes and arms, and thanks to these they were allowed to pass
+and deliver them to the gendarmerie.  Remembering that I had friends at
+Barbizon they had sent the others there by a round-about route, and had
+come on to find me.
+
+"But how did you get here?"
+
+"Cesar brought us."
+
+"Where is he?  And Betsy?"
+
+"Oh, we found a dentist who had an empty stable. He took them in.  Betsy
+refused to leave the cart.  She's never had such a picnic in her life:
+been traveling all day in a ten pound box of lump sugar!"
+
+All worry had vanished, now that I found my line of conduct traced for
+me.  The chief thing at present was to get something to eat.  So we
+pushed ahead up the hill in the ever-deepening obscurity.  We walked on
+in silence for what seemed an interminable distance.  Once I fancied I
+had mistaken directions and was about to despair when the tramp of feet
+coming toward us revived hope.  A second later a brawny arm turned a
+lantern into my face and a huge police dog growled close to my heels.
+
+"Are you the person who is going to Dr. Masbrennier's?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"_Tres bien_.  Are these boys with you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then follow me.  We're closing up the doctor's house, but I'll look
+after you."
+
+Without further ado we trudged on behind our guide, who after another
+hundred yards, turned into a gateway and led us up the stone steps of a
+sumptuous dwelling.  Opening the door, he lit the electric light and
+stepped into the vestibule.
+
+"Come in," he said.  "I'll be back in a moment."  And he disappeared.
+
+There we stood, Leon, George and myself, waiting for something to
+happen, for someone to appear.  Five--ten--fifteen minutes must have
+elapsed--still not a sound anywhere.  I was just beginning to wonder if
+we had not been the dupes of some practical joke, when from a room
+opening into the vestibule a light shone forth.  The curtains parted and
+our friend of the highroad appeared.
+
+"Isn't much--but such as it is you're welcome.  Sit down and make
+yourselves comfortable."  And again he disappeared.
+
+On a snowy white table cloth three covers were laid and a tempting
+supper composed of bread and butter, cheese, a bottle of white wine, and
+a huge basket of most luscious hothouse grapes and pears--gladdened our
+hungry gaze.  We did not need a second invitation!  We fell to with a
+vengeance and at the end of a quarter-hour hardly a crumb remained.
+
+"When you've finished, come upstairs; Madame will take the first door to
+the right.  You boys come up a flight higher," called a voice from
+above.
+
+We obeyed, and before retiring I waited a good half-hour hoping our
+friend would reappear.  But no one came--so bolting my door, I offered
+up a prayer of thanks and was soon fast asleep.
+
+Sunday morning, September sixth, the sun was high in the heavens when I
+peeped from beneath my lace-bordered sheets and cocked my ear at the
+familiar sound of the cannon.  It was a long continuous roar, and now
+that I had become accustomed to distancing I estimated that the battle
+was on at Mormont.  And I was not mistaken.  A little later official
+news confirmed my guess.
+
+Finding no bell in my room, I opened the door to see a pitcher of hot
+water sitting before it, and on a chair beside it, a new comb, a clean
+linen duster, and a pocket handkerchief.  A brief note told me that I
+would find breakfast in the dining-room, and requested that I leave word
+on the table saying at what time I would be in for luncheon.  Decidedly
+the mystery deepened--for not a sound could be heard save in the garden
+where I spied George and Leon, who informed me that the house was empty,
+and "a gorgeous house, Madame!" they ejaculated in admiration.
+
+Though partially abandoned, Melun was full of life, thanks to the
+presence of numerous British troops and that same long line of A. S.
+C.'s now quadrupled on the highroad--two lines going, two lines coming.
+
+As I picked my way between them, and crossed the street, my attention
+was arrested by a French peasant who was conversing by means of the sign
+language with the handsome driver of one of those vans, while several
+children were clamoring to be allowed to sit on the seat a moment, "just
+to see how it seemed."
+
+"Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+"Rather!  Seems good to hear English, thank you."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Yes.  Might I ask where you come from?"
+
+"The States."
+
+"Do you know Cleveland?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I've got a mother and three brothers buried in that cemetery.
+Colonials, you know.  I'm English--from Bath--oldest son.  Couldn't see
+things their way. Done better perhaps if I'd joined the others out
+there."
+
+I smiled at this unexpected and impromptu confession.  The boy saw it
+and reddened.
+
+"Is there anything particular you want me to say to this man for you?"
+said I quickly, to cover his embarrassment.
+
+"No, thank you.  But there's one thing you might be able to tell me."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Do you think we'll be 'home' in time to eat Christmas dinner?"
+
+"Rather!"
+
+"Thank you so much!  Good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye and good luck to you."
+
+And after snapping his photograph I started on down the street in haste,
+for I could see George and Leon, who had gone on ahead, now running
+towards me.
+
+"_Vite_, Madame.  They need you!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"The English.  They can't make people understand."
+
+I pressed forward, and came upon a crowd of gapers standing outside a
+shop. Within two English officers were arguing in their native tongue
+with an irate butcher, who waved one arm wildly in the air, and
+brandished a huge knife in the other, shouting frantically all the
+while,
+
+"La' voila-la voila!" said George and Leon, almost dragging me forward,
+proud to exhibit my accomplishments.  "_La voila!  Vous etes sauves._"
+
+My greatest desire was to turn about and run, but the crowd parted to
+let me through.
+
+"Would you mind, Madame?" pleaded the lieutenant.  "We need your
+assistance to make this man understand that we're drafting meat for the
+army.  We'll pay cash, but be might just as well give it gracefully, for
+we have the right to force his ice box if he refuses."
+
+I explained gently, and when things were calm was about to slip away.
+The officer touched me on the shoulder.
+
+"I'm sorry, Madame, but I'm afraid we'll have to draft you, too.  Our
+time is limited and if a scene like this happen at every shop we'll be
+punished for tardiness!  Here's my order to draft an interpreter," and
+he put his hand into his pocket.
+
+I was somewhat abashed.
+
+"Might I ask when you will release me?"
+
+"Just as soon as we've the supply we need."
+
+"Will you give me ten minutes to arrange my affairs here?"
+
+"Certainly.  But remember you're on parole!"
+
+Outside I explained the situation to George and Leon, and scribbling a
+note to friends in Barbizon, told the boys to drive over and reassure
+the others--make them comfortable at the _Clef d'Or,_ and tell them to
+expect me that evening.
+
+"Whatever happens, wait there until I come.  There's no danger of the
+Germans reaching Barbizon, I fancy!"
+
+And that is how from nine in the morning until late in the afternoon I
+sat perched on the front of a British Army Supply truck, much to the
+amusement of the other Tommy Atkins we encountered in Melun and the
+neighboring villages.
+
+My officer friends very courteously drove me to the hospital where I
+learned that my poor wounded _chasseur_ Ballandreau had passed away in
+the night, and towards five o'clock, when their task was completed, they
+offered me tea and proposed to drive me to Barbizon.  As we jolted down
+the hill towards the railway crossing our attention was attracted by a
+huge gathering of citizens and soldiers, and above the roar of our
+motor, we could hear the rolling of a drum. Silence reigned instantly
+and an officer in uniform in the middle of the group read out a short
+message from a paper he held in his hand.  What he said we could not
+hear, but the mad shout of joy that went up when he had finished made us
+eager to learn the news.  Like lightning "Paris saved--the Germans
+retreating" ran from mouth to mouth, and the delirious excitement that
+seized that crowd was absolutely indescribable.  Young and old, English,
+and French, peasant and bourgeois, fell on each other's necks and
+exchanged a joyous embrace.  The awful tension of the last month was
+broken and the word victory was uttered by thousands of throats,
+suddenly grown husky with emotion.
+
+My arrival and the news I bore created a sensation among my servants and
+the remaining inhabitants of Millet's famous village.  Barbizon was
+dead--literally deserted, for not a single member of that delightful
+summer colony remained, several hotels were closed, and the others as
+empty as in the heart of winter. The proprietress of the _Clef d'Or_
+made me a very tempting offer for a _sejour_, but I judged, and rightly,
+that since the German retreat had begun, we would best follow on close
+behind the victorious army, for if we waited until order was restored,
+patrols would be organized and we who had no papers to identify us would
+not be allowed to pass.
+
+Before retiring I announced my intention of starting homeward, and the
+joy that illuminated those anxious faces somewhat calmed my own
+misgivings, for now that our adventure was safely over, I couldn't help
+worrying about the absent.
+
+When I touched my bed, I bethought me of my lodging the night before,
+and realized that I knew neither the name nor address of the generous
+person in whose sumptuous domicile I had been so cordially received and
+graciously cared for.  How and whom was I to thank?
+
+Leon, Emile and a sturdy butcher boy from Charly who had joined the
+others on the road, had now determined to enlist--so I could but
+encourage their patriotic sentiments, and went with them to the
+recruiting office to furnish proof of their identity.
+
+Evidently many other youths under military age had been inspired with
+the same idea, for there was a long line outside the door, and as we
+stood and waited, we examined with interest the mounts of the English
+cavalry regiment lined up in the street awaiting their riders.  George
+and Leon were eagerly fingering a long coil of rope thrown on the pommel
+of one saddle, when a deep voice from behind them ejaculated,
+
+"Guess you ain't ever seen the likes of that before.  That's a lasso."
+
+I explained, and then looking round, beheld a long, lanky individual,
+his hands on his hips, literally taking us all in.
+
+"Do you think you can tell 'em what that is, sister?"
+
+"I fancy so."
+
+"Then you must be from home!"
+
+"If you mean the States--yes."
+
+"To h--with the States!  The State--Texas!"
+
+I didn't find it necessary to translate that.  "Say, you haven't by any
+chance got a razor about you?" he inquired.  I replied that I was not in
+the habit of carrying such articles on my person.
+
+"No offense meant--but since you speak this language, perhaps you could
+persuade one of them kids to go and buy me one."
+
+I said I thought I might, and my compatriot producing an American double
+eagle, enjoined Leon to be quick and he'd make it worth his while.
+
+"You see," he explained, "a razor is all I need to complete my outfit.
+Got a Winchester, two revolvers, a Bowie knife, a lance and a lasso.
+Razor's flat and easy to carry.  Might be useful, too.  Nothing like
+being properly armed.  If I've got to sell my hide you bet I'll sell it
+dear!"
+
+Leon returned and I was about to ask my friend to give us a little
+exhibition of his skill with the rope, when the call to arms obliged him
+to leave.  So enjoining me to give his regards to Broadway, he departed
+much pleased with the world in general and himself in particular.
+
+From various sources, though none of them official, I learned that the
+road as far as Coulommiers was clear.  That was all we wanted to know,
+so after seeing the boys off for Orleans, a very much diminished caravan
+started on its homeward journey.  The horses, after two days' rest, were
+quite giddy, and the carts being light, they carried us on the new road
+north as far as Pezarches with but few halts.  The country we passed
+through, though abandoned by its inhabitants, showed no traces of
+invasion.  The Germans had not been able to push so far west.  I counted
+on making Coulonimiers to sleep, but night closed in early and with it
+came a chilly drizzle, which sent us in search of lodgings.  Not a soul
+was to be seen anywhere, and as all the houses were shut, I deemed it
+unwise to force a door.  So we pushed ahead into the border of the
+forest, hoping that the rain would soon cease.
+
+Presently someone discovered an abandoned hermitage, through whose low
+doorway we crept, and spreading out our blankets on the floor, prepared
+to make a night of it--glad of shelter from the dampness.
+
+"Hark!" hissed George, just as we were dropping off to sleep.
+
+We all sat up.
+
+"There!  That's the third bullet that's landed on this roof!"
+
+Ra-ta-pan-Ratapan!  There was no mistaking the sound--even through the
+wind and rain that raged outside.
+
+George crawled on his knees toward the opening, and a second later
+jumped back, clapping his hand to his head with a low shriek.
+
+"He's shot!" cried Julie.
+
+I leaped forward, grabbed the lantern, and holding it to the spot,
+opened the boy's clenched fingers.  As they parted, a heavy horse
+chestnut burr fell to the floor with a loud thump!
+
+We were too nervous to appreciate the humor of the situation, and had
+some little difficulty composing ourselves to rest.
+
+As we approached Coulommiers the next morning the horrors of war became
+more and more evident.  On both sides of the roadway the fields were
+strewn with bay and straw.  Every ten paces the earth was burned or
+charred, and in some places the smoke still rose from dying campfires.
+Bones, bottles and tin preserve cans in extraordinary quantities were
+strewn in every direction, and a half mile before we reached the town
+itself, a dead horse lay abandoned in a ditch.
+
+At this point we were hailed by a party of bedraggled refugees who
+warned us that it would be useless to try to enter Coulommiers.
+
+"We're from Neuilly--St. Front, on our way home, but there doesn't seem
+much chance of our getting any further.  The place is in the hands of
+the military authorities--with orders to let no one pass."
+
+We halted, and George went on ahead and interviewed a sentry, returning
+with a negative reply, and the information that Coulommiers was in a
+pretty mess after the looting.
+
+"It can't be worse than _La Ferte Gauche._"  And above the almost
+deafening roar of the cannon an elderly man told us bow his caravan had
+been caught by the Germans, stripped of everything they possessed,
+separated from their women folk, and with armed sentries back of them
+had been forced to work at the building of a temporary bridge to replace
+the one the French had blown up.
+
+"I got off easy--with only a few welts from a raw-hide," he murmured,
+"but my brother (and he pointed to a very stout masculine figure rolled
+in a blanket and sitting motionless on the steps of an abandoned road
+house)--"my brother's nearly done for!  You see he's near-sighted and
+not used to manual labor, and every time he missed his nail with the
+hammer, the German coward would jab him in the ribs with the point of
+his bayonet.  Seventy-two wounds!"
+
+"And your women?"
+
+"God knows what they did to them!  My wife hasn't stopped sobbing since
+we met. She's dazed--I can't make her talk."
+
+As he rambled on with his haphazard story, glad of fellow sympathy, I
+spied a line of British Army Supply carts advancing up the road.  The
+leader came to a halt and getting down, the driver entered the first of
+the abandoned dwellings before which we were standing.  Presently he
+reappeared.
+
+"Just my luck!  I say"--(and this addressed to our group with a sort of
+blank, hopeless expression)  "I don't suppose any of you Frenchies know
+where I could get a cup of tea!"
+
+I laughed outright, much to his astonishment.
+
+"Not anywhere around here, unless you're willing to wait until I can
+build fire enough to make you one!"
+
+The man blushed crimson.
+
+"Ah--I couldn't think--"
+
+"No trouble.  Get one of your men to make a blaze, and, boasting aside,
+I'll brew you a cup such as you haven't had since you left England."
+
+No sooner said than done, and quarter of an hour later, a half-dozen
+Tommy Atkins were sipping hot Kardomah with sugar and condensed milk
+from tin mugs.
+
+"You're certainly right--the French don't know how to do it, at least in
+these parts.  I had a teapotful yesterday morning that was as near a
+mixture of stewed herbs and Hunyadi water I ever hope to taste.  And
+now, isn't there something we can do for you?"
+
+"Tell me where you're bound for?"
+
+The man brought out a note-book and pointed to a name.
+
+"La Ferte-sous-Jouarre?"
+
+"Yes, that's it.  I wouldn't dare tackle it."
+
+"Is the road clear?  Can we go there?  It's only fifteen kilometers from
+my home."
+
+"I don't know if they'll let you by--but if you're clever and follow on
+close behind us with your Red Cross armlet, there's just a
+chance--that's all."
+
+I didn't need a second bidding and after warning my people not to talk
+if we met sentries but to have faith in me, we pushed ahead.  Our army
+friends with better horses soon left us in the rear, but undaunted we
+proceeded, finally reaching the heights that overlooked La Ferte--and
+led into the village, Jouarre, perched on the side of the hill running
+towards the Marne.
+
+Oh, the pitiful sights that met our gaze as we wended our way along
+those glorious roads, now full of ruts and knee-deep in mud!  As far as
+eye could see the entire country had served as a huge camp for the
+invader, and when forced to flee he had sacked and destroyed everything
+within his reach.  The wonderful fertile fields had been soiled,
+polluted, and among other damning evidences of their fury, the smoking
+ruins of every farm house stood like specters in the brilliant sunshine.
+
+At the entrance to La Ferte our road was barred by two sentinels,
+elderly peasants, by their looks.  I played mum and tapped my Red Cross
+armlet.
+
+"_Non, on ne passe pas!_"
+
+I beckoned them and fumbled among my papers for my _carte d'identite_.
+They approached the cart, but as they did so, my faithful Betsy let
+forth an angry growl.
+
+"Down!" I commanded in English.  "Down!  I say!  They're not going to
+hurt me!"
+
+Those phrases were my undoing!
+
+"Oh, ho!" said my interlocutors.  "And after that you think you're going
+to get past us?  We've had enough Boches in this place.  You can come
+in--but between us!"
+
+And jumping up on either side of me, one of them took the reins and
+started forward.  This being taken for a spy was an altogether new and
+very disagreeable sensation.
+
+"But, gentlemen," I protested calmly, "I'm known in this place.  If
+there's an inhabitant left I'll be identified in a second.  How green
+you'll feel if you drag me before an officer and find you're mistaken!"
+
+They were unrelenting.
+
+I invoked my identity card.
+
+No, they had heard me speak in a foreign tongue and all foreign tongues
+to them were German!
+
+And so we entered La Ferte.
+
+Doors and windows no longer existed--the former had been dashed to
+splinters by the butt ends of guns, while the latter were shattered to
+powder and from their apertures swung bed clothing, personal adornment
+and household belongings in shreds and tatters--all willfully soiled by
+mud and filth.
+
+It was useless to try to drive our cart up the main street, so calling a
+passing comrade, my detainers bid him hold my horse until they returned
+after having _fait leur affaire_, as they expressed it.
+
+The plate glass windows of every store lay in thousands of pieces below
+their sashes, and the entire stock of merchandise whether furniture or
+drapery, groceries or dairy products, had been hurled through them into
+the middle of the thoroughfare.  Above these were piled pell-mell
+bedding and chairs, wardrobes and wash basins, all splintered and
+broken--the whole making the most pitiable conglomeration I ever hope to
+witness.  One plucky dealer was already boarding up the great yawning
+cavities that were once show windows, and here and there a frightened
+female face peeped out from behind the ruins of her commerce.
+
+"Madame Huard!" cried a familiar voice behind me.  "_Mon Dieu_--you!"
+
+I turned and recognized my pastry baker's wife.
+
+"_Oui, moi; arretee._"
+
+"Arrested!"
+
+"Yes, unless you will be good enough to inform these gentlemen who I
+am?"
+
+"_Est-il possible!  Est-il possible!_  Why, of course, I know you--how
+dare they!"
+
+"You see," I said, turning to the _auxilaires_.
+
+But they were inflexible, bidding my friend follow on if she could swear
+to my identity.  She obeyed, but our group had attracted the attention
+of a couple of small boys who darted out of an alley way like rats from
+a cellar, calling, "_L'espionne--l'espionne!_"
+
+Thank fortune, at that instant we came upon an officer, whom I accosted
+at a distance, explained my case and produced my card and my pastry
+baker.  He understood in a moment, and hastily discharged my custodians.
+
+"I cannot scold them.  They're over zealous, but we've been so horribly
+betrayed all along.  You understand, I'm sure.  Please accept my
+apologies, Madame!"
+
+I bowed and he departed.  Then I turned to my friend.
+
+"You've heard the news, I suppose, Madame?"
+
+"No--what?"
+
+She suddenly grew white.
+
+"Quick--out with it, woman!"
+
+She hesitated.
+
+"Is H.--?"
+
+"_Non_, not that, Madame, but a quarter of an hour ago it was noised
+about that the enemy are still retreating, and that we were pounding
+into their headquarters--le chateau de Villiers."
+
+I felt myself whitening.  The woman saw it, and catching me by the arm.
+"Come, come," she said.  "You're tired; perhaps it isn't true, so many
+false alarms have been launched.  Come and have a cup of coffee--you'll
+excuse our back room--it's all we have left."
+
+I gladly followed her, picking my way through what had once been one of
+the most enticing of provincial pastry shops, the good soul apologizing
+all the time, as if she had been responsible for the damage.  As she
+prattled on, though my own brain was swimming I now and then grasped
+such phrases as three days of looting, two days' bombardment.  As she
+passed me a cup of coffee, she explained that the invaders had not been
+satisfied with violently appropriating all personal articles which they
+had found to their liking, but after having drunk all the wine in the
+cellars, they had willfully cut open the bags of flour and thrown it
+pell-mell in every direction.
+
+"And, Madame, they got into my reserve of eggs--five thousand of them--"
+she wept, "five thousand!  All my winter's store.  I wouldn't have
+minded if they had eaten them but to see them purposely crushed and
+wasted.  Two of those wretches spent half a day bringing them up from
+the cellar in their helmets, and then dragging me out, would hurl them
+at the walls and windows, savagely rejoicing in my distress!"
+
+I couldn't remain indoors--I had but one thought--get to Villiers or see
+someone who knew for certain what had happened there.
+
+Again I crossed the shop, paddling through that sticky yellow slime in
+which bits of furniture and clothing floated like croutons in a gigantic
+nauseating omelet.
+
+Outside, towards the end of the street that opened on to the quay, great
+animation reigned.  A bugle sounded and I could hear the tramp of
+soldiers' feet.
+
+"Look!" cried my friend.  "Look, all that is left of the Institut St.
+Joseph, the pride of La Ferte."
+
+Across the river between the broken spans of the bridge, my eye fell
+upon the gutted remains of what had once been a most exquisite bit of
+eighteenth century architecture.  The mansion which had sheltered Louis
+XVI and Marie Antoinette on their eventful return from Varennes, was now
+a smoking pile of ashes!
+
+"And to think we had to do it!  Oh, curse their hides!" muttered an
+elderly man close to my elbow.
+
+"We?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"?"
+
+"Why, when they had to get out of here they crossed the Marne, destroyed
+the bridge and entrenched themselves in the houses along the bank.  The
+English caught them like rats in a cage, but at what a price!  One
+fellow that's rowed across says he can bear them moaning, but you bet
+they can rot there before we'll go to 'em.  Begging your pardon for the
+language!"
+
+A dozen men of the _genie_ were busy constructing a temporary arch
+between two spans, and just as soon as a plank was laid a regiment from
+Cherbourg (almost all reservists) filed over one by one.  The population
+gave them an ovation, and it was a curious sight to see these care-worn,
+haggard-faced people simply going mad with joy, while around them was
+heaped desolation.
+
+"I hope you haven't come for your tea service, Madame?"
+
+I turned and recognized my china dealer, who smiled cynically as he
+motioned towards his shop.
+
+"It doesn't pay to be a glass merchant these days.  It only took two
+shells to send twenty years' earnings into splinters!  There's not a
+whole goblet or plate in the entire establishment!  But I wouldn't have
+cared if they hadn't maltreated the women.  I--"
+
+"Come and see!" cried another.  "Durant's house has tumbled down and his
+wife and family are smothering in the cellar.  Quick!"
+
+There was a general rush in that direction, but I pushed on towards the
+bridge. It was evident my carts could not cross, but there was just a
+hope that they would let George and me through with our bicycles.
+
+I accosted the sentry who stood mounting guard beside a motor which was
+thrown up on the side of the road, twisted and distorted like a tin toy
+one has walked on.
+
+No, the bridge was for the army only.
+
+I insisted.
+
+An officer came to my rescue, but could only confirm the sentry's
+orders.
+
+"You're not safe even here.  This is the firing line.  We don't know yet
+for certain whether we are going to hold the ground we gained. Villiers?
+Still in the Germans' hands."
+
+I sighed and was about to turn away.  "Then where's the nearest bridge
+across?"
+
+"Meaux."
+
+"But that's thirty kilometres west!  I'm only fifteen from home here!"
+
+"I wish I could help you, but there's no use trying to leave here unless
+you go that way."
+
+Then Meaux it must be, and though our trip was considerably lengthened,
+anything was better than inaction.
+
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+It was with much reluctance that we turned our backs on La Ferte the
+following morning and headed our horses westward.
+
+Naturally the right of way was reserved for the army, and the roads
+bordering the Marne were now lined with soldiers, guns, ambulances and
+supply vans rushing to the front.  After being side-tracked and halted
+no less than two score times, we finally reached Trilport, where the
+invaders had done but little material damage. The terrified civil
+population was even exultant, for two nights previously an automobile
+containing four German officers sped through the town, in the direction
+of Paris, and ignorant of the fact that the English had destroyed the
+bridge, had been precipitated into the river.  The affair seemed to be
+considered as a huge joke, and the chief amusement now consisted in
+hanging over the broken side and contemplating the gruesome spectacle of
+a half-submerged motor, and four human bodies lying inanimate on some
+rocks, rapidly swelling, thanks to heat and the current.
+
+"When we're sure they're good and dead, we'll bury 'em," explained a man
+whom I questioned.
+
+As I write this phrase, now that more than a year has elapsed, it seems
+cruel and heartless, but on the spur of the moment, and after all that
+each one had endured, it was but justice.
+
+Though barges were being rapidly brought into position so as to form a
+temporary bridge, I felt it would be a good two days before we could get
+across, and so following the course of the river, we wended our way in
+and out, round about, this time through peaceful country, until we
+reached Meaux.
+
+My heart leaped with joy when on approaching I saw the cathedral
+standing unharmed, like a guardian above the peaceful little city.
+
+The Germans had made but a brief stay here, merely an _entree_ and
+_sortie_, and had been received by Bishop Marbeau, in such a fashion as
+is likely to be recorded in history and place his name beside that of
+his famous predecessor, Bossuet.
+
+One or two stray shells had fallen into the place, but the harm done was
+insignificant.  The most picturesque and melancholy sight was along the
+river front, where to head off the enemy's approach the French had been
+obliged to blow up those ancient bridges, landmarks of the fifteenth and
+sixteenth centuries, for, like the Ponte Vecchio at Florence, they were
+lined with houses and mills, whose pointed roofs and apparent beams had
+weathered nearly five hundred years!  Strange as it may seem, it was
+they that resisted the most, and, though the dynamite had severed their
+connection with land and shattered their pale-blue window panes, not a
+house had collapsed, and as they stood in the sun's dying blaze, they
+seemed to say, "Touch me, if you dare!"
+
+Washboats, rowboats, barges and every available means of navigation had
+been sunk or put out of working order and though the enemy was hardly
+ten miles distant, men and women were busily engaged in setting them
+afloat.
+
+Once again all we could do was to stand and gaze at the opposite bank
+and after assuring ourselves that there was no possible way of crossing,
+we hastily departed for Lagny.
+
+That night we slept in a shed hospitably offered by a lone peasant
+woman, and the next morning triumphantly crossed the river and set our
+faces homeward.
+
+Branching northward into the open country we chose all the by-roads and
+short cuts where our carts would pass, in order to avoid the long
+streams of ambulances and ammunition vans, as well as in the hope of
+finding better thoroughfares.  A drizzling rain had set in the night
+before, making the roads, which up until now had been covered with a
+thick layer of dust, slippery and uncomfortable.  Highways which
+heretofore had been seldom trodden, were full of ruts and bumps, and
+from Langy to Villiers there was hardly a corner but what showed signs
+of the invaders' passage.  Over these green and fertile fields whose
+crops had proudly waved their heads about the lovely Marne, were strewn
+straw and empty bottles in unimaginable quantities.  Thousands of
+blackened or charred spots dotting the countryside, told of campfires
+and hasty bivouacs, and as we silently plodded on towards Charny, the
+growing evidences of recent battle met our saddened gaze.
+
+Here a shell had burst on the road, in the midst of a bicycle squadron,
+scattering men and machines to the four winds of Heaven.  A little
+mound, a rough-hewn cross, marked the spot where some sixty soldiers lay
+in their last peaceful sleep, while the _melee_ of tangled wire and iron
+which had once been machines, as well as blood-stained garments, bits of
+shell, and even human flesh, made a gruesome and indescribable picture.
+
+Souvenirs?  The idea never entered my head.  And my kodak, which I had
+been so prompt to use to commemorate various events, seemed a vulgar,
+inquisitive instrument, and was left unheeded in the bottom of the cart.
+Each step brought us face to face with the horrors of warfare.  Towards
+Villeroy a number of battered Parisian taxicabs gave us the first hint
+of General Gallieni's clever maneuver which helped save the capital--and
+then the wind brought towards us a nauseating odor, which paralyzed our
+appetites, and sent us doggedly onwards: the stench of the battlefield.
+
+The girls in the cart drew closer together, shivering, though the air
+was warm and muggy.  Even old Cesar seemed to feel the awe of that
+Valley of Shadow, and no one murmured as we passed the first bloated
+carcasses of dead horses and came upon that far more horrid sight--human
+bodies--swelled to twice their natural size, lying as death had met
+them, some in piles, others farther apart--all unrecognizable, but once
+proud mothers' petted darlings.  I think they were our enemies.  I did
+not stop to investigate; the flies bothered us so terribly, and long low
+mounds with red kepis piled upon them told of the graves of France's
+defenders.  Far ahead I could discover groups of men with shovels,
+hastily burying those who remained.  To the right a lazy column of dense
+smoke rose reluctantly in the heavy air.  I fancied it came from a
+funeral pyre; we certainly smelled tar and petrol.  The ground beneath
+rocked with the thundering of the distant cannon, and as one peal burst
+louder a flock of jet black crows mounted heavenward, mournfully cawing
+in the semi-twilight.
+
+So we continued, a silent, foot-sore, rain-soaked community.  With the
+growing remoteness of imminent danger came the reaction of all we had
+passed through, and deep down in our hearts we welcomed the idea of
+entering a village.
+
+A village!  Alas!  As we reached the road leading to Barcy, there was a
+rift in the clouds, and a long golden ray shot through an enormous
+breach in the church tower, flickered a moment upon a group of roofless
+houses, and was gone.  Night closed in.
+
+Our spirits sank.  Yvonne began to moan with agony, her sciatica had
+returned with the dampness, and Nini for some unknown reason, began
+sobbing as though her heart would break.  I could see the moment not far
+distant when our whole party, seized with fear, would become
+panic-stricken, and that idea, together with the one of camping in the
+sodden fields surrounded by grim death, was anything but reassuring.
+
+"Come on," I urged.  "Surely Barcy is not entirely deserted."
+
+What mud!  What a road--sometimes entirely gutted, sometimes so
+obstructed with gasoline cans, hubs of wheels and scraps of iron, that I
+was obliged to lead Cesar by the bridle, while the others would walk
+ahead and clear a passage. Their progress was snail-like, for there was
+little oil left in our lantern and they hesitated before casting the
+refuse into the ditch for fear of profaning some unknown hero's grave.
+
+And so, stumbling and halting, we came into Barcy.  As we passed in
+front of the battered church we could see the huge bronze bell lying
+amid a pile of beams, at the foot of the belfry.  The _cadran_ of the
+clock tower was midway between the ruins of the edifice itself and those
+of what had once been the town hall.  Not a living soul was to be seen
+anywhere.  Stay--yes--there in front of us was a masculine figure.
+
+I called "Monsieur!"
+
+He halted an instant.  Then shook his head and skulked away.
+
+Through an oiled paper that had replaced the panes of a shattered window
+in a house which no longer had a second story I caught sight of a
+flickering light. I boldly knocked on the door.
+
+"_Qui est la?_--" asked a high-pitched, trembling female voice.
+
+"I, Madame H. of Villiers."
+
+"I don't know you--go your way."
+
+"But we are refugees."
+
+"I have nothing left.  _Allez-vous-en!_"
+
+That was categorical, to say the least.  So on we went, past the charred
+ruins of one-time happy homes.
+
+As we rounded a corner our lantern cast a dim glow on to the drawn
+shutters of a half-collapsed structure.
+
+"Stop a moment," said Julie; "there's something written on those
+blinds."
+
+I approached, and holding the light as close as possible I read the
+following sign, chalked in huge white letters:
+
+"Attention.  No Loitering.  Looters will be shot on the spot!"
+
+That was the last straw, and though it was obvious that the warning was
+intended for the troops now miles away, it sent us ahead with uncanny
+celerity.
+
+Our advance was short-lived, however, for it soon became evident that
+our horses were fagged out.  Yet where to go became an agonizing
+question, for though we were still within the limits of the village, not
+a roof was to be seen.  There seemed to be but one thing to do, and so,
+halting, I fumbled in the bottom of the cart and brought forth a handful
+of dry straw, and my precious bottle of brandy. Thanks to these, a match
+and a sheltering wall, a flame managed to blaze up, and from somewhere
+in the vicinity Julie procured a bundle of brush and an old broom.
+
+With the heat our spirits rose.  The girls dried themselves as best they
+could before the welcome fire, and though still awed by our
+surroundings, we nibbled a crust of dry bread and some stale cheese.
+
+Then silently Nini and Yvonne crept back into the cart, covered
+themselves with hay and a blanket, opened an umbrella above their beads,
+and soon were fast asleep.  The others begged me to share their bed
+beneath the cart, but tormented by the thought of what had become of H.,
+racked by the anxiety of what the future held in store, I could not
+resign myself to rest, and the first gray streaks of that cool September
+dawn found me seated on a stone, staring at the glowing embers of our
+watch-fire.
+
+Again the wind shifted in our direction, bringing with it that same
+loathsome smell.  I shivered and pulled myself together, and after
+carefully scrutinizing my road-map, decided that there was just a chance
+of reaching Villiers before night, but only if we started at once.  This
+living in suspense was beginning to tell on my nerves and anything, even
+the assurance of dreaded misfortune, would have seemed a relief.  After
+the state in which we had found Barcy there was little doubt that our
+part of the country had been treated the same way. Perhaps it was still
+in the Germans' hands; we had no way of knowing to the contrary.
+
+I roused the servants and told them of my intention, and in a few
+moments a pot of coffee was boiling on the tripod.  In spite of the
+early hour I did not hesitate to add a little brandy in each cup, for
+after twenty-four hours of continual rain a stimulant was not only
+necessary but welcome.  I tried to coax the dogs to take some, they
+seemed so wet and miserable, but they spurned my offer, and stood
+looking at me with most pitiful and mournful eyes.
+
+Presently Tiger disappeared behind the wall, and a second later we heard
+a low growl.  With childlike temerity Nini jumped up to see what was the
+cause of his alarm, and then almost instantly I heard her gasp, "_Un
+mort!_"
+
+That brought us to our feet and in a bound I was on the spot just in
+time to see her fearlessly approaching the prostrate form of a German
+soldier, the upper extremity of whose body was hidden beneath the top of
+a tin wash boiler.  The child raised the lid, beheld, as we did, a
+headless human trunk, and fell into a swoon.
+
+We were well on our road before she came to her senses, and there were
+moments when I almost wished she might remain dormant until we had
+passed beyond the gruesome plain that stretches between Barcy and
+Vareddes--now a historic battlefield.
+
+What a weird and wonderful sight it presented that gloomy September
+morning. Behind us Barcy, whose every edifice was decapitated or so
+degraded as to look like a gigantic sieve.  Around us and on all sides
+fields fairly ploughed up by shot and shell, and every fifty yards it
+seemed to me rose a freshly covered mound, extending as far as eye could
+see.  On these new-made graves were piled hundreds of red soldier caps,
+and here and there a hastily hewn wooden cross bearing such inscriptions
+as these, scrawled in lead pencil on a smooth space whittled by a jack
+knife:
+
+_Aux Braves du 248_
+
+When an officer was found and identified, he was buried alone and his
+name was carefully written on the cross, but more often we saw graves
+marked thus:
+
+-Ici reposent deux offlciers et quarante hommes du 28 ... ieme._
+
+Sometimes the tomb was in the ditch (to save digging) and once we saw
+the Parisian _pompiers_ burying some German corpses in the very trench
+they had dug and died in.
+
+Overhead tangled electric wires swung dangerously near the road, the
+poles shattered or knocked agog, while in the distance the stumps of a
+once-majestic row of poplars made the horizon look like a grinning
+toothless face.
+
+Time and again we were obliged to leave the road to avoid accident by
+passing over unexploded shells, and I shall always recall a gigantic oak
+tree which though still standing was cleft in twain by a 77-shell
+embedded intact in the yawning trunk; the impact, not the explosion, had
+caused the rift.
+
+The farther we advanced the more evident became the signs of recent
+conflict. Hay stacks seemed to have been a favorite target as well as
+refuge.  One we saw was almost completely tunneled through, and the
+blood bespattered sides of the opening told that the occupant had been
+caught as in a trap.  Around these stacks were scattered the remains of
+old boots and shoes, scarlet blood-soaked rags, dry beans, bits of soap,
+playing cards and songs.  Oh, lighthearted sons of France, it can be
+truly said that death held no terrors for you, since from Barcy to
+Soissons the ground you loved and so valiantly defended was strewn white
+with hundreds of thousands of tender ditties and _chansons de route_.
+
+From Vareddes we passed on to Congis, the only living soul we met being
+a little old white-haired parish priest, who had set himself the task of
+blessing each new-made grave.
+
+"If this rain continues some of them will be so effaced in a fortnight
+that we shall never find them.  See--this cross is but two bits of
+straw, bound together by a shoe string!"
+
+And he held up the fragile ornament for my inspection.
+
+"These are more durable," and he showed another relic made of a bayonet
+sheath, crossed on the blade itself!
+
+"And you--Monsieur le Cure--bow is it you are here?"
+
+"Alas--would to God they had taken me in the place of our boys!  Seven
+of them, Madame, carried off as hostages.  I was too old to be of use!"
+
+"And the women?"
+
+The poor little man hung his bead.
+
+"Twere better they had died!"
+
+I understood and shuddered.
+
+"God speed you, my daughter, and never cease to thank Him for preserving
+you!"
+
+Again we went our way.
+
+Lizy-sur-Ourq, which we reached in the late forenoon, presented a more
+animated, though hardly more pleasing spectacle.  On the tracks in front
+of the station dozens of flat cars and freight trains had been purposely
+run together.  Some had telescoped, others mounted high in piles, one
+upon the other, their locomotives as well as their contents being
+smashed and damaged--the whole scene presenting the aspect of a gigantic
+railway wreck.
+
+On the steps of the station, seated gun in hand, three soldiers sat
+playing a game of cards.  Across the street a sentry mounted guard in
+front of a large door over which floated a Red Cross flag.
+
+"What's in there?" I asked.
+
+"Prisoners and wounded."
+
+"Can I be of any assistance?"
+
+"Hardly--only flesh wounds."
+
+I peeked into the courtyard.
+
+In one corner lounging upon the ground were a dozen untidy, unshaven
+men, whom I recognized by their uniforms to be Germans.  One man cast an
+insolent glance toward me and turned his back.  Two others smiled and
+pointed toward the bread they held in their hands.  On some straw in a
+couple of drays lay five or six individuals, their arms in slings, their
+heads bandaged.
+
+"Nothing serious," explained a sergeant.  "We're waiting for our men to
+clear up the tracks and the _genie_ to throw a bridge across the canal.
+Then we'll evacuate them."
+
+He was neither sad nor triumphant.
+
+"Were you in the battle?"
+
+"Rather!"
+
+"How did your regiment come off?"
+
+"We're all that are left--forty-four of us," and he pointed toward the
+station where work was rapidly progressing.
+
+From them I procured some _singe_ or army beef, and we halted an hour to
+rest the horses and eat our luncheon.  We were beginning to reach
+familiar territory and the idea of getting home put new life into our
+tired limbs, and made each moment of delay seem uselessly long.
+
+From Lizy ours was a straight road and we made rapid progress.  The
+depressing signs of battle became fewer and fewer.  It was evident that
+the rush had been northwest, for while we encountered numerous proofs of
+the armies' passage, graves and shells, trenches and corpses gradually
+began to disappear.  At Cocherel, however, the enemy had burned a
+grocery shop when they had failed to find what they wanted.  The few men
+who remained had suffered much from ill treatment and passing by the
+open gate of a splendid estate I cast a glance up the long avenue and
+saw a sight which gave me a pang at the heart.  On the green in front of
+the chateau lay a battered billiard table and a grand piano, both turned
+on end, and much the worse for having served as a defense against a rain
+of shot.  Around them were strewn broken furniture, pictures, linen and
+bottles in such a sorry mess that I dared not even think what Villiers
+might now look like.
+
+Curiosity was quenched.  We cast a second glance, and turned our faces
+eastward.
+
+The afternoon was well advanced when we reached Montreuil-aux-Lions, our
+home country.  We found that here less damage had been done from heavy
+artillery, but all the edifices had suffered from close-range rifle
+fire.  An English sentry was pacing up and down in front of the town
+hall.  Over the entrance was nailed a Turkish towel on which a Red Cross
+was stained with human blood!
+
+"Prisoners?" I asked.
+
+"All wounded, thank you," was the courteous reply.
+
+I sought out my friend the inn-keeper who held up his hands in
+astonishment, bade us enter and made us partake of a warm meal.  The
+first we had had since we left home!
+
+"But how did you come to be spared?" I queried.
+
+"Because I was good to them."
+
+"Bah!  How could you?"
+
+"I didn't intend to, but, you see, they tricked me.  It was early
+morning when half a dozen officers on horseback rode up to the door.
+'Where are our Allies?' they asked.
+
+"I thought of course they were Englishmen.  The uniform was unfamiliar
+to me, but they all spoke perfect French.  Unwittingly I gave them the
+requested information, and they asked me to bring up some good wine.
+Then they threw a gold piece on to the table, and when I had poured out
+my Burgundy, they begged me to touch glasses with them.
+
+"'Ah, gentlemen, it is a pleasure to offer you the best I have.  Thank
+God, it is not for German stomachs!'
+
+"To my surprise, an uproarious laugh greeted my statement and brought my
+glass down with a shock.
+
+"'Poor fellow!' they tittered.  'Come, drink to our success and the
+Kaiser's health!'
+
+"I think they realized my fright and agony.  They did not force me--but
+laughed anew, drank and were gone."
+
+"What regiments drove them out?"
+
+"The English.  _Quels gaillards!_  And clean!  Well!"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Yes, they nearly used up all the water in Montreuil washing!"
+
+"Do you know anything of Villiers?"
+
+"No.  I spent most of my time in the cellar during the fight, and since
+they've been gone I'm living in terror lest they return."
+
+"Have you seen no one from down there?"
+
+"No, not a soul."
+
+"Do you think Villiers was bombarded?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders.  "I know the English troops that were here
+headed in that direction."
+
+This suspense was too agonizing!  I fear I so abbreviated my stay at
+Montreuil that the good inn-keeper was offended.  I jumped on to my
+bicycle and knowing that the roads were now familiar to all, abandoned
+my little party, bidding them hurry to join me at home.
+
+On, on I sped, through the slippery mud, looking neither right nor left,
+but straight ahead in the hope of recognizing a familiar face or form.
+
+Twilight was deepening when I entered Bezu-le-Gury (our nearest home
+town), which seemed to show apparently but few signs of pillaging.  I
+did not even dismount to make inquiries, but pedaled on till I reached
+the summit of that long, long hill that leads straight down to my home.
+Excitement lent a new impulse to my energy, and my heart thumped hard as
+I recognized familiar cottages still standing.  This raised my hopes and
+sent me rocket-like down that steep incline.
+
+Still not a soul in sight--no noise save that of the guns roaring in the
+distance.
+
+But what was that in the semi-darkness ahead of me?  A dog?  Could it be
+true? I back-pedaled and whistled--a long, low, familiar howl greeted my
+ears and brought the tears to my eyes.
+
+And then my poor old beagle hound came trotting up the road to welcome
+me--his tail wagging joyously and a long frayed cord dangling from his
+collar.
+
+This was a relief and somewhat steadied and prepared me for what was to
+come. Through a gap in the trees I caught a glimpse of the roofs below.
+And so I rounded the corner and started on my last hundred yards.
+
+The broken and tangled grill of our stately gateway told of the
+invaders' visit. A few paces further and the chateau come into full
+view.
+
+Yes, it was standing, but only the shell of that lovely home I had fled
+from but fourteen days before.
+
+Dropping my machine I rushed towards the entrance hall, cast one glance
+through the broken panes into the vestibule, and turned away in despair.
+
+All the willful damage that human beings could do had been wrought on
+the contents of my home.
+
+The spell was broken.  My nerves relaxed and heedless of the filth I
+dropped on to the steps and wept.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+I think it was the stench from within that first roused me from my grief
+and made me realize that this was war and no time for tears.  I tried to
+comfort myself with the thought that at least I had a roof to cover me,
+but this was poor consolation.
+
+Pulling myself together, I started across the lawn towards the village
+in search of aid, for a second glance told me that it was useless even
+to think of entering the house, so great was the filth and disorder.
+
+Slowly I pushed onward, my head bent, my heart heavy with sorrow and
+worry. Twenty paces in front of me I discerned a low mound and then,
+horror of horrors, a huge black cross stood forth in the semi-darkness.
+A grave--a  German grave. Some poor souls interred on my greensward; but
+why, since our little cemetery is but a couple of hundred yards up the
+road?
+
+Villiers is not a cheerful village even in time of peace, but on this
+particular evening (September 14, 1914) it was even darker than ever. My
+eyes growing accustomed to the obscurity could see that most of the
+houses, though damaged from the battle, were still standing and in one
+or two windows the glow of a light gladdened my gaze.
+
+I went straight to the town hall where I pounded on the door and called
+my name. A familiar shuffling of feet told me that Monsieur Duguey had
+remained faithful to his post as town clerk (the only acting official
+since the army was mobilized) and when he opened the door and saw me,
+his eyes lit up with joy. Holding a candle high over his head, he smiled
+and then his face fell.
+
+"_Pauvre Madame,_" he said.  "Have you seen the chateau?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Ah, the vandals!  Not war, but highway robbery, I call it.  We poor
+peasants had little to lose, but with you, Madame, it is different."
+
+And then he told me how but a few hours after I had left the Germans
+took possession of the chateau and how for five nights and days in a
+ceaseless stream the flower of the Prussian army had poured down the
+road towards the coveted capital.
+
+At dawn on that eventful September morning an officer had ridden up to
+the town hall, called for the mayor or his representative, and on
+Monsieur Duguey's appearance, had demanded so much fodder for the
+horses, so much champagne for the officers, and Charles Huard!
+
+M. Duguey was taken hostage to respond to the first two demands and on
+having sworn on the cross that both my husband and I were absent, he was
+ordered to lead the way to our home, where for forty-eight hours he was
+detained as prisoner in the kitchen, while a staff of German noblemen
+raised riot in our home.
+
+Taunted and insulted by the soldiers who mounted guard in the kitchen
+where a chef prepared the general's food, he was bid hold his tongue and
+his temper by this same chef, who, for eleven years, had cooked at a
+well known hotel on the rue de Rivoli!  No wonder he spoke good French.
+
+"_Pauvre Madame!_  Perhaps you've come back too soon!  If we only knew
+they would not return!"
+
+The cannon in the distance shook the house as though to corroborate his
+statement.
+
+"Is there anyone left to help me clean place to sleep in?"
+
+"I'll go.  There are only one or two women who remained behind, but I
+presume sorry they did!  What a God-send you got away!"
+
+I understood and was thankful.
+
+Monsieur Duguey put his candle into lantern, shouldered a broom, and
+taking blanket, led the way towards the chateau.
+
+Want of words to express our fears and distress sealed our lips as we
+picked our way into a filthy, can-strewn, bottle-littered courtyard,
+towards a wing of the chateau where I had chosen to sleep.
+
+I hardly know what we plodded through the corridor.  My companion pushed
+things, into heaps in one corner of the room, and when I saw him sweep
+off a mattress and throw his blanket upon it, I realized that my bed was
+made.
+
+"You are not afraid, Madame?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then _a demain_. I will come and help you.  I fear, however, that I
+must leave you in darkness, for there are no matches in the village.  We
+have to borrow light for our fires, and our stock of candles is nearly
+gone.  They are only the butts the Germans left behind!"
+
+Exhausted I fell asleep, to be awakened with a start towards dawn by the
+clatter of horses' feet on the paved court beneath my window.
+
+Cavalry?
+
+I listened.
+
+Yes, surely.  But what cavalry?  Ours?
+
+Curiosity got the better of me, and I put my head out of the empty sash
+to behold a most pathetic sight.  There in the pouring rain stood some
+twenty shivering horses, once fine animals' but now wounded and broken.
+The lamentable little group, left-behinds of the invaders, was headed by
+my old gray donkey, who had gathered them together and was now leading
+them towards warmth and shelter.  This sympathy among animals moved me
+deeply, and I started down to see what I could do to alleviate their
+suffering.
+
+I am ashamed to say, however, that I never reached the stable, for the
+sights of filth and horror that I met on the way so distracted me that I
+pushed on through the whole house, anxious to see really how much damage
+had been done.
+
+I was still making my disheartening rounds when the others drove into
+the yard, and the wails of lamentation rose long and loud from their
+lips.
+
+How can one describe it?  It seems almost impossible.  Too much has
+already been said, too little is really known, so I shall content myself
+with a few brief statements.
+
+Above all I would have it understood that the chateau was first occupied
+by General von Muck and his staff.  The names crayoned on the doors of
+my bedrooms in big red letters bear testimony--as well as some soiled
+under-linen and a _glassentuch_ marked v. K.--and numerous papers
+stamped with the Imperial seal. These latter are all orders or reports
+belonging to the third army corps, and were left behind in the
+precipitation of the flight!
+
+As I now am able to see the matter in a cooler frame of mind, I realize
+that not only was efficiency carried out in warfare but in looting--for
+it seems that everything we possessed was systematically classified as
+good, bad or indifferent--the former and the latter being carefully
+packed into huge army supply carts, which for five long days stood
+backed up against our doorstep, leaving only when completely laden with
+spoils.
+
+Then what remained was thrown into corners and willfully soiled and
+smeared in the most disgusting and nauseating manner.
+
+A proof of the above-mentioned efficiency can be given in a description
+of my husband's studio, where I found all the frames standing empty--the
+canvases having been carefully cut from them with a razor, and rolled
+for convenience' sake.
+
+Useless to mention that tapestries, silver, jewels, blankets and
+household, as well as personal linen, were considered trophies of war.
+That to me is far more comprehensible than the fact that our chateau
+being installed with all modern sanitary conveniences, these were
+purposely ignored, and corridors and comers, satin window curtains and
+even beds, were used for the most ignoble purposes.
+
+Everywhere were sickening traces of sodden drunkenness.  On the table
+beside each bed (most of them now bereft of their mattresses) stood
+champagne bottles, and half emptied glasses.  The straw-strewn
+drawing-room much resembled a cheap beer garden after a Saturday night's
+riot, and the unfortunate upright piano was not only decked with empty
+champagne bottles but also contained some two to three hundred pots of
+jam poured down inside--glass and all, probably just for a joke. Oh,
+_Kultur!_
+
+I think that and the fact that most of my ducks and small animals had
+been killed and left to lie and rot, were the things that most angered
+me, and every time the guns boomed I prayed ardently for revenge!
+
+And 'twas I, who believing in Teuton chivalry, had imagined my
+love-letters, protected by my country's emblem, would be respected!  My
+poor little rosewood desk had been mercilessly jabbed with bayonets, and
+its contents strewn from one end of the village to the other.  As to the
+Stars and Stripes, when we finally disgorged the pipes of certain
+sanitary apparatus that one does not usually mention in polite society,
+they were found there in a lamentable condition and carried to the
+wash-house with a tongs.
+
+What a destitute little village we were.  Mine was but the common lot,
+for each one had lost in proportion to his fortune.  Yet there was no
+lamenting.  There was work to be done, for the vintage season was coming
+on and the vines in most places had been respected.  The German officers
+had even announced the fact that our country was already annexed, and
+that this was to be the champagne to commemorate the triumph of the
+Fatherland!
+
+My little servants took hold of their filthy job and worked unceasingly
+though it was a thankless task--for soap and soda did not exist, and
+food, save the vegetables and a little pork, was hard to get.
+
+A week sped by, and then one afternoon a military auto drove up to the
+door.  As I saw it enter the yard, I trembled lest it bring bad tidings
+of H., but a kindly officer reassured me, by stating that though he
+brought only word of mouth, my husband was still in the land of the
+living.  He also announced that it was his duty to requisition my
+property as a French emergency hospital and that he would be obliged if
+I would put all the beds I owned at his disposal.  A doctor and some
+_infirmiers_ would be sent immediately to put the place in working
+order.  Would I help?  And did I know of anyone I would care to have
+with me?
+
+"You will be voluntary prisoners, you know, for this is the _zone de
+operations_, and you will not be allowed to leave."
+
+I bethought me of Madame Guix.  Was she still alive?
+
+My friend said he would be glad to accompany me to Rebais, as that was
+as near as any place for recruiting a nurse.
+
+And so again I whisked across the Marne.  This time _en grande vitesse_,
+and in little over an hour was greeted by the gentle superior who 'mid
+the ruins of all the neighboring houses was quietly continuing her work
+in the convent.
+
+Yes. Madame Guix was there--a heroine, so I learned, loved and respected
+by every soul who had been obliged to remain in that unfortunate town. I
+found her ministering to twenty-six severely wounded men--French,
+English and Germans--quite alone to do all the work, an eighty-year-old
+doctor coming in but once every two days.
+
+"I cannot leave them," said she, pointing to the soldiers, when I asked
+her to ally forces in the reconstitution of my hospital.  "But just as
+soon as they are able to be removed, I will come, I promise."
+
+In the parlour below, the Sister Superior told me of the invasion, while
+I waited the return of the military motor which was to bear me home.
+
+"She is wonderful," said Soeur Laurent, referring to Madame Guix.
+"Wonderful--afraid of nothing.  Once at the beginning of the invasion
+she was put against the wall and a brute of a German aimed and pulled
+the trigger of a gun he had found in a corner.  She had accidentally
+covered it with a wounded man's great coat!  He accused her of hiding
+arms!  Then in the thick of the battle, she went out into the German
+lines and sought a doctor for our men--feeling herself incompetent. The
+whole German medical staff came in and felicitated her on her courage
+and devotion, before they left.  I tell you all this because she never
+will!"
+
+A couple of days later a doctor and the _infirmiers_ arrived, the latter
+not picked men, since in ordinary life they are a tax collector, a super
+at the Theatre de Belleville, an omnibus painter, a notary's clerk and a
+barber!  But they are all "good fellows," ready to work with no choice
+as to the "job."
+
+Madame Guix duly made her appearance, and our hospital was declared
+open.
+
+From loans and requisitions we accumulated a hundred beds, and for
+fifteen months now, by begging and strictest economy, we have managed to
+keep alive and to care, as best we can and in our primitive way, for all
+those of France's brave sons who come to us, sick or wounded.  With
+God's help, we shall go on doing so until the day of our complete
+victory.
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of My Home In The Field of Honor
+by Frances Wilson Huard
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOR ***
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