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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6387c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67103 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67103) diff --git a/old/67103-0.txt b/old/67103-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0349bb9..0000000 --- a/old/67103-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6296 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of From the Trenches, by Geoffrey -Winthrop Young - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: From the Trenches - Louvain to the Aisne, the First Record of an Eye-Witness - -Author: Geoffrey Winthrop Young - -Release Date: January 4, 2022 [eBook #67103] -[Last updated: June 5, 2022]< - -Language: English - -Produced by: Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet - Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM THE TRENCHES *** - - - - - - -FROM THE TRENCHES - - - - - FROM THE TRENCHES - - LOUVAIN TO THE AISNE, THE FIRST - RECORD OF AN EYE-WITNESS - - BY - - GEOFFREY WINTHROP YOUNG - - LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN - 1 ADELPHI TERRACE W.C. - - -_I wish to express my obligation to the Proprietors of the "Daily News" -for permission to use material contributed to their columns._ - - -_First Published October, 1914._ - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. THE OUTBREAK. IN AND OUT OF PARIS 7 - - II. THE FIRST DAYS IN BRUSSELS 23 - - III. THE BELGIAN ENGAGEMENTS. EGHEZEE, HAELEN 34 - - IV. NAMUR AND THE FRENCH LINES 59 - - V. LOUVAIN AND WATERLOO 83 - - VI. THE LAST OF BRUSSELS. THE FLIGHT AND THE FLOOD 95 - - VII. ANTWERP AND MALINES 132 - - VIII. PARIS AND THE TRENCHES 151 - - IX. THE MOVEMENTS IN THE NORTH 174 - - X. THE BATTLES ON THE MARNE 193 - - XI. ON THE OISE AND THE SOMME 226 - - XII. ON THE AISNE 255 - - XIII. THE SHADOW OF THE WAR 293 - - XIV. ARMS AND THE MAN 302 - - - - -FROM THE TRENCHES - - - - -CHAPTER I - -The Outbreak. In and out of Paris - - -On Tuesday, 28th of July, I returned from the Alps; the weather -conditions had been arctic and the climbing more than usually exciting. -During a bathe in the Lake of Geneva, which has become the customary -end of the climbing season, I remember saying to my companion, "Well, -this is the end of all sensation for the year. Now for the usual dull -winter's work." - -On Thursday I volunteered to go with the Servian Army as War -Correspondent for the _Daily News_, but the European conflagration was -already too imminent. On Sunday, it was arranged that I should go to -Paris to join the French Army. - -The journey started normally. But at Newhaven it was startling to see -three English travellers turn and rush off the boat at the last minute. -It was the first and unforgettable sign of the break-up in our order -of life. To take a ticket and start a journey no longer meant the -inevitable procession to its end. We were beginning the life of the -unexpected; when event and interruption was to take the place of the -decent ordering of hours by convention and system. - -On the boat were only men; older men called up to the colours. Most of -them were fathers of families. One man sat in tears over a photograph -of his five children spread out before him. Some had lived all their -lives in England. "Well, you're an Englishman, at any rate," said the -steward to an obvious cockney. But he was French, though he could -scarcely speak it. A very old priest was returning, after twenty years, -to "die among his soldier children" in a French frontier village--"or -perhaps my grand-children," he corrected, with a faint smile. - -As we neared Calais the cloud began to pass. The men clustered and -spoke together: a few started singing. When I had crossed a few days -before, the quay had been lined with the usual cheering children, and -a few condescending tourists had waved back. Now there was a line of -soldiers in the same place. Our passengers rushed to the side and -cheered them. A number of French cruisers guarded the entrance. It -was the first real proof that we were passing into the facts of war. -The odd nightmare feeling of those few first days, that witnessed the -collapse of the structure of civilisation upon which our lives had -hitherto rested, intensified. The war was true after all; not merely -a terrible darkness of sensation into which we kept waking up, with a -shrinking discomfort, whenever our attention came back from reading -some book or following some ordinary chain of thought. - -At Calais there had been no regular train traffic for three days. A -number of travellers who had got as far as Calais on previous days -decided to return by our boat to England. The porters stood round -vaguely, with the distracted strained look that we learned to -associate later with the presence of the war atmosphere. I discovered -to my surprise a train waiting in the station with steam up:--it was -"Lord Kitchener's Special," prepared to carry him on his way to Egypt. -But Lord Kitchener at the last moment had not come, for reasons that -have since proved amply sufficient. By various persuasive arguments we -at last convinced the undecided station-master that as the line had -been cleared the express might run through; and we reached Paris in -four hours; the "last" unofficial express during the war. - -The Gare du Nord was empty of porters; but the long lines of platform -were piled ten feet high down the centre with enormous trunks--the -abandoned luggage of escaping tourists. - -Outside the station the approaches were barred by barriers, where -dragoons demanded passes from every foot passenger. Troops poured past, -starting for their different centres of concentration. The suburban -traffic had ceased. The streets were full of people kept in the town -against their will by the demands of the mobilisation. - -Paris had not yet settled down. It was seething in those first three -days of panic that seemed throughout Europe to follow the declaration -of war. More an atmospheric feeling than a state with definite -symptoms. People, for these days, seemed to be moving and speaking -semi-consciously, with the nervous suggestion in their faces that they -expected something novel and shocking to happen at any second. The -supposed German shops and houses were being wrecked and looted. Every -now and then there was a hurried rush of feet through the street, as -some suspect was hunted or maltreated. The spy-hunting mania seems -to have been a universal infection during this time. The disorderly -elements in the big towns got the upper hand for the moment and the -cold-blooded brutality of these silent man-hunts was to me infinitely -more shocking than the sight and sound of the more terrible destruction -on the battlefields. It was the first growl of the beast that we had -let loose, the savage animal in man waking for our purposes of war. -Under my window was a great courtyard, in which hundreds of German and -Austrian men, women and children were confined for their protection. -They had to sleep on the stones in the open air; and it was a pitiable -thing, while the crowds outside the gate were execrating and hustling -those who were thrust in to join them, to hear them singing French -songs and cheering for France. Most of them were French by education -and sympathy, and only German by extraction. - -The apache element, which had been encouraged by the thinning out of -the Gendarmerie for military service to make patriotism the cover for -convenient looting and brutality, was soon brought into order. Cavalry -pickets patrolled the streets in the evening; a curious sight, their -horses trampling on the pavement of the Rue de la Paix. The worst -haunts were raided; many hundreds were arrested, and the police in -large motor wagons ran through deserted quarters, stopping and pouncing -in batches upon suspected passers-by. The civil hand had released its -hold, and it was a day or two before the new military administration -could get a firm grip. Government offices were in a not unnatural -state of confusion--they had been weakened by the withdrawal of a -large proportion of their effective staff, at the same moment that they -became responsible for an enormous mass of novel duty. The civilian, -under military government, found himself of a sudden unable to move or -exist without official permits. The whole social structure had to be -reorganised, and the offices were crowded with jostling individuals -asking for permissions and explanations which the over-worked officials -were unable to supply. One of the most painful memories of the war was -the sight of refined-looking Austrians and Germans, men and women, -artists and writers, with the puzzled hunted expression of people in a -nightmare, forced to appeal in public to hurrying footmen and office -boys for some indulgence that might allow them to continue to earn -their living. - -The guiding principle of most public offices at this time, not only in -Paris, seemed to be that of sending people backward and forward until -their endurance should wear out. With what should happen to them in -case they did not comply with all the new regulations the military -outlook was not concerned. Every effort was to be concentrated on -the preparation for war. The civilian in such an atmosphere has no -further rights. If we permit, as nations, the whole civilised order of -existence to be pitched into a whirlpool of primitive passions, we must -expect to have to scuffle personally for our life-belts. - -On the third day of my stay in Paris the situation was indescribably -relieved by the declaration of war between England and Germany. The -rush on the banks stopped. Prices fell. Money became easier, and the -crowd of British and other tourists, sitting on their boxes in nervous -lines before the Consulates, diminished. The growing hostility of the -Parisians to ourselves disappeared. The organization in the responsible -offices, in so far as the public was concerned, began to assume some -order. - -Night and day the regiments passed through and round the city. The -mobilisation was rapid and extremely orderly. There was no apparent -hitch. We became confident that the prophecies that France would -be found unprepared would be proved totally wrong. Gradually the -requisitioned cabs and trams began to reappear in the streets. The -women quietly stepped into the men's places as ticket-collectors, etc. -With reduced numbers and closed shops, a graver population took up its -ordinary life. - -It was very soon apparent that no official correspondents were to -be allowed with the French or British forces. A large proportion of -the remaining officials, not to say ourselves, could have been saved -infinite bother if the intention had been declared from the first. -After a week spent without profit in ante-chambers and bureaus, I -decided to get through to Belgium, where there seemed to be better -possibility of approaching actual events. Chance helped me to secure a -more picturesque fashion of return than I could have hoped for. - - - Saturday, August 10th. - -I am just back from the first, and "probably the last," visit that -a civilian will be able to pay to the French frontier until the -situation has considerably developed. - -To have to wait a day in a queue to obtain a permit to leave, another -to secure a ticket, and even a third to confirm it by getting a -definite seat on a numbered train, can discourage the most patient. -The miracle of deliverance, however, took place; and it was brought -about by the agency of a chance meeting with a genial chauffeur. There -followed an introduction to his employers, a party of Belgian officers -returning to their own army, and an amiable invitation to evade some of -the weariness of the irregular train journey by taking a lift. - -That this was extended beyond all limits contemplated by military -regulations must be attributed to a reluctance to turn out on a dark, -wet night, in unknown districts, one of a nation whose intervention, -as I was assured, has contributed much to the magnificent spirit -with which the Belgian troops have supported the first rush of the -"invincible machine." - -We left Paris with the Boulevards almost as crowded as ever, but with -half the colour and light gone, and a note of unusual gravity in the -aspect and talk of the moving stream. - -Out through the long, dark suburbs, with the last signal, the flare of -the searchlight from the Eiffel Tower, blinking its messages across -the clouds high above our heads in front. In the first two miles we -were stopped half-a-dozen times; business-like question and answer in -quick, suppressed voices. Then the checks decreased as we ran out into -the dark fields, though the flash of light upon arms, the challenge -and halt came still at bridge and corner. The 'word of the day' passed -us at only reduced pace through the larger pickets, but the less -well-informed solitary sentry had to be more fully satisfied; and the -more, the further from Paris. - -Then longer and longer intervals of tremendous racing, unchecked; -for the car drove at full speed, and there is no peace traffic! The -light of the Eiffel Tower disappeared behind, but there was still -the consciousness, in the most remote darkness, that above us darted -ceaselessly the continuous stream of wireless messages linking the -brain of the army in the little room in unseen Paris with every -movement of the vast protecting arms that already lie outstretched to -guard France. Through Senlis, Compiègne, St. Quentin, and, at last, -Cambrai. It was only possible to calculate the probable towns by the -intervals of time, for in each case we were turned off on to side -circuits. - -When I had passed south to Paris a few days before, on a more westerly -line, the country had still seemed inhabited, though by a mixed race: -crowds of little red and blue soldiers resting, marching, crammed in -troop trains, and knots of men and women at the village corners, or -staring at the gates of the huge deserted factories. - -Now it seemed an empty land. All the life had passed east into the -great war cloud. Only now and again the flash of the lamp on a cluster -of boys and older men, sitting or lying by the road; the non-combatants -of the villages from the war region tramping west, with blue check -bundles tied on the handles of their reaping hooks, to earn what they -could, for the later repair of their losses, by helping to harvest. -Need for it, too, as the sight of the immense fields of grain, unreaped -or half reaped, yellowing the lonely fields of the uninhabited country, -suggest ruin to the traveller passing in the train. - -Before Cambrai we passed under a thicker darkness of cloud, and met -a torrent of rain that for the rest of the night and morning hid -everything but the glint of the lamps on falling drops or the more -vivid gleam of fixed bayonets. - -As we neared the frontier the country seemed to become populous again. -The cottages had lights; lights in the fields and through the trees. -Only, as we passed, the strangeness increased, for the population had -come from a different planet. Quiet cottages, with the glow of uniforms -through the wet panes, fields with a few tireless peasant women, helped -by good-humoured soldiers, using even the darkness for a desperate -effort to get in the forsaken crops. The sight of arms and wagons -seemed all the less fitting in the quiet villages because there was no -suggestion of war. - -One picture stands out vividly; the glare of the lights through the -rain on a sentry motionless on guard, while a dozen peasant women, -tired doubtless from the day's reaping, slept in his charge, lying -under the ridge of the field where they had been working. - -Beyond Cambrai I was not at liberty to note our direction or record any -details--a natural condition. - -In fact, there would be little to record; for the night was a -continuance of sounds, of lights, of moving unseen men and horses; and -of sudden challenges, coming out of the darkness through the rush of -rain. Only I may add that in one village our welcome was marked by a -different French intonation as the men gathered round us, and a Belgian -advance patrol exchanged jokes with my companions. - -Our route from Cambrai, as a matter of fact, took us to Valenciennes, -where the Belgian officers left me, hurrying to Maubeuge, while I -returned by car to Douai. - -In the grey of the morning I emerged, passing north of Douai, and now -without my companions. As we raced west, still through rain, we passed -again into deserted countries. The great machine had done its work. -The mobilisation was complete. The dotted sentries, gradually changing -from the smart field soldier to the paternal reservist squeezed into -a uniform--or partial uniform, seemed the only jetsam of the coloured -turmoil of the early week. - -The crawling railway, the American ladies complaining of the slow -trains and closed buffets, brought us back to ordinary life. Officials, -struggling to make us take their passports and their war-regulations -seriously, failed to revive any reality of impression. - -The war frontier, in rain and darkness, was drifting back into the -vague excitement of newspaper reports. - -The separation by nationalities was in full progress. France was being -cleared of all strangers. The consuls, for reasons not clear, were -advising all British residents to return to England at once. The chief -sufferers were the children, boys at school in France, children left -for visits or cures with French families or in boarding houses. Before -I reached Folkestone there must have been at least fifteen such small -strays who had had to be adopted and looked after during the succeeding -stages of the journey. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -The First Days in Brussels - - -Restarting almost immediately, I crossed to Ostend. On the way there -were the usual reassuring but unrecordable sights of the sentinel -cruisers and busy submarines that made these frequent passages -seem, after later weeks in the war countries, like an escape into a -comfortable atmosphere of home. - -At Ostend a party of efficient St. John Ambulance nurses with whom -I had travelled were received with delightful enthusiasm, and free -lemonade, by the Belgian soldiers. - -Brussels proved a contrast after Paris. The panic days, which took a -milder form here in spite of, or because of, the greater proximity of -danger, had passed. The townsfolk were absolutely calm, the shops open, -the life, except for the absence of means of traffic, undisturbed. - -Only at intervals, as the chance of the German occupation increased, -and the news diminished, there would come over the city for a few -hours, one of those electric restless waves which we got to know as -signs of approaching danger. They arose from no definite news. The -crowds repeated no rumours. It was merely an uneasy feeling in the air. -Something had happened far off, and like the unseen fall of a heavy -stone in water the ripple reached and spread over the city, that yet -had no definite information to disturb it. - - - Brussels, Monday. - -In addition to the well-deserved enthusiasm with which Belgian heroism -in arms has been greeted throughout civilised Europe, something must be -said of the success with which the extraordinary demands have been met -by the departments of the civil administration of Belgium. - -During the last few days I have been in contact with a variety of -administrative offices in the capitals of three of the belligerent -Powers. In one country it seems as yet unrecognised that exceptional -conditions demand exceptional organisation. In another there is -frank confusion, due to the withdrawal of the majority of the -efficient administrative staff to the war and the concentration of -the remainder solely on military requirements. Only in Brussels has -it been recognised in time that the civil life of a country, properly -controlled, is as important to success as any section of the work of -mobilisation, and that it is not sufficient to proclaim a state of war -and leave everything to an already over-worked military organisation. - -Some genius (we know now it was Burgomaster Max) must have been behind -the details of city administration here, for in their way they have -been as successful in maintaining public confidence as the personality -of the mountaineer King has been in inspiring magnificent enthusiasm -in his army. The streets are kept orderly, retail trade is almost -normal, railway traffic has been rarely interfered with by the immense -task of mobilisation; the complications of travellers and passports -are simplified and dealt with efficiently and considerately; the -Press control is effective but courteous; the hospitals are admirably -organised; and the crowds are kept from the stations, on the arrival of -wounded or prisoners. - -All civil organisations are made use of, and even the Boy Scouts are -doing excellent work for all branches, without the error--increasing -across the border--of considering themselves semi-combatants. The -result is that though the crisis, after the first few days, is -being met in all the capitals with gravity and quiet resolution, -Brussels--the most immediately threatened--remains a model of civic -life under strict but considerate administration. - -The moral, if any, is that even in actual war nations are only the -weaker for having to send the whole of their manhood to the front. To -convert the whole community, with its varied forces of activity, into a -single military machine, is to make the machine itself less effective. - - - Brussels, Tuesday. - -I have been given to-day every facility to inspect the excellent -organisation for the care of the wounded. A noticeable feature at the -central office is the extent to which amateur help is made use of in -organising, and the efficiency and open mind with which unexpected -contingencies are met and suggestions considered. - -(Later a growing amount of the unqualified "Red Cross" help was found -to be open to the same objections that were made to it as the result of -our own experience in the Boer War.) - -If experience in Paris and Brussels can be turned to account, the -British authorities should pay attention to the organisation of -private motor-cars lent to the force, to make them of real service. A -large proportion are apt to race about without purpose or serviceable -return--the usual difficulty with a crowd of enthusiastic would-be -helpers. - -The prisoners at Bruges confirm the impression that the commissariat -arrangements of the advance guard of the invading German columns was -very defective, owing to the unexpected resistance. The nature of the -wounds bears out the reports of inexpert German shooting. A great -number of the Belgian soldiers brought back from the front are wounded -below the knee, and a smaller proportion in the scalp. - -The Bruges authorities are most considerate in allowing books and -games to be sent to the prisoners of war, and letters to be sent and -received. (We were permitted to send down dozens of packs of cards -etc., as a distraction for the prisoners.) - -The population remains completely calm, even at a time when the next -few days may decide their fate. The passage of a German aeroplane -yesterday aroused only momentary curiosity. (Every day at about five -o'clock the aeroplanes circled over the town. We got to look for them. -Almost every night also a bright planet, the "Brussels star" was -watched by interested crowds, who took it for a "Zeppelin.") - -I witnessed to-day the feeding of some 10,000 children of men at the -front. The distribution was excellently organised. Later I saw the -distribution of vegetables to the necessitous. - -These days of anxious waiting are taken with quiet resolution and much -good humour. - - - Brussels, Wednesday. - -The gallantry of the Belgian resistance has astonished the world. It -has surprised the Belgians themselves. It would be a mistake to look -for its source only in the reconstitution of the Army, a matter of the -last few years; or to find in it a justification of war, or a plea for -national military service as the regenerator of racial vigour. - -The war is only the opportunity for the expression of a new Belgian -democratic spirit. The new service conditions have been merely one of -the agencies by which the idea of the individual right to a greater -share in self-government, and the idea of the necessary condition for -such government, national independence, have been disseminated. - -If the Belgians are fighting heroically, it is because they are -fighting for an independence which means not simply a national flag -and a coloured space on the map, but individual liberty. They are -defending, each man for himself and his neighbour, a responsible share -in an increasingly popular Government. The inspiration of the national -resistance has been the consciousness in each man of his share of -liberty already gained. This democratic spirit has given life and vivid -purpose to the military machine. - -For the time all difference of party is sunk in securing the primary -condition of liberty, racial independence, and the deliverance from the -threat of that greatest enemy of freedom and individual enterprise, -the military autocracy of Prussia. For the time, that can be the only -conscious idea. But the liberal and more intellectual elements must -be rejoicing in the realisation that the splendid effect of the new -spirit is already justifying the democratic movement by which a share -of popular responsibility has been gained in the past. They may well -be looking forward to a time when the people will be considered to -have earned by their heroism in arms a yet greater part in their own -government. - -The association of M. Vandervelde with the ministry has done much to -identify the new spirit of democracy with the central idea of national -existence. It is symbolical of the fact that the cause of Belgium is -the cause of her people. An ardent advocate of peace and international -friendship, he is known to have been one of the most resolutely -convinced that, in this crisis of her fate, Belgium could be content -with no formal protest, that she must fight for her independence to -the last man. (It remains for history to emphasise the measure of -political wisdom that the King showed at this crisis, in strengthening -the influence of his own resolution, never to allow a free passage -to the Germans, by the inclusion in the councils of the nation, of a -personality politically antagonistic, but inspired by a patriotism and -intellectual power second to none.) - -In a country hitherto supposed to have been exceptionally under the -influence of clerical domination it is significant to note the very -small part that the Church has taken in the time of great emotional -strain. In few of the organisations, civil and military, preparatory -and corrective, established to meet the crisis, has the Church taken -the lead. - -Even the Boy Scouts, as a small instance, who loom large in the -administrative life of Brussels for the time being, and who have -hitherto been divided into hostile camps by Church and lay divisions, -have sunk their differences, and are absorbed into the non-sectarian -and civil machinery. It will be interesting to see what effect the loss -of grip of the Church at this crucial moment may have upon her position -when the new Belgian national spirit, confirmed by trial, can turn its -energies again to problems of government and personal liberty. - -The renaissance, or rather reassertion, is not confined to men. Women -are taking a prominent part, and that not only in replacing men in -subordinate work. It has not been elsewhere stated, but I have been -assured by several of the wounded that much of the power of resistance -in the Liége forts is due to the women of the town of Liége, who twice -a day risk their lives in visiting the forts, bringing provisions and -new heart. - -With such wives and mothers there is little reason to fear that the new -spirit will be limited to one generation, or can be accounted for as -merely the reaction from a war fever. The war will but harden it into -manhood. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -The Belgian Engagements: Eghezee, Haelen - - -In a country, or town, under war conditions, all the usual facilities -of civilisation are suspended. Post, telegraph and train cease, so -far as civilians are concerned. Trams, carriages and automobiles are -required for military purposes. Movement out of, or even within, a -town is practically stopped. Not only are the countries sorted out by -nationalities, but even each town and village. A strange face is an -object of suspicious inquiry. A stranger finds it difficult to stay at -places where he is; it is all but impossible for him to leave them. -Permits of a particular kind are needed for any journey; and these -are constantly changing. The precautions are, of course, necessary, -especially to counteract an elaborate spy-system, such as that of the -Germans. They place, however, immense difficulties in the way of war -correspondence. To get the necessary permits for motor travel, the only -method of safe passage for a correspondent, is a matter of much time -and difficulty. When they are obtained, there remains to find a car -still unrequisitioned, and the services of a driver free from military -service and of absolutely sound nerves. In this I was exceptionally -fortunate. To "Lèon the chauffeur" is due the success which attended -my first efforts to get near the battle line, our pleasant reception -in almost all cases there, and our not infrequent escapes from awkward -situations. I was able to make some small return in the rescue of his -jolly family of babies from Brussels on the morning of the German entry. - -Our first excursion towards the actual fighting was a race down the -Belgian lines as far as Namur, to visit the French troops. They had -then just reached the Meuse, and were lined, holding the bank towards -Dinant. - -Liége had fallen. A few forts were said to be holding out; but -communications were cut off. - - - Brussels, Friday. - -A dash down the fighting lines to the south to-day showed us at points -along the route signs of the fierce little fights which have taken -place. The Belgians have held their positions magnificently. - -Our car was stopped every few miles to convey wounded. In these hot -days the troops, lying waiting along the trenches, have been greatly -suffering from the sun. The Belgian army cap is highly unpractical. -We carried a load of some five thousand handkerchiefs, which were -distributed, as well as the usual journals and cigarettes. - -There were intervals of sunlit fields--then masses of dark uniformed -troops. Occasionally chains and wire entanglements appeared suddenly -through the trees by the wayside. - -French troops--jolly fellows, fit and in great spirits--were in Namur. -The sight of cyclists returning from the little victory at Eghezee, -garlanded with flowers, was tremendously acclaimed. - -As we returned in the exquisite summer night we kept passing the -shadows of moving troops in the thin darkness. Three times we heard -the sound of sabots and singing, where the peasants and children were -gathered round the priests, under the trees, in supplicatory services -to the Virgin. As a contrast, twice again during the rush home through -the night there was a flash and report from a nervous sentry, and one -bullet struck our car. - -The Belgian army lay along the line Diest, Tirlemont, Jodoigne, -stretching towards Namur. The Headquarters were at Louvain. It covered -Brussels, and at the same time anticipated a flanking movement on the -north, by Hasselt. The main body occupied field trenches and forts -protected by wire entanglements. It was continually harried by the -countless bodies of roving Uhlans, and suffered considerably from the -heat, as it lay unoccupied in the trenches. It had done magnificently -in the forts; how would it do in the field? It was a time of waiting, -of small distracting engagements. None of us knew where the real stroke -would fall. - -I spent the next few days at Louvain and in various villages on the -lines, visiting the wounded in the cottages and shelters. - - - Thursday. - -Barricades and guards on every road. The country absolutely at peace. -The peasants working at the crops. But "the Prussians"--for we do not -speak of "Germans"--are pressing us on the north; they are threatening -and breaking in on the south. The first menaces, but the second may -compel our retreat on Antwerp. - -As we run out of Brussels down the shady avenues we are blocked by -little mazes of tram-cars, dragged across the road. Further on, at -every corner, crossing and hamlet, there are barriers of waggons, of -driven logs or piled trees. From these the Civil Guard threaten with -levelled guns. Dangerous citizens, in mediæval hats; they loose off on -suspicion, and are as zealous as most amateurs. They will run on to -a roof to shoot at an aeroplane 2,000 feet above them, regardless of -damage that may be done by their falling bullets. - -Further from the town the uniforms get more patchy; a bowler hat with -the colours of Belgium round it is one of the smartest insignia. In -the hamlets we have the peasants in blouses; but with business-like -rifles, readily handled. Good fellows; stern on their job; but, once -satisfied, ready to laugh back and exchange news. And everywhere -ubiquitous jolly children, scrambling about, even on the barriers -behind the bayonets. A little blue monster, with a large bottle, hopped -and chuckled with glee as a surly guard all but fired on us from mere -boredom. - -We are racing down the line to Namur. Small engagements with Uhlans -are of hourly occurrence to-day in the domestic-looking fields. The -châteaux are deserted. Everyone has an anxious eye on the horizon. - -My red ensign is saluted cheerily by the soldiers, but it has to be -explained to the sturdy peasant guards. An officer stops me to tell me -that I am an Englishman, and to explain that he is riding on a horse -this morning captured from the Germans. The German horses are good; but -the Belgians ride better. - -We are practically among the Namur defences. The challenges come every -two minutes, or less. The fields are scarred with modern "forts"; -great wire entanglements, twisted boughs, and red and yellow trenches, -sometimes roofed with the new-cut crops. Little bodies of soldiers, -small, wiry, intelligent men and boys, with pleasant faces already -rough with exposure, crowd round to chat and to welcome the cigarettes -and newspapers. - -"There has been a skirmish here," they tell us; "Two prisoners are in -that cottage"; "Three wounded in the church"; and again and again they -ask, "Where are the English?" and "How many are the French?" Ah, if we -knew! For the Belgian army has played the hero in fort and open field; -but many know they are hard-pressed. Our talk is of the demoralisation -of the Germans, and of their hunger when captured. - -In the middle of a little green wood, sheltered from aeroplanes, -suddenly we are in a fort. Vicious guns are trained on to a -cottage-hedge in full flower, that has been left standing to screen -them for the time. Close beside them, some twenty boys are bathing in -a shady pool. But they are curiously quiet. The chances of fight and -death are too near. And, as in all wars, there are terrible stories -growing of the savagery of the enemy. - -Dark, waspish little soldiers lie seemingly at haphazard through the -fields, and they fill the streets of Namur. The town is oddly still. -Even the huge masonry of the fortress, hanging above the beautiful -wooded gorge of the Meuse, seems to share in a suppressed, shifting -quiet of expectancy. - -We wheel out of the town, this time not to see again our French -friends, but away to where the pressure is closest. Only last night -an audacious German detachment of some 300 pressed within a few miles -of the town, at Eghezee, and paid for its folly. Taking possession of -the Chateau of Boneff, they looted the house, and sat down to cook -rice on the stubble slope by the road. An airman marked them down. -A small body of Belgians crept along the road, from Namur, "on all -fours," occupied the trenches already prepared in the potato slope -opposite--finding no sentries or outposts--and swept the detachment at -close range. Prisoners, dead, and wounded, few were able to retreat; -but the remainder had some revenge a few hours later on a rash cyclist -contingent of Belgians which followed them too far. - -While I walked the field the horses were still being charred and -buried, the saddlery and cooking pots collected. - -Cavalry patrols of dark, hard-bitten little soldiers speckled the -country round. A careworn young lieutenant arrested me the first time. -He hardly attended to the papers, rolling a cigarette and murmuring -courteously and constantly: "There are so many spies about." - -As we pushed on and out on field tracks for a further view, the car -appeared to materialise a succession of cantering patrols out of the -empty sunlit spaces of fields. Some were courteous: some not. But all, -fortunately, had more serious business to attend to in the end. - -At last we spied a more stealthy line of jogging helmets circuiting -behind trees far ahead. This time we decided that arrest, even after -a race, would be the lesser risk to take. We turned and spurted back, -our doubts confirmed by seeing two or three unexpected lines of dots -concentrating upon us or our pursuers. We spun through them and back on -to the larger road. A few shots heard later, a long way behind, gave -us the feeling of having acted as a convenient decoy for at least one -party of the dreaded Uhlans. - -Our next arrest, shortly afterwards, was by a fierce-looking -commandant, on an exceptionally fine horse. He was softened by the -red ensign and the success of his own attempts to talk English. We -agreed that it was difficult to make certain when we were or were not -well within the front, since the two forces were "all in and out along -here." He, too, wished to know "Where are the English?" He had captured -two dragoons that day with his own hand. Some of his troops had the -metal German lances slung on their shoulders. - -On our straight run back to Namur, by entanglements and trenches and -constant challenges, we watched with pleasure an aeroplane circling -above the tremendous hill fortress; certainly, we thought, a Belgian, -because of its low flight. - -Half-an-hour later, as I was getting food in the lively centre of the -town, there came the now familiar rush of the highly-strung crowd. In -a small cart, supported by four workmen, an old, respectably-dressed -shop-keeper was being drawn to the hospital with shattered legs and -terribly wounded head. He had been struck down in the street by the -explosion of a dynamite hand-grenade, flung from the aeroplane which we -had watched circling against the sunset. The senseless, wanton savagery -of war. - -Our return in the dark seemed likely to be sensational, for rumour had -it that the Prussians were pressing in again on the north near Wavre. -Up to Wavre we merely had the not infrequent incident of a guard, -who had forgotten to light his lamp to stop us, trying to repair his -omission by firing after our tail-lamp. - -At Wavre, in the half-lit street, we met stretchers passing through the -mute groups of men and children, a grim sign of near conflict. - -Here a genial commandant stopped me for a talk. He had been at Eghezee, -and was now on his way to "receive" a small German column that was -pushing in on the east under cover of night. A surprise had been -arranged by the Belgians. - -He brought me up the road north-east from Wavre. We left the car under -dark trees; and he directed me to a hillock on the right. After an age -of waiting, little dispersed flashes and reports came from the hollow -in the dark in front. The Germans were getting into touch. It was the -first time I had heard the mitrailleuse, like the ripping of rough -canvas. - -Answering flash and snarl came from a rough semicircle of shadow in -front and on the south side of them. Larger guns came into action on -the north, muffled behind slopes. There is little to see by day in a -modern battle unless one takes part. Nothing to see at night. I was -due back. When I left the commandant, to return through Wavre, the -stretchers were passing through empty streets. - -It was not yet apparent what line the German northern armies were -about to adopt for their main advance. The Uhlan screen prevented -exact reconnoitring. We were aware that the French troops were coming -up; and there seemed to be signs that they intended either to throw -across a number of regiments to assist the Belgians east and south of -Brussels, or to form a continuous line with the Belgian army on a curve -from Diest to Namur. The latter plan would have forced a great battle -in the neighbourhood of Genappe, south of Waterloo. At the same time I -was aware that the Government were anxious both on account of the small -numbers of French crossing the frontier and at the apparent slowness of -their advance. We did not know of the strategy that had concentrated -the French armies upon Alsace-Lorraine, or, consequently, of the time -necessary for the alteration of the balance of troops towards the -north. It was rumoured, as it appears now among the Germans also, that -the British force would either advance by Brussels, and hold a position -in the centre of the defensive loop from the north of Hasselt to the -French positions upon the Meuse and Sambre, or cover Antwerp and the -Belgian left wing, thus preventing a turning movement of the Germans -along the frontier of Dutch Limburg. - -The position became clearer when the news arrived of the advance of -German army corps across the Meuse; and of the great concentration that -was proceeding in the neighbourhood of Hasselt. It was still supposed, -however, to be largely a movement of cavalry. - -Heavy fighting was reported on Thursday and Friday at Haelen. Friday -was a brilliant sunny day. It was full of surprises. We forced our way -along rough lanes, to run suddenly into small reserves or batteries -hidden from the aviators under trees. At times we had to move -hazardously with one wheel in a ditch, as we passed lines of munition -waggons, or crowded along jogging lines of cavalry. We skirted behind -the trenches from Louvain to Diest, and thence to Haelen. - - - Haelen, Friday. - -Fine fellows these little Belgians; intelligent and quick to respond. -Rather weary now and strained, for many of them have been already long -in the field. Day and night they have been fighting at odds of ten -to one. They are men who think, and they fight the better for it. A -desperately exhausting fight it is. Dispersed in parties over their -immense front, they have to rush and concentrate the moment that one -of the small squadrons of German cavalry, infinitely scattered, is -signalled. Some, thus, have been in three separate engagements on one -day, in different places. But they are as stout-hearted as ever. Tell -them what the world thinks of their heroism, and they smile with half -humorous pleasure. Tell them what we guess of the nearness of their -allies, and they crowd round with an unselfconscious delight that is -not for themselves but for their nation and their cause. - -As we pass among them, in their "rest" moments, it is easy to make them -cluster, laughing like a crowd of alert boys; but in the fighting line -they are tense as wires, with a concentrated sternness that the Germans -are learning to respect. - -"I have sabred two this morning," a powerful, brown-faced lad, a -cavalryman, who had just finished bandaging a German dragoon with a -broken back, said to me drowsily to-day. This was in a cottage at -Haelen. - -Haelen, the wrecked village, where the Belgians have proved their -heroism in the field, has to-day been the scene of renewed attacks -and unshaken resistance. The Germans, who lost 2,000 out of 5,000 in -the two days' fighting, had to fall back upon the base of their army -corps at Kermpt; but they have been pressing, pressing forward again in -overwhelming numbers. - -The fields outside the village are a terrible sight: littered with dead -men and horses, broken guns, twisted lances. In one trench alone twelve -hundred Germans were being buried, and the harrow was passed over the -brown scar as soon as it was filled in. Cottages burned and black with -shell fire, with dead cattle in the sheds. There were furrows where -the shell had ploughed; and trampled heaps in the crops and among the -bloodstained roots, where the charging horses had been mown down in -masses. - -Among the fragments of leather and helmets were a number of scraps of -letters and postcards, carried by the soldiers in case of death, and -a German collection of sacred songs for the campaign. These things are -better left as they lie, and it is unwise, in running between rival -armies, to risk carrying "mementoes" of battle. One very touching -letter, however, that I found here, was carried home by a friend, and -as my translation has already appeared, it may be reproduced: - - "Sweetheart, - - Fate in this present war has treated us more cruelly than many others. - If I have not lived to create for you the happiness of which both our - hearts dreamed, remember that my sole wish is now that you should be - comforted. Forget me. Create for yourself some contented home that may - restore to you some of the greater pleasures of life. - - For myself, I shall have died happy in the thought of your love. My - last thought has been for you and for those I leave at home. Accept - this, the last kiss, from him who loved you." - -A German biplane hovered overhead as I examined the positions in the -field. I was anxious to make sure of the German line of advance. I -drove forward over the village bridge, the scene of savage fighting and -bombardment, but still just standing, and unexpectedly found myself -behind the fighting line, facing a renewed German advance. Every house -in the village was wrecked and looted. The street was littered with -broken bottles and remnants. The church tower was gaping with holes: -the Belgians, too, had had to use it to train their guns upon, during -the German occupation. The walls still standing were pierced for rifle -fire. - -As we moved across the long-contested bridge and up the broken -bullet-scarred street it was to the sound of cannon. Waggons bringing -up fresh ammunition poured past us. On the stones under the walls knots -of soldiers, too weary to shift their feet, lay sleeping during their -hour of release from the front. - -At intervals round the battered church wall came the stretchers, with -the still more quiet dead. - -I had visited three field ambulances along the line from Louvain during -the day. Now for the fourth time I was admitted to the improvised -ambulance rooms, well knowing what I should find. For the Belgian -remains true to his civilisation. The wounded German prisoners, as they -came in, were treated with just the same care, their death dignified -with the same respect as that of our own friends. And yet the stories -that are told of their cruelty to the peasants, and sincerely believed -by the soldiers, are terrible. "But"--said a little rough, unshaven -peasant infantryman to me--"we are men who feel. Whatever our enemies -may do, we shall continue as we have begun--to the end." - -I was even allowed to speak to some of the wounded in their own -language. Not one had a word of complaint. Poor fellows, they all -believed they had been fighting against the French! I think two of -the finest men I have ever seen were a Belgian corporal and a German -private, who lay dying to-day of bullet wounds, in half-burnt villages -a few miles apart. In the cottage yard a peasant woman, with four -children round her, who had seen her house sacked, was making coffee -over a wood fire for the wounded Germans. - -But the air round us was overcharged. The Belgians had been surprised -in some woods as they advanced from the village this morning. They had -lost heavily. Now they were holding the position well, but the Germans, -in spite of losses, were closing in. Their advanced firing parties -were at the moment within 300 yards of the village. At any instant -their cavalry, whose lances and helmets lay mixed with smashed bottles -about the village square, relics of the past day, might sweep round the -defence. - -All of a sudden one of the changes of mood common to nerves at such -crises came over the soldiers about us. The faces hardened. We were -under arrest. The fact of my talking German to the wounded, a mistake -I learned to avoid later, was sufficient to brand me a spy. I had -taken the precaution to translate each sentence to the sergeant in -charge, but he denied it when I referred to him. Men in the "war -state" are hardly responsible. I was taken, by the sentries, past a -barricade, held by infantry with Maxims, to the headquarters. The major -commanding, furiously issuing orders, sending out supports, etc., from -the parlour of the last cottage in the street, was too occupied to give -me full attention. "I have the right to shoot you: you ought to be -shot, of course," was all he had time to exclaim at intervals. After a -hurried, unsatisfactory talk I moved outside, and waited, among sullen -faces. And I could see, a few yards off, the little sunlit glade of -trees, where the Belgians were moving and firing, as they covered the -entrance to the village. - -An important prisoner was hurried in, and then away in a car. In the -bustle some change occurred. Another major was in command. A tall, -scholarly-looking man, utterly incongruous in such a scene, shouting -abrupt orders in a cultivated voice. At last he had a moment for me. "I -am perfectly satisfied; but we are in war. You will, I hope, excuse my -forbidding your advance; in fact, it is impossible: the enemy command -the road: good day"--he bowed me out with my guard. Immediately only -sunny faces round us again; but still with the fixed, absent eyes, that -tell of danger, close and realised. - -It had not been my wish to advance further. In fact, the car was -already turned, ready for a race back if the Germans broke in. We -waited for a few more minutes to laugh that look out of the eyes of -our friendly soldiers. Then we moved slowly back along the line of -ruins, the traces of death, that made but a single battlefield of the -fight of to-day and the fights of two days ago. We zigzagged through -the sleeping soldiers, stretched unstirring on the cobble stones. The -roar of a German aeroplane passed again over our heads; and the firing -sounded nearer, both to north and south. - -As I circled towards Diest, the roads were choked with munition and -reinforcements. A column of infantry wheeled to take up a position in -a beet-field on our left. A squadron of cavalry in the brown busby -clattered past to head off Uhlans reported on our right. The village -streets were barricaded with waggons; but the crowds of anxious, -waiting women, boys, and children laughed and chaffed back at us as -we waited at the barriers on the roads for a gap to be made for our -passage. - -Supports, and more waggons, and the constant rushing cars of officers. -The orchards were full of cavalry horses, many of them captured from -the Germans. The waiting soldiers grinned as I remarked on the fact -that some of them were wearing the boots of German prisoners, even -German regimental breeches. The Belgian mobilisation had to be carried -out in two days. Many of the troopers have had to complete their kit at -the German expense. - -An officer swung into the car. He had come out of Liége to "rest." He -is one of the only two survivors of the party of seven who fought hand -to hand with and killed the seven or more Germans who rode into Liége -to assassinate General Léman. "We watched them riding up the street; -they were waving a white flag. My friend said, 'They have just killed a -sentry.' We fired--thus; and they fired; and their four officers fell; -and the others we killed; but only two of us were left." - -As the sun set, long processions of Red Cross waggons, followed by -lines of trudging assistants, and some priests, blocked the roads. - -The troops were moving back into cantonments. A Division was being sent -back to "rest." They swarmed over the fields and surged round the car -for news. Through the wire entanglements, and over the trenches and -bough-fortifications pressed a host of women. A number of wives and -mothers, who had come long distances for a last sight--some of them -had walked over twenty miles to find the right quarter--were thrust at -us enthusiastically from the roadside, and the car was filled so as to -save, if only a few of them, the twelve miles of tramp to a railway. -Many had carried heavy baskets of provisions; but the troops are so -well fed that they were not needed. Delicate, educated women, they -waved courageous farewell to their husbands, private soldiers with -serious sensitive faces, men of the learned professions, and poured -into my ears the stories of hardship that their men were undergoing. - -As we passed, the towns seemed full of silent women waiting for news. -Small bodies of troops moved out now and again across the market -squares to repulse approaching Uhlans. - -At one town we traversed, Louvain, the King was in council with the -staff. At Diest a huge crowd was acclaiming a joyful report about the -English, that sent us, too, on our way with very particular reason for -cheering. - -In the last run in, through the dark, we were again made useful: this -time to convey a special mission to the War Office in Brussels. - -The Germans entered Diest soon after we left. - -This was the beginning of the great German flood, that lapped like a -slow tide from Hasselt, to Haelen, to Diest, and bursting upon Louvain -in the next days, poured irresistibly across Belgium. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -Namur and the French Lines - - -The news of the evening was that of the battle at Dinant: the great -drawn battle that distracted attention from the launching of the bolt -of the main German advance from Hasselt, north of the Meuse. Even the -layman could see the result must delay the French design--if it was -their design--of joining up with the Belgians to cover Brussels. It was -vital, if Belgium was not to be abandoned, that the French should get -up in time. Early the next morning I forced a way once again to Namur, -with the hope of possibly reaching Dinant, and, if not, of finding out -the real strength of the French in the region round Namur. One road was -still open. - -Namur was under the cloud of that silent nameless panic that is more -terrible than tumult. It is not found in the fighting lines; only in -the threatened civilian towns occupied by military headquarters in -face of the enemy. Nerves strained to snapping point find their only -vent in black suspicion. As a stranger, to catch a passing eye is to -challenge insult or arrest. For two days I was the only unofficial -visitor in the town. I was arrested five times. I could not sit for -five minutes at my window without hearing the tramp of civic guards or -police on the stairs, coming to interrogate me. My room was searched -twice a day for wireless apparatus. On the second occasion I pointed -out, sarcastically, that the small drawer of the wash-hand stand had -not been searched. It was never left unexamined again! There was no -definite news of advance, but absence of news is the worst trial to -civic nerves. Fear was in the air. But it was restrained and silent. A -lifted voice in the street was followed by a little noiseless rush of -people. On the second day I did not venture a hundred yards from the -hotel, to avoid the wearisome arrests and interrogatories. - - - Namur, Saturday. - -Under my window the crowds are waiting round the station for news. -The trains are practically stopped; there may be one to Brussels -to-morrow. Only one road to the north is open; the others are closed, -completing the circle of fortification. Yesterday the aviators were -dropping bombs on to the line opposite. To-day the town is quiet, but -humming restlessly. The thunderstorms may have checked the pestilent -persecution, or possibly the Germans now know all they need. - -South of us, on the Meuse, the two northern armies, French and German, -are facing one another. They were in conflict all yesterday, and there -is no reason now to keep silence about the positions. The scouting -Uhlans, whom I touched at Eghezee and east of Wavre, have done their -work. The main body of the German Army Corps, supposed here to be the -4th, possibly with the 10th in support, appears to be moving definitely -against the French to the south of the fortress.... - -All day yesterday, in a sanguinary battle, they were trying to force -the passage of the Meuse north and south of Dinant. A squadron of -French Dragoons was surprised beyond the river and destroyed. There are -the wildest reports as to the losses of the Germans. An eye-witness of -the attempts upon the Anseremme Bridge described to me the Germans as -swept by the guns, as they advanced in their usual columns, and unable -to fall as they died, so close and massed were the ranks. - -They were repulsed at the time, but they are returning in force. They -have began an attack upon the fort across the river at Davre. The -armies seem to be advancing north-west into the great angle of the -Meuse at Namur, coming into touch with the Belgians and French along -the semicircle from Huy to Givet. - -In a lonely little village south of Namur to-day, where I shared the -deserted street with a few sad-faced women and half a dozen cripples -and old men, the landlord said, "This is the 15th: our feast day. I -usually have hundreds of tourists; to-day you are alone; we are waiting -for the great battle. To-night?--to-morrow? Who knows?" As he spoke, -and we waited, the thunderstorms kept rolling up the lime-stone gorges, -and we listened, each time thinking this was the beginning. - -I slipped down from Namur this morning along the front of the French -lines on the Meuse. In all the villages deserted houses; walls pierced -for musketry; wire entanglements; and the picturesque windings of the -river scarred with trenches, and stirring with hardly-seen troops. It -was a curious change to leave our little friends, the dark Belgians, -and meet the moving patrols of French Dragoons, large, splendid-looking -fellows, bronzed and hardened since I saw them leave Paris but a -fortnight ago. But they cannot show more heart than our worn little -Belgian comrades, as they held back the overwhelming numbers in those -desperate engagements I watched yesterday, at Haelen and Diest. - -Where the cliffs on the far side sink to the river the roadside hedges -on this bank were lined with smart, keen-looking infantrymen, by hedge -and tree and trench, leaning across walls or behind trees, with rifle -ready. Hardly an eye turned on us. For on the hills across and to the -south the Germans have been sighted. The attack may come anywhere, any -time. - -We got within a mile of Dinant, well within the entrenched lines; past -barriers and fortified bridge ends--where the soldiers lay ready under -screens of sheaves. They were naturally suspicious at first of civilian -dress, but always courteous. Journals delighted them. One smart -dragoon, being shaved under a bough-shelter, musket on knee, received -his first wound in jumping up to ask for a newspaper, and to cheer for -England. - -At last came the final block. "Impossible to proceed; no -despatch-carrier even may pass." Infantry were clustered about us, -keenly watching the other bank. The shimmer of the light blue cavalry -uniform stirred and glittered up the steep lane behind us, hidden and -ready to charge and sweep the bridge clear. - -As the car raced back along the lines, even those who had chatted on -our first passing, or turned to salute, had barely a glance for us. -Something was in the air. The most talkative of the captains who had -questioned us looked at our passing with only the absent inward look -familiar now on the faces of men going into action. The dragoons moved -restlessly along the road in quick patrols, carrying news of the enemy -sighted in the woods on the opposite bank. The road is exposed in -all its length, and the car was so conspicuous that I expected every -instant to be fired upon from the trees opposite. A long train of guns -wound out of Namur and blocked our entry. - -What they awaited may come to-night, or to-morrow. We should hear the -guns here if the siege had begun in earnest. - - - Later. - -A bomb has just exploded on the line opposite my window. The glass roof -of the station is shattered. - -The sound of guns has begun from the forts on the east. - - - Namur, Sunday midnight. - -The French were engaged last night at Dinant, even before we were -clear of their lines. An attempt of the Germans to cross the Meuse at -Bouvignes was repulsed with loss. - -The Belgians this afternoon repulsed an attack at Wierde, east of -Davre, the fort on the defences of Namur across the Meuse, where an -unsuccessful attempt was made yesterday. - -I was out on the lines of the defences to-night with some friendly -soldiers, sharing their supper. I may say the commissariat of the -Belgians is excellently managed. The soup was first-class, and some -of the wives, just back from a Sunday visit to their husbands, tell -me their extra burden of food and wine was not needed by the men. One -woman, white with dust, had walked thirty miles in search of her son -to-day. In the end an officer was found to send her forward in a Red -Cross car. - -Even as I supped in the dark on the outworks with those soldiers, -one of the strange mood changes that are getting familiar in the war -atmosphere took place. Sullen suspicious looks, whispered questions -round me. I withdrew quietly but quickly. (When we hear the true story -of the fall of Namur, this too may have to be taken into account. -Soldiers conscious of their terrible losses, a populace half-believing -itself deserted by its allies. French troops sent in, and again -hurriedly withdrawn. The Namur army cut off from its main body, from -the king, and the command.) - -This evening the 28th Belgian Regiment marched in in triumph from its -successful engagement yesterday at Lothain. - -Only the First, Second and Third Division have yet been engaged. They -have borne alone the whole weight of the recent fierce engagements -in the front, from Namur to Diest. To-day the Third, here, is being -replaced by the Fourth. - -The Fifth and Sixth are still in reserve. They will probably be kept to -cover Antwerp, if Brussels falls. The Sixth is the élite of the Army. -The Belgian shooting so far has corrected the inequality of numbers; -but the Sixth Corps contains the chosen marksmen. The Germans continue -to shoot low. - -The trains this evening stopped running for the reason that a column of -150 German cavalry has been located across the line and along the road -down which we ran this morning; and the Belgians have been preparing a -surprise for to-night. In fact, there is an additional, more serious -and most satisfactory cause, almost laughable in its performance to -anyone in the secret, of which again I may not at present speak. -(French troops were being run in concealed by various devices from -the sight of the airmen. They detrained outside the town. A regiment -of "Turcos" however marched in in the evening, and produced the first -applause I had heard for a long time). - -The aviators have stopped dropping bombs. The soldiers, at least, -believe to-night that "the King has sent an envoy to say that a hundred -prisoners will be shot for every bomb dropped in the unprotected -streets." Only girls and old men have so far suffered from the inhuman -practice. - -I have spoken with two witnesses of the encounter about Dinant -yesterday. The chief struggle raged round the ancient citadel which was -taken and retaken. The French guns smashed the pontoon bridges as soon -as the Germans had built them. The permanent bridges were swept as the -columns advanced. They were mined, but left standing, acting each as a -death trap. The impatience of the French African troops, the "Turcos," -who are spoken of with bated breath, is said to have prevented the -success of a crushing enveloping movement, a yielding in the centre to -pour in on the flanks, which the French could only partially execute. - -Pitiable stories are told of the _corps-á-corps_ charges of the -"Turcos." The stories are becoming so universal that there seems reason -to suppose that the German "machine" has not been trained to meet the -bayonet. The Belgians have already learned to count on the bayonet as -their strongest weapon in meeting the Uhlans. - -The battles at Haelen would suggest that the tubular Uhlan lance is -less serviceable than the Belgian bamboo. It is certainly ineffective -against the solid bayonet. At Haelen I found a large number of -"buckled" and cracked lances along the line of the German cavalry -charges. - -The losses yesterday about Dinant seem to have been immense. Rumour -speaks of anything between 20,000 and 40,000 put _hors de combat_ from -the two opposing forces. It is probable from accounts that the number -must be reckoned in thousands. A peasant from a village below Dinant -told me that when he was called back from the fields "by the noise" he -"came over the hill to see the Meuse running red-streaked with blood." - -Allowing for the Ardennois emotion, there seems no doubt that the -fighting was savage and terribly costly, and that one of the many good -reasons that stopped our passage just short of Dinant was the fact that -the dead were not yet removed. - -In this war both sides are very rightly concealing their losses. The -relatives are separately informed, whenever it seems fit; and no lists -are published. - -To-night it is reported among the soldiers, and possibly therefore with -truth, that the Belgians have just blown up and abandoned one of the -smaller forts. "The reinforcements came just a day too late; the 4th -Army Corps should have been up yesterday." - -The German corps lately engaged at Haelen and Diest in the north are -reported to be moving south-west from their base at Kermpt and Hasselt. -If this is true, the movement indicates a general advance preparatory -for the battle of the three (four?) armies. - -We know the next move, so far as one side can know it, but it must be -left to explain itself. A few days, and the board in this corner will -have been disclosed. - - - Monday, 7 a.m. - -The surprise joke for the Germans, referred to above, has been going on -all night. - -Regiments of the 4th Belgian Army Corps have also been detraining all -morning. Fresh, brisk-looking men, curiously pallid compared with their -black unshaven comrades, who have been in the field all the week. -Better booted and equipped, having had more time to mobilise. Odd -boots and German prisoners' breeches, belts, and trappings have become -common sights in that hard-worn division. A little captain at Diest -was wearing blue breeches, one brown riding boot, one regulation black, -a kepi with two bullet-holes through it, and a green Chasseur coat -too small for him. "What would you? I have been in five fights, from -Liége to Diest; the Germans sacked my lodging on the night at Haelen. -I fought them there without a coat. We were seventeen in the corner of -the wheat, cyclists; at night I went back with the two other survivors, -and found my bicycle. One is a philosopher! one must be gay!" - -The Second, Third, and Fourth Regiments of the Line have suffered most. -The Second have lost a large proportion of their numbers. - -The proportion of officers killed is very large; this especially among -the Germans, owing to their massed formations and the distinction in -uniform. - -I saw a letter last night, found on a German officer, bitterly -complaining of the want of preparation, absence of proper scouting, and -reckless waste of life in their mass attacks. - -Little credence can be attached to stories of an enemy's savagery. But -a circumstantial story has been twice told me by men in different -companies that Belgian prisoners were placed in the front line in the -engagement at Landen; and that the Belgians fired low at first until -their friends had fallen, shot in the legs. I give it only for what it -is worth. - -There is no doubt that the battle in which the Belgians lost most -heavily was an early engagement on the Tirlemont lines, where, in the -dark, two regiments of Belgians mistook their line, and fired on each -other. Both lost many men. Under present conditions this must occur. -The airmen are asking that no aeroplane shall be fired upon. They -suffer from their friends. - - - Namur, Monday night. - -Have you seen a fight between a hawk and a rook, or a hawk and -peregrine? That, or something like it, took place over the open square -by the station this afternoon. - -An aeroplane appeared out of the west; it soared over the railway -against the cloudy sky, stooped, and suddenly, as if struck, shot with -a steep volplane on to this side of the Meuse. - -There was a rush of cars and crowd. But before it touched a second -aeroplane appeared like a speck in the clouds. It rushed down with -extraordinary rapidity, in sharp dipping planes; hovered, as if -looking for its prey, swooped at the tower on the station, and with -extraordinary audacity wheeled twice above it in exquisite descending -spirals. The flight of the first had brought a crowd of soldiers and -Civic Guards on to every salient roof, and the circling challenge of -the pursuer was followed by a regular salvo of musketry. - -For a second it wavered: I could see the wings riddled with bullets. -Then it steadied, dipped for a rush, and soared away magnificently over -the surrounding heights. - -Two minutes later the first aviator emerged from the station, a -distinguished-looking white-moustached French officer, clearly in a -fearful temper at the wrecking of his machine by the over-zealous -Guards. To make quite sure of some one, they had raked his descent also -with roof practice! - -Hardly had the crowd quieted, when there came another rush. Two -fine-looking German officers, in the uniform of the famous "Death's -Head" Hussars, were raced up under guard to the station. The crowd, -with the remarkable restraint that is distinguishing the Belgians, -watched their transference in complete silence. They had been brought -from the north, where a German column has to-day cut all communication -with Brussels. - -For two hours this morning we heard the sound of cannon. Armoured -cars, fitted with mitrailleuse wheels, have been running through the -town. There have been also several mitrailleuses drawn by the famous -dog-teams that can get up any hill-side. - -No trains are running. The station is full of weeping women and -children, who came yesterday to see their soldier husbands. - -The motor-cars stand in their ready ranks, along the river-side. The -Government purchased 12,000 at the start of the war from garages -and private owners. Their use has changed the whole conditions of -transport. The chauffeurs were sleeping in them. I had breakfast this -morning with five of them in a little restaurant. A small boy gave -me his Belgian badge. "If you get out alive," said his father, "our -colours at least will have been rescued from the Germans." - -(Namur had now become almost impossible for a stranger. The guns could -be heard bombarding the distant forts. There was every chance that -delay would mean being shut up for a siege, with no chance of getting -news out, in which fortune had so far favoured me. Only a miracle--and -Léon--had kept my car from being commandeered. I arranged to run out -at dawn on Wednesday, and if the Germans were across the road on the -north, to loop west by Charleroi and take our chance with the French -army. - -In the last evening I made an excursion on foot out of the town on the -north, and, clear of the fortifications, had proof of the French being -engaged in the direction of Gembloux. This confirmed the hope that the -junction with the Belgian army had been made in time, and that the -Germans would be forced to fight, against an army in position, in that -region.) - - - Wavre, Wednesday. - -I have just reached here from Namur--now a city of rushing crowds and -anxious waiting. - -All through Monday night the French were pouring into Namur, detraining -outside the town. They were concealed under provision bags, etc., -from the aviators. By day or twilight they arrived with helmets and -cuirasses masked. The Spahis and Turcos had a warm welcome. Even a low -cheer from the silent crowds, that washed from point to point like a -restless sea. - -All Tuesday morning, too, the fresh Belgian 4th Army Corps moved in and -through, to replace and reinforce the well-tried 3rd. In the evening -the officers dined and took coffee in the square; to speed off in -motors later to their posts. There was even a little music and singing -in the hotels. The Belgians know their anxious, lonely task is almost -over. The rest they will face in good company. - -This morning we came out, probably only just in time to escape the -siege. Later, the Uhlans were across the line and road. A dispatch -carrier was found shot by the roadside an hour after we passed. - -Meanwhile the allied armies would seem to have been taking position -in a vast semicircle from Diest to Namur, curving by Quatre Bras -and Wavre. They have been choosing their ground. Not Waterloo this -time--that is too close to the possible distractions in Brussels--but -on a splendid field. It is broken ground, veiling the strength from the -enemy. - -Yesterday the long line of troops, drawn gradually in, stiffened. An -engagement took place near Gembloux. The Uhlans were hunted back by the -Cuirassiers. I was out near in the evening on foot, north of the city, -and heard the operations going on. - -Taking advantage of the lull, we got out of Namur early this morning, -taking cross roads and lanes in front of the French and Belgian lines, -and dodging the Germans. - -The French were advancing, pushing the Germans back. We were soon -involved. The face of the fields and low hills near Sombreffe was -alive with moving troops--columns of cavalry, light guns moving into -position, long snakes of infantry scattered up and down the wooded -slopes. An extraordinary sight in the sun, among woods and trees. - -We worked back through the lines. The deserted châteaux were occupied -by various headquarter staffs. Occasionally the country and the -closeness of troops opened. We ran among patrols of the light-blue -Hussars. Anxious to get us out of the way, they passed us on -courteously, with an occasional "arrest." They were clearing the last -Uhlans, the remnants of those which were dispersed yesterday. - -An officer warned us in a lane on a hill. "Wait here," he said. "We -have run down some Uhlans in those woods." We waited half an hour. -No movement, sunny fields; nothing to be seen. Then suddenly, over a -field, out of the wood, a rush of four horsemen, and the snap of a few -shots from the far side. The next instant a running report of invisible -rifles. Three horses fell. The fourth man fell from his saddle, and was -dragged through the stubble. One of the other three got up, leaving his -horse, walked a few paces, and fell. A grim sight in the summer fields. - -Finally we were shepherded through to Mazy. Here we were blocked for -two hours by advancing columns, Belgian guns and French cavalry. Slowly -through the village (no peasants or children showing now!) filed -regiment after regiment of French cavalry--glorious fellows. With their -dulled, glimmering cuirasses, helmets covered in dust coloured linen, -and long black manes brushing round their bronzed red-Indian faces, -they are peculiarly savage-looking, in a splendid sort of way. - -Some had slight wounds, scarf-bound; a few the remains of the garish -flowers, given them in some cottage last night, still stuck in their -breast-plates. Several were pallid from loss of blood. All covered with -dust and their horses foam-flecked. - -As they passed, four abreast, some of the files were singing together. -The singing was subdued and hoarse, from tired throats. The sound had -a curiously wild, barbaric note. I remember nothing like it except -the beginnings of the Dervish chant, or the short moan of the Indian -war-song. They all had the stern, fighting set of the face, the eyes -sullen and looking only at the distance. - -A few glanced round and smiled grimly: the sudden gleam of teeth and -the flash of light in the eye, breaking through the mask of bronze, -redness and dust, had a startling, almost shocking effect. - -The majority had no glance for us; set faces and a rustle and stir of -black, rusty plumes as the horses shifted uneasily at the car. - -Now and again officers, and white-moustached colonels. A few noticed -us, and gave various orders. Two general officers were specially -noticeable in their subdued glint of armour. The one, white-bearded, -slightly bent, but with a hawk's eye and a perfect seat and a great -brown Irish hunter. The other like a Viking, with a white, drooping -moustache. After inquiry of one of his staff, he rode up as he -passed, with a dignified slight inclination. "You may pass on, sir: -Englishman--and friend," he said. - -A line of Belgian artillery; then the lighter horses and trappings -of Lancers; finally cyclists and a detachment of the Red Cross and -ambulance. - -They all passed up the lanes, out on to the hills, with a sort of -rustling, intent silence; for there are no drums or music in this war. - -For many of these great bronzed men, with here and there a fierce -negroid African, we were the last link with the life of towns and -civilians. A few hours, perhaps a day or so, of the sight of the stir -of troops, of the empty country and the sound of war, and they will -be lying in the long nameless trenches in the fields, with the harrow -already passing over them. - -South of Namur also the French are advancing across the Meuse, pushing -forward on the offensive. There may soon be a straight diagonal of the -Allies from Maastricht to Belfort. - -The Belgians are waiting quietly, and, now, more confidently. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -Louvain and Waterloo - - -The encounter with the French regiments was reassuring for the time; -but as I returned north of Wavre, it became again doubtful whether the -link had really been made. News of the steady flood of Germans pouring -by Diest upon Louvain met me near Brussels. To get an idea of the -relative pace of the German advance I determined to return that night -towards the Belgian left wing and discover for myself, if possible, the -chances of its holding out. - -A few hours at Brussels about noon were enough to convince me that -it would be well now to keep outside and moving independently. The -atmosphere of calm which the admirable organisation of the town had -preserved so long, even in face of the near approach of the German -cavalry on the south-east, was beginning to break down. The mistaken -policy of silence was having its inevitable effect. For want of news, -rumour was spreading. The Germans were said to be twenty miles, fifteen -miles, ten miles away. Treat people as children, which has been the -policy of the authorities in this war, and you will force them in the -end to behave as children. If ever a population deserved to be taken -into confidence it was that of Brussels. But it was now being treated -with less and less trust every day. Papers were being suppressed; -official communications grew less frequent and more obviously doctored. -Our own authorities contributed by a curt request that all British -correspondents should be ejected. How undeserved this was I was able, -as not of the profession, to appreciate. In view of what was common -knowledge, as to plans, positions and news, among scores of British -correspondents in Brussels, their tact and loyalty were deserving of -high praise and increased rather than diminished confidence. - -I moved my base, therefore, to Waterloo, to a friendly little hostelry -that had already proved useful on our long skirmishing runs. In -the late afternoon another excursion to the south-east left little -doubt that the main German advance was progressing on this northern -line. Reports of German cavalry met us in the villages. But what was -happening to the Allied armies? On the return I met, and followed for -some distance through the lanes, a regiment of French infantry, who -were making a forced march to join the Belgians. It hardly seemed -possible, therefore, that the evacuation rumours which I had heard in -Brussels could be true. - -To help towards a solution I started again, this Wednesday evening, -towards Louvain, and ran through the town at dusk. - -I had come to know Louvain very well, in the days of my interviews with -the Headquarter Staff. There was a little restaurant at the corner -of the odd-shaped "Place," facing the magnificent Hotel de Ville, -where I could watch the constant stream of cars and columns passing -in and out of the cordon that surrounded the church, which contained -the Commander-in-Chief, and sometimes even the King. Occasionally a -British Staff officer would cheer me with the sight of the well-known -uniform. There were always Belgian army surgeons, in the brown cap, -ready for a gossip, restless horses with unhandy recruit riders, for -amusement, and walks through the deserted picturesque streets, for a -change to the eye. In a week or so I got to know it well, its quaint -atmosphere of a mediæval university town charged with the restless -electricity of military occupation, the uneasy mystery of an uncertain -fate. And in another week or so--it was not. - -I passed through it, or rather round it that evening for the last time; -past the lines of soldiers sleeping under the station shelters, and the -sentries with their handkerchief puggrees. I saw it only once again, -the next night, by the glare of a few burning houses on the outskirts, -beacons of the Belgian retreat and the German occupation. - - - Wednesday. - -Beyond Louvain progress in the dark was very difficult. I failed to get -the news I sought, but I heard something of the enemy. I made my way -during the night down behind the Belgian lines at Geet Betz, with a -returning officer as guide. - -Here the advanced German right wing, chiefly cavalry--Uhlans and -dragoons--has been trying to turn the Belgian left. - -They have been repulsed once to-day in the attempt to cross the river, -and suffered enormously owing to their advance in column formation. - -The Belgians, too, have suffered considerably from the mitrailleuse, -but have held their entrenchment with remarkable courage. - -The Germans returned to the attack, and were expected to renew the -assault to-night. - -It was too dark to see or be seen in the undulating fields, but voices -from the trenches and the movements of horses, and the occasional rush -of a military motor, acted as signs. - -Taking the chance of something happening within hearing, I made myself -comfortable under some bushes near an open track leading through the -lines of entanglements--so far as they could be located. There was an -occasional sound of distant firing, outposts skirmishing; later in the -night a single whistle and the sound of wheels grinding on tracks. What -may have been a battery moved up on to a rise in the ground--seen as -a shadow--about a quarter of a mile to the south. Here they seemed to -stop, for there was silence again. - -Another long wait, and then the sound of cantering horses--some four -or five--coming by the track from behind, inside the lines. Were they -friends? - -They had passed me, and were in a line with the slight hill to the -south, when little sparks of flame--half a dozen or so--glinted for a -second out of the shadows. - -There was the slight "phit" of bullets through the leaves, and then the -purr of a maxim. The canter broke into a sharp gallop down the track, -following upon a single shouted order. - -Some heavier piece of ordnance coughed a short distance to the left. A -reply came from far in front. A rattle, or rather an uneasy stir and -crackle, like a wet bonfire, moved along the lines, and died away in -the dark to the south. - -The sound of the horses' feet stopped--probably they had turned on to -softer field-mould. And then silence again. - -But this time the sense of human presence stayed with me. The darkness -seemed strained and alive with tense expectancy. - -The nights are short, and their cover shorter. - -I had to be content with only the sound-picture of the night skirmish. - -During the darkest hours before dawn we got back to Waterloo. On the -southern edge of the battlefield itself I lay in the open, waiting for -daylight, and listening for the sound of cannon commencing that should -declare whether the Allies had really advanced, and were occupying some -position that might still save Brussels and Belgium. - - - Waterloo, Thursday Morning. - -A Shakespearean interlude this in the great Tragedy. Pistol, and -Bardolph--what you will: the old story of the talkative coward! - -I have come up here, for the first hours of quiet in three weeks; to -escape from the constant excitement of wondering whether the next pair -of galloping lancers approaching across the fields are friend or -enemy; to avoid the agitated nerves of towns, where nine-tenths are -spending their time in trying to discover whether there is any truth or -personal bearing in what the last tenth lets them grudgingly know. - -With all consideration for the necessity of secrecy, the thing is being -overdone. No one can be got to believe that there is really no war -going on; and for want of proper information imagination is beginning -to run riot and nerves to snap. - -A little company of peasants, fine, independent, sturdy folk, now safe -behind the great lines of armies. A jolly company, full of joke and -laughter, but with an eye all the time on the distant hill of the great -battlefield. - -And one stout, serious leader of the local Civil Guard, who spends each -night beside the lion on the mound. Not alone; for three blue-bloused -peasants with muskets wait at the other corners: a curious recall of -the Great Duke's statue at Hyde Park Corner! - -The last time I was here the three, aided by four girls, with their -hair still down, from the farm, plotted against the braggart's peace. -He dare not climb the 100-foot mound alone in the dark. But he wanted -straw, for a warmer seat. - -In his short absence the three others were hidden in a barn by the -girls. The door shut. In the dark, alone, the leader set out to climb -the mound, thinking they had gone on. - -He talked loudly to himself. Then he began to call their names, -"Pierre! Jean! Georges!--GEORGES!" He reached the top to find himself -alone with the lion and the stars. - -A wild yell: the two barrels discharged in panic: a head over heels -descent: and a huge roar of laughter from the men and girls who had -crept out into the road, prolonged till it became the hysteria of -overtried nerves. - -Then, the growl of cannon in the far distance, and all suddenly were -silent. - -Unwilling to precipitate, by my night attack, the arrangements of the -peasants for escaping by their windows if the wandering Uhlans arrive, -I have come down the battlefield to sleep, in a coat, under the stars. - -The night is extraordinarily still. Twice the cannon have droned for a -short time far off. A nearer shot, that roused a momentary shouting and -movement in the sleeping village behind me, must have come from some -nervous or sleepy Civil Guard. - -Earlier in the night there were lights winking far away, towards -Genappe; probably French contingents signalling. - -And the meteors have been falling, criss and cross, in the summer warm -darkness, over the darker cloud above the waiting armies to the east. - -1815; and what were the men then thinking who lay rolled up in their -cloaks to sleep their last night on the fields about me? - -Ninety-nine years; and what are the still greater hosts of young and -old men thinking, as they lie in their coats watching those same stars, -only a few miles away from me, just behind that darker band of trees? - -A century! And the only difference, that the one great army, that then -faced up these slopes against us, now lies protecting us; in its turn -ringing off a hostile army that then slept and stood with us as friends. - -A century of progress! And what to show for it? The armies of four -nations slightly shifted in their relation to these great plains, like -spokes on a turning wheel. - -Firing has recommenced, very faintly, in the distance. Not more -disturbing than the harsh cry of a night-jar in the wood beside me. - -For these few hours the terrible, unreal atmosphere of war, when every -inch of earth threatens a surprise, and no moment seems real till it -is past, has been absent. Night, and the stars, and quiet, have seemed -like old friends, renewing a quiet of thought, restoring proportions. - -I have been writing by the light of matches, under a coat. - -Now the stir of wind before the dawn has passed. A few dogs are -barking. And a shout or two tells of the Civil Guard changing their -watchmen. - -I can see to write in the grey dawn. Beyond my feet, out there on the -hills, brain and sinew are again alert, and plotting cunningly to kill. - -How much of hope and life and promise may have ended in darkness before -the next night covers this sudden glow of sun? - -The uncertain outlines of the Waterloo monuments, commemorating heroic -deeds of the past, in the grey half light have a sinister look. How -soon will the sordid squalor of these new fights be in its turn -converted into such memorials, to entrap new generations into dreaming -that there is glory in war? - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -The Last of Brussels. The Flight, and the Flood - - -Thursday saw the ending of doubt. Although we did not know it, the -floodgates were already opening; the Belgian army was retiring upon -Antwerp, fighting only a gallant rearguard action at Louvain. The -French advanced force, with its tentative claw outstretched towards -Louvain, was beginning to wheel back rapidly to avoid leaving its flank -exposed. Brussels was uncovered; and through the opening between the -armies the torrent of grey troops was beginning to pour. - -With the first light we made a circle towards Sombreffe, and came -upon some retiring French cavalry. It was a puzzling spectacle, as at -Waterloo we had not yet heard of the rapid change in the situation. - - - Thursday, Wavre. - -It should have been a quiet day. A quiet wandering through picturesque -lanes, well behind the supposed fighting lines of the armies. - -Running up and down the wooded, sunny lanes, on the stone setts, we -even came as a relief to the bored peasant guards, lounging in their -blue blouses, under straw shelters. At one remote village, high -placed and only seemingly attainable by cobbled steep lanes, the -Burgomaster made a solemn procession down the steps, with all the civic -dignitaries, to meet us. They may have been waiting in session for a -passer-by since the war began! - -So we came down to Wavre; a short time ago filled with troops, now only -empty, with an uneasy crowd at the corners, and a shifting swarm at the -Mayoralty. We passed cheerfully out on the big, shaded road to Namur, -confident of good passage. - -The feeling changed, in the odd way it does in the most peaceful -scenery when the war atmosphere touches it. The instinct for it is a -valuable one in roving in "open" territory. With a rush down the road -came a cyclist, wearing a tweed cap. Behind him, 300 yards off, from -behind the trees, stepped a grey-uniformed Uhlan officer, who examined -us through his glasses. The cyclist shouted, "There are seventeen up -there behind the trees. I bade them good morning, and they didn't -answer; so I said it was hot, and the officer said, 'Ouaai.' There's -a car just beyond with bullet-holes in it, empty by the road." Lèon -turned in a second on the broad road. The officer stepped back behind -the trees. A rifle bullet spattered on the macadam; and we careered -back to Wavre with the cyclist hanging on behind. - -The news made little disturbance at the Mairie; orders had clearly been -given. The Civil Guards were shut up on the top of the Town-hall; and -all but the road-checks deprived of gun and sword. Six soldiers who -remained were despatched in a car in the opposite direction. For the -first time I began to realise that the country was to be evacuated--and -without warning! - -The guns were booming steadily from the east, over Jodoigne. This was -our direction. We started out again; but we were hardly out of the -town, past some elaborate barriers, when straggling peasants began to -meet us, crying that the Prussians were close in the woods; cavalry had -been seen moving up the hills on either side. - -It could scarcely be true; Wavre ought to be behind our lines, and -we ought to be all right. We went slowly along the road, to make our -peaceful character plain. I remember few more thrilling journeys -than the slow mile along under the woods, keeping civilian hat and -pipe prominent, and watching, without seeming to inspect, the close -impending line of woods above the road. - -So we came to the next village, Gastouche. The peasants were trickling -out of the cottages, driving cattle hurriedly, dragging babies and -bundles. A few gallant Civil Guards, rather pallid, but full of spirit, -stood at the barriers. We ran gently through the village, reassuring -where we could, turned a wide corner, and there, sitting by the road, -leaning on their horses, were a squad of about twelve Uhlans! They -were some 200 yards off. - -I could not make sure of the uniform for the moment; so, to cover -the retreat of the car, I walked a few paces towards them and looked -through the glasses. In reply, a Uhlan stepped out and lifted his. I -let him have a good look, to confirm my pacific appearance, and then -walked slowly back. The car was already out of sight, ready round the -corner. We swirled back through the village, hurrying the inhabitants. -Then, at the far end, leaving the car ready up a lane, we mounted a -bank, and watched the troop ride in, pull down the flag, and cut the -wires. - -Picking up all the women we could, we were back in Wavre to give the -news. Nothing could be done. Not a friendly soldier seemed alive in the -neighbourhood. For a time we watched. With half a dozen anxious elders -I laboriously climbed the great church tower. We strained our eyes, -to see nothing real, but a lot of imaginary conflagrations. Meanwhile -the guns boomed far off, and the refugee villagers began to pour in -below us. A curious, pathetic sight. The women had put on their best -black dresses, to save them; the men, their black coats. Later, they -came in as they were, dragging and carrying children, women just from -or near childbirth, girls with scarfs full of food or apples. They were -frightened, hurrying, and quiet. But when the town at last understood -the rage of the men, and of the women too, is past description. There -was no outcry, but they cursed, clustering together, some of the men in -tears, at being deprived of arms, at not being allowed to defend their -homes--they, a horde of big men, against a handful. They were long past -reasoning with. It was a sane order that deprived even the Guards of -arms and shut them, chafing, behind the communal steps. - -At last the sight of the refugees grew too painful. We went off to pick -up what we could. Twice we ran to the near end of Gastouche, bringing -back untidy loads of children and mothers. The second time we tried -to get through, by a corner, a few miles further to Overrysche. We -had just passed the barrier of faggots and village carts, with two -nervous-bold Guards at the "present," when at the end of a short cross -lane through the cottages on the right I saw the flicker and movement -of horse soldiers passing, sixty yards off. - -The same instant a shot came from a cottage behind them, and a rush -of shrieking women down the lane. We turned at once and waited: the -Uhlans, some eight of them, had wheeled back out of sight, where the -cottages ran into the wood. The men shouted to the women to keep -indoors; a few stray children ran back and forwards in the lane, -crying. Then the door of a far cottage opened, and the crippled soldier -who had fired the shot was half-carried out. A fine red-bearded fellow. -He was perspiring, inarticulate with rage at having missed and with the -lust of fighting. We shoved him into the car, with a few more women, -and got back to Wavre. As we passed, we saw some thirty of the Civic -Guard shut in a yard, down a lane, behind a wooden barrier. - -Even the civic calm had begun to quiver. The surging, homeless crowd -of villagers were talking loudly at the corners; and every now and then -a farmer in shirtsleeves bicycled furiously in, to complain of a house -occupied or horses stolen. The German outposts were all round us, and -the place undefended. - -The utterly helpless agitation of a population unable to do anything, -seeing itself, without an hour's notice from the authorities, forced -to surrender home after home, and forbidden to resist, was an -inexpressibly painful sight, and cannot occur often, even in war. -Undefended towns, when abandoned, generally have some warning. Here the -enemy dropped out of the sky in an hour; and the peasants looked round -to find their own army gone. There was not even the previous "working -up" of a losing fight. - -A shout and a rush. A cyclist, red-flushed, raced into the square, -brandishing a Uhlan helmet, picked up--who knows where? Another greater -shouting and swarming, and two stout farmers rode in, leading four -splendid Uhlan horses, Irish-bred, and full of mettle. Where did they -come from? What did it all mean? Time may show. - - - Waterloo, Thursday night. - -To-day's story is still unfinished. - -As the day wore on at Wavre, it became clear that Brussels was to be -included in the general evacuation. The sound of the guns could be -followed, as the Belgians fell back towards Antwerp. - -This was, then, no more a matter of "Uhlan-hunting," by withdrawal and -encircling movement. The Prussians had penetrated too far, by surprise -or with foreknowledge; the country was being evacuated. - -The horses of Uhlans captured were fresh, signifying no lost or -wandering parties, but portions of a main column that had camped near. -The troops, also, which we had seen were behaving quietly, not in the -savage manner of the after-fight. They knew the country was clear of -soldiers, and could take their time. To this, probably, we owed our own -immunity at Gastouche. A column of some eight hundred horse could be -seen with the glass moving over the hills south of Wavre. - -We heard that Louvain was being evacuated. About five o'clock we left -the Civil Guard behind their railings, helpless and furious, and -hurtled towards Brussels. To some twenty little patrols of cavalry and -cars we gave the news. Their faces told me it was not the unexpected. - -Not a quiet run. Twice the distant "burr" of the aeroplanes, and we -identified the German "Taube" machines over the woods. We turned -east towards Jodoigne; to find the trenches empty, our army gone. An -armoured car, packed with German infantry, flashed through a cross-road -behind us. Once again a waving of arms checked us, and the peasants, -half fearful, half excited, warned us of a wood ahead; but we rushed it -without incident. - -So back to Brussels--to the close gathering of restless crowds under -the lamps, the quick glance of suspicious eyes, and rumour, nervous, -whispered rumour. - -The roads were crowded with fugitives with bundles, cows, and carts. -The suburbs hummed uneasily. The evening papers were just appearing, -announcing that "the situation is unchanged; the Germans are still -along the Meuse"; while every third man on the road had seen them -within fifteen miles, and the air had quivered with the approaching -guns all day! - -The game of secrecy has been played too long. It has deceived nobody -and increased the unrest. It is to be hoped that the good sense of the -Belgians will forgive it, for the sake of its innocent purpose, when -the hour of triumphant return comes. - -I left Brussels again late in the evening and worked down towards -Louvain, in the dark, meeting the last of the fugitive crowds and -the trains of wounded. Leaving the car securely hidden, by by-lanes -and cobble-ways I got forward, avoiding the flank of the retreating -Belgians, and making for the light of two burning cottages--my last -sight of Louvain. - -A few small fights were still going on, as sound and sight indicated. -Covering parties of Belgians, in small numbers, were heroically -sacrificing themselves to protect the strategic retreat on its -northward wheel. - -Below a slight field-slope, upon the crest of which the flash of -rifle fire and the long snake-rattle of the mitrailleuse showed where -some section was still making a last stand, I found a shelter. I had -made for the west of their certain line of retreat down the fields, -and hid uncomfortably in a ditch of bushes, which discovered itself, -accidentally and somewhat painfully, in the dark. - -Clearly, only a few men were holding the trench above. The whistle -of shot, well overhead and to my left, was continuous. Soon there -was the buzz of a motor down an invisible lane below, and one of the -German cars, fitted with a mitrailleuse-wheel, got into position, to -begin raking them from the rear. By means of motors, in this flood of -advance, the Germans have moved up light guns and infantry at the speed -of cavalry. - -A few scattered shots getting nearer told me that the men above me were -running back. One, blundering so that I could hear his feet, clearly -wounded, stopped running, as the sound showed, near me. I got him -after a time into the same ditch as myself. It ran along close to where -he fell. - -Having cleared this corner, the Germans had evidently something better -to do. The firing above and below stopped. After a long wait I managed -to get the little trooper, one of a regiment I had chatted with last -week, down to an abandoned cottage in the lane below. Only an arm -wound; so I left him, bandaged, for the Red Cross to fetch in. - -I got back slowly, keeping the line by the burning cottages. The -drive that followed will not easily be forgotten--at headlong speed -through awkward lanes. Only once--we were running without lights--did -a challenge stop us; but we chanced its being a friend, and only heard -the stray shot after us, in the dark. - -Some day I may be able to write the story of the "audacious chauffeur." -He swept me thirty miles through the night with extraordinary nerve and -skill. Only one of several daring runs. - -There was no rest this last night. It was clear Brussels would be -occupied in a few hours. In that event we were under promise to bring -out a certain frightened mother and her babies. The event had seemed -remote; but, like the tide on flat sands, while we watched the distant -edge of the sea, it was already up, round, and behind us. - -We were already all but cut off, since Brussels must now in a few hours -cut the last of its communications. - - - Friday, Daylight. - -Down the car went again at 3 a.m., while I tried to get some sleep. It -seemed only a moment later that there was shouting in the village, and -a rattle of wooden sabots passed under the window, running. - -I looked out, under the cottage blind; and in a few minutes, through -the grey early light, two or three mounted, grey-shimmering Lancers -walked their horses down the street. It seemed as if they were -provoking the cottagers to fire at them. More probably they were -perfectly confident in the general evacuation of this district. There -were more, the women told me later, riding past outside the cottages. - -It was an undignified time of waiting, with no chance of a fight. -Nothing to do but dress, smoke, and get the papers ready in case they -came in. The terrible "game" is so real, even for the non-fighter, that -their passing, and the quiet of the empty street that followed, brought -more relief than one cares usually to confess to. - - - Bruges, Friday noon. - -It was no use trying to sleep there, with the nervous chatter beginning -of the women clustered under the windows, and with the chance of "more" -coming. The loan of a captured Uhlan horse, a trophy which the village -was now anxious to dispense with, and another lift from a car returning -for wounded, took me down again in the fields to the east of Brussels. - -A different sight this morning. For the Prussians were already half-way -into Brussels, on a clear parade march. The squalor and horror of the -battlefields were behind them. They were flooding easily through open, -still country, with the surrender of the city already promised them. -The insane game of war was being played out with at least one cleanly, -if, for us, melancholy, move. - -I got out short of Cortinbeck. A few casual cyclists gave me confidence -to wait. The roads were moving in the distance with advancing cavalry. -I could see, with the glasses, more crossing the sky line. It seemed -better to avoid, on the return, some dusty advance party patrols, in -cars; but they appeared to be paying civilian casuals little attention. - -When I regained the outskirts of Brussels the entanglements of wire -and the barriers of omnibuses were being cleared away--that pleasantly -reassuring joke--and the arms of the Civil Guard were being piled by -the streets. Zealous, honest Dogberries! It seemed hard that, after -being a conscientious and needful nuisance to their friends for so -long, they should not be allowed to challenge or scrutinise even one -enemy! - -I did not wait to see the entry into Brussels. There are limits to the -passive endurance even of a non-combatant. The only triumphant entry -I shall willingly witness is the return there of the brown, tired, -gay-hearted little Belgian soldiers, whom I have learned to admire as -an army and sympathise with individually in their magnificent struggle -against odds. - -The nature of our load made it wise to make a safe circuit west of -Brussels, on our retreat. The watching lion at Waterloo, as we passed, -seemed to wear a different look: surprised to see no battle array, -indignant at his desertion. - -At first, by request, we did courier work, carrying the news to -isolated town-garrisons. The further we got, the less curious did the -people become for news. Resignation, apathy, stolid village optimism, -according to the locality. - -Our armfulls of blue-eyed babies, five, six, and eight, brought the -only smiles to the faces we saw. The great mass of cars had already -gone; yesterday and before. A few hurrying cars, carts, and bicycles -with luggage. Now and again in a village the little crowds of peasant -fugitives with bundles. Occasionally some women, resting and cooking -by the wayside. The further down the line, the more troublesome -again became our familiar checks, the local watchmen, at their now -pathetically futile barriers. It would have been cruel to assure them, -when they became obstructive, that their authority was gone. We circled -by Waterloo westward, almost as far as Oudenarde. - -At one village a swarm of little dark-eyed Flemings, in sabots, -pretended to shoot us with large bows and arrows made of half-hoops, -from behind a sham barrier of branches and wheel-barrows; a half-tragic -commentary. At Ghent our car was within a single word of being -"requisitioned." The babies fulfilled their object by capturing smiles -and safe passage. - -At Bruges we have been kept for an hour because "German spies" have -been signalled as having passed in a car up the road. Having got so far -as to stop all the bridges, the dignitaries can do no more. The world -is upset, and must wait. - - - Ostend, Friday night. - -The crowd of carts and cars that accumulated at last proved too much -even for the patience of the Gardes, and we all crushed through and -over. - -Nowhere had the news been received; everywhere the blind is still kept -down. It is a dangerous game to play, with men raging as I have heard -them the last few days. But the result may justify it. - -It is no good recalling the shadow moments of pain and tragedy that -cover like a cloud even the small corner which one man may see of this -destruction and panic called war. - -Every event is out of proportion, impossible. The dead body one -stumbles over is no more real or important than the bad-mannered -shop-keeper who is doing his best as a civic sentinel. One thinks of -nothing but the chance of the next fantastic incident; and if it comes -as a death or as a child crying, it seems equally serious, equally -foolish, equally without origin or relation to the next event. - -In the course of these two days, started so peacefully, it will be seen -that we have been involved in the French retreat on the west, in the -Prussian flood and the dramatic evacuation in the centre, in a corner -of the last battle at Louvain, on the east, in the evening, the morning -entry of the enemy to occupy Brussels, and finally in the east of the -flight to the south. If we put the facts of the last few days together, -so far as we know them, without going outside official information, -this seems to be about the position: - -The German northern army, profiting perhaps even more than we did by -the check at Liége, had two possible alternatives, supposing their -objective to be Brussels, and the "hole" on the frontier by Mons and -Charleroi. And Brussels was necessary, to re-affirm their credit in -Berlin. - -The first alternative was through by Gembloux, Quatre Bras, and -Genappe, avoiding the forest of Soignes. This would have struck the -weak link between the French advanced force, in the neighbourhood of -Sombreffe, and the Belgian lines from Wavre to Diest. - -The second was to push north, along the frontier, to Hasselt, and break -through the Belgian left before it could be reinforced by the French, -threatening both Antwerp and Brussels. - -This was their choice. They were aware that the French could not push -up rapidly enough to establish the link firmly, or in great enough -numbers to be able to reinforce the menaced left wing. - -The French, nevertheless, did some very fine marches in order to profit -by the splendid Belgian resistance at Liége and Haelen. But it was -too late for the change of plan. When I was among them, at Mazy and -Gembloux and Perwez, it seemed as if they were in time to force the -Germans to take the more southerly line, and face them and the Belgian -arc on their north. The Germans knew better. Under screen of their -scattered Uhlans, here and there all over the country, forcing the -Belgians, always in inferior numbers, to expand and contract as their -attacks were located, they moved a far larger force than was estimated -across the Meuse. Behind their pause at Liége they converted the -hastily mobilised inferior troops, whom the Belgians had learned to -despise, into the engine of magnificent equipment and pace that is now -launched across Belgium. - -This has pushed rapidly north, by motor, ahead of the French; and by -sheer weight of numbers, hurling columns in mass, at great sacrifice of -life, has broken the Belgian left at Diest and Aerschot in the terrific -fights of the last two days. - -The French made great efforts to get up, and actually got a certain -number by forced marches far enough to take the places of decimated -Belgian regiments in the line. But the smashing numbers and artillery -made the Belgian position, in its open trenches and entanglements on -easy country, impossible. Their left once turned, the small Belgian -army had no choice but to fall back on Malines and Antwerp. They had to -choose between defending Brussels, to keep the link with the French, -and covering Antwerp, which opened the road to Brussels. Antwerp was -obviously the more important, and better prepared for defence. Brussels -must have been destroyed in a siege, with immense loss of life to the -huge numbers who have swarmed into it. - -Wavre and all the district where I was travelling to and fro yesterday -was therefore evacuated, as the Belgians retired north. Their -retirement compelled a synchronous falling back of the French upon the -Sambre, to protect their own left wing when the link with the Belgians -was broken. - -The Germans obtained free passage both on the east and south to -Brussels. The rapidity of their progress is evidenced by the fact that -when I passed round west of Brussels to-day, advance cavalry patrols -were already reported in the neighbourhood of Oudenarde (about 35 miles -west of Brussels, towards Lille). - -It will be seen that, on paper at least, the Belgian army is in no -pleasant position. If the Germans continue to press northward on their -left flank, the Belgians will constantly have to be wheeling to their -own left front, to face them on the east. They will be forced to -retreat until they rest upon Malines and Antwerp. - -At the same time any small force of Germans left in Brussels is -largely out of the game. The Belgians threaten their northern -communications. The farther the Germans push north, to Ghent or Ostend, -the more danger that their lines can be cut. All depends whether this -German northern advance is merely an army of occupation, to subdue -Belgium, or the main army of advance upon France. In the latter case, -it will not now be stopped this side of the frontier. - - - Ostend, Saturday night. - -To-day the German flood has advanced with extraordinary rapidity. The -Belgian army is for the moment off the board. At express speed and with -clockwork regularity the country is being occupied. We know now that -this must be the main army of attack. - -Sweeping from the east by three routes, and through and past Brussels, -the main German advance has turned south-west. Passing close to -Waterloo and through Hal it is directed against the frontier between -Valenciennes and Maubeuge. A lighter cavalry column is passing further -north, as if towards Lille. - -The main advance, since my encounter with it at Cortinbeck and at -Waterloo, on the morning after the battle of Louvain and Aerschot, it -has been impossible to follow. But to-day I took the region from the -French frontier, on the west of Brussels, with some idea of "beating -all the bounds" of what is left of our surrendered but unoccupied -country. For, with the exception of the section from Malines to -Antwerp, Belgium has been surrendered, the troops on the way have been -disbanded, and the Civic Guard has been discharged. At Alost yesterday -I met many of them, dismissed from Brussels, but still in uniform and -anxious for news. To-day I came across them again in Ghent, further -reduced and in mufti. In many cases their wives have insisted on -destroying their uniforms. - -I looked forward to a restful day in the Flemish rural districts, with, -perhaps, some news of the French. I was tired of coming upon Uhlans -round corners. It is a peculiarly trying business, exploring for an -enemy, with no troops, no sound of guns, or the consequent rumours, to -warn beforehand of their proximity! It is even more disagreeable when -you have to lose your enemy again rather faster than you have found him! - -The wandering about the fertile, remote province, with its long, -shaded, cobbled roads and low-cottaged, dusty villages, was a pleasant -change. In the morning the region was still entirely untouched by -the war. The dark-eyed children, with bleached blonde hair, in noisy -sabots, swarmed like puppies in the streets and about the car. The -Civil Guard were the only distraction. In the country fields they -generally could not read at all, and waved us on, blushing in their -blue blouses. In the small towns they could read "Vlamsch," but no -French, which irritated them. Often "Madame" had to be called in to -help, before the carts and ploughs were shoved aside. One old peasant -was particularly troublesome. He was both deaf and blind, and behind -his road-barrier of harrows he nursed a rusty bayonet dating from -Waterloo. - -The only incidents of the early day were an agitated hay-cart that -upset upon us, and a line of retreating engines, at Ingelmunster, -which took the level crossing at the same moment as ourselves. "The -service is so disorganised," the station-master excused himself for our -scratched paint. - -On the French frontier--near Poperinghe--we met our friends the French. -A cavalry contingent entertained us pleasantly at lunch round the -soup-pot. Satisfied of the safety of our western border, we turned -east, to cut across the noses of any advancing German columns. My -object was to discover if they were striking north to Ostend, or direct -west towards Lille, as well as south-west on their main line. Through -Ypres, Roulers, Vijve, and Deynze we ran to Ghent. The country was -still clear; the "war feeling" absent; but the Flemish are slow to -catch emotional infections. - -In Ghent we met the news. The Germans had flooded incredibly swiftly -north. A column had in the morning reached Melle, just south of Ghent. -Reports of eye-witnesses of its passing put it at 70,000 cavalry. -Clearly it was a fair-sized and fast column. - -I felt certain that it would turn west, and not continue north to -Ostend. It must form part of a quick cavalry turning movement to the -north of the main advance on the French and British position. We should -have time to make certain later in the day. Passing quickly through -Ghent, to avoid "requisitioning" of the car, we pushed out towards -Termonde, on the east, hoping to be able to make sure of the position -of the Belgian lines also, on their new arc of defence. - -Warnings of "Uhlans" soon began to meet us in quick succession. We -touched the outposts of the Belgians, and having thus made secure of -our two frontiers, west and east, to avoid unnecessary risk we ran back -to Ghent. The Belgians are worn and have lost heavily. The troops do -not yet know where the British are. They were, consequently, difficult -to deal with. - -Ghent was in the now familiar condition of crowd panic. The railway -communication had practically ceased. Disbanded soldiers were trying -to get away. The squares were crowded with anxious, waiting people; -the roads beginning to fill with the crowds of fugitives on foot -and in carts. While waiting for a few moments to talk to Belgian -friends--quickly made in time of war--occurred an unpleasing incident. -A corporal of the line, followed by three privates in uniform, suddenly -rushed across the square, their faces red and drawn with terror, and -demanded the car. The chauffeur, an old soldier, was at once involved -in fierce argument. My new-made friends faded away. - -The crowd, simmering with panic and crying already of "treachery" and -"revolution," as the effect of the extent to which they have been kept -in ignorance of the military situation until too late, swarmed round in -an instant angrily. - -At the words "Give it up or I fire," frantically shouted, I thought it -time to interfere. I had two bayonets at once thrust against my chest. - -"Where do you wish to be taken, friend?" He growled the name of some -village on the French frontier. The position grew clearer. He was one -of the "disbanded" escaping to his home. There were many, all about us, -but in civilian clothes. - -"I will take you, in uniform, to any place you choose at the front; but -no law compels me to carry fugitives." ("Fuyards" is much stronger.) -"Get into clothes like mine, and I'll drop you at any (_sacré_) -hiding-hole that suits you." - -The effect on the crowd was electric. The soldiers faded; and we left, -after a proper interval, to let the crowd cool down. - -Not a quarter of a mile to the west of Ghent, where the roads were -spotted with carts of escaping households, an enormous Franciscan monk -blocked the road, with uplifted cross. "Stop, and take us, in the name -of the Virgin." He was supporting two wounded soldiers. It appeared -that, in foolish panic, all the private hospitals had been emptied. -"_Sauve qui peut_" was the word. The sick and wounded soldiers, many -from Liége, dressed in any odd civilian clothes, were being turned out -on to the roads to find their way to remote homes. - -We bundled them in; took them to the nearest railway line; flagged a -train at a level crossing, and sent them off, with breathless blessings -from the railway window. But the roads were full of them: men limping, -men almost crawling, without money, and with only the dangerous -soldier's "pass" to carry them to their villages, already held by the -enemy. - -For many hours we had given up our purpose of localising the column, -and travel backwards and forwards over the province, scattering them -far and wide in remote villages, either to their wives, or often in the -care of kindly women, who would pretend to be their wives or mothers, -in safer places. The strange panic feeling had now spread wide. -Everywhere were the little swarms of subdued people, with puzzled, -sullen faces, seen in forlorn villages. The cottages were emptying, -shop-windows being hurriedly covered, and signs hastily painted out. - -The Civil Guard, disbanded, were being confusedly shoved into civilian -dress by their terror-stricken wives and daughters. - -Occasionally I had to sit and make explanatory conversations in -the market places to knots of depressed Flemish civic fathers, who -would otherwise have made even more difficulty about our frequent -journeyings. "Where are the English?" "Who has betrayed us?" "Why have -we been kept in the dark, and now find ourselves helpless?"--all of -them unanswerable questions. - -It became peculiarly difficult to keep up such talk, when, later in the -day, every quarter-hour would come a rush of clogs down the street, and -the roar of "They're coming!" The elders melted miraculously, and I was -left in the empty street facing a row of half-filled beer glasses, and -the thought that it might be true this time. - -Towards evening we ran into the French outposts again, at Ypres. They -are well over the frontier, and ready. - -We turned north at last in the dark, realising that even in these few -hours the tide of Germans had almost cut us off, even from the coast. -No province was to be left us by the immense efficiency of the machine. -It was moving now over undefended country. It has been notably revised -since Liége. - -But a cry from a dark group under the dark trees on a lonely twelve -miles of road again stopped us: "_Nous avons peur_" (we are afraid) -wailed sadly, as we shot past. Two wounded soldiers, with two children -who had been to visit them. They, like many others, were from the -heroic Liége forts. They would be safe at their homes in Courtrai. On -the road, wandering, as many more were, right across the German line of -advance, they were in considerable danger. - -To run for Courtrai was to run from the French lines, directly at the -head of the probable German advance. - -Peasants, however, assured us that nothing had been seen; and it would -complete our locating of the positions of all the armies in this corner -of the world, if we found trace of the enemy. - -It was an exhilarating night run. Still the knots of folk at the -corners, but now even the children were silent. - -We dropped them, our last load, at the cross road entering Courtrai. -The car was turned to come back; when, from far down the other branch, -towards Deynze, came the roar of a racing car at full speed, devouring -the silence. Half a mile off sounded a shot, and again two, nearer us, -a little later. We started to move, and in a few seconds a car with -three Belgians in uniform rushed past us. One lay back, and his arm was -being bound up by his companion. They shouted warning. "They are back -there: we have come over one." And again: "Look out! There are more in -front!" - -We did our best to keep up with them--a rather wild race in the dark, -on roads straight but rough, for long black miles at a time. They drew -ahead, but this served also to draw the fire from us. Twice again a -shot sounded sharply in front. But we only had the half-gleam of the -lamps on a shadow-man and a frightened shadow-horse, when we, in turn, -passed the Uhlan patrols who had fired. - -It was not worth continuing as far as the French lines, clearly the -object of the car ahead. We turned off on the first good diagonal to -the north. We had learned what we wished. These were the usual Uhlans -clearing the ground; ahead of an advance to the west; not for the -present to the north. - -The return to Ostend all through the night was strange in its quieter -fashion. The Flemish peasant, once he is frightened or suspicious, -becomes a dangerous man. We had serious difficulties at infinite -numbers of barriers. And always the halt brought round a muttering, -shuffling swarm of hostile faces and voices. Along the roads we passed -small carts and wagons, creaking slowly with families of fugitives. -There was no reason for any one to fly in view of the general -surrender, but suspicion and panic were spreading, and stories of -German savagery wildly exaggerated and widely believed. - -Occasionally the lights glanced off long lines of black-shawled women, -returning from night pilgrimages to more potent saints. In the middle -of long black stretches of lonely road we passed suddenly before open -shrines, blazing with votive tapers. Near big villages, in the larger -shrines the heads of many children were silhouetted sharply against the -dazzling altars. Generally a ring of kneeling women outside shut the -children in; and the momentary sound of chanting came and went as we -passed. - -At a crossing a train, without lights, crept back timidly towards -Ghent. At another, seven trains in succession went past, full of -volunteers shipped to the French frontier. A car, with the windows -smashed by bullets, deserted under the trees, told of the passing of -more Uhlans. We half expected to find the Uhlans already here when we -returned; but it was only the exit of carts and carriages of luggage -that interrupted our race in, near midnight. We had started to define -the boundaries left to us, and before our return very little was left -us but the sea! - - - England, Sunday. - -Arriving at midnight at Ostend, I found myself "almost the very last" -foreign inhabitant. The Uhlans had been reported at twenty miles; we -had seen them at thirty; they were expected at any hour. Of the method -of my leaving, and of the episode of the dramatic visit of the Fleet -the next day, the time has not yet come to write. - -The placid river under Rochester Castle, two days later, in very -tranquil sunlight, is the last memory picture of this phase. The peace -atmosphere of England hit the senses like a thick, pleasant vapour. -The sensation was actually physical. I have experienced it again, at -every subsequent crossing in or out of the countries at war. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -Antwerp and Malines - - -The passage of the great armies across the frontier and through -eastern France could not be approached. For the moment, west Flanders, -behind the German lines, offered no comfortable footing. There seemed -a prospect, however, that Antwerp might be immediately besieged. My -journey there was further justified by the chance of discharging a -useful public mission. I started by Flushing; spent a day sailing with -some Zeeland fishermen; and thence, as the railway to Antwerp was -interrupted, completed the journey by boat and irregular transport. - - - Saint Nicholas, Friday. - -Holland is friendly. There is only one opinion among the fishermen, -sailors, and peasants of the south. - -Picturesque fellows they are, with their black caps, mahogany -faces, earrings, and gold brooches; and the women, with their white -head-dresses, black silk wings, and brown necks and arms, with coral -and gold bangles. - -No doubt in their minds. 'Anything but the German flag! We'll stay as -we are, if possible. If not, we'll be English for preference!' - -The Dutch soldiers on the frontier take the same view: 'Any fate -but Prussia!' But they have a fear: 'In other countries this is an -officer's war; not of the people. Who knows what 'they' will decide up -there! But, as far as we have a voice, no traffic with Germany!'--and -then usually follows an anecdote concerning a recent civic snub to a -member of the royal family, which need not be set out. - -There is strong repudiation of the story that German troops have been -allowed across Dutch Limburg: 'They were refugees, all who passed; and, -of course, we welcome all such. Why, we even have the German Crown -Prince's family at the Hague.' (This is generally believed!) - -A Dutch fishing-smack, with an Irish skipper, put me across yesterday, -Thursday, on to the south bank of the Scheldt. A warm sleepy sunset, -and a drowsy peaceful little toy port. - -A burst of warlike energy had carried the fishermen as far as the -making of wire entanglements; but gaps, large enough for the passing of -the stouter burghers, had been considerately left. - -I travelled some distance on a goods truck. When it halted, a few idle, -polite sentries, anxious to avoid responsibility, passed me on to a -cavalry patrol. Pleasant, talkative fellows, they handed me over in -turn, on the frontier, to a company of mounted Belgian volunteers with -whom they had been fraternising. - -These had as yet seen no fighting themselves; but there was only one -subject of talk, the Highlanders: 'There are 20,000 of them, and they -pipe all the time! At Mons they played while the rest shot, and the -pipers can play with one hand and shoot with the other; it must be -terrible!' I had this story ten times over. - -And again, of the British: 'They are uncanny fellows! Why, even in -hopeless positions on a retreat they never go on retiring till they are -told to!' - -The patrol was without its officer. It is a tragic little episode, -illustrative of the conditions of war. His mother was Dutch; and she -lay dying just across the frontier, in Holland. As a Belgian officer, -he could not cross to see her in uniform or with arms, or he would -be imprisoned. If he crossed as a civilian, he would be treated as a -deserter. He was away, trying, in vain, to get some relaxation of the -laws governing neutral territory. Only a mile or two off, and yet he -must be too late. - -As no passenger train to Antwerp would leave before next day, one of -my new friends packed me into a van, one of a long train of vans on -trucks going up with supplies to the front. The intention was to join -the main line at St. Nicholas, and take the train thence in the morning -to Antwerp. But as the supply train ran on to near Malines, there was -every reason for going with it. - -A few of the Malines residents were creeping back, in the dusk, to the -empty town. The Belgians have shown remarkable pertinacity in these -'interval' returns. A father and son, sleeping in their cart on the -road, gave me a lift into the town. - -Malines was deserted. It was the night of an interval between the -retirement of the Germans and the resumption of advance by the -Belgians. But the German bombardment continued, directed obviously at -the destruction of the church and the empty buildings. At intervals the -guns resumed throughout the night; but their fire was ill-directed. - -As we were threading our way through the streets, a clatter of hoofs -warned us to take shelter. We hurried into the empty church. In the -dark, through the door, we heard, and saw in the faint light, a few -peasants walking past with hands raised, driven by some mounted Uhlans. -Four of the peasants were left sitting hunched up on the steps. After -long, anxious moments the patrol clattered away, firing wantonly at the -windows of the church; and again firing in the distance. - -During our wait, to let them get clear away, there was the deafening -report of a shell bursting not far from the church; and plaster rattled -down from the roof. - -Much of the town was in ruins; swaths through the houses, cleared away -to free the fire from the Belgian forts. And the prominent buildings, -public and private, had evidently provided targets for the German guns. - -To-day I heard that, while I was getting clear of the town, a very -gallant rescue was being made by four Belgian ambulance men. They -ran cars to the river, crossed a small pontoon, left by the Germans, -on foot, and succeeded in carrying eight wounded Belgians, left in a -little schoolhouse behind the German lines, back across the pontoon to -the cars. They had been lying there untended. - -The Belgian troops, or what I saw of them as I worked back to the -railway this morning, seemed in excellent heart. The repulse of the -Germans two days ago, and the strength of the fortress behind them, -have gone far to remove the anxiety that inevitably followed their -heavy losses in the recent field actions and the growing consciousness -of hopelessly inferior numbers. - -Many of them belonged to the fresh divisions, the flower of the heroic -little army. At last they know 'where the English are,' and 'what the -French are doing,' and the vague and intimidating hugeness of their own -task has contracted to a definite, perceptible plan of campaign. - -An eye-witness tells me the retreat from Louvain was conducted in -splendid order and in high spirits. The Germans followed till they came -under the fire of the outermost fort. - -To-day the little Belgians were as cordial and ready to smile as in the -first days after Liége. - -In the grey morning to-day the country near the Belgian lines was an -extraordinary sight. Already the light was flashing from the water of -slight, precautionary inundations; and there are whole tracts ready to -follow suit. Chateaux destroyed, for purposes of defensive fire; woods -cut down; trees, which obstructed the ranges, hacked away; a country -already half devastated, as if by an enemy. - -But the success outside Malines had reassured the peasants. They could -be seen dribbling slowly back to their cottages in unobtrusive clusters -on road and field. - -A troop train, crammed with soldiers sitting close on the floor of -cattle-trucks, many of them of the volunteer army, brought me back -towards the headquarters. Troops were constantly leaving us, and fresh -truckloads being added: all in good heart, and full of individual -exploits. We were banged about, and shunted here and there among guns -and ammunition trains. - -At one point the firing sounded only just across the field. The train -stopped, and several trucks emptied in little coloured floods of -soldiers into the wet fields. The men doubled in open order, just -over the edge, out of sight through the green park-like trees in the -sunlight. The scattered fire gradually drew away; and we moved slowly -on again. - - - Antwerp, Friday night. - -At St. Nicholas, the headquarters of the General commanding on the -west, I ran again into the uneasy, strained atmosphere of the towns -near the fighting line. It was familiar at Namur and elsewhere. -Uncertainty, constant coming and going, parade, spy-mania, secrecy, and -military rule. In such places the civilian is like a child confused in -the middle of a race-course; something to be herded and scuffled out -of the way; suspicion of others is the only safe outlet for his panic -feeling. We do not know this condition yet in England. May we never -experience it! To catch an eye is to create an enemy. A sudden movement -brings a rush of the silent crowd. An outward routine; an inward -volcano of fear, mistrust, and over-strained nerves. - -The soldiers at the front, if one can get there, are friendly enough. -Only for the moment, when men are going into, or are actually in -action, does the 'war-mask' make a man remote and unaccountable. Out of -action the more humorous northerner drops it gladly; the southerner, -less easily. Farther back from the front, at the anxious, waiting, -military headquarters, or in the town or village strung to snapping -point of nervous tension by the immediate uncertainty and peril, -is the danger-point for the looker-on. I made the experiment, as an -obvious stranger, of sitting outside a restaurant. In five minutes a -white-whiskered, respectable magistrate sat down opposite, and glared -dangerously. "You are a renegade!" I made no answer. A crowd began to -collect. "You are a German!" It was dangerous to let him go on. Better -attract the police than risk the crowd. "You may have the right to -question me, sir: you have none to insult me"--and I stood up suddenly, -upsetting him behind the heavy little table. A regulation "arrest" -followed; the first. In two hours I was interrogated seven times by -different descriptions of uniformed and civilian officialdom; and three -times was escorted to various military authorities, who, at last, -became not unnaturally petulant. Finally I had to retire within doors. -This is merely illustrative of the atmosphere; for the individuals -remained undemonstrative. - -Troop trains poured in and out of the station. Boy-sentries, struggling -under huge rifles, paraded the cobbles and mustered at the corners. - -At last, the single train to Antwerp. Nobody but inhabitants were -allowed to enter by it. The "word of the day" was whispered me with -infinite secrecy. The women, waiting to identify the wounded, who -passed in constant groups from the trains, swarmed over the platform -for farewells. Then a dark journey under a red moon; a passing sight of -camps, and soldiers moving without lights; spaces of water. - -And the end of it all, an easy, normal, almost careless passage into a -comfortable town, sure of itself and its defenders. For Antwerp lives -perfectly tranquilly. Only at night are the dark streets and the unseen -movement of people strange. Since the audacious, and fatal, passage of -the Zeppelin, no lights are allowed, even in windows, after eight. It -must have been a terrifying sight in the dark sky. The brightly lighted -airship close over the sleeping houses, so light that the number on -board could be reckoned. It drifted silently down wind, over the roofs, -well inside the defending circle. Then the roar of the propeller began; -the populace rushed out, and there followed a succession of shattering -explosions from its ten unseen and ill-directed bombs. Now precautions -are taken; and the great silver pencil of the searchlight has swung and -passed all to-night over our heads. - -No signs of a town besieged. - -Prices low, no war feeling, a steady traffic. Only rarely the rattle of -an armoured motor through the street; for nearly all military movements -are made at night. Except for the universal error of the withholding of -news, the control of the population is admirable in its restraint. We -have no "nerves" here yet. - - - Antwerp, Saturday. - -The Germans have been forced to keep a retaining army in front of the -Belgian lines at Malines. How big this is, it is impossible at present -to say. It seems to be no more than a retaining force, protecting -communications. - -On the other hand, the Belgians have half of their army intact, some -60,000, fresh and in good heart; with the remainder of the troops from -Liége, Louvain, and Namur, now reconstituted and keen to keep up their -splendid record. - -It will take an army of 150,000 to invest Antwerp, with its double line -of forts. - -There is a vague rumour that a secondary and larger force is advancing -directly upon Antwerp from the east, independent of the force already -facing Malines on the south, and that the big siege guns are being -brought up. The eventuality must be contemplated. The Landsturm -(reserve army) is already at Liége. The Germans have the reserves to -spare, and it would be consistent with their plan to follow their -swift-moving columns at the front with a second supporting army, -to occupy the conquered territory, already almost evacuated by the -advanced troops, and invest Antwerp. If the troops can be spared from -Prussia and France, the effort will be made. But not, I think, until -the blow at France has failed. - -The importance of Antwerp, as the final seat of the Belgian Government -and the last base from which the army can operate, cannot be overrated. -With Antwerp lost, the army, and all the possibilities of its position -upon the German flank, threatening the communications, would be -baseless; and must be forced to surrender, or to cut its way through to -Ostend. - -Germany will mask Antwerp for the present. And later on a siege of -Antwerp may not be calculated in terms of Liége. There the Germans -attacked with infantry and light field-guns. They have now brought up -their heavy siege guns. The rapid fall of the forts of Namur is the -measure of the difference. - -The outer line of Antwerp forts are one and a half miles apart, -alternating fort and redoubt. The silencing of one fort by the heavy -guns would leave a gap of three miles, through which troops could be -poured. - -The Belgian Field Army would have to hold the gap or gaps; behind them -the second line of forts would repeat the resistance, in their turn, -under increased difficulties. It might cost a number of lives, but of -these the Germans are careless. A big army with siege guns could manage -it, and not take unduly long. - -It will be seen that it is of the utmost importance to protect Antwerp, -not by strengthening the defence more than has already been done, but -by the operations of a relieving force, acting from the coast, upon the -left of the German investing army. - -The presence of British troops and ships at Ostend, which has been -announced officially in all the Belgian and French papers, has -already begun to effect its purpose; by reassuring the Belgians, and -distracting the Germans from pouring all their reinforcements on to the -front in France. - -It is also forcing the light, skirmishing German parties of advance, -which threatened the extreme left of the Allied armies, from Courtrai -to Dunkirk, to contract. - -(The anticipations here outlined have since been borne out closely by -the actual events of the fall of Antwerp.) - - - Sunday. - -The Germans resumed their bombardment of Malines yesterday. The church -tower provided their chief object. They were successfully kept out of -the town. - -The news is confirmed that something like a "whole army corps" has been -diverted from its advance across the frontier by the spirited sally of -the Belgians. - -I was down on the lines west of the city again to-day. The troops are -in fine spirits at their success. The British sympathy and admiration -have been greatly appreciated. The tribute of the House of Commons is -spread by the journals broadcast, in large print. - -At my small point of view there was only some slight skirmishing. -Since four o'clock yesterday the big guns have been having a rest. -Some peasants, captured and released, report the retirement of German -cavalry upon Louvain. These peasants have had seven days of terror. -They, including some women, have been driven at the head of a small -German contingent to and fro, threatened with death behind and in -front. They relate that those who fell out were shot. Some of them were -allowed to stop last night on the steps of the Cathedral, as they were -being herded through deserted Malines. They must have been the same -whom we saw pass, and heard afterwards murmuring there, while we waited -concealed inside. - -The large number of Belgian wounds are in the legs; possibly from lying -behind two little elevated screens, in place of entrenching; but the -German rifle-fire is still low. - -The Germans, advancing _en masse_, are constantly described as firing -from the hip. In front of the trench which I visited, the ground was -cut up by rifle-bullets in a continuous line, a few feet short of the -raised bank. Towards the end of the hour I spent there, came a sudden -ten minutes of furious firing. The hail of bullets whipped against the -far side bank in travelling waves of rustling sound, like the passing -of sharp gusts over a moor. - - - Later. - -The air is yellow and heavy from the continuous bombardment of the past -days. Sudden showers of rain, out of cloudless skies, come from the -same cause. The guns began again to-night. - - - Ostend, Monday. - -The Belgian Army was active this morning. Already at dawn as I passed -out of Antwerp through the wire entanglements and small inundations -about the military camps, they were on the move for another attack. The -guns were in action to the south of us. - -The country, in the line of Ghent, is now free. It was possible to -travel almost to the French frontier before the alarm of Uhlans began. -But the villages, populous and filled with panic last week, are now -half deserted and melancholy. The refugees pour aimlessly to the coast -and back again, according to the rumours. The railways run, advancing -and retreating, according to the movements of the enemy. In the morning -trains may run straight, in the evening make a cautious loop. A curious -situation, significant of the double occupation of the "open" territory. - -I wished to clear up some of the mystery enveloping the northern end of -the French frontier. I therefore passed through Ghent westward. Last -week I left a German cavalry column disappearing into the silence of -"no official news" into the neighbourhood of Courtrai. This afternoon -I met news of them, or their like, returning in the same quarter, as I -made a hurried run to the border. It was near Ypres that the peasants -met us with warnings "The Germans have been sighted, and are expected -here." - -From a safe retreat, in a wood on rising ground, we watched a small -line of German wagons, probably of wounded, winding into and out at the -other end of the short village street. It was accompanied and followed -by cavalry and a few cars. - -It has been heartening to see any Germans facing in the right -direction, before I descended once again upon Ostend. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -Paris and the Trenches - - -The ten days of the great conflict across France were now ended. The -military machine, the most powerful that the world has seen, had swept -past us across the silence of the frontier. Perfectly prepared beyond -all anticipation, and driven by the utmost forces of military despotic -tradition, it had achieved a performance remarkable in the history of -wars. But the machine had been met, and though we did not yet know it, -the momentum of its hammer-blow had been exhausted, by a defensive -retreat which will rank as unsurpassed not only in military history but -in the record of the greatest feats of human endurance, of the supreme -conquests of the spirit of man over the machinery of man's invention. - -Outmatched by ten to one, fighting by regiments, by groups, by -individuals, the soldiers of the independent racial spirit, of -voluntary subordination to the service of war, had resisted, doggedly, -inch by inch, and outlasted in the end, the devastating impetus of the -vast war engine. Still an unbeaten army of unconquerable personality, -the survivors waited outside Paris, reinforced, ready to resume the -offensive. Failure in organisation, suspected failures in collaboration -might have been fatal to the moral of a mechanically trained army. To -the elastic temperament and combination of our soldiers, bringing each -a free man's personality to the work of his chosen profession, nothing -could be fatal but loss of life itself, or loss of faith in the common -cause. - -I returned again to Paris when the Germans were within a long march -of the outer forts. The journey took an interminable time. The direct -lines were threatened by the enemy or blocked with the movements of -troops. We wandered to remote junctions west of Paris, and had to fight -good-humouredly for standing-room with crowds of reservists recalled -to the colours. No doubt owing to the greater magnitude of the problem -the French railway organisation, for other than military service, did -not compare well, during the earlier stages of the war, with that of -the Belgians, who showed a remarkable power of keeping their ordinary -traffic almost normal, and of reconciling it with the movements of -their own or the enemy's troops. - -Paris was practically empty. A second greater exodus was going on. The -Government had retired to Bordeaux the day before. With few exceptions -even the war correspondents, the last usually to cling on, had -vanished. Our Embassy had left with the Government. Our Consulate had -also vanished, leaving a large number of anxious countrymen stranded. -Doubtless they acted under orders. But, in pleasing contrast, a few of -our Consuls seem to have been allowed to exercise a more considerate -discretion, and remained doing excellent service till the threat of -occupation passed. Most of the Government offices were being occupied -by soldiers. General Gallieni, the Military Governor, was taking a -firm hold. We felt at once that the defence of Paris in his hands was -to be really "_jusqu'au bout_." - -Life in Paris was undergoing a second mutation. On the occasion of my -first visit, at the outbreak of the war, it was in the throes attending -the surrender of individual liberty to the control of the Departments -of official military government. The Departments had now retreated, -and civilian life was under the necessity of readjusting itself to the -confused beginnings of a purely "soldier" rule. The inconveniences -lasted only for a few days. The Military Governor organised his staff -for the unaccustomed work of administration with conspicuous energy. - -All that was left of Paris, passive, observant, and quick to grasp the -necessity of subduing even its natural inclination to caustic comment, -accepted the situation philosophically. For a day or two we still -listened for the sound of the guns of the forts, which should announce -the beginning of the siege. But in place of them came the quick rumour -of the British successes near Compiègne, of the German faltering and -hesitation, of the swing south, and finally of the retreat from the -Marne. People began to return. Paris life regained something of its -vivacity; only the dark quiet evenings, and the occasional visit of an -airman, survived inside the defences to remind us of the war. Now and -then the sight of a British soldier being embraced on the streets, and -treated to an extent that jeopardised the influence of Lord Kitchener's -letter, made a link with the with-drawing armies. News was reduced to -the customary minimum. - - - In the trenches, Friday. - -Here, outside the gates of Paris, within the circle of the forts, there -is a note of instancy and reality which is hardly shared by the city -itself even since the nearer approach of the invaders. The red and blue -dots of soldiers move briskly with purpose over the fields, under the -heavy, summer trees. Just a flash of sun here and there on bayonet or -helmet. - -Fortune has introduced me to a collection of non-commissioned -officers--jolly follows, in good heart. Some spoke English. One was -a Russian who had served as a volunteer in most of the armies of -the world. We sat under a tree in the shade, and they superintended -the heavy work of more red dots with grey shirts, sweltering in the -sun and digging trenches in the dusty, brown soil. In the distance, -business-like little lines of blue and red moved away over the horizon. -For the German cavalry is near us, in the Forest of Compiègne, to the -north. It had reached to Soissons, even to Creil, yesterday. - -The British caught them well two days ago; but now they are between us -and the British, in their distracting, scattered Uhlan fashion. - -We do not ask now: "Where are the English?" We know! But now it is: -"Where are the Indian troops? How many are they? Where do they land?" -Most of my friends are volunteers, full of spirit, and new to the work. -We are rather puzzled by the position. Of course the German strategy -is contrary to all sound rule. But still the "strategic retreat" seems -to have drawn out the French lines almost as long as the line to the -German base. We appear to pin our faith to that mysterious unknown -factor, of which the Press speaks, and to the Indians and Turcos, and -other oddments. - -Then comes the interruption of reality. A few dispatch riders, in -faint dusty blue, gallop past. A few wounded, supported, bandaged, -or carried, come more slowly through the hot fields, along the dusty -trenches and entanglements. A German mitrailleuse car, "blindée" -(armoured)--that French invention that the Germans have turned to such -account--has rushed on a French outpost. These are its victims. But the -car is--we are told--"accounted for." - -The touch of war is only a momentary disturbance to the quiet, busy -work of the red-and-blue and red-and-grey dots, marching and mattocking -in the afternoon sun round us. - -Paris itself is "empty." Four weeks ago the Boulevards were deserted, -but it was the emptiness of emotional stress, varied by the rush -of sudden crowds and alarms. This was followed by our declaration -of war; and coincidentally the streets grew again alive. Now they -are deserted, but this time in earnest, for the inhabitants have -dispersed where they may. There is no panic; none of the "nerves" of -a month ago. The little unrest is due to the _reductio ad absurdum_ -of war news, which characterises this war in all countries. The only -crowd to-day was the crowd of automobiles at the Invalides, getting -permits to leave the city before 7.30 to-night, the last moment of -passage permitted. Even the 5 o'clock circuit of German aeroplanes -created small sensation. It is no longer "new." Yesterday, gentlemen -of sporting tastes took shots at the aeroplanes, as they sat at coffee -on the Boulevards. To-day, some of the Brussels caution, which found -in such promiscuous shooting a yet greater danger for the inhabitants, -has asserted itself. A mitrailleuse on the Madeleine secures the civic -safety. - -Four weeks ago chance made it necessary for me to pass hours in almost -every Government office in the city. There was then the inevitable -confusion due to the fact that most of the efficient staff had gone -to the front just at the moment at which every individual found his -rights to move and exist had become vested in a series of public -offices, and no longer in himself. Chance took me to-day to wait in -almost all these offices yet once again. It was again a moment of -dislocation, for the Government have gone. The offices are in the hands -of soldiers. The citizens have to adjust their existence anew to yet -another control, that of a purely military organisation. - -All the landmarks are shifted. Begins anew the scuffle for the usual -permissions to move or exist. As a pleasant contrast to the general -flight and upheaval, the United States Embassy and Consulate are -looking after the individual anxieties of half the nationalities of -Europe with a courtesy and efficiency beyond all praise. Paris is -empty, but sunny and still itself. Through the empty street the columns -of red and blue soldiers pass, with dusty boots, making bright streaks -of colour. Like a mother of pearl shell left on the beach, the colours -of Paris remain vivid, though the life in her Government is gone south. - - - Friday night. - -Another interlude--Shakespearean if you like. The talk of the first and -second Watchmen and the second Citizen outside the walls. A drop-scene -before Paris, in the second act of the great war tragedy. - -The gates had closed before I could get in. A corporal, who considered -himself under an obligation, suggested taking refuge in a shelter with -five non-commissioned officers, who were superintending the defence -works. He knew one of them. The rest were not of his regiment, and -suspicious, as men are behind the lines. But two or three gathered -round to smoke; and, Parisian-like, thawed with their own talk. The -rest rolled up on the straw, and moved restlessly in tired sleep, -outside the range of the single light. - -Naturally the talk turned first on the stranger: "What a risky job. -Now, a soldier goes safely where he's told, and can fight there, with -friends round. But you may be shot by anyone, as the easiest thing to -do! No inquiries as in peace time. Anyone may do it; and it's only an -unlucky incident. No mention in the papers even! Why, even generals and -officers have been shot in this war by mistake." - -The risk set my corporal talking of a younger brother of his, whom he -had brought up and seen married; their two wives are together at home -with the babies. "He is of the--1st line, the little brother--only -so high. I do not know where he is. Only one postcard with no date -or address, saying 'Still living.' That is all, two weeks ago; and -the war may be over, and we shall never know. Perhaps we shall have -his regimental number returned, and never know. The little one whom I -brought up--only so high." - -There was only one opinion about the English troops. "What fellows they -are--_charmants garcons!_--big and cool-looking in their 'green'; and -impassive! And then, so gay, always so gay--except their songs!" - -"I cannot understand them, but they laugh all the time, even when they -are too tired to walk;"--it was a cuirassier speaking--"I helped to -carry one in the other day; four of us. It was near Amiens. He was -dying; his legs--so. He kept on saying something which we could not -understand; perhaps it was a message to his mother or sweetheart. But -he smiled always, and shook hands. And he said: 'Good friends. Good old -England.' I understood that. He died before we found the ambulance." - -I asked cautiously, later, why there was the constant question about -the whereabouts of the "Turcos," Indians and Japanese. Were we not -enough? There was a volume of answer. "Ah, but we are civilised! We -thought this fighting would be civilised. They cut the heads off their -bullets. Here is one! And they rough the edge of their bayonets--I -have picked them up! But it is with savages. And we have not the -temperament." A volunteer emphasised this, a bearded manufacturer, -with a family, in ordinary times: "And these others know the barbarous -methods of fight. It is of their nature. They can be ferocious. The -savages fear them." - -The old walls of Paris, the third line of defence, remain a cherished -sentiment. The famous story of Todleben riding round them on -inspection, with two officers, in silence, and only remarking quietly -at the end: "_C'est tout? Paris est prise d'avance!_" was treated as a -German's joke! - -"The walls? They will be fought to the last! The stones of the street -of Paris will rise up in new barricades--if 'they' get so far!" - -A volunteer infantryman arrived with a packet of salt. Salt is getting -rare. The arrival was made the occasion of a quick cooking of the -universal soup. The talk flickered up; chiefly of friends and positions -of regiments, details confused and not to be recorded. The end of one -story, however, stands out vividly: "We were only three, and he could -not walk further, and it was a cold night. We could not put him in a -haystack, for the 'Bosches' burn them; or in a cottage, till 'they' had -gone past. So we made a shallow trough between the furrows, leaving him -warm with his head uncovered, and pulled a harrow above him. In the -morning the peasant who had left the harrow would find him, warm; or it -would be easy to finish burying him." - -The last of them rolled up in their coats and straw to sleep, my -corporal still murmuring: "I wonder where he is, the little one--so -high? Perhaps, after the war----" - -And it seemed only a moment later that the dawn began behind Paris, -yellow behind the grey towers above the still mists. - - - Paris, Saturday dawn. - -During the respite of the last days the army of defence has at least -got what sleep it could. - -The trenches within the circle of forts are cloaked before dawn -by mist. Here and there, hidden under temporary shelters, a groan -or murmur tells where the soldiers sleep on straw, behind the -entrenchments. The stations of the local railway lines are filled with -straw, and among sacks and accoutrements the more fortunate are asleep, -crowded close under the open sheds. - -If I move my head, shadows loom out of the mist--the close-standing -sentries. Singular figures, hidden in white vapour to the waist. -All wearing heavy cloaks of different types, but made uniform by the -military cap, the shouldered or grounded musket. - -The challenges run round, in subdued tones. Even suspicion seems -lulled. In the truce of the night the mind even of the sentry is -passive. The artificial atmosphere, that makes all but the known -uniform an enemy, is forgotten for the moment. - -Back towards Paris, the city is shoulder-deep in white mist. Only the -spires and towers emerge, grey and sleepy. The summit of the Eiffel -Tower is lost again in a yet higher belt. - -As the grey light grows yellow and red with the coming sun, the towers -are projected against it as if floating in mid air, a city of dreams. -Can this be the town that is waiting half empty, garrisoned with -soldiers, every public office a barrack or ambulance, for expected -bombardment, almost certain siege? - -Yet only a few miles to the north--how few the citizens do not yet -know--the advance patrols of the enemy are also resting, sleeping under -the same bands of white mist. They are at Pontoise; some of them have -been encountered even near the Seine in the glades of the Forest of St. -Germain. - -And behind us, also hidden by the mist, the restless movement of our -own troops continues. Trains are shunting and banging; there is the -rattle of heavy wheels on the roads.... - -The yellow light widens; the mist lifts and grows thin. The sentries -seem to shape themselves, and swing their cloaks. A general stir -rustles out of the shelters. The clatter of cooking-pots and boots, -even of voices, begins round us. The night has been warm, and a sultry -feeling falls again at once with the opening of day. A cavalry patrol, -visible already in its lighter blue uniforms, files past. The men move -out to their work on the earthworks. There is the rattle of arms as the -rifles are freed from their standing stooks. Strange sheaves these, in -their threatening lines, by the edges of uncut cornfields. They begin -to glitter as they are lifted in the early sunlight. - -The sound of a distant shot, unexplained, startles my little circle of -view into alertness. The truce of night goes in an instant with the -mist. Suspicion, the sharp tension of prospective attack, change in -a second the atmosphere. Orders, loud voices, and movements tell the -beginning of another inconsequent day in the unnatural war. - -Paris, as I return, is already awake: sharp outlined and stirring. -Carts are moving in and out of one gate, which has opened early. Small -parties of officers roll out noisily in motor-cars from their city -quarters. - -It is time to get back to the suppressed, shepherded existence of a -civilian in a town under military government, for whom rumour-fed -ignorance is considered to be the only safe-guard against panic. - -Psychology of an elementary character might form a part of the training -of the experts in war. - - - Paris, Saturday midnight. - -The pause outside Paris continues. It is neither ominous nor -reassuring. After their astonishing march the Germans have to collect -themselves for the great move. Rushed by their pace and volume, but -acting on a concerted plan, the Allies have retired with deliberate -skill upon their intended positions; with Paris as pivot. For the time -fighting tactics are of less importance. Strategy, for the first time -since the failure beyond the frontier, is again to decide. - -The Germans have failed to force a decisive victory on their course -across France. The Allied Armies are still unseparated, their temporary -dislocation is cemented five times as strongly. Havre is still -covered, Paris is covered, the connection is retained with the armies -in Lorraine. The Crown Prince's army has failed to keep pace in the -centre. The front for the Allies is contracted; they have again a -strategic base on Paris; they have succeeded in gaining, in spite of -the tremendous pursuit, their chosen lines of defence to north and east -of the capital. - -During the last few days the Germans have discovered the strength of -the position of the Allies by means of their unsuccessful raids at -Compiègne and elsewhere. They have possibly got some further news -from the west. They have had to rest their men and horses after the -terrific march; get up their great siege guns; prepare their positions -and platforms, and reconnoitre the admirable defensive strategic -positions. Do they mean to attack Paris? There is now doubt of it. It -has been "Paris or die." May we hope the "die" will be cast? - -There has been a considerable movement of their troops to the south, -east of Saint Denis. This has been construed into an attempt to turn -the rear of the French positions on the frontier; to create a diversion -in favour of the Crown Prince's army; to link up with this, and either -surround the French army of Lorraine or advance in double force on -Paris. This would imply a hesitation in the advance of the terrible -"marching column," a relenting of the pace--in fact, a blunder of -magnitude, in view of the importance of time. - -It is more than probable that the movement south, to the east of Paris, -is preparatory to an advance upon the capital from two directions, the -east and north-east. This would at once threaten the connection with -the armies of Lorraine; do something to clear the road for the Crown -Prince in the centre; and substitute for an immediate attack upon Paris -an advance upon the main position of our armies. - -The design is being retarded by the usual measures; measures which, to -the lay mind, might well have been employed in retarding the advance -through Flanders and mid-Belgium. - -Paris is going to be defended to the last wall. General Gallieni's -thirty-eight-word proclamation has created a profound impression. If it -comes even to street fighting, the few survivors in the city here are -prepared to see the walls burning about them. - -Perhaps I may mention the open secret that, if the Germans are -rejoicing in the progress of their great siege guns, towed by 30-50 -horses, we have a surprise quite as cheering for them here, once they -get to close grips. - -And besides this, we are all asking ourselves how long their nice sense -of humanity will prevent the French making more use of their explosive -secret? This is a war to kill, to be decided by the number killed. - -And then Lord Kitchener's "unknown factor"; we know a great deal about -it now. - -General Gallieni is an administrator of established reputation, -and a fighter by temperament. I met him to-day on his round of the -fortifications. He is never away from the vital points; at the same -time his administration of the town has got into working order with -rapidity. He passed, with a salute, in a cloud of dust, the car in -front guarded by a black orderly. - -And even if Paris goes? Well, the campaign is clear. Sentiment is not -to interfere with this ingenious campaign against superior forces. - -It is impatient work, waiting in a placid town for an unheard enemy. -I went out to look for him to-day. The roving "Uhlan," the "hooligan" -of the war, had been reported yesterday at Pontoise, and in the Forest -of St. Germain. I had an enchanting tour through the long glades, -in sunlight, for my pains. Not the gleam of a lance as far even as -Pontoise. The windings of the Seine were only alive with boys bathing -and the sharp detail of red and blue sentries on the bridges. Many -bridges are closed, but there is none of the worry of the stops -by "Civic Guards" at every corner that jolted one in Belgium. The -challenges are rare, and business-like. - -I ran all through the forest, cheated of even a "view" of the enemy. -It is not saying much to say that our lines are not yet back upon the -Seine. The French aviators floated overhead, but not even the audacious -"Taube" broke the blue and green of sky and forest. - -At Versailles I ran again into the suspicious atmosphere of the purely -military town. Hardly a civilian to be seen. All houses closed. Why is -the purely military town the most nervous? At Paris we look calmly even -on aviators and dragoons; only the British soldier, one of the many -"missing" returning now in numbers to rejoin their units via Paris, -is overwhelmed with greetings, little crowds, and embraces. But at -Versailles the vibration of war nerves made every bare cobbled street -"jumpy" in atmosphere. - -All along the shady roads through the forests of Marly wound the -peasant carts, freighted with refugee women and children. Under the -trees by the wayside carts in hundreds were drawn up, loaded with -household goods and trusses of hay or straw for the patient horse -or donkey. The women sat round cooking-pots set on wood fires. The -children played noisily. The chief game was "Germans"--a tin pot on a -stone, at which a gipsy-looking band hurled bricks from a safe ten feet. - -Drifting aimlessly here and there, ready to move at a rumour, the great -army of the homeless, just as in Belgium, moves through the fertile -fields. It is depressed, purposeless, puzzled. Turned back from the big -towns, reluctant to cross the Channel, uprooted from the home-fields, -like plants torn up and swirled endlessly in a weir pool--moving -endlessly back and forwards. The generations of peace, the rich product -of human progress, that war is killing. - -Through their unheeding lines on either side passed ceaselessly the -wagon-loads of hay, the munition carts, the cavalry patrols, all the -sacrifices to the new idol of devastation. We are long past cheering -soldiers in the war-lands. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -The Movements in the North - - - Sunday night. - -THE Germans are turning sharply south, descending diagonally on the -east of Paris. The country they held, or partially held, three days -ago, as far west as Compiègne, Gisors, and Pontoise, is now free of -all but isolated patrols. The brilliant cavalry action at Compiègne, -where the British lost six and recovered sixteen guns, may have been -but a feint to cover the alteration of direction. Amiens they still -hold, and the line due south of it. Our forces, keeping touch with the -enemy, have moved forward their covering line across and to the east of -Paris on the side of the Marne, with a curve south near Paris on their -left wing. What is the reason of the change? Is it merely a move in -the great chess game designed at Berlin; first the powerful "marching -column" striking directly at the more vulnerable north-west corner of -Paris, so as to draw out the French defence in that direction, thinning -its connecting links with the eastern army; then a swift change, and -a blow at the weakened centre, with the intention of cutting off and -surrounding the eastern army very near to fatal Sedan? - -Is it an attempt to force a decisive action before attacking Paris, -since the Allies, in spite of their costly retreat, are still an -undefeated army, now safely established in a strong defensive position? -Is it this attempt, combined with the intention of joining forces -with the Rheims armies of von Buelow and Wurtemberg, and of cutting -communications behind the army opposing the Crown Prince? - -Or has there really been some definite change of plan forced upon the -northern army of von Kluck? Has he recognised the danger of pressing -in upon Paris from the north and north-west between the scissors of -the armies in the Marne and of some other army in the west and north, -still unknown to us. The difficult change of line is, in that case, -to be made in order to secure a concentration of the armies, and a -later attack on Paris from the east. This I suggested as an explanation -yesterday. It is the more certain coup, if it can be brought off; and -it is less exposed during its operation to any threat from the north -than would be a diagonal blow at north-west Paris. A few days will -show; but I expect to hear shortly that the armies have been engaged on -the east side of the Oise, along the Marne. - -I traversed to-day all the region from Paris to the north country, -passing through the subtle Paris entrenchments and over the nervous -Seine bridges, all ready to be dynamited. - -The country, forest and field, was strikingly beautiful in really hot -sunshine. But empty. The picturesque white villages were deserted -and green-shuttered; the grey stone towns with only a few silent -soft-footed peasants, and solitary neglected children. Here and there -a few black-hooded women were hanging a wayside cross or shrine with -votive flowers. There was again the oppressive expectant feeling of -the country that is left open to the enemy, undefended. Under the -trees, or trekking aimlessly along the roads, knots and processions of -homeless peasants, with their high carts heaped with household goods. -Here and there a little drove of their cattle. All the folk, brown, -depressed but resigned. As the tide of Germans has passed south and -east, they have been creeping inevitably back, with a sort of homing -instinct. A few blue cavalry patrols, French, caused them succeeding -fear and reassurance. Magny, Mantes, Gisors, Gournay, Beauvais, back -and fro, we made certain that the tide was retreating; and followed on -the tail of our own advance close enough to get clear as to the general -position. The wayside refugees were from local villages, and we could -do little to relieve them except to help some of the more helpless on -their way. - -At Pontoise, a French cavalry column was passing through eastward, -the direction of the new move. The women stood ready with bottles and -jugs, and ran beside the horses to receive back the glasses, cramming -cigarettes into the smiling troopers' hands. Several of the men, with -difficulty controlling their horses, plucked the red wool tassels from -their epaulettes, and gave them in return as souvenirs. - -At Mantes we came upon a collection of motors, families flying from -Paris to the north on the safe western route. For miles together we ran -through entrenchments and fortified positions, prepared to meet the -expected stroke of the hammer at the west of Paris. Only a few troops -remained in the trenches, sparks of colour through the orchards on the -great rolling wooded uplands. The others have moved eastwards, to the -scene of the battle now imminent on the east of Paris. - -We met a brown, battered company of our own men also. They were resting -from their exhausting retreat, and lined the roads, cheerfully greeting -columns of French who moved eastward past and through them. - -Later, the shuttle was weaving in different fashion. Here, on road -and train, our troops in their turn--but this time fresh-complexioned -reinforcements--were pouring eastward; while the worn-looking French -soldiers stood aside, or lay resting to let them pass, with hearty -jokes and salutes. - -Then we ran out north into open undefended territory. Again deserted -villages. Now and then a sharp contrast, when we hit some level -crossing, and a line of trains passed us, pouring continually south -with crowded carriages and trucks of ever fresh reinforcements. - -Beauvais is unoccupied by either side, but it remains a funereal town. -A few women in black, a few inhabitants creeping back. Silent clusters -on the Cathedral steps. - -Here an incident occurred, illustrative of the interpenetration of the -armies in these "open" districts. - -We were sitting at coffee in the square. A car, blowing a continuous -blast, rushed through. In it were two grey figures, German officers, -with a grey-tunicked driver. They flashed through, sitting very -low. Immediately there was a quick, quiet rush of women and boys to -the shelter of the Mairie and the Cathedral. The movement seemed -instinctive. Their faces remained expressionless, almost apathetic. - -Ten minutes later we were carefully leaving the town. When the German -patrols take to motors, one cannot count upon the start we had in -Belgium against the customary Uhlan horse. Another motor dashed quickly -past. In it were two other grey-tunicked German cavalrymen. But these -were prisoners, being run through south from near Amiens. Supposing -these two cars had met, what would have happened? - -I have asked a number of questions, to some of which we know the -answers. I will venture one more. Why have the valuable little -sea-ports been left absolutely unguarded against the small raiding -German patrols that alone at present threaten all the coast? Not an -army of occupation, but a few hardened men landed, would be sufficient -to protect much that is valuable, but which now lies open to any chance -three men with arms. And time allows the Germans to spare little more. - - - Monday. - -The great battle on the new front has begun. This is the third day of -the fighting. The German left, pushing south past Ourcq, got as far as -Coulommiers, at the same time pressing upon Paris from the east. They -have retired again upon Meaux, in this quarter. Of the fortunes further -east there is no news. The British troops are holding a vital point in -the defensive against the double move, the direct blow south and the -eastern attack upon the city. - -The countermove of the Allied left wing to meet the German change of -front has been carried out with remarkable rapidity. The alternate -passing of our own and the French troops through each other's positions -in taking up their fresh lines was an interesting time of intricate -manœuvre to watch. Paris has become a pivot; no longer the direct -object of defence or attack. Any victory of the German right outside -the eastern line of defence, would have the advantage for the Germans -of sending both armies intermingled back upon and through the forts, -impeding their fire. The new move thus places Paris in the position of -the prize of the battle. - -The north is clear of both armies. Amiens is the most westerly town -occupied by the enemy. The new position of the Allies has led to an -abandonment of all the sea-ports. The inhabitants have been ordered to -disarm, and the bases and stores have been removed. - -The recent moves of the Allies have suggested, in their mass, -remarkable mobility and promptitude. They have worked with a precision -and simplicity that have made them seem the product of very cool -design, and even of long anticipation. The Germans would seem to have -made the mistake of considering our army out of the game. They have -advanced heedlessly across it, unaware of its elastic recovery and of -its reinforcement. - -The very complexity of the few moves met with in detail during the last -few days has given considerable reassurance. Their very disconnection -from the course of apparent events, engagements already officially -acknowledged, shows them to be no expedient of the moment, but part of -a prepared scheme, played now on the chosen field, and with the moves -following an expected order. - -I have been spending most of the day witnessing the development of -one of the expected moves. The sunlit fields were alive with marching -troops. The headquarters, at Rouen, were crowded with staff officers. -Several nationalities and all arms were represented. There was the -quivering suspicious atmosphere that accompanies an action in near -prospect. Beyond certain boundaries, Evreux, Les Andelys, Gisors, I -was told I should go in "peril of life," "at my own risk." Long before -I had traversed them sufficiently to be satisfied of the positions, -through the orderly, coloured confusion of an army in the field, the -risk had been sufficient, without crossing the bounds to find the -enemy. There was anxiety, strain, but there was the new excitement of -men on the offensive. We are assured of our defensive lines. We can -afford to take the initiative. - -There was plenty of personal incident--a conversation with a fierce -general in a shady, deserted château, agreeable in process and -issue; arrest and escort by a clattering Lancer patrol; the sight of -dismounted cavalrymen making embrasures in the walls of an orchard, -with momentarily turned, scowling faces. - -In general purport the hours with this elusive force were more -interesting than the sight of an actual engagement--that is, all the -spectator can see of one. - -Later in the day, in the course of a wide circle, I came down from -the north on the rear of the German right flank. This country was -supposed to be deserted. But the German army is well in touch with -the chess-board in the north and west. The peasants told me of the -proximity of two hundred Uhlans and a battery of guns. But it was -impossible to find any trace of a further German advance westward. - -The check to the Germans near Coulommiers is promising. Their right -wing seems to have recognised that the forces opposed are too strong, -for several reasons, for their congenial fashion of attack, and is -falling back. Their combined armies have withdrawn too far south-east -to attack Paris again by any surprise move. They have been moving to -break the line of our armies opposed to them directly south, and to cut -through them well east of Paris, towards Sézanne. There is a general -atmosphere of reassurance among our troops to-day. The tide has turned, -and I date the turn from _September 6th_. - - - Tuesday. - -There is a very satisfactory development of the position beginning -on the west of Paris. Much of the north-west region, which for a -time was left unoccupied (including the sea-ports), is again in -process of resumption. The rapidity of the German hammer-attack made -a concentration of our troops necessary outside the weaker defences -of the city. It was remarkable, the pace and precision with which the -Allied Armies, after ten days of continuous fighting, and their hurry -of difficult retreat across France, took up position on their new base -at Paris. They converted a widespread movement of defensive retreat, -over an infinite number of small tactical points, into a finely -consolidated, new strategic position. But they could do no more for -the moment in the north than hold the railway lines through which the -reinforcements were being poured. - -Then came the German new front to the south. The Allies' reinforcements -had to swing to meet them, or rather to pour men across to adjust -the balance at the threatened points. To this the fresh British -reinforcements were specially devoted; again to hold the key, and more -than one key, of the new lines of defence. - -The movement is complete. Strengthened at the weak link, the French -have been able again to set their grasp upon the "open" country of -the line north of the Seine. The boundaries of the extension, and the -ultimate intention of the movement may be best left to the intelligent -to surmise. Its significance for us is its reassurance as to the -confidence of our armies in the strength of their eastern line of -defence, its evidence that they are now strong enough to attempt in -turn offensive movements and resume their connections, only briefly -threatened and never entirely interrupted, with their north-western -sea-bases. - -The last two days have been spent in following this movement in far -more detail than can yet be written. Its interest has been due to its -moral effect as much as to its strategical importance. The great issue -is being fought out, for the present, on the east of Paris. - -After leaving our new headquarters to-day we swung across to the east. -The country--Forges, Gournay, Gisors, Clermont--is still unoccupied. -The beautiful brown and grey stone villages with faint-red roofs -and dark mediæval gateways are shuttered and empty. A few noiseless -children, a woman or two, a hungry couple of curs on the dusty cobbles. -The roads are clear of refugees, wandered further afield in their -high-wheeled laden carts. Only here and there a few stolid, hardy or -resigned village folk cling on, and form clusters before a solitary -open restaurant, headed by some sturdy Maire. The restaurant has still -good bread and wine, nothing more. - -The fields are almost deserted; miles of rich meadow and crops in the -white sunshine. One or two farmers or women with stout little sons at -work in the crops, make rare and startling breaks in the passing lonely -landscape. - -But there was a change to-day. Every now and then in remote places -a scouting car with a splash of uniforms, or a vicious-looking -mitrailleuse car with helmets cloaked in linen, threatening over its -grey edges, met us in the miles of shaded lanes. - -Some of the small towns had again guards, military or civic, who gave -us pause; while each protested that the new military control had -made some different kind of "pass" necessary. Some wanted a red one, -some a blue. Some wanted a "visé" from the local Maire. Fortunately -during most of the hot day, the Maires were absent or asleep, and it -was agreed to be better to wake the one at the next village. The next -village was generally also asserted to be a regimental headquarters. In -these cases it usually proved to be utterly deserted. - -In one little town, near Clermont, we came in for a strange echo of the -war. A woman in a high cart drove past quickly, while we were talking -with the Maire and the woman of the inn. There was a sudden silence. -Then a dramatic, passionate outburst from the handsome, sibyl-faced -hostess, who had two sons at the war: - -"Think of it: that woman! There were three of our soldiers chased from -the fight at Creil. They took refuge with her. She is rich and has -a garden. She hid them in the hayloft; threw their uniforms in the -garden. The Germans came. They slept in her house. They said: 'We are -forced to fight; it is not of our seeking: the French attacked us.' -They found the uniforms. They put a pistol to her breast: 'We will -shoot you if you do not say where are those soldiers.' She cried:'In -the loft.' They shot them; all three. The traitress!--and it would have -been so easy for a woman to lie!" - -A village near Creil itself gave us another echo. A German field-cap -hung over the forge. The old smith, one of the last men now left in -the village, explained it had fallen from the head of one of three or -four German soldiers who had been chased through the street a few days -before. "It shall hang there till the owner returns for it," he added -grimly, "May my great-grandchildren see it still hanging so!" - -And yet one more, and this within sound of the guns, that have been -echoing nearer or fainter these last days. A woman ran out of the door -of a solitary cottage towards Senlis, waving her arm. One stops quickly -these days. A man was dying inside. She had burned his uniform; but I -knew at once he was a German. He had been shot while scouting; had hid -himself, and crawled to her house. We did what we could for him. From -him I learned that the Germans are already reinforcing to meet the -western move, and of many things that are hidden from us--no doubt, for -our good--or vaguely guessed at. It was no matter of "communication -with the enemy"; he was already past the line that divides small -irritable tribal mortals; he was joining issue with the last great -common foe. - -We left him to die in the care of the woman who had not "passed by on -the other side." Her son would visit her shortly--she had refused to -leave her cottage--and would bury him in the field. No one else was to -know. - -This is the meaning of the machine of war: The man joins the machine -for the honour of the nation. The machine drives him, one of a nameless -herd, for a few days, beyond his strength, to his death, for the honour -of the machine. And yet the nation is made up of the men; and the -machine is made up of the men; and the men die. But for such machines -we should know better what is the honour of the nation--that is, of the -men--for the men would judge of it, as men, for themselves. - -We approached as near as we could venture--for we were behind the -enemy--north of Betz and close to the sound of the guns. We saw as -much as anyone is likely to see of the fighting in such warfare: the -distant sight of greeny-white smoke-balls bursting over trees on a far -hill; the slight movement, round the edges of distant woods that sloped -towards us, of small grey dots, that were assumed to be the enemy. - -Returning across the north of Paris by circuitous ways, we came round -by the west, through the entrenched positions. During the day, we -passed over five bridges already mined with dynamite, and one wooden -bridge with the props half cut through. It is a stimulating experience -to crawl over bridges, like Kew Bridge for size and sunny situation, -with the warning from armed soldiers at either end that too much -vibration may send them exploding into the air, or dropping into the -river. We are warned to avoid even the comfort of a cigarette; and -there are other impediments to make the passage tortuous and exciting. - -The one relief on nearing Paris is the infection of its unconquerable -gaiety. After days in the terrible "war atmosphere," every face -suspicious, every mile a wrestle with the shadow of puzzled mistrust, -it was a lightening of the whole evening when two veteran "grey -moustaches" levelled their muskets on a bridge, and threatened to shoot -us with a twinkle in their blue eyes--the first smile of the day. - -And this is only one day on the fringe of the great struggle of whose -incident, triumph, and lonely death there shall be small record. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -The Battles on the Marne - - -Tuesday's distant sight of the Germans moving north-west across the -hills above Betz was in reality a side-view of the masterly and rapid -retreat that von Kluck made from the Battles on the Marne. The French -and our own troops were close on his heels; but so skilfully was the -retreat executed that our cavalry was unable to operate effectively, -and the German western armies extricated themselves from our enveloping -movement without severe defeat. They were falling back at express speed -upon the position already selected along the heights behind the Aisne. -On the morning after regaining Paris I ran out through Lagny to Meaux, -to follow up the line of the battles. - - - Paris, Thursday. - -Those have been grim fights round Meaux the last few days. It is no -single battlefield; rather a continuous line of battles. But Chaucotin, -Poincy, Penchard, Chambery, may be remembered in history as the -triangle where the flood was first turned back. The line is marked on -the fields like the waving edge of a past tide on the beach--those -pleasant fields, stubble, meadow, trees, that fall from either side to -the wooded, sheltered river; and among them, caught as in a hollow, -Meaux itself, its cathedral, by some miracle, still unharmed. - -The loss has been great, especially on the side of the Germans. The -peasants to-day were shovelling into the long trenches the terrible -harvest of death. All round us was the litter of battle, smashed -muskets, smashed helmets, and broken life. - -I could follow the fighting foot by foot from well south of Meaux. -Haystacks torn down and scattered over the field for trusses of -shelter. Haystacks still standing, their north side torn and holed -with shrapnel, with trusses like wings on either side whence the men -had fired. Burnt woods, trees cut down and broken, and the long brown -lines of trenches. - -Some of our own men took me round them. Trenches finely made but, in -the hurry, not so finished as those which the Italian workmen, turned -on to this surprising task instead of digging the Metropolitan tunnels, -have made near Paris. - -The German trenches were distinguishable by their shape, more hurried, -as of the attacking side. It was possible to follow the story--the -trenches where the shell had burst well behind; the tell-tale breaks -where the Germans had found the range; the trample and dead horses of -cavalry charges. - -At Penchard our ---- division had suffered fearfully. Before they fired -a shot the Germans had the range; and the men stood by helplessly or -ran back--those who survived. But the Germans are far on the retreat -now from Penchard! - -At Poincy they played yet another trick, and paid for it. Beaten by our -close fire from the trenches--how close I could measure--one in every -three Germans got up and ran back, leaving two or three hidden. Our men -came quickly up, taking no cover. From close range they were swept away -by the unexpected fire. But they came back--with the bayonet! "And, -sir, the Prussians don't like cold steel. But we left them no time to -say so!" - -At Chaucotin the peasants were burying many hundred Germans, by the -trenches, in a wastage of swords, muskets, and broken saddles and arms. -And in the distance, beyond the Marne and Ourcq, the battle we could -hear still going on. - -In Meaux, as I looked over the bridge, the steam-barges deep in the -green shadow of the river below were moving slowly towards Paris with -yet more wounded. The decks were bright with the blue-red guards. - -Even on this side of Meaux overturned wagons, sunken barges, and -the inevitable trenches and piled trusses told of some hours of -the day-long battles. Further forward, on the Ourcq, were torn and -scrambled banks, where, I was told, our cavalry drove the enemy -actually into the canal. Our cavalry has done magnificently. - -It was jolly in Meaux to hear good northern English, and English with a -brogue, and to see the confident, bronzed faces. The men are in great -heart. "I have had five weeks out of bed. It's a bit slow here"--this -town was all but deserted--"but it's a lark. We've got 'em!" - -Man to man, and against odds, on these fields the British and French -have flung back the weight of the tide. - -Beyond Chambery there was yet another sign--a collection of 150 German -wounded, waiting to be brought down. At last we were following an -advance, if only in a small corner of the great field. - -Through all the villages along the Marne those who loitered by the -silent closed houses showed holiday faces. Close outside Paris life -seemed to be hardly affected. It came as a surprise, in the sunny -fields, to pass by long, noisy trains of motor-lorries, bearing an -infinite number of names of firms. And longer, slower trains of wagons -with white and dappled grey horses were dragging in captured German -pontoons, splashed with coloured soldiers. Some of these were even -sitting in rope-nooses slung from the projecting beams. About them, the -files of tramping infantry or fretting cavalry. - -One of these motor-wagons to-day saved us a shock, and gave us a -spectacle. Taking a wrong turn, which we followed, it ran down a steep -road to Esbly, and, just ahead of us, shot over the edge of an exploded -bridge into the river. The driver got out by jumping in time. The -village was quite deserted. - -In war time there are only a few through routes left open. The rest -are torn up or blocked. Every exit from a town, except one or two, is -barricaded with piles of trees, stone-sacks, logs, hoardings, wire, and -earth. In some cases the loose structures threaten more danger to the -defenders. The through routes left are broken up at intervals by walls -and pits, mazes through which one winds precariously. The barricades -are held by stern soldiers. But the army of Paris has admirable manners. - -Probably few civilians in this war will be able to see the "Military -Zone" of Paris. Yet it is a wonderful sight. Twice I ran through it -to-day. Vast grounds, with horses exercising, ridden by grey soldiers. -Huge parks of guns, guarded by blue soldiers. Immense enclosures of -cattle. Lines of stacks; stores of forage of all sorts; acres of -wagons; sprinkled with soldiers of many colours. - -And all this passes, in one form or another, across those few miles of -sunshine and fields, to the dry-looking brown trenches, the trampled -roads and tattered-looking trees and stacks, and at last to the -terrible remnants of the short human tragedy, that lie for a while -among the furrows and then for ever beneath them. - -In a few months these battlefields which I traversed to-day may be -part, if a small part, of history. The muskets we helped to carry back, -packed among a few refugee peasants, may be in museums of honour. - -To most of the men who died there, and made the names of these fields -famous, their names were unknown. But for those who see them still -only as ruined, littered fields, it is the dead, whose names will be -forgotten, who alone are present in thought. - -Meanwhile the troops are progressing up the Marne. Our soldiers are in -fine fettle. For the moment at least there is respite from tension. As -I came back, away from the faint sound of guns, through the heart of a -thunderstorm, the clouds broke in glorious wet mists of golden sunshine -over Paris. - - - Lagny, Friday. - -Official reports to-day say that the Germans have fallen back nearly -forty miles from their furthest point of advance at Coulommiers. Also, -that the British force has crossed the Marne between La Ferté and -Chateau Thierry, and that the Prussian Guard has been rolled back upon -the marshes of Gond. - -In so far as it goes this is correct, but the news is at least two, -probably three, days old. The German right is retiring north and -east, upon Rheims, Oulchy-le-Chateau and Compiègne. The British -forces, upon whom has fallen the brunt of the fighting at this vital -angle, one formed by the French line south-east from Senlis and -Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, and continued by the British north-east to -Chateau Thierry, have succeeded in straightening the line, and thus -eliminating the angle that gave us anxiety at the beginning of the -battle. - -It was the beginnings of the German retirement that I identified, when -I approached from the north of Nanteuil three days ago. Its serious -character is confirmed by what I have seen these last days from the -south. - -Starting from the north of Meaux to-day I recrossed the great bend of -the Marne, by the help of a cattle barge that just held out for the -crossing. It was doubtful what army we might find beyond. - -It soon became evident that our official news was well behind the -actual advance. Cannon were audible from the east-north-east. Near -Torcy the battle was evidently going on. - -Here and there, especially along the line of the Ourcq, were the signs -of the progress of the week's battle of nations. The double lines of -opposing trenches, hasty and scamped on the north (the German's). -Torn-down stacks and stooks. Boughs and trees hacked down, across -paths, or on the open roads. Branches lying in open mid-field, -evidently carried forward as cover, and dropped for the final rush. -Trees and stacks still smoking and black with fire. - -A few peasants, with their carts standing by, were at the grim labour -of interring the dead; charring the horses with fire before dragging -them into the holes. Broken harness and accoutrements lay in little -heaps, for removal. The old peasant women, with their brown, immobile -faces tied round with coloured handkerchiefs, sat in the carts or -helped. It is a grim task for many reasons; but the kindly rain has -come to help. Bad for the men ahead of us, this rain, it will be -worse for the Germans, in a hostile country, with more limited means -of protection or remedy to be obtained from their base. And fever is -beginning. - -The peasants could naturally give little information as to the -regiments or happenings. Only the broad facts could be followed. Near -Ocquere, the ruts of advance and retirement of the German batteries, -a shattered gun marking the firing position. East of Cocherel a -mitrailleuse car, overturned, too broken up to be worth capture. But a -couple of cheerful R.A. mechanics were at work on it, hopefully. - -Round a much-perforated cottage, just to the north of St. Aulde, a -fierce fight must have taken place. The furniture had been dragged out -as cover, and on the summit of a trench, a hollow scraped in the hard -soil, stood a large china crock, evidently set there by some cheerful -trooper in derision of the German rifle-fire. - -The sound of firing grew heavier towards Torcy, to our north-east, -during the afternoon. Clearly a great battle was in progress. -Impossible to approach nearer. We were already between our line in -action and the French reserves who were holding the country behind, and -forwarding up lines of munition wagons and supplies. - -There were wounded in the cottages, the jetsam of the battle in front. -But the line of the British communications was to our east, towards the -Marne at Charly. We could get no news of the happenings in front. We -were constantly challenged, constantly headed to the rear in some new -direction. The men who passed us had the "battle look," the look on the -face of Michael Angelo's "Dawn." I had enough to do to look after the -personal factor in such an atmosphere. - -And now we know what was going on there, across those little -tributaries of the Clignon, at Torcy, a few blocked miles ahead. A -thousand prisoners! Fifteen guns or more! The Germans fairly matched -and beaten! - -This has been no mere "blind," this rolling up of the German right, -which we have watched with such anxiety. If their right was weakened, -as I assume, to reinforce the armies in Prussia, they have paid for it. -For they have lost, and lost heavily and badly; and at the corner, and -against the little army which it was their desperate concern to break -and overwhelm. - -All I could conclude, as we forced our way back, was that the day was -not against us. The movement of men was forward. The strange telepathic -current that runs through villages long before reports reach them, was -all of relief. It was cheerful soldiers in blue who shoved my car on -to the water-logged barge on the Marne; and, after a drift downward -during which we scarcely breathed, it was laughing peasants who pulled -us up on the far bank. - -It is something to have been at least across the Marne and near on -such a day, to have had the sound of those guns in one's ears, to have -watched for the first time in five weeks' campaigning the forward -movement of our armies. - - * * * * * - -The next morning, as soon as the barriers would let me pass, I was -out again in pursuit of the receding armies. Day by day these flights -became longer, and as the first glow of victory after the Marne battles -passed into the deadly quietude of the long death grapple on the -Aisne, day by day the difficulties of approaching the front increased. -The easy smiling soldiers became again suspicious, and the constant -challenges and "arrests" more numerous. - - - Saturday, with the pursuit. - -North through Neufchelles again, and all but on to the banks of the -Aisne. I had to leave the car, because of vanished bridges, and get -forward north and west on foot. I was blocked at last in the heart of -an advancing column, resting in a half burned village. - -The shells were bursting on the far side of the slopes. The French -forces were coming up, and were dispersing as they arrived over the -fields, distributing to the scattered positions. Far from our right -and ahead there came the fainter sound of the guns of the British -contingents, continuing the forward movement. They have advanced far -since I approached behind their successful battle at Torcy. (This -Torcy, on the Clignon, should not be confused with Torcy near Lagny, -south of the Marne.) Occasionally, from the remote north-west, I -thought I heard the echo of the same sound coming down the wind. If -this were so, could it be that much desired enveloping movement from -the west? - -A few prisoners passed in carts. All with the herded, hunted, pallid -look of frightened and exhausted men. Think of their start for this -great march a few weeks back, amid the shouting and flags, and to the -sound of the perpetual vaunting, foolish processional--"Deutschland, -Deutschland über alles!" And now, lucky to escape the squalid wayside -grave, the little raw brown mounds all over the fields. One or two, -in the grey tunic, with the colourless face and the bare head of the -prisoner, were hanging on to French officers' motors, acting as grooms -or mechanics. - -Some men of the ---- Regiment, carried in the car, told me they had not -slept for two nights and days, though they joked heartily enough! It -was not therefore a surprise to see a number more dead asleep under a -shanty. I walked past two, who lay a little apart. One stirred in his -sleep on the stones. The other was dead. But death is now too common a -shadow in this deadly mist of war, that drives and condenses in trench -and grave-mound over the sunlit fields, to call for notice. - -A little group of English artillery formed another break in the -monotony of fighting. They were preparing for the reception of fifteen -hundred German horses just captured. Concerned only with the care -and cure of their sick charges, they had no thought for the noise, -turmoil, and incident of war about them. Give the trained man his own -job, and he will see the world fall about him with only an absent -glance! - -Further to the east I was shown the site of a curious incident. Some -deep German trenches ran down a slope from the road to a wooded hollow. -Here some thirty rearguard Germans had been captured. "We should have -had 'em all, all the eighty, but the colonel was too kindhearted! He -got one of our guns round and up there through that wood, just to sweep -them trenches. And then he rode forward alone to ask 'em to surrender, -some of them still firing at him! And most of them crept out there by -the cross trench into the road again, and got away behind the rearguard -lot. You see how? And one of the beggars we got had a gold watch; and -the colonel wouldn't have us take it away from him!" - -The conviction grew stronger and stronger, as I followed the lines of -gradually accelerating retreat and obviously slackening defence, that -cavalry, cavalry, is what we want to give the tired enemy no rest, and -prevent them reforming upon the supports that are being hurried from -Berlin again on to this wing. Our own cavalry has done magnificently -this campaign, and saved the critical days of retreat from Mons. If -only they have been sufficiently rested and reinforced! - -The French cavalry does not seem to have been always fortunate. It has -too often timed its brilliant charges too late, and only swept over a -crest when the German guns had got the range and could mow them down. -Hence their support has not always been available at the right moment. -But their courage and dash have been characteristic. Under a rocky -knoll in a sloping cornfield which I passed on my return the line of -one of these costly charges was only too clearly marked. - -South, towards Lizy, a few peasants in carts were already dribbling -back to their looted villages. The Prussians were here for a week or -so and fought in the streets, using the furniture as obstacles. The -destruction is pitiable. The châteaux were in many cases pillaged. -Their gardens are strewn with bottles. The lawns are heaped with -bolsters and palliasses. In one château, near Lizy, the orchard wall -and trees were pierced and wrecked with shells in some prolonged -assault, while over the opposite wall, commanding the deep little green -lane alongside, a splendid mass of scarlet and orange lilies still -glows triumphantly from the deserted garden. - -In one such devastated village, between Meaux and May, a strange -incident checked us. A dignified old peasant, wandering in the -wreckage, was pouring out to me a passionate recital of wrongs. A -son shot, a farm wasted, ruin before him. There passed a uniformed -Government employee, with a dangerous, nervous face, who called out: -"Be silent! The French have done us more harm than the Germans!" At -such a time, in such a place, it was an insane outcry. Never have I -heard such a torrent of execration as when the old peasant turned and -sprang at him. Nothing but the vicious look and gestures of the younger -man kept murder from being done. The incident was illustrative of the -unbalanced mental condition to which war reduces the non-combatant. -The younger man was himself ruined, and like a desperate, snarling -fox he turned to hurt the nearest sentient thing, his more injured -neighbour. - -In torrents of evening rain I left the battle still continuing beyond -the hill, and the two German armies being edged north-west through the -forests of Villers and Compiègne, already in part behind the line of -Soissons. So, back through the country north of the Canal of Ourcq. A -few days ago it was in German occupation; now comfortably patrolled by -Cuirassiers, in their rain cloaks; with watch-dog camps of infantrymen, -cooking under straw shelters, cheerful and singing for all the torrents -of rain and chilly wind. I am writing on an earth mound, on the wrong -side of the Ourcq Canal. Some fifty sappers are hurriedly trying to -repair the temporary bridge which we crossed this morning. It was frail -then. Since then a huge lorry has gone through it. Eighty more of the -great Paris omnibuses, now loaded with provisions, are waiting on -the far side. It will never carry their weight, and we must get over -first. We have done our share of work on the bridge, to earn an early -passage. In the next field some soldiers are digging out the airman -from under a fallen biplane. - -The country has turned from a sunlight green to a dull grey with the -passing of the summer; and there is an autumn mist of twilight heavy -over the forests where the Great Machine is threatening to dissolve -into its human elements, and confess its human limitations. - -The feet in the proud Prussian parade to Paris are slipping, slipping, -on the road. - - - Sunday. - -Von Kluck's and Von Buelow's armies are still in full retreat; -separated from the army of the Prince of Wurtemberg, with which they -made a fragile connection by means of the Guard. The Guard themselves -are perilously thrown back into the marshes of St. Gond. - -This is the real thing. The men are fighting more feebly; the machine -has become human; the cavalry horses--no longer the fine spirited Irish -stock I had myself to dodge in Belgium a few weeks back--are worn -out. It is pitiable to see the tired beasts loose and useless in the -fields, or dead skeletons by the roads. - -But the retreat has been fiercely contested. I followed to-day the -line of the battles north from Meaux, passing by those of which I have -previously written; guided by the forward movement of troops and the -traces of the retreating armies. - -The retreat here roughly follows the line of the Ourcq. The battle -has been fought with the French in desperate rearguard actions, at -Vareddes, May, Beauval, Neufchelles. But nowhere can it be said an -engagement began or ended. All along the road and through the adjoining -fields it is the same terrible story--the trees scarred with shell, and -the road littered with broken boughs: the fields scraped with hurried -trenches: the stacks torn down for cover and holes scooped in their -backs: the stark dead horses of artillery and cavalry lie in scores -over the field and by the roads; and here and there still figures, or -a cluster of figures in the German grey, still reproach the desolating -injustice of war. The cyclists took a leading part in the pursuit, -and scores of broken, charred frames marked where the German artillery -found the range and caught their advance. - -At every rise in the road, especially beyond May, more serious defences -had been prepared. Fortifications of earth and squared stones between -trees and bank; and here and there a deep burrow into the bank, -bespeaking the human weakness that sought extra cover. And behind these -earthworks, in the holes they left, lie the still figures. Fresh, -shallow mounds, where the peasants have buried the fallen where they -fell, run along the rim of the hard road itself. - -The retreat, as it moved north, became almost a flight. Munition -carts lie overturned, a machine-gun or two wrecked. Beside where the -batteries swept the road, great piles of undischarged shells are still -heaped, abandoned in the rush. - -More tragic evidences were the scattered heaps of sleeping blankets, -flung aside as the men were wakened by the rapid surprise pursuit. -Broadcast, bottles and barrels; the Prussians, for want of food, seem -to have looted the villages for drink. It was the same in Belgium. -A pitiable piano, with the works shot away, stood in a field, with -a dead man and dog beside it. The instantaneous stillness of a past -battlefield is its deepest impression. Every grim vestige is suggestive -of violent movement and sound, but it is all snatched into silence. - -As I advanced, the long lines of wagons were still pouring up with -troops and munition; happier now, and confident. The cannon sounded -ahead from just over the fields, where the Germans have been forced -back on the Aisne. I discharged a load of troopers and guns, and -waited, listening to the thunder across the hill. It is more restful -work. We have them! A few prisoners drove past us, blanched with -nervousness and hunger. The wounded were being carted past to the Red -Cross cottages. And still the flood of French supports is coming up. - -From Crecy to Villers, from Villers almost to the Aisne, I have -followed them now some thirty miles and more of savage fighting, of -hurried retreat. - - - Monday. - -Northward, northward! and now to the east; escaping one fatal trap by -a most skilful movement of tired men, but beginning in humbler fashion -to retread the wasted fields of the proud parade from the frontier. So -swift, it is difficult to keep in touch with their retreat. Oho! this -is a different business to fleeing before their lightning march across -Belgium. - -And they are different men to meet, the stragglers and prisoners of the -harried army, to the perfect equipage of war I watched coming over the -hills, triumphant, into helpless Brussels. Weary, anxious men, scarcely -human, with mask-like faces. - -But you would steel your heart if you could follow the tracks of their -arrogant progress and vengeful retreat. If you saw the deserted, -ravaged villages, heaped with the remnants of the poor man's bare -necessities. If you passed through the tainted atmosphere of the -countless battlefields, that makes a sick offence of a country of -prosperous peace. - -I came from the west into Senlis to-day, a day after its evacuation by -the Germans. A detour took me through the Forest of Ermenonville; the -beautiful pine and heather glades and wide lakes haunted by memories of -the humanist philosopher, Rousseau. It is haunted now by other ghosts. -Impossible to suggest the eerie sensation of passing in utter silence -through the village and forest spaces. Not a soul to be seen. Not a -sound. But jettisoned along the road the dissolute debris of a vanished -army. The woods cut for hurried defences. The houses wantonly broken -and looted; and myriads of bottles, from the pillaged wine that served -for food. - -The desolation and silence prepared me for a shock. And it came. -Senlis, Senlis of history, with its exquisite tower of open stone-work -and frame of romantic beauty, is a wasted ruin. - -As I moved up the deserted streets, for a moment I was deceived. -But every house, as I looked into it, was a shell; burnt out, -skeleton-like, staring at the sky. Fire, and pillage, and ruin. And why? - -The French soldiers held the last houses with effective fire. Then, for -ten days the Germans held the town; and destroyed it, for amusement! -The Mayor and other elderly burgesses were set in front of the hotel, -in single file, and shot with a single discharge, for practice. They -were not allowed to speak to their wives and children, who stood by. - -Proud of the fact, the General and his aide-de-camp have signed their -names large in the hotel book--may they be kept, for execration! - -The hostess of the hotel was forced to open every room, with a pistol -held at her throat. The two old maid-servants who had stayed to look -after the "great house"--now a smoking shell--were abused and injured. -One wanders half an idiot in the village, still weeping. - -Eighteen hundred bottles of champagne--they would have no other -wine--were looted from the cellars. Double them, and you will not be -able to account for the ankle-deep litter of glass in the streets. -Hardly a house of importance is left with roof or floor. And how do you -think it was done? Straw was piled. The tapers were stolen from the -shrines and cathedral, and the soldiers amused themselves by throwing -the lighted candles in at the windows of the houses. No wonder the -small, crêpe-covered population is all in the streets. Here and there I -saw a woman scraping in the burnt ashes, to clear a kitchen hearth, or -look for some remnants. The station is a bleak ruin. Only the Cathedral -tower, exquisite and light, protests against the sunlit sky. - -But they were finely caught. The Zouaves, Chasseurs d'Afrique, who are -pouring up through this country, arrived in trains of taxi-cabs between -four and five a.m. The officer--no matter how he was occupied--fled -out in his shirt; could not find his regiment; and was shot. The rest -decamped--those who escaped. The prisoners I saw being sent back. - -Not a crust is left in the neighbouring villages. At Mont l'Evigne the -few surviving men snarled at the mention of bread. - -You will hear with the less revolt of the horror I passed earlier -in the day--some two hundred and forty Prussians, dead in one farm -together, black and unburied, for want of peasants to bury them. They -were killed by shell-fumes possibly, but had been bayoneted for double -security. - -It would be easy to amplify the details--the utter destruction of -the houses, the stories of the insolence of the invading horde. The -inhabitants, poor folk! are taking it with the quiet, deep indignation -of a civilised people. Wagons of the wounded, of the American -ambulance, passed in long train through the town, back from the front. - -It was a relief to escape again into the broad green drives of the -forest of Compiègne; to see only the abandoned German lorries, the -scattered brown graves in the fields, where the horde were hunted back. -In the forest we passed through miles of fierce brown Turcos, marching -and resting. Their gorgeous colours and turbans, and fierce faces, a -strange contrast to the deep shadowy avenues of the green forest. It -was a greater satisfaction to follow the pursuit; to be the first from -the outside world to greet the oppressed villagers and townsfolk; to -hear in Compiègne the welcome "des Anglais!"; to listen to the women -disputing whether "the Crown Prince" had really been there, and if it -was he who escaped in half a uniform, and shot the French Dragoon -officer (who is lying in the hospital), when his pursuing cavalry -arrived almost in time to save the bridge. - -We followed them back, by the Oise, to the Aisne. The ambulances of -our wounded kept on passing us. The fresh troops poured up in pursuit. -But "one can breathe again now" was the word of the day, in village -and town. We were barely an hour or two behind that hurried retreat. -And there was no fighting. They had not stopped, or combined, to fight -again--yet. - - - Paris, Tuesday. - -As an instance of the working of the Machine the retreat of the German -western army, with tired troops, has been almost as remarkable a feat -as the great advance. - -The hammer-blow at Paris was attempted, and checked as it fell. The -second concentration of strength was launched on the west centre of -the Allies' line. It only just failed, after a five days' struggle of -almost superhuman magnitude. And now with lightning-like celerity the -failure has been recognised, the strings of the armies drawn tight, -and the retreat accomplished with remarkable precision and pace. - -At first the pursuit had to be conducted with forces almost as -exhausted--men who had carried through the tremendous task of fighting -a retreating battle for ten days, of converting it into victory and -advance, and of then flinging themselves into the very different -attitude of mind, and of manœuvre, demanded by rapid pursuit of a still -unrouted enemy. - -I have been out again to-day in the attempt to catch up with the march -of return. The broken bridges, the abandoned wagons and munition, the -stragglers, all speak of the precipitance of the northern-eastern -wheel. The captured guns and mitrailleuses were being run back into -Paris. The peasants and spectators' carts were loaded up with German -trophies--undischarged shells, in their wicker cases. The ambulance -wagons still passed, fetching in the wounded of both sides from the -cottages, and even a few of to-day's fighting. But the provision for -ambulance has proved altogether insufficient for the casualties. - -The Germans have retreated upon a line of concentration where the -armies of Von Kluck, Von Buelow and Wurtemberg can unite and present -a new front, formidable enough to secure them the necessary rest for -re-formation. - -They never contemplated a halt south of the Aisne. It is beyond the -river, on the Soisson-Rheims and Soissons-Compiègne curves, that their -precautionary trenches were prepared. - -Nothing gives a more definite idea of their own recognition of -temporary defeat than the sight of their nearer trenches--abandoned -without ever being used. The small wrinkle of earth and sods, with -the spoon-shaped scoop for a single man behind, that they have taken -to making for the retreat. Not so often as before the more elaborate -continuous trench for a mass of men. They have learned a little of -"open" fighting. - -But they have hastened past them unused. - -The Turcos and Zouaves are pouring up this line in great heart and -hope. But the march is fatiguing, the roads heavier after rain. - -In the villages and towns, Haramont, Coeuvres, and others, the folk -cluster round, stoic as ever, but easily smiling, hardly yet realising -their release after the fortnight or more of terrifying oppression. In -many cases they have been well used. The requisitions and regulations -have been only those inevitable, from an invading army in hostile -territory. - -One curious but unimportant little coincidence in a day in which there -is no great action to report: A week ago, I mentioned a curious scene -in Beauvais, when through the silent, desolate town suddenly echoed -the continuous blare of a horn, and a motor with two Prussian officers -flashed through. Ten minutes later another car passed us on the -outskirts of the town. This contained two other Germans, but this time -prisoners under guard being carried back to Rouen. The cars did not -meet! The first car had an odd coloured wheel. Near Longport to-day I -saw it again, wrecked by the roadside, the odd wheel high in the air. - -As I looked out from the trees on the edge of the high plateau, the -flat green valley of the Aisne looked untenanted, peaceful. For the -present our cavalry have been naturally not in much better condition -than the Germans. We have been unable to surround or outmarch to an -extent that could convert repulse into serious defeat. They are far -enough away, at any rate, to reassure Paris. "Plus à Paris--plus à -Paris!" It is almost a tragic picture now--that of William II. watching -on the hill by Nancy, in his white cloak and silver helmet; the man -who has been swayed by every psychic wave, romantic, religious, -military, until he has brought an Empire tottering to the brink of -ruin. Lohengrin above Babylon: the self-chosen emissary of an imagined -providence looking out on the mirage of his promised land. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -On the Oise and the Somme - - -The armies were now fast locked along the Aisne. The varying fortunes -of the first week made them impossible of approach. It was of interest -to discover what was taking place on the German right and rear, where -the position was still obscure, and the line of battle still indefinite -and, therefore, easier of access. - - - Amiens, Thursday. - -They are in touch again, and the German right is being enveloped. - -It called for a long stroke from Paris to pass the wheeling left wing, -for it was needful to avoid disturbing the intervening armies. - -The journey through the Paris defences, those heedfully guarded lines -that few civilians have hitherto penetrated on the north, was full of -interest. By Neuilly and Pontoise we passed the careful fortifications, -_chevaux de frise_ of old railway lines crossed and pointed, sandbag -forts, and the rest, all innocently couched under hedges of trees. - -Every quarter-mile a challenge by different varieties of uniform. The -peasants busy working at the trenches. For though Paris is regaining -its own appearance, and the Parisian is even daring to begin to poke -fun at his absent Government, there is no relaxation of watchfulness. -"Until France is clear, and beyond, Paris is on guard!" Gallieni -guarantees it. - -I am getting accustomed to meeting odd company on the road. Three days -ago it was General Gallieni and his staff, escorting two civilian -Ministers round the battlefield, reacquainting themselves with the new -developments. Two days ago it was the Bishop of Meaux, in his lawn -sleeves and violet biretta and robes, in a motor-car. To-day it came as -an assortment of ---- officers, and a captured German pontoon train in -wagons. At a railway crossing I was held up by a train full of German -prisoners. - -I turned east, skirting Creil and Pont, visiting the green glade and -small brown graves that were said to mark the heroic charge of the -Lancers, that first check to the oncoming tide upon Paris. Then back -west to Meru, and north to Beauvais. Now and again the scarred walls -of the end-houses of villages told where the Allies had fought on the -great retreat. - -At La Deluge--suitable name--an outlying farm was half burnt and in -ruins. Here a small body of Germans had been wiped out by a French -detachment in a six hours' siege. But an impassive farmer was leading -his horses out of the ruins to resume work in the long-deserted fields. - -Beauvais--and what a change! No longer the deserted city of a few -widows running for shelter to the cathedral. Full of life, full of -troops. We lunched cheerfully, at a freshly-opened hotel, on sheep's -feet and pigs' trotters, with a jolly corps of French aviators. - -The country is filled by our new army from the west. Mitrailleuse cars -met me every mile. Amiens is occupied by it. A few English and Scottish -soldiers, punctilious to a point, delight the seminary students by -saluting them as parsons in the streets. - -The Germans left Amiens between Friday and Saturday, having -requisitioned 100,000 cigars and drunk "only mineral waters," of which -they have left their reckonings scrawled large on the tables. - -It was one of the centres at which French reservists had to present -themselves. Seeing the large number of men in the streets, the -Germans issued an order that 1,500 men were to present themselves -at six o'clock on the morning of evacuation, together with all the -remaining motor-cars. In the dark morning they were marched off to dig -entrenchments further east; and so far none has returned. - -The Germans cleared the public hospitals, not the private ones, of all -the German and French wounded. The French they treated well, but the -"Turcos" they forced out of bed at the point of the sword. - -Amiens has suffered little, except in pocket. - -A yellow-haired hostess had us arrested here, as "Germans." One -chuckled to see her returning to make vapid conversation after the -betrayal--the Delilah! And one returned to her afterwards for another -glass of coffee; for a courteous arrest is the assurance that we are -again in the heart of a competent army. - -All along the road I was warned that odd bodies of Germans were still -about in the woods. As I swung east, for Peronne, I had the proof. -South-west of Bray a shot or two on a wooded hill made us stop. It was -too far away to be intended for us. A band of peasants, with a few -dragoons, were methodically beating a wood for some stray Germans, -firing and shouting, like beaters, as they moved through. - -Presently four German infantrymen emerged at our end, with their hands -raised, without arms. Footsore, frightened. We were made use of to run -them back to Doullens, where they were transferred to an armoured car. -It was a depressing drive. The beaten man is an insult to humanity, of -whatever race he may be. - -Some distance from Peronne the sound of firing sounded closer. I left -the moving base, and part ran, part walked, about five miles forward -and south-eastward. At last coming over a field, I lighted upon a small -moving column of Turcos. - -The officer, a large brown-eyed southerner, saw me first. He had no one -to detach to go back with me, and was not unfriendly. It is a toss up -whether troops of this type will embrace or shoot. Perhaps as a warning -against temerity I was hurried forward to what appeared to be an odd -end of a firing line. From the direction of the sound of the guns it -appeared to be well on the right of a German position. Our extended -line seemed to be overlapping them on the north. - -With a number of my guard I crawled up and into a scanty trench, -occupied by a line of some thirty Turcos. The next men gave our -reinforcement a glance, but no more. On the actual line they have more -important things to think about. The continual zip of bullets sang -overhead. There was the wicked "bubble" of a machine gun not far to -the right. The man beside me talked continuously to himself. Two of -the men further south presently slid forward against the breast-work, -and leaned there motionless. In response, I suppose, to an order, my -neighbours, who had been firing rhythmically, disappeared over the -bank of the slight trench forward. I waited where I was, fortunately -unheeded as I sat under the bank. The firing receded. I saw the backs -of my friends disappearing into a wood in front. After a while, the Red -Cross stretchers came along and picked up the two men near. - -It was already late in the day. They came up, some dozen -stretcher-bearers, under the direction of a young French surgeon, who -was serving as a trooper, in uniform. I was engaged at the moment in -some amateur bandaging, with the aid of a pocket Alpine surgical-case -that has seen service in the Swiss mountains and in Belgium. They -accepted me as an extra helper with little difficulty. Detained still, -but allowed to help. Men at the front are concerned only with realities -and their immediate work. An extra hand is an extra hand. - -Along our trenches in the field there was little to do. The dead were -left for later burial by the peasants. The seriously wounded were -carried back, about a third of a mile, to where two Red Cross motors -waited on a cross road. Another contingent was working from some fields -on our left. A full ambulance ran past us as we came out on one trip to -the road. It was all done very quietly and efficiently. The only raised -voices were those of two men with whom the fever of bad wounds was -taking the form of the furious raving of anger. - -In most cases the Turcos were stoical and silent. One or two of the -more lightly wounded had only to be helped back, after the first aid -had been given on the field. One of them, as he limped along with his -arm round my shoulder, hissed a whispered account of the exact form -of death he designed for the next German he fought. It was chiefly -gesture; and the dark brown face, close to my own, with the startling -white gleam of the eye, gave it an almost theatrical ferocity. - -In the dark it was decided to make a further search. My car, which -a soldier was dispatched to recover, was accepted to help in the -task. It was a dark night, rather cold, but clear and starry. It was -cheering to recognise the great planet which in Belgium we used to -call the "Brussels star," because night after night Brussels used to -stand in the streets watching it, never failing to recognise it as an -approaching "Zeppelin." If you watch a star or lamp at night for long, -it always seems to be in motion, backwards or forwards, up or down. - -We crossed to where the Germans had retreated. The men carried -acetylene lamps; two had electric flash-lamps, and another carried one -of my car lights. It was a strange search, stumbling along the little -pits of moist, cold earth in the dark. The lamps were masked, and -flashed only occasionally, and downwards; and all talk was under the -breath. It was uncertain that the Germans might not be somewhere near. - -We stumbled upon five or six bodies, but the enemy had clearly had time -to remove their wounded with them. Two, however, left for dead, had -been revived by the cold of the night, and were groaning. We found -them by the sound. They were back some way from the trench, in the wet -grass. One had been hit behind the shoulder, presumably while he was -retreating. - -The dark chill of the night, with the little quick flashes of searching -lights, and the mutter of occasional orders in the silence, lent -additional impressiveness to the steady, business-like courage of the -ambulance men. It is a work that requires very practised nerves under -modern fighting conditions. None of the excitement of fighting for -them, or the stimulus of "hitting back"; yet they get hit themselves -often enough. These long days of furious bombardment, raking long lines -of hidden positions, trench and village, must inevitably, and without -intention, find shells dropping upon man, house or wagon, whose Red -Cross is unseen or indistinguishable. - -The greater credit to the men whose dangerous work and even occasional -death can earn them no glory of individual exploit. Like the fishermen -mine-trawlers in the North Sea, they are the nameless heroes of -humanity on the edges of the shadow of inhuman war. - -The firing began again before dawn, far to the south. When I left them, -to convey two of the wounded Germans and an ambulance assistant back to -the village, the surgeon and his party were getting hurriedly into two -of the wagons, to follow up again behind the fighting line. - - - Boulogne, Friday. - -Last night I crossed to England, returning early to-day in one of the -worst storms conceivable on a Channel crossing. Boulogne and the north -are beginning to simmer with a new movement. - -The southern position is still stationary. The forcing of the Germans -out of their strong defensive trenches is a question of time and of -endurance. The French and British have the advantage of superior -facilities for moving men or getting up reinforcements by rail. - -It is still difficult to say whether the German right, as it lies, -is fighting a stubborn rearguard action on the retreat, or if it is -intended to hold its present lines. If the latter, it is in danger -from the Allies' overlapping left, and from their movement on the -north-west. - -Our own troops would seem to be carrying again the burden of some of -the fiercest fighting, about Soissons. - -The region north of the German lines, which I traversed to and fro -to-day, is a region of vague skirmishing, somewhat similar to that -existing in northern Flanders. The Germans and French are alternately -occupying the towns and villages near the frontier with small patrols -or armoured cars. The Germans, on the whole, are contracting their web. - -Lille is free for the moment, and either army uses it. The Cambrai -neighbourhood is of course still German, on the line of their -communications. The French are spreading up to the border again, in a -gentle wave. The country is absolutely peaceful. The people go about -their work in the fields with little regard for the wandering parties -of war that go past on the roads. - -It is a different sight from the deserted fields, the panic-stricken -peasantry, the hurrying troops, that filled this border when I came up -last. That was in the week of concentration, after mobilisation, when I -reached Valenciennes from Paris with a party of Belgian officers. They -went to Maubeuge, I back to Calais. There have been flooding armies -back and through that opening into Belgium since that week. - -A few British stragglers still come in. A party of seventy with two -officers, all in uniform, got through two days ago. Another courageous -contingent of artillery came through with horses and men in fine -condition. But the majority have been dressed by the peasants in the -oddest of peasant remnants. They look hearty and bronzed, and the -better for the holiday in the fields. In many of the woods further -south German stragglers now take their place. The relations between -these small unarmed bodies when they meet, both in strange territory, -neither sure which should take the other prisoner, are pregnant with -curious situations. Three Irishmen, whom the peasants hailed me to -bring down from a copse where they lay hid during the day, told a -tremendous story of stalking a German officer and knocking him off his -bicycle. With a nice appreciation of their common position as outlaws, -they then let him go. - -For the moment we can but wait the issue of the long struggle on the -Aisne. Of the greatest value would be the success of the French in -penetrating the line on the east, against the German centre or left. - -Another success on our left, valuable as it would be, would only force -back von Kluck and von Buelow, accelerating their retreat, upon a new -position on the frontier, without necessarily seriously defeating the -combined armies. A success on our right would imperil their whole line, -and cut off their retreating right wing in the Argonne. Under modern -conditions, however, it is almost impossible for strategy to achieve -the surprises which produce big defeats. The most we can look for, to -end these long triturating battles, is the possibility of using more -easy communications so as to be able to outnumber the enemy somewhere -on the line, and so force a retreat by sheer weight. - -This evening I ran all down the coast almost to Dieppe, and made the -interesting discovery that all the coast towns, which only a few days -before had been declared "open," and ordered to surrender all arms to -their civic authorities, are again in military occupation. To follow -the new development, I made, in the late evening, for Amiens, in -violent wind and cold rain. - - - Amiens, Saturday. - -For the present the news remains the same--the continuation of a battle -for positions, savagely contested; the Germans fighting for time, time -for the full use of their reinforcements and for the escape of their -left wing in the Argonne region. The Allies are fighting to break the -line on the east and to hold it, or turn it, on the west. Time, too, -with its possible happenings in this quarter, is also in their favour. - -We only hear of what is happening along the south front of the German -army. About its south-west aspect there is a great silence. - -The Amiens and northern German troops have fallen back upon a strong -series of positions, which make an acute angle with those of their -south front along the Aisne. Following the line of the Oise north, from -the junction with the Aisne, they hold the line of highlands on either -bank north to Noyon, thence west of the river to St. Quentin; they -cover the railway lines by Chauny, La Fere, etc., with Laon, as centre. -Thence north to Cambrai. - -It will be seen that their communications are exposed to attack from -the west. The distances are too great for continuous protection in -force. I have been able to-day myself to reach the railway line in two -places, between Bapaume and Peronne, without interruption. - -The country is more or less covered by cavalry and motor detachments, -whose action is necessarily local. These are in turn hunted, marked -down, or reported by the French and English motor-cars fitted with -machine-guns. The game is exciting, and is succeeding in its object -of condensing the German dispersed bodies. But there are signs of a -more serious pressure from the Germans beginning, that may eventually -remove the centre of interest from the battle going on farther south. - -The long-continued battle on the Aisne is in the nature of artillery -duels, fencing for positions, followed by infantry attacks and -counter-attacks on either side. So far we have had the advantage on -the west, but at great cost. The counter-attacks by the Germans on our -troops in the course of the nights have been repulsed with loss. - -In the long business of wearing down we have the advantage, both in -convenience of supply-service and in freshness and number of troops. -But for a decisive issue, in view of the strength of the German -position, we may have to hope for the entry of some new factor upon the -scene. - -The strong winds have dried up the roads to a large extent, and the -movement of men and guns is again becoming easier. - -In the region in which I have been able to approach the fighting, our -counter-moves were proceeding vigorously and with plenty of confidence. - -Amiens is in the overstrung, spy-mania condition of a town but just -free of a hostile army, and again occupied by a friendly but mysterious -military. As I ran in to-night in the dark, narrowly escaping driving -into the river at the shattered bridge of Picquigny, I met the -atmosphere like a thick fog. Sentinel challenges at every corner, -suspicious civilian crowds thronging round if ever we checked. Two -correspondents have been arrested as spies, and cannot be traced. To -get myself and the car out without detention, I start to-morrow at the -first light. - - - Creil, Sunday. - -This has been a day of rather exceptional interest and incident. -A number of hours have been spent in following up a line, and a -direction, of which it has now become indiscreet to write in detail, -but of whose possible importance to the issue of the battle of the -Aisne and Oise those who have followed my account will be already aware. - -That Von Kluck, if it is still Von Kluck on the German right, is alive -to its importance, there is evidence in the strong reinforcements -constantly thrust out towards the line Paris-Amiens, to anticipate the -French movements, and in the vigour of the offensive which is pushing -out to the west of Noyon. The conflicts between the patrols and our -flying mitrailleuse-cars have made a distraction in the north to the -unvarying character of reports from the long and terrible ding-dong -battle on the Aisne and Oise. - -Even the French papers are saying it to-day. "Keep your eyes also on -the west. Don't be discouraged by the absence of material progress in -that long-drawn conflict between the entrenched armies!" - -That is all one may say after a number of hours spent in tense progress -in sight and hearing of friendly and hostile forces. (_Note._--I -was following the development of the French encircling movement, by -Clermont and Lassigny, round the German right wing.) - -You are tired probably of reading about races with Uhlans. But they -retain their freshness of excitement for the participants. I must add -yet one more, and that happened only this morning. We were passing -from Moreuil to Montdidier. Outside Braches the wreck of a motor -car, the two hind wheels smashed by some sort of projectile, led to -questions. It had been destroyed, seemingly for practice shooting, by a -body of Uhlans who crossed the line last night. The three occupants had -fled to the village. - -The patrol was said to have gone on westward. Uhlans are very local in -this wide, rolling country. Fifteen hours had intervened. They might be -miles away. We ran on, with only a wary eye for the edges of the woods. -The road, swinging up and down over the rolling, wooded slopes, ran up -and over a crest, contouring round a grassy down-summit on a terrace -which faced towards the west. The railway line and river lay below to -our right. A long, straight road, bordered by tufty-topped trees, ran -up along a sky-line to join our terrace-road from the west. - -We were swinging slightly down-hill to the road-junction about a -quarter of a mile ahead, when, quite a third to half a mile down -the cross-road on the right, horsemen became visible, appearing and -disappearing between the trees. They might be a friendly patrol; but -we put on full speed. It was soon settled. Some half-dozen broke into -a gallop, or rather a canter, up-hill to intercept us. We had the -advantage of slope, pace and distance to the crossing. The tilt of the -hill and the road-bank also shielded us. I was only concerned about the -moment of crossing at the junction, where we should be straight in view. - -Some of the Lancers, some twenty in all, had halted and seemed -preparing to fire. Luck favoured us. The half-dozen scattered men -galloping up the road got in the way of the rest, and covered our -crossing. We raced past, a good three or four hundred yards ahead at -the junction. The road-bank and clumps of bushes again sheltered us, -and a distant shot or two came nowhere near. It was rather joyous to -turn and watch in glimpses over the bank the clearly irritated grey -troopers pulling up their puffed horses. - -We were still at full speed, in a sort of after-math of excitement, -some three or four kilometres further on and across the next rise, -when a placid green copse beside the road ahead suddenly grew alive, -and a little swarm of men with bayonets moved quietly out to block the -road. But the red and blue of the French army is visible afar. They -greeted us from fifty yards off. "What have you seen?" We gave them -the news. It appeared they were out on the trail of just twenty-five -such marauders. Two came on with us to Montdidier to report. The rest -marched off on a line that might cut ahead of our band. This is the -railway line to the north, and for the last few days it has constantly -been the scene of such little conflicts, on the one part the attempt to -occupy the line, on the other to protect it. - -In return for the news I was allowed to move up, under escort, and -partly "requisitioned" for troops, nearer to the great battle than I -hoped. First to Clermont, then by cross roads to Estrées; thence to -near Giraumont, south-west of Ribecourt, which lies at an angle of the -Oise north-west of the Forest of Laigue. From here, following a small -cyclist contingent pushing their cycles, I got on foot through the -woods on a track, until I could look down on the Oise. I did not see a -battle. But, since it has been generally assumed that the Germans are -east of the Oise, at least to as far north as Noyon, it was surprising -to hear a very heavy cannonade proceeding from due north, showing -clearly that the Germans were engaged well west of Noyon, towards -Lassigny. - -Where I was, however, the sight was all the more picturesque for the -absence of the suggestion of destruction. The day had been squally, -alternating silver streaks of sunlight and violent, windy rain. A -silver shield of sunlight lay along the Oise to the north. The French -were pushing up the western slopes of the river. At two points the -troops, bright chequers of colour, were crossing on pontoon bridges. -On the far bank they were trickling up in narrow streaks of colour -again, into the green forest that swayed black with the wind. They were -extending and supporting the French advance on this wing, which is -pushing very gradually north, from as far west as Clermont, through the -forest and fields towards the Noyon line. - -The only signal of a battle progressing was the constant reverberation -of guns that seemed to come alike from all quarters of the sky. I could -identify only the peculiar uniform of the Senegalese and the light blue -of the cavalry, as they moved past through breaks in the trees. Then -the rain came down again, fiercely, and the scene lost colour in a grey -drift of cloud and wind. Once so far up, and clear of the obstruction -of bases, it was well to see all one could. Returning down the line of -the Oise, and keeping in the woods, I got to the extreme west corner -of the Forest of Laigue, where the Aisne joins the Oise. Most of the -bridges have been blown up, and it is well not to approach those that -exist, as things are. - -Choosing a sharp corner, and retaining only what was essential for -warmth, part wading, part swimming, I got across the Oise--it was -decidedly cold--and followed at first the north bank of the Aisne. - -The trees gave necessary shelter. It was a long and exciting walk, -or rather stalk, east and then north through the forest, behind the -French lines. All the traversable ways had to be avoided. The word -"forest" gives a false idea of the open glades and blank stretches of -country that give little cover. The firing seemed very near in front; -but it also seemed to be on either hand, confusingly. - -A final long and enforced wait at last made it apparent that the sound -was, if anything, coming nearer in this quarter. The Germans might be -pushing a counter-attack southward. In any case, further progress would -have been hazardous. - -The retreat was like the advance. Glimpses of moving men through the -trees; long waits; distant knots of ambulance men waiting, or moving -southward. Always the confusing echo of firing, sometimes silent for -intervals, sometimes clear and close as the south-west wind lulled. -So back and over the Oise, with a big leafy branch to cover my drift -across the river. - -It was, frankly, a relief to rejoin my moving base, doing ambulance -duty at Estrées, and to be on the clear road again. As I left the -river, several barges of wounded were moving slowly southward. The -little columns of Red Cross motors held the roads. This has been a -terribly costly battle. We have held our own magnificently, but it -has been against superior numbers, backed by accurate shell-fire from -strongly-entrenched positions. - -Unless the line can be pierced on the east, the great hope, thus -limiting the Germans to the few lines of communications to the northern -"troué," and unless their western lines can be seriously threatened -from the north-west or in Belgium, we may look for a long, wearing -winter campaign, a "stalemate" in the present positions. But a good -deal has still to happen before we need make up our minds for that. - - - Creil, Monday. - -I have been now once again making south, to resume contact with the -battle along the Aisne. You have heard the account of the melancholy -condition of the country north of and around Meaux, and of the ruins of -Senlis. - -Creil is in little better state. This was one point at which the -tremendous German march upon Paris was first checked, to swing, with -lost momentum, south and east, and then recoil. - -The roads to the north and east bear the usual signs of past warfare. -Wayside entrenchments, significantly enough often facing north-west, -as if the Germans, when they checked, had half prepared to meet attack -from that quarter. Hastily obliterated milestones and sign-posts. -Villages with a house here and there destroyed. At Cauffry, for -instance, the big Mairie is burnt out, nothing else touched. - -Entering Creil from the north, at first only every house in four or -five seems to have been injured. Further down towards the river, -every second house; and then whole rows of empty shells, shattered by -bombardment, burnt out with fire. Others still standing, with every -window broken and the doors smashed in; pillaged and scooped out, as -if by the enormous paw of some predatory beast. In the cold autumn -wind and driving rain the inhabitants are sheltering in the empty -frameworks, doorless, windowless, often roofless. The town is full of -the usual tales of suffering. The boy scout, who piloted me, grew -passionate over the long tale of a lady called _la belle Andaluse_. -It embodied all the atrocities; with the single exception of the now -dubitable anecdote of the "little boy who was shot because he pointed -his toy gun at a soldier." For any one who has read the story of -Napoleon's campaign in this district, in 1814, and of the Cossack -atrocities perpetrated among these villagers, it has a grim meaning -to hear, in 1914, their descendants in the same villages recounting, -unknowingly, much the same catalogue of outrages. Civilisation will -seem to bray at him, like a donkey running round in a well-wheel. - -In the grey chilly evening the river dividing the town is a melancholy -sight. The two twisted ends of the great girder bridge, blown up by -the French on their retreat, droop into the broad river. Below this, -still survives the remains of the German pontoon bridge, by which they -crossed. A big ferry further down makes the only connection with the -region north-west of the Oise for a number of miles. - -None of the heroics of war in these depressing after-views and moody, -hopeless faces. A column of French sailors swung through just now; fine -fellows, bronzed, and singing in time to their springing step. It was -more reckless, more tuneful than the toneless, barbaric little chant of -the Cuirassiers as they rode past me at Sombreffe in August. But that -did not jar with the sunlight and woods and the noise of armies going -into battle. Here the song seemed garish and discordant, in the grey, -miserable awakening of a town to its own ruin. - -And, if this of Creil, what shall we have left to say of Rheims, or -to think of its cathedral and churches, reported to-night to have -succumbed at last to the week's bombardment? To German Culture--let -Louvain be the memorial; to the Imperial Piety--the ruins of Rheims. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -On the Aisne - - -Paris was pleasantly tranquil. Folk were returning. The Boulevards -had almost their traditional crowds. At the same time the long lock -upon the Aisne, and the absence of news, had recalled something of the -atmosphere of anxiety and doubt. Rumour was rife. In the usual attempt -to check it, as well as to cover certain military moves, the circle of -the defence was being drawn tighter. All permits were being cancelled. -When I left Paris again, to try and regain the lines on the Aisne, it -was with the knowledge that it would be necessary to take increased -risks, with less chance of getting communicable news. If the position -were to resolve itself, it would be on the north coast; as the result -of a different development of the battle. - - North of Paris, Monday night. - -The army of the west that I have followed with personal interest -through all its developments during the last weeks is now officially -acknowledged as being in contact with the Germans. - -Of the excitement of watching its growth and passage through the north -of France, at Rouen, Beauvais, and Amiens, I shall be able to speak -more fully when the official details as to its composition are allowed -to be made public. "Keep your eye on the west" is all we have been able -to say as reassurance during the two long anxious weeks of assault upon -the profound German trenches on the Aisne. - -And now, certainly not too soon, when the Germans have extended -themselves once again in desperate efforts to break through on the -south at Soissons and Rheims, comes the threatening pressure of the -new army upon their lines of communication to the north. Have their -reinforcements, brought from Belgium and the Argonne, come up to check -it in time? - -Nor is this all. We have all deduced from the German activity lately -the movement westward and northward of the French troops on our left -wing, up past Clermont and Lassigny. This has of itself been gradually -overlapping the German right. Now it forms a single enveloping arc with -the forces pressing in upon St. Quentin. - -It was only when the magnificent fighting on the Aisne made it clearer -day by day that the Germans were fairly held in the south that such a -movement of troops became justifiable. We could reconstruct now where -these troops were drawn from, and the moves of the splendid game that -the Allies have played. But that must wait until the game is played out. - -Meanwhile that fearful sacrifice of life upon the Aisne two weeks ago, -fighting unparalleled in history for severity, has gained its object. -Time has been won for the one move that serves to hook the Germans out -of their immense entrenchments. We start the third week of the battle -with easier breath. - -There have been many rumours that the Germans were really further south -on the line of the Aisne than public information acknowledged. There -were sections of the line about which nothing was known, and not only -that mysterious west. - -It is possible we may hear later that there were anxious days last -week, when Rheims was not the southern boundary of the Germans, nor yet -Soissons; and that some of the ground now slowly won at great cost has -but been regained. - -It was to clear this up that I spent to-day travelling behind the whole -line from Rheims to south of Compiègne; approaching it at the vital -points, so as to define the German position. Although there had been -German cars imperilling the road, it proved to be only some of their -reckless skirmishers. We got through, without a rumour of them, to the -heights south of Rheims. - -Passing thence east, it was not difficult to place, from sound and -sight, that the Germans lay well east of the town; and that, with the -duel taken to-day more easily on both sides, the French were assailing -them upon the heights of Nogent l'Abbesse. - -Their loss of the height of Brimont, on the east, prevents the French -making use of the Canal of the Aisne and Marne, or the adjoining -railway. At the same time, the French retention of the line of heights -of Craonne on the west commands any advance of the Germans upon Rheims -by this route. - -Circling away from Rheims to the west, I came up south of the Aisne -and the Craonne heights, by Poncherry and Montigny. Here I met a train -of wounded and some stragglers in the village, who told me of the -sustained assault that is being made upon the French positions; the -Germans making charge after charge, even with the bayonet, but being -repulsed with great loss. - -It is obviously vital for the Germans, with the growing pressure on -their flank, to break through on the south, and, by threatening Paris -and separating the armies, to force a withdrawal of troops from their -communications. - -I was near enough to the Aisne to be able to see the character of -the country on the far side, which has cost both Britain and France -so dear to assault. A gradual slope of about half a mile up from the -river, steepening into scarps and wooded heights, and dotted with white -quarries. These latter were held by the Germans deeply entrenched, and -their guns commanded the passage of the river. - -Driven at last over the edge of the hill, they returned again and -again in massed charges, and were swept away by our men, more lightly -entrenched, high up, just under the brow. - -To the west of this, as far as Soissons, the two weeks fighting has -mostly consisted of long-range artillery duels, across the river and, -later, over the heights. The Germans, better hidden, and with longer -range, shelled our slighter trenches with fearful accuracy. - -About Soissons the British resisted successfully a concentrated -assault of more than a week's duration, certainly not less in savage -determination than that upon the French around Craonne. Our cavalry -especially distinguished itself. - -Several men wounded, or resting from the front, in these villages, told -me the same story: "It began about six--heavy, accurate shell fire; -there was a lunch interval; it stopped about dusk every day. Then in -the night, often came the charges. One night I couldn't count them! It -was awful. Kill, kill, kill, and still they came on, shoving each other -over on to us!" - -No man but had his story of comrades on either side shot or smashed -day after day, of the shriek of shells, of the perpetual groaning of -the wounded as they lay in the wet trenches. "Seven days and nights -of it! and some nights only an hour's sleep." And all the same -description--"It was just absolute hell." No one found another word to -describe it. - -And the sight of the men bore it out. Muddied to the eyes, soaked, -often blood-caked. Many were suffering from the curious aphasia -produced by the continuous concussion of shells bursting. Some were -dazed and speechless, some deafened. And yet, splendid to relate, I -saw on no Briton's face, wounded or resting, the fixed, inhuman stare -of war. Even the wounded were in good spirits, unconquerable,--the -sporting "looker-on" attitude of the British soldier. - -I scrawled a line of letter for some of them; they all wanted it said -that it had been "hell"; that they were glad to be out; but not sorry -to have been in. Many wanted advice added to "brother Tom" or "cousin -Dick" not to rush into it; but they knew themselves, as anyone who -knows the breed would know, that it was just that scrap that would make -Tom or Harry mad that he had not been in it too! - -The French were more absorbed and aloof, less of "professional" -fighters. They could not do without the personal touch. A little group -of the Line sat before a burnt cottage sharpening and caressing their -bayonets--"Rosalie" they call them, for love of their bloodstained -edges. - -Soissons has suffered little less than Rheims. Not from fire as yet, -but six or more dark, jagged holes showed where the cathedral has been -shelled. The town looks more than half in desolate ruins. - -The fighting here has been indescribably fierce. At Bucy-le-Long, just -to the north-east, the Germans dropped shells into a school converted -into a Red Cross ambulance, killing many wounded. One of the wounded -assistants described the scene. "They didn't intend it, probably; we -had troops coming up just behind, and they're poor shots!" - -Description of the sights and sounds of past battlefields are -monotonously grim, and useless to repeat. But the villages and country -in the track of this long battle, along the south of the Aisne, cannot -be left unmentioned, if war is to be recognised as reality. - -To move here is to move in a country of abandoned trenches, half used -as graves; to move through the tainted air of the unburied; to see the -countless dead, broken life, broken humanity, burning, or being thrust, -with the fortunate callousness of the peasant, into trench and pit; -to meet at every turn some deadly reminder of mortality; to see every -house and field flecked with some pitiable wreck or litter of battle. -The details need not even be imagined. - -But the wounded, as I saw them, returning in car and train, lying in -temporary shelters or waiting their turn at wayside stations, are at -once a more painful, more real reminder. British, and French, and -African, side by side, patient, courageous, appreciative of the little -help that can be given by the few hands. It is the one sight that can -still move one--that look of youth and hope struck out of the face -of the young soldier, the dulled expression, of just clinging on to -consciousness of life, that alone survives. - -At Villers Cotterets and Crepy I saw and talked with many of them; -but not for news of their exploits. We shared a common weariness -of war-talk--the details were too present; and most of them -characteristically, when they had asked for news about "the victory," -spoke most of the peasants, and the hardship and suffering they had -seen in the villages; very little about themselves or the friends they -had seen killed. - - - South of Rheims, Tuesday. - -With even more difficulty to-day we made our way up again into the -battle region. Rheims was the first object. I managed to get to a point -where I could look down and out at the city from its southern heights. -Picture it for yourself, the long, rolling, wooded circle of hills, the -broad green plateau of trees and houses, dipping to the irregular town; -and in the centre, an immense landmark, the high, grey cathedral, with -its two crowned towers of elaborate stone-work. - -At the first view, in the grey daylight and the roar of the wind, -nothing seemed unusual. The outlines of tower and town looked as -before. Then I put up the field glasses, and in a second the sight -fell to pieces, with the sudden incongruousness of the destruction of -Pompeii or Jerusalem as we see it on the coloured moving pictures, when -the walls fall flat under red artificial flames, and in a second the -towns remain only geometric sections of black ruins. - -The roofs were there, but shattered into dark caverns of bombardment. -The gables stood, blank, and with windows transparent to the sky. The -streets, scarred white or in dark hollows of crumbled brick. And the -Cathedral? The walls were standing, the towers, and much of the roof, -but blackened and defaced. The towers, blurred in detail and fractured. -The windows, with tracery shattered, and blinking as it were painfully -at the unusual daylight that streamed in upon the black ruin of the -nave. - -And over all the grey haze of conflagration, mixing in one dark -overhanging curtain with the yellow pestilent fumes of past bombardment. - -Beyond, on the further heights, the grey sky was seamed with the spurt -and smoke of occasional bursting shells; and the ear, guided now -by the eye, could distinguish from the rush of the wind the single -explosions of the German shells and the nearer crash of the hidden -French batteries, as they responded, firing across the hill at the -unseen army. - -I would not, even if it had been easy, have approached nearer. Details -of destruction could add nothing to the realisation of these monstrous -reactions of war. This was, to myself, the second conscious shock in -all the two months of warfare--Louvain was the first. The sight of -dead and shattered bodies soon passes unrealised. There is nothing of -the man who lived, even if we have known him well, left in lifeless -remnants. What he meant and what he produced are no longer there. -But to see a dead or an injured child, a mutilated work of art or -thought, is to see the murder of men's souls: the defacing of the ideal -which men live and die to conceive, to embody, and to leave as their -contribution to the eternal principles of beauty and continuance. - -What has provoked this wanton, deliberate destruction? The anger of -disappointed, hungry, chilled men in their realisation of failure and -fatigue? The revenge for the death of some popular commander, some -General von Revel, von Rapine, or von Ruin? Who can say yet? On the -spot there seemed to be no "military" excuse, of tactics or precaution. -It looked like the irresponsible outrage of a tipsy child with a heavy -hammer. Whatever the conditions of ultimate peace, let us see to it -that the hammer of ponderous armaments is forced from Germany's hands. -The "philosophical Teuton brain" may then have time to clear itself of -the fumes of a reeling militarism. - -The tapestries have been buried. It is reported that the treasures of -the Cathedral are safe. Why, O why, was no effort made to remove the -priceless windows in time? We did it in our Minsters as long ago as -the seventeenth century, before the threat of bombardment; and the -confidence in German "culture" cannot have been so deep-rooted! - -I was glad that I could not see the injury to the famous "rose" window -in the west front, through which the sunset used to colour the pillars -of the nave with a marvellous amber and gold light. - -As I passed by the town I met the venerable Cardinal Archbishop, in -his robes, a strange contrast to the knots of uniformed soldiers and -the few darkly-dressed, depressed inhabitants. He reached Paris, from -the Conclave, two days ago, and, impatient of the absence of news, has -come out to see for himself what has befallen his cathedral; and that -in spite of the German raiding cars, that have fired on passengers on -the roads from Paris yesterday and to-day, and of the proximity of the -cannon. I took off my hat to a very gallant man. - -But a week or so ago I stood up and cheered the grand old Bishop of -Meaux, when, as one of the first civilians to get into Meaux after the -battle of the Marne, I found him, in violet robes, still going gently -round, looking after his few surviving flock. He, almost alone, had -refused to leave the town, and endured all the risks of the encircling -battles and the indignities of the German occupation. - -The Germans have made no exception of priests and professors in -their "disciplinary executions," and now that they have started on -the cathedrals--first Louvain, then Malines, then Rheims, and now -Soissons--a bishop who stayed to face them showed a good man's courage. - - - Wednesday. - -In a village south of Rheims this morning I was delayed for some time -by the passing of a column of German captives, being brought down from -Craonne by the French. There must have been more than a thousand in -this single division. Some of them were big fine fellows; a number -quite lads; all looked pallid and with the strained look of fatigue and -hunger. A few were allowed to sit a while by the road, to rest sore -feet. - -Those to whom I spoke, allowing for the fact that they were frightened -and probably anxious to propitiate, confirmed the impression that the -Germans have lost very heavily and are in sore straits for food. They -spoke of the practical destruction of whole regiments, more especially -in the assaults round Soissons and Rheims. To the audacity and -omnipresence of our airmen, and to the accuracy of our shell-fire on -their trenches, their accounts bore constant witness. - -One lad, a "Sextaner" in an Ober-Realschale, was allowed to rest for -some time, and soon began to talk quite cheerfully. He showed me his -pocket diary, a strange little document. It contained chiefly the -notices of his messing together with six or more of his chums, and of -the rare additions of food other than rations. On later pages came the -little notes of someone missing in the evening. A few new names were -added. These, too, disappeared. Finally, almost the last entry, of -four days ago, came the sentence, "Remains only Max and me." But Max -was not with the prisoners. - -At certain of the base villages as I followed the line south of -the Aisne, I saw other prisoners, active and willing as ambulance -orderlies. They were already moving about cheerfully--the French are -most kindly captors--but none of them had lost the stamp of pallor -imprinted by the exhaustion and strain of that prolonged fighting -march. Not one but was tired of the "useless war." It is only the -stay-at-homes who have not lived in a war atmosphere, for whom it -retains its colour of heroics after a few weeks of its squalid -realities. - -I crossed the Vesle, on a pontoon bridge, and visited two of the seven -bridges which the Germans destroyed as they retired before the British -over the Aisne near Soissons. A south country Briton told me the story -of that first crossing. - -"We were the advance division. We got there at nightfall, a desperate -long march. The Germans had dynamited seven out of the eight bridges, -but one just stood. We were ordered to shuffle across it singly, at ten -yards intervals. It began at midnight, in the dark, a queer, nervous -job; and we weren't all over, quite, by five in the morning. Two of the -chaps slipped in, astray in the dark, one just ahead of me. I thought -it was the bridge going up--the sort of 'plump' he went!" - -I have had that feeling several times these last weeks, the stealthy -crawl across the bridge with dynamite already laid below it. - -North of the forest of Villers, the region which is a grim cemetery -of men and of the homes of men, full of the smoke and dust of ruined -houses and of the smoke and dust of burning piles of what were men, -many soldiers were still lying on straw under shelter from the rain, -waiting their turn to be fetched down by the ambulances. There are -scores still waiting. - -For one I took down a letter. This is its substance: "Jack and me were -in that show at Shivers (Chivres-sur-Aisne?) It was not man-fighting -that week; just banging with engines over our heads, and getting them -too, often enough. When it got dark, 'they' always rang off. And we -went out, not under orders, just for our turn; about six of us. Jack -got a sentry--here--and we got to the pit; but they were on us before -we could mess the gun; and it was pretty fair hell in the dark; just -jabbing at anything you heard or touched. Three of us got back; and we -left 'them' some burying to do on their own, too." - -The valley of the Aisne has a deadly sameness. At Retheuil and Chelles, -the silent apathetic peasants--all too few--were heaping remains of men -and horses for burning, or dragging them into the long raw trenches -that scar the fields with white issues of lime. Anything of value or -metal is dragged off, the bodies thrust in, and, for all the pestilent -air, the peasant stolidly munches at his bread between whiles. - -It is astonishing how little it affects one after a day or two. I -don't believe the sight or sound of always present death, or even, for -that matter, the more intolerable affliction of sleepless nights, wet -trenches, cold winds, and continuous strain, has taken five minutes of -his quaint optimism from the British soldier. And yet this war is being -fought without the exciting accompaniment of bands or drums. There are -no parade sights; no colour. - -It is almost impossible to get the names of their places of past -adventure from the soldiers. The French names, if ever heard, are soon -forgotten. It is exciting to them even to hear that they are near -Paris. They date from "where So-and-so got hit," or "where we got those -fags from a hofficer," or where "the women ran out to give us drinks -as we rode by." Very often the name survives as a mysterious village -called "Ralentir." (Visitors to France may remember that this is the -big notice put up outside villages, the "Drive slowly" warning to -motorists.) - -It was curious to recall, as I looked north later in the day towards -Vic-sur-Aisne, that I got almost as far as this a fortnight ago, after -the German retreat from Meaux, thinking I was well behind our armies, -and found and smoked in, their line of abandoned trenches, in the -company of two incursious peasants. The Germans were even then making -their huge entrenchments on the hills ahead, and it was to cost a -fortnight's fearful fighting before our men made good their position on -my seemingly lonely slope of fields. - -We were "requisitioned" again, to run to Mont St. Marc. As I looked -across at the Forest of Laigue, I knew now that the check that turned -me back in those woods last week, after swimming the Oise, was one of -the violent counter-attacks by the Germans; when they ventured, as they -rarely have done, to charge with the bayonet. - -On that same day, the bombardment which I heard from the direction -of Lassigny, proves now to have been the beginning of the French -resistance to the German advance in that quarter against General -Castelnau. - -At Crepy, on the return, a Turco, whom I must have met at the fierce -skirmish south-east of Peronne, recognised me as he lay, a strange -figure white with loss of blood under his African tan, his turban and -brilliant uniform bloodstained, waiting to be moved into an ambulance -car. - -"Ah, they got me for a time, not long"--it was odd French--"but I -assisted two with that, first (the bayonet), and then there remained to -me these" (a significant gesture of the hands). - -A badly-wounded north countryman, who lay beside him, with a nurse -temporarily bandaging his shoulder--another shrapnel wound; they are -nearly all shrapnel wounds--evidently understand the gesture, if not -the lingo. "Fine chaps at a scrap, the darkies. It's funny, though, I -couldn't use hands like that; sort of claws fashion. Now I could go on -with a fist--this way--all day; just smash them. Some difference in -education, d'you think? Or just natural?" - -The nurse stopped the speculative opening. But think of it; in -the surroundings! Our undefeated British soldier, tolerant of the -individual, critical of the "foreign ways," ready to argue an -abstraction, to fight, to make or be turned into a joke, even while -every breath was a painful effort. - - - Thursday. - -There has been a lull in the fierceness of the struggle along the -Aisne, which is developing into the Battle of the Rivers. (_Note_: I -believe this to have been the first time this name was suggested.) The -lull is doubtless not unconnected with the great changes of front in -progress. Some days ago I was involved in the movement of the French -forces round the left wing by Clermont; later, to-day I was to learn -from an airman of the even greater rapidity with which the Germans have -poured their reinforcements, and their army from the Vosges, on to the -line of the Oise towards Peronne. (It was the mass of these troops, -and the rapidity of their swing across on the inner lines, that enabled -the Germans to anticipate the Allies' move and, for a time, even push -them back at certain points, at Lassigny, Chaulnes, and Peronne, as we -now learn from the official communications.) - -To-day was my last visit to the lines on the Aisne, the last -opportunity of seeing something of the actual fighting. We reached -Fismes early in the day, and, as there were rumours in Paris that the -Germans had penetrated south in this region, we were relieved to find -an extremely peaceful landscape. Only the usual traces in the villages -and on the fields of past fighting. - -Here fortune favoured us. For several weeks we had been inquiring in -vain on all our excursions for a certain French regiment of the line, -which contained the much-loved brother of my friend and driver. At -Fismes we came by chance upon a small section of his company, who were -escorting some wounded. We fraternised at once; and they told us where -we should find him, engaged in the trenches across the Aisne. Not only -this, but they gladly took advantage of the car to run four of them -back to their advance post, or rather as far as was permitted us, under -their helpful escort. - -On foot we traversed the last fields to the bank of the river. The -appearance of this grim border region of past battle, the burnt -cottages, scarred fields, blackened trees, and the faintly-marked -trenches and pyres of the buried and incinerated dead, has been already -described. There is a terrible monotony in such scenes. - -The Aisne was crossed on a light pontoon, for foot soldiers only. I -will not specify the point nearer than to say that we were behind a -notable junction of the allied armies. A low spur, rather exceptionally -tree-covered, came down close to the bank on the far side. In a -temporary base-camp, of shelters and enlarged trenches, under the spur, -the much-sought brother greeted us, and a very cordial welcome was -given us on his account. A lieutenant was in charge, who invited us to -share the combined rations. The staple was a loaf of bread, hollowed -out and filled with some very highly scented sort of tripe; apparently -a popular and certainly a filling meal. Actually, too, hot coffee in -pannikins. We contributed the usual cigarettes and journals. - -The lieutenant did not see his way to letting me go forward, although -the German fire on our trenches ahead had ceased for some time, and -the only sound of guns came from some distance away, in the direction -of Craonne. The time passed, however, unnoticed, in the interest of -watching the movements of sections passing and repassing the river, in -relief or support. Twice a number of wounded were carried past and over -the bridge. They were still being collected, or brought down, after -the desperate German assaults by night and day that preceded the lull. -Three small detachments stopped in passing, moving up to the front. - -They were all sun-browned, rough-chinned men here. Some had been in -the trenches for a week or more, and looked fine-drawn and battered. -They were uninterested but confident. Not the sort of gallant gaiety -and glitter we are accustomed to associate with the traditional French -soldier. That, if it survived the parade times, has given place to a -serious intentness upon the one idea, a kind of setting of the teeth to -face the issue and force the victory. For the French soldier has more -imagination than ours. He has to make up his mind not to picture to -himself results and effects which our men simply disregard, as not part -of their particular professional concern. - -The stories they told had necessarily great resemblance. Of hours of -crouching under well-directed shell-fire. Of men killed or decapitated -beside them, of hairbreadth escapes from shrapnel, of confused night -attacks, of the joy of using "Rosalie" upon the hated grey bodies, -when at last they got the chance. And, above all, of the continuous, -dreadful noise of the guns and of the shells passing. Several were -partially deafened or stupefied by the concussion. A few told of -comrades who, not from failure of nerve, but from the mere physical, -shattering effect of the perpetual roar and scream upon more nervous -systems, had had to be sent back for a time from the line. And "spy" -stories, as numerous as ingenious. - -After an hour or so the "brother" had to go up to take his turn in -the trenches with others. Our officer had gone off in the interval -at a summons; and the sergeant left in charge--we were now firm -friends--agreed to let me go up a specified distance for a certain time -with the section moving out. - -We turned to the right round the end of the spur, about thirty of us, -ascending diagonally up the side, with a parallel valley receding below -us. I had been given directions as to how we were to take advantage -of the natural cover, and in places where we should have been more -exposed to observation from heights or airmen this cover had been very -ingeniously supplemented. - -The firing from the greater plateau towards Craonne grew more distinct, -but even so it seemed to be none too vigorously prosecuted. The -cautious approach along the wet green slope towards a real, if distant, -enemy, revived the feelings of keen excitement of our man-hunting game -in the Lake Fells. But in the valley bottom, and occasionally on our -slope, there were harsh reminders of reality in the pits of shells, -broken trees, the litter in abandoned trenches, and here and there the -unburied German dead. A number of peasants were engaged in removing -these last traces, in the more sheltered depressions. But, as the -corporal explained with a shrug, "What would you? If they see where we -are, they fire. We cannot risk the good living for _those_!" - -All too soon, as it seemed, we reached the advanced point where on an -upward slope, the work of pushing forward diagonal trenches was going -on. On our left the hill hid the view; but across the valley, on the -right, the same active, methodical work was just visible in the slight -stir and occasional glint of mattock or red trouser. With a gesture -my attention was drawn to a carefully concealed battery. I doubt if I -should have seen it for myself. "They haven't marked that down yet; -that's for a surprise when they begin again!" - -We crossed a system of narrow man-deep galleries, well-covered, and -which had evidently been heavily shelled. I was hurried forward through -this, now with even more caution. "They've got the range of this; but -we're out there now":--and the "brother" indicated a point a third of -a mile ahead, where, it seemed, a sap was being carried forward, on a -zigzag towards the crest. Just as we were advancing, the unmistakable -moan of an aeroplane sent us to cover, under the old entrenchment. -I failed to see it; but a sudden outburst of firing on our left, -that died away again, gave the line of its passage. "You may expect -something here, after that----has been over," was the remark, made to -me, I think, with half malicious intention. - -In a small pit or field-quarry on the slope, of innocent appearance, -but in reality converted into a very adequate straw-lined shelter or -base for the men engaged in digging beyond, I was left; while the -section moved forward to take the places of others. These, when they -came down, would see me back again. I saw the "brother" leave me with -regret. My companions were four men and a corporal, rather glum and -tired, but not unfriendly. Two had been slightly wounded, but had -refused to go down. - -We had barely got on to terms, with grateful cigarettes, when a single -growl echoed across the slope in front; and the unmistakable crescendo -whine of a shell passed high and to one side above us. It was followed -by another, which shrilled its menace more directly overhead; and the -flat, quaking explosion, hitting the ear like a blow, could be heard -further down over the slope. The men paid scarcely any attention. "It -will not go on; we shall not reply," said one. "Reassure yourself: it -is at our old trenches," added one of the wounded men, with half a -grin. The sensation of being shelled over is denied to the civilian; -and in my own case the opportunity was probably unique. I risked the -reputation for unconcern of the race, and crept out and up under the -higher lip of the depression; from here, well sheltered, I could look -backward and down the slope. - -Four more shells passed in quick succession. The roar of the discharges -rolled in a continuous echo back and across the little valley; through -this the singing scream of the shells stabbed venomously. One fell -beyond the old trenches, and exploded in the ground--I saw the huge -shattered cavity as I returned. Two burst accurately, man high, over -the earthworks, faced with sods, of the abandoned gallery; the sight -and sound were indescribably shocking to the unaccustomed eye and ear. -The last did not explode, but, from the spurt of earth, buried itself -deeply twenty yards nearer me up the slope. - -As I had been told, no reply was made in this quarter, and no more -followed the six. A quarter of an hour later the returning section -came back; and again, with an escort of twenty dumb, earth-stained, -and hungry blue-coats, the cautious return was begun. As we got down -the caution was dropped. "They don't want it to-day any more than we -do"--and we clustered in a quick walk back to the base. - -As an impression of the futility of warfare, the sight of this useful -manhood, designed to dig a fruitful soil for profitable living, now -burrowing for life in barren trenches, was sufficient. As an impression -of its hideous trespass, the intrusion of those discordant shells, -shrieking over the sunlit hill with a sort of murderous absurdity, -splitting the still air into shreds of hateful noise, and vanishing -against the motionless trees in drifting clots of sickly green vapour, -was all complete. If further proof were needed, it lay about me in the -melancholy accidents of destruction, scattered over the "no man's land" -that I recrossed on my return. The whole suggestion was of some recent, -sordid violent orgy, by a party of criminal tramps, in a peaceful -garden. - -Many of the bridges were broken down, and, after rejoining the car, -we had to make a wide sweep to the west. The roads were blocked by -the wagons and columns of the French westward movement. I passed -again through Crepy and Senlis, and round west of Clermont, which was -obviously in the agitated condition peculiar to a military occupation. -The distinctness with which the guns could be heard from the St. Just -road, suggested that the Germans had advanced considerably to the -west, since I had last heard them from the south of Lassigny. From -Montdidier we turned east, hoping to get to Roye; but it was getting -late and the road became hopelessly congested. An aviator whose -machine had been injured and to whom I was able to give a lift, told -me that he had seen the German reinforcements pouring up in very great -numbers behind the Oise; and it was clear that, for the moment, their -possession of the inner lines had given them the advantage in forming -on the new front. - -Through by-lanes west of Roye we made towards Rosières in the dark, -hoping to hit a main road back towards Amiens. We were stopped again by -the sound of firing in front and a little to the east. Before turning -back we determined, if possible, to discover its meaning. Leaving the -car in a field, the driver and I walked forward cautiously through the -woods in the direction of the sound. We were in one of the big hangars -of large forest trees that crown the crests of the rolling uplands in -this district. As we came out of the wood, and just across the crest, -there came a sudden crackle of rifle firing from the trees on the -opposite crest, about a mile and a half, so far as I could calculate -in the dark, to the east. For the moment it was difficult to account -for it; but the driver suddenly called my attention to some little -sparks of flame in the dark sky. They seemed to be dropping on to the -far wood. The reason at once suggested itself:--a daring German airman, -making a night flight, had located a detachment of the French in the -wood, probably by their camp fires, and was dropping little balls -of flame to give the range to his associated battery. A few minutes -later the dull boom of heavier guns, firing from a greater distance, -which continued for some fifteen minutes, and then ceased, made our -speculation a certainty. It was a curiously suggestive glimpse; the -darkness lit and broken for a moment, declaring the presence of the -unceasing, sleepless strife. - -It was clearly not possible to force our way further north; and, as -it was now too late to gain entry into any town of shelter, we spent a -not uncomfortable night, sleeping in and beside the car. With the first -light we turned west and south, and regained Paris almost as soon as -the gates were opened. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -The Shadow of the War - - -There could be no object in making further visits to the deadlock along -the Aisne. The German advance, which I had followed across Belgium -in the beginning of the war, and met again where it shattered upon -the Allied position east of Paris, had failed. Their rapid consequent -retreat on to the heights of the Aisne, and the reassembling of their -armies, had been successfully accomplished. Both sides had been unable -to convert the end of the first great move into decisive victory or -defeat, and had dug themselves, after desperate initial efforts, into -impregnable entrenched positions. The serpents of war were dragging -their slow coils west and north, seeking more open ground for a fresh -grapple. - -The new development had to be looked for in the north. Time must elapse -before it could take definite shape. The first phase of the war was -ended. - -In the interval, before the next began, like a foiled snake drawing in -its head and thickening its coils, back in Belgium the huge length of -the German army was beginning slowly to swell itself out, forcing the -last of the unhappy population out of town and village, to the coast, -and to the sea itself. For "military reasons," doubtless. No difficulty -in assigning them. Only, if there has been one happening more than any -other which has revealed to those outside the war atmosphere, the utter -negation of personal life and moral law that is covered by our easy -talk of "strategy," "tactics," and "moves," it has been this further -persecution of the Belgian people. We may discuss it, as critics, as an -excusable part of a defensive campaign. We feel in our hearts, that it -is no other than the instinctive ferocity of the beast of prey, headed -off its next kill, and recoiling to savage its last victim. - -War, the war of Ilium, of Agincourt, of Waterloo, used to be a -brilliant affair. Death harnessed to a glittering car of Juggernaut. -Men went under the wheels in the rush and flame of colours, and to the -sound of bands and the applause of multitudes. The car is now hidden in -a dull, deadly rolling cloud. We can only hear the rumour of the hidden -wheels. Our sons and friends move into the darkness. Of many of them, -all we shall ever know is that they have not returned. The greater -heroes, that they go as gladly as ever did a chosen knight into crowded -lists. The finer men, that they fight as stoutly with no record of -their gallantry, no mark even of their death-place. - -But we must make no confusion. It is the men who are to be praised: -for their sacrifice of all they know to be better in life, for their -acceptance of the fantastic chance which is forced upon them by their -devotion to an ideal. War itself, fighting, is a mad anachronism. We -can judge of its folly the better, because we are now allowed to know -so little of its secret noise and flame. We are not dazzled by its -incidents; but its shadow falls on us all. - -But then, afterwards, there must be no sentimentalising over the -glitter of a splendour we have not seen; no wilful blindness when, the -cloud cleared away, the light of sanity falls again upon the nakedness -of its inhuman mechanism, the hideous squalor and vulgarity of its -monstrous destructiveness. - -A few days ago I was waiting with a crowd outside a Bureau in Paris. -Anxious, resigned faces passed me going in or out. No tragedy, no -moving emotion. The families of the soldiers in the front were making -their weekly inquiry for the little numbered disc each soldier wears -for identification. The best they could hope for was to receive -nothing, to have to come and ask again, and again, till the end of the -war. The only break would come when the little disc at last might -be handed them, and they would know that son or husband, somewhere, -somehow, had vanished in the shadow of war for all time. - -In Wavre, where I used to pass continually on the way to the Belgian -lines, was a small welcome restaurant, kept by a cheerful pretty girl, -her young husband, and a baby. There was laugh and joke as to "what -would happen if the Prussians came!" On the morning of the day of -evacuation I passed again. Still only quiet anxiety and less ready -smiles. Three hours later I returned. The Uhlans were entering the -edges of the town. A peasant rushed into the swarming square, waving -a Uhlan helmet. There was a savage rush; and a woman shrieked: "It's -the head of the devil who wore it I want!" It was the young wife. A -fury, raging at her husband; for the men had been told to disarm. "Take -it," she screamed furiously, thrusting his rifle at him, "never see -me again, if our house is entered without one brute shot." Blanched, -shaking with passion, and speechless, the young man walked out. I saw -her again on the road to Brussels, aged, scarcely sane. The man had not -come back. She had lost her child. - -In west Flanders, on the day that the Prussian columns were pouring -across Belgium, I passed in the morning a remote, picturesque little -crossing. A very old peasant, in a smock, deaf and almost blind, acting -as a Civil Guard, gave me great difficulty. He had blocked the road -with harrows, and threatened viciously with an old muzzle-loader and -rusty bayonet of the time of Waterloo. In the evening, carrying some -wounded soldiers, we passed again. He was still hugging the bayonet. -We persuaded him to let us bury it, his useless death-warrant, for the -Uhlans were flooding behind us. With that, realisation at last came to -him. He walked deliberately back towards the cottage. "All that I had -left, for my son is dead. But I will destroy this too. The Prussians -shall not shelter there." - -The same night I was driving on the long dark roads back to the -coast. Occasionally the lights flashed on lines of women, in widows' -black, returning in silence from the shrines. Now and again a blaze -of light startled us from the roadside. The shrines of saints, bright -with votive candles all this night of terror. And remote from their -homesteads, and from the war, the heads of crowds of small children -showed black on the steps against the altar lights; while in a -semicircle on the road outside knelt the shadows of women, enclosing -their children, the last possession left to them. I stopped the car -before one shrine, and a high woman's voice, in which all emotion was -dead, called out from the darkness: "Is that death?" - -South of Peronne, hardly a week ago, we gave a lift to four refugee -peasant-women, trudging heavily back to their homes. Two weeks before -some German cavalry had swept suddenly into their small village. Ten -men had been ordered to go with them, the husbands of two of the women, -the sons of two others. They had disappeared in the shadow, and not -one had returned. We reached the outlying cottage of the first. Some -small skirmish had raged there. The house was half destroyed, and three -or four dead horses lay grotesquely rotting on the field. The woman -stood for a moment unmoved, and then turned to a neighbour: "War has -taken my sons, and has left me these." - -Four days ago a French soldier of the line stopped me just south of -Vic-sur-Aisnes. He was hobbling back from the trenches, wounded in the -knee. He was clearly half stupid with fatigue and the detonation of the -days of firing. He kept repeating to himself, over and over again: "I -cannot remember: there were five, all killed near me; and three said to -tell somebody a message, before they died. I cannot remember what it -was, or who they were. I cannot remember: there were five----" and so -over again. These were the last messages out of the edge of the shadow, -and they were lost. But there would always be the discs. Better that -the details should not come. There would then be still the chance of -imagining some heroic setting of death. - -We may well remember that such death is heroic, whatever its loneliness -or its revolting circumstances. But let us borrow no false colour from -an imaginary pomp and circumstance in war itself. It is dissolution and -the end of hope that is hidden in the cloud. In England we are happily -still free to interpret the obscurity according to our fancy, to -picture death in battle as somehow not death. For those who have moved -by the edge of the shadow there is no illusion left. The cloud shifts -from village to village, from week to week, only to let us see in its -track nature outraged, emotion degraded, humanity defaced. - -We have chosen war, and must follow it to its undiscriminating end. Let -us see to it that it is for the last time. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -Arms and the Man - - -There must be no misunderstanding. We may condemn the futility of the -appeal to arms as the ultimate method of arbitriment between civilised -beings; we can have nothing but whole-hearted admiration for the man -who has answered the appeal. - -Civilisation, if it means anything, has meant the development of -the sense of humour. It was the gradual realisation of an absurd -disconnection between seeing a man scowling, and clubbing the life -out of him so that _he_ should see no more, and between hearing his -insults, and depriving _him_ for all time of hearing, that brought -primitive man out of savagery. The same discovery, of its incongruity -put an end to the duel among us. Our German opponents have always been -behind us in this, in civilisation, in the sense of humour. It is with -a feeling of disgust as much as of anger that we find our civilisation -cannot save us from being dragged down to the level of savage brawling. - -But the appeal to arms once made, and our national and personal -ideals once involved in the hazard, we may well be proud of the -sane, temperate spirit with which the men of our race assert their -superiority, even in the whirlpool of elemental passions that is war. -Actual fighting, the killing of men, cannot be done well except by men -in the rage of the fighting fever, in the passion that "sees red."--It -is no surprise to us that the British soldier can still charge like -seven demons. To lie for hours passive under fire, with death close -round in the trenches, calls for a still rarer emotional concentration, -the white animosity that flares steadily but does not flicker.--To -those who know our history, it is no news that the Briton, for cold -unshaken courage, can still out-last all other men. But what, in a -Briton, who has seen the soldiers of several nations reacting under -the war-fever, touches a deeper chord of pride, is to see that our -countrymen can pass in and out of the "fighting state" with the mental -detachment of civilised beings. Even in the "red rage" they become -neither blind nor deaf to the call of humanity or reason. They maintain -personality against the overwhelming war atmosphere of animal fury -and suspicion. When the fighting shadow passes, they are still their -natural selves, kindly or surly, or intelligent, knowing what they -like or dislike, with no collective infection from a false pride, a -simulated enthusiasm or hatred. - -Of this power of maintaining mental balance, through all the flux -and reflux of the "fighting state," military record gives us little -idea. But it is the deciding factor in racial wars. The degree of -its possession by the several races in the end decides for victory -or failure. The nation that has the strongest vital stock survives -longest. As between two such vital races in conflict, that must prevail -which is the better "civilised"; which can maintain its characteristic -strength, its individual consciousness, against all the assaults of -violent physical or mental emotion. - -A captured Prussian lieutenant, with whom I had a quick talk beside the -road near Rheims a few days ago, was pleased to express surprise at the -courage and doggedness of our British "mercenaries," as he called them. -He thought I was insulting him, when I told him that the conditions -under which our volunteer private served were very similar to those of -the German officer! - -It has been always a new surprise to find how many Germans, even those -who know military history and are well acquainted with England, have -allowed their sense of national rivalry with us, of jealousy rather -than hatred, to blind their judgment, otherwise expert in military -matters. They have continued to make three elementary blunders about -our army; and they are now paying dearly for the miscalculation. - -The first blunder has been to confuse a man who volunteers to fight for -his own country, as his profession, with a "mercenary"; by which we -mean a man who hires himself out to fight for any country which offers -him enough pay. The second has been in some way to reason that a man -who voluntarily makes himself efficient to defend his own country, and -receives an allowance for it, must be inferior, as fighting material, -to a man who compulsorily so serves his country, and receives an -allowance for it. And the third has been the astounding ignorance of -the teaching of military history, which proves conclusively that, from -the time when the Spartans beat the Athenians down to the present -day, the professional-soldier army has always beaten the amateur or -conscript army, even at great disadvantage of numbers. - -That is the essential difference which we have been seeing every day -in the field. Our men are fighting, just as consciously, for the -preservation and honour of their country, as are their conscript -enemies. But, because of their race, they do not care to make a parade -of that consciousness. We do not encourage in war more than in peace -the "jelly-bellied flag-flappers" whom Mr. Kipling has pilloried. It -takes a very special story of pluck to draw from any collection of our -soldiers even a "Good old England!" or a "What will they say at home to -that?" Fighting, manœuvre, fatigue, firing, wounds, death, they are all -just parts of their professional job; which they like to do well for -its own sake, and in which they have a technical interest. - -When the fighting is done, in camp, in reserve, in intervals, it is -striking to see the different look on the faces of the different races. -The Briton keeps nothing of the fixed "war" look, the strained, set -expression and eyes of some other races, as if the weight of a country -was on their shoulders, as if death was near in thought and always -being defied, as if the whole world was an object of suspicion. The -moment his "job" of fighting, or whatever it may be, is done for the -time, the Briton becomes himself again. Just a tired and gay, or a -tired and grumbly fellow who has finished his job, according to his -ordinary nature. - -England and his home and family have not been saved with every shot he -has fired, and when he is off duty, he is not worried about the future -of the Fatherland. He has learned in a hard school that his duty is -just his job; and he has learned to do his job, killing, cooking, or -horse-tending, with a keen, impersonal, professional interest. - -When I said something like this to a German officer in prison at -Bruges, he jumped at it: "Ah, just so! He fights like a machine: he has -no heart in it! He will be beaten by our Germans, inspired by the one -thought of the German flag!" - -Not a bit! A boxer does not do less damage because he has learned how -to fight, as an art, with years of training. When he is in the ring, -heart tells in the end, but it tells through the degree of skill. When -you have got a soldier who fights for the love of it, as a profession, -and, besides that, has become a master of the art, you have found -a champion who will out-last a rank of compulsory-service amateurs -inspired by all the patriotism under the sun! - -Put our volunteer professionals in the firing line, leave them to fend -for themselves on a terrible retreat, like that from Courtrai, and the -individual grit, the racial inspiration will carry them through to the -marvel of the world. Their training will stand them in all the better -stead. They will know how to fight, what to do, even when their company -officers have fallen, when they have lost their unit. Patriotism, -personality, they are there behind the professional keenness, as a -driving, reserve force. Our machine is not a barrel organ grinding out -"Die Wacht am Rhein," which wants the big handle turned to keep the -machinery going. Break the living organism, and each cell will remain -instinct with life. - -What strikes the Continental troops most is our soldiers' gaiety! It -is not that the men are excitedly funny or tuneful, in trench or camp. -(Our songs the French consider funereal!) But between fights they -become just themselves again. The fighting job is over for the moment. -It would be absurd among fellow professionals to make a fuss about it. -The eternal grumbling Briton grumbles still, about his wet feet (he -has just come in from fifteen hours under fire in the muddy trenches); -about his food, traditional subject of caustic jest; about some old -"puffing Sal," a howitzer that made a mark of his trench all day. He -will talk of the mud she scattered over him, not probably of the pals -hit on either side of him. Such grumbling seems to the Continental -trooper a joke, a tremendous social effort. The cheery man rags as -heartily as he ever would. The unsociable man sets to washing or -eating imperturbably. What is there to make a fuss about? - -Of course, if an outsider like myself spoke at such times of the day's -fighting, the men would lighten up with the interest of professionals, -anxious to explain things. "We were on in that ball-room show"; "The ----- and the ---- caught it hot there"; "Nice little bit of shooting -the Germans did there"; "Never knew we were hit and stood like -sillies"; and then perhaps a stiff argument about the merits of "Ruddy -Jim" or "Old Cough-drop," which would, as likely as not, prove to be -two of the enemy's batteries that had been giving murderous trouble. - -No wonder the foreign comrade, with his serious conception of the great -danger and great issues that lay behind such affectionate nick-names, -would listen astonished, and wonder how they "keep it up." Keep it up? -It is just themselves! Unimaginative, humorous, business-like men at -their work, boys in their ways of thought and speech off duty. - -The letters home are on the same reserved but natural note. -Professional information being barred, the soldier has had to fall back -on the few conventional phrases to express personal feelings, which our -tongue-tied nation allows itself. They are learned in childhood, and so -come easily. - - * * * * * - -It was often the same scene. In some deserted little village, dusty, -sun-white, and shuttered, the glimpse of a khaki coat and a sun-red -British face has cheered and checked us as we ran through. - -Pleasant to hear the broad easy tongue; and we retire to the one little -wine-shop, that still keeps open because it is near a base-camp. - -The rumour of English newspapers in some unaccountable way gets abroad. -Soon there are a dozen or more khaki caps crowded in the little room. -The few peasants left drift in there too. The usual long handshakes, -absurd French tags of talk. The soldiers are plundered of their last -emblems, as mementoes. Not a village in the war area where one does -not see peasant caps and peasant frocks decorated proudly with the -insignia of some one of the British regiments. - -Then comes talk of the chance of getting a letter home. Half of the men -retire to violent wrestles with foreign pens and ink at the table in -the rear of the shop: the rest stay yarning. - -The letters are always read aloud or left open as a point of honour; -but I had never once to suggest the omission of a line which gave place -or date or regimental names. The tradition of the silent war has gone -deep. Further, very few either knew or cared where they were or had -been. The names meant nothing. Even the sense of time had been lost in -the constant occupation and the turning of day into night. - - * * * * * - -Certainly the letters I saw at that end were far less picturesque -than those published in the papers; but the latter, of course, are -a selected number. The traditional "English tongue" learned in the -elementary school, with its stiff conventions, held the paper. These -scraps are typical of many read to me: - - "Dear brother,--I hope you are well, as this leaves me. I am quite - well. And I have not written before, as there has been no time. And I - hope She and all are well. Please give them my love. I have seen ----, - and we have seen lots of fighting. I think that is all, so must end. - Love to ---- and ----.--Yours affectionately, etc." - - - "Dear Dad,--This is the first time I have written, and I have had no - letter. Please write soon, and ask Mum and sisters to write. I am - quite well, as I hope this finds you. It is very hot, and it is bad - for the horses. Baby Bob must be a big chap now. Give him my love. A - gentleman is taking this. Tell all to write and send some cigarettes. - - I will not write any more, so will end.--" - - From, etc. - -Sometimes the human touch breaks through the conventions, in a kiss -sent to a baby or in a scrawled P.S.: - - "Dear Mother,--I am very well, as I hope you are and father. And ---- - and ----. It has been very hot, and I have not slept in bed for four - weeks. But I am all serene. Give Tom my love, and I am glad he has - joined; we must all do something. Don't worry.--From your loving son, - ----." - ---and then a big scrawl all across the reverse sheet, and again the -big scrawl across the back that brings a catch to one's throat--"Don't -Worry, Mother." "Don't Worry." - -I don't suppose they bothered much at home, when they got these -letters, at the absence of battle news. Husband, brother, or son, -the sight of his writing is enough. "I am quite well"--and for those -waiting another milestone in their shadow-time has been safely passed. - -In many of the Irish letters the mode is more picturesque, the -expression comes easier. - - "Dear ----,--We got it last night but one, and J---- and C---- went - home, God send they meet no Germans there. J---- had it in for them - since big Tom went. I'm as I was, with a chip off my foot that's - healing fine, and I hope you're doing well in these bad times. They - have a story here that the German's firing silver bullets, as the - leads run low. If I got a few in me, I'll bring them home to set you - up. Send all the cigarettes you can find and chocolates. This is hell, - and I have no time to write, the kisses is for yourself, but I expect - the girls will steal them off the paper. Keep laughing, woman.--Your - affekt. boy, ----." - -This, again, is from a very young north Irishman: - - "Dear Wife,--I have not written before, for my time has been full - up. If it's not all right about the money go to Mrs. ----. She has a - good heart. Write soon, and send some cigarettes. How is little Dick? - Give him a kiss. He must be a great man now in this long while. Give - my love to the old lady, and write soon, soon, SOON. I am wading in - blood.--Your affectionate husband, ----." - -He had not actually seen any fighting; but the "neighbours" would want -that battle touch for their talk, and so good manners demanded it. - -Little scrawls, on scraps of paper, written on a stone or rifle-butt, -they were shoved into my hands. Sometimes given by word of mouth. - -"I hope you are quite well, as this leaves me," comes to have the -force of a symbol, when we think of the remote homes to which the -conventional phrase will mean so much. 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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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: From the Trenches</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Louvain to the Aisne, the First Record of an Eye-Witness</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Geoffrey Winthrop Young</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 4, 2022 [eBook #67103]<br /> -[Last updated: June 5, 2022]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Graeme Mackreth and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM THE TRENCHES ***</div> - - - - - - - - - - - -<p class="ph1">FROM THE TRENCHES</p> - -<p class="ph3">LOUVAIN TO THE AISNE, THE FIRST -RECORD OF AN EYE-WITNESS</p> - -<p class="ph6" style="margin-top: 5em;" >BY</p> - -<p class="ph3">GEOFFREY WINTHROP YOUNG</p> - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 5em;">LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN<br /> -1 ADELPHI TERRACE W.C.</p> - - - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 5em;"><i>I wish to express my obligation to the Proprietors of the "Daily News" -for permission to use material contributed to their columns.</i></p> - - -<p class="ph5" style="margin-top: 10em;"><i>First Published October, 1914.</i></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2">CONTENTS</p> - - - - - - -<table summary="toc" width="90%"> -<tr><td align="right">CHAPTER</td> <td> </td><td align="right">PAGE</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">I.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">THE OUTBREAK. IN AND OUT OF PARIS</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">II.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II">THE FIRST DAYS IN BRUSSELS</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">III.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THE BELGIAN ENGAGEMENTS. EGHEZEE, HAELEN</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IV.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">NAMUR AND THE FRENCH LINES</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">V.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V">LOUVAIN AND WATERLOO</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VI.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">THE LAST OF BRUSSELS. THE FLIGHT AND THE FLOOD</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td> <a href="#CHAPTER_VII">ANTWERP AND MALINES</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">PARIS AND THE TRENCHES </a> </td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IX.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">THE MOVEMENTS IN THE NORTH</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">X.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X">THE BATTLES ON THE MARNE</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_193">193</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XI.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">ON THE OISE AND THE SOMME</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XII.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">ON THE AISNE</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">THE SHADOW OF THE WAR</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_293">293</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">ARMS AND THE MAN</a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_302">302</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2">FROM THE TRENCHES</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Outbreak. In and Out of Paris.</span></p> - - -<p>On Tuesday, 28th of July, I returned from the Alps; the weather -conditions had been arctic and the climbing more than usually exciting. -During a bathe in the Lake of Geneva, which has become the customary -end of the climbing season, I remember saying to my companion, "Well, -this is the end of all sensation for the year. Now for the usual dull -winter's work."</p> - -<p>On Thursday I volunteered to go with the Servian Army as War -Correspondent for the <i>Daily News</i>, but the European conflagration was -already too imminent. On Sunday, it was arranged that I should go to -Paris to join the French Army.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> - -<p>The journey started normally. But at Newhaven it was startling to see -three English travellers turn and rush off the boat at the last minute. -It was the first and unforgettable sign of the break-up in our order -of life. To take a ticket and start a journey no longer meant the -inevitable procession to its end. We were beginning the life of the -unexpected; when event and interruption was to take the place of the -decent ordering of hours by convention and system.</p> - -<p>On the boat were only men; older men called up to the colours. Most of -them were fathers of families. One man sat in tears over a photograph -of his five children spread out before him. Some had lived all their -lives in England. "Well, you're an Englishman, at any rate," said the -steward to an obvious cockney. But he was French, though he could -scarcely speak it. A very old priest was returning, after twenty years, -to "die among his soldier children" in a French frontier village—"or -perhaps my grand-children," he corrected, with a faint smile.</p> - -<p>As we neared Calais the cloud began to pass.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> The men clustered and -spoke together: a few started singing. When I had crossed a few days -before, the quay had been lined with the usual cheering children, and -a few condescending tourists had waved back. Now there was a line of -soldiers in the same place. Our passengers rushed to the side and -cheered them. A number of French cruisers guarded the entrance. It -was the first real proof that we were passing into the facts of war. -The odd nightmare feeling of those few first days, that witnessed the -collapse of the structure of civilisation upon which our lives had -hitherto rested, intensified. The war was true after all; not merely -a terrible darkness of sensation into which we kept waking up, with a -shrinking discomfort, whenever our attention came back from reading -some book or following some ordinary chain of thought.</p> - -<p>At Calais there had been no regular train traffic for three days. A -number of travellers who had got as far as Calais on previous days -decided to return by our boat to England. The porters stood round -vaguely, with the distracted strained look that we learned to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -associate later with the presence of the war atmosphere. I discovered -to my surprise a train waiting in the station with steam up:—it was -"Lord Kitchener's Special," prepared to carry him on his way to Egypt. -But Lord Kitchener at the last moment had not come, for reasons that -have since proved amply sufficient. By various persuasive arguments we -at last convinced the undecided station-master that as the line had -been cleared the express might run through; and we reached Paris in -four hours; the "last" unofficial express during the war.</p> - -<p>The Gare du Nord was empty of porters; but the long lines of platform -were piled ten feet high down the centre with enormous trunks—the -abandoned luggage of escaping tourists.</p> - -<p>Outside the station the approaches were barred by barriers, where -dragoons demanded passes from every foot passenger. Troops poured past, -starting for their different centres of concentration. The suburban -traffic had ceased. The streets were full of people kept in the town -against their will by the demands of the mobilisation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> - -<p>Paris had not yet settled down. It was seething in those first three -days of panic that seemed throughout Europe to follow the declaration -of war. More an atmospheric feeling than a state with definite -symptoms. People, for these days, seemed to be moving and speaking -semi-consciously, with the nervous suggestion in their faces that they -expected something novel and shocking to happen at any second. The -supposed German shops and houses were being wrecked and looted. Every -now and then there was a hurried rush of feet through the street, as -some suspect was hunted or maltreated. The spy-hunting mania seems -to have been a universal infection during this time. The disorderly -elements in the big towns got the upper hand for the moment and the -cold-blooded brutality of these silent man-hunts was to me infinitely -more shocking than the sight and sound of the more terrible destruction -on the battlefields. It was the first growl of the beast that we had -let loose, the savage animal in man waking for our purposes of war. -Under my window was a great courtyard, in which hundreds of German<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> and -Austrian men, women and children were confined for their protection. -They had to sleep on the stones in the open air; and it was a pitiable -thing, while the crowds outside the gate were execrating and hustling -those who were thrust in to join them, to hear them singing French -songs and cheering for France. Most of them were French by education -and sympathy, and only German by extraction.</p> - -<p>The apache element, which had been encouraged by the thinning out of -the Gendarmerie for military service to make patriotism the cover for -convenient looting and brutality, was soon brought into order. Cavalry -pickets patrolled the streets in the evening; a curious sight, their -horses trampling on the pavement of the Rue de la Paix. The worst -haunts were raided; many hundreds were arrested, and the police in -large motor wagons ran through deserted quarters, stopping and pouncing -in batches upon suspected passers-by. The civil hand had released its -hold, and it was a day or two before the new military administration -could get a firm grip. Government offices were in a not unnatural -state<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> of confusion—they had been weakened by the withdrawal of a -large proportion of their effective staff, at the same moment that they -became responsible for an enormous mass of novel duty. The civilian, -under military government, found himself of a sudden unable to move or -exist without official permits. The whole social structure had to be -reorganised, and the offices were crowded with jostling individuals -asking for permissions and explanations which the over-worked officials -were unable to supply. One of the most painful memories of the war was -the sight of refined-looking Austrians and Germans, men and women, -artists and writers, with the puzzled hunted expression of people in a -nightmare, forced to appeal in public to hurrying footmen and office -boys for some indulgence that might allow them to continue to earn -their living.</p> - -<p>The guiding principle of most public offices at this time, not only in -Paris, seemed to be that of sending people backward and forward until -their endurance should wear out. With what should happen to them in -case they did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> comply with all the new regulations the military -outlook was not concerned. Every effort was to be concentrated on -the preparation for war. The civilian in such an atmosphere has no -further rights. If we permit, as nations, the whole civilised order of -existence to be pitched into a whirlpool of primitive passions, we must -expect to have to scuffle personally for our life-belts.</p> - -<p>On the third day of my stay in Paris the situation was indescribably -relieved by the declaration of war between England and Germany. The -rush on the banks stopped. Prices fell. Money became easier, and the -crowd of British and other tourists, sitting on their boxes in nervous -lines before the Consulates, diminished. The growing hostility of the -Parisians to ourselves disappeared. The organization in the responsible -offices, in so far as the public was concerned, began to assume some -order.</p> - -<p>Night and day the regiments passed through and round the city. The -mobilisation was rapid and extremely orderly. There was no apparent -hitch. We became confident that the prophecies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> that France would -be found unprepared would be proved totally wrong. Gradually the -requisitioned cabs and trams began to reappear in the streets. The -women quietly stepped into the men's places as ticket-collectors, etc. -With reduced numbers and closed shops, a graver population took up its -ordinary life.</p> - -<p>It was very soon apparent that no official correspondents were to -be allowed with the French or British forces. A large proportion of -the remaining officials, not to say ourselves, could have been saved -infinite bother if the intention had been declared from the first. -After a week spent without profit in ante-chambers and bureaus, I -decided to get through to Belgium, where there seemed to be better -possibility of approaching actual events. Chance helped me to secure a -more picturesque fashion of return than I could have hoped for.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Saturday, August 10th.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>I am just back from the first, and "probably the last," visit that -a civilian will be able to pay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> to the French frontier until the -situation has considerably developed.</p> - -<p>To have to wait a day in a queue to obtain a permit to leave, another -to secure a ticket, and even a third to confirm it by getting a -definite seat on a numbered train, can discourage the most patient. -The miracle of deliverance, however, took place; and it was brought -about by the agency of a chance meeting with a genial chauffeur. There -followed an introduction to his employers, a party of Belgian officers -returning to their own army, and an amiable invitation to evade some of -the weariness of the irregular train journey by taking a lift.</p> - -<p>That this was extended beyond all limits contemplated by military -regulations must be attributed to a reluctance to turn out on a dark, -wet night, in unknown districts, one of a nation whose intervention, -as I was assured, has contributed much to the magnificent spirit -with which the Belgian troops have supported the first rush of the -"invincible machine."</p> - -<p>We left Paris with the Boulevards almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> as crowded as ever, but with -half the colour and light gone, and a note of unusual gravity in the -aspect and talk of the moving stream.</p> - -<p>Out through the long, dark suburbs, with the last signal, the flare of -the searchlight from the Eiffel Tower, blinking its messages across -the clouds high above our heads in front. In the first two miles we -were stopped half-a-dozen times; business-like question and answer in -quick, suppressed voices. Then the checks decreased as we ran out into -the dark fields, though the flash of light upon arms, the challenge -and halt came still at bridge and corner. The 'word of the day' passed -us at only reduced pace through the larger pickets, but the less -well-informed solitary sentry had to be more fully satisfied; and the -more, the further from Paris.</p> - -<p>Then longer and longer intervals of tremendous racing, unchecked; -for the car drove at full speed, and there is no peace traffic! The -light of the Eiffel Tower disappeared behind, but there was still -the consciousness, in the most remote darkness, that above us darted -ceaselessly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> the continuous stream of wireless messages linking the -brain of the army in the little room in unseen Paris with every -movement of the vast protecting arms that already lie outstretched to -guard France. Through Senlis, Compiègne, St. Quentin, and, at last, -Cambrai. It was only possible to calculate the probable towns by the -intervals of time, for in each case we were turned off on to side -circuits.</p> - -<p>When I had passed south to Paris a few days before, on a more westerly -line, the country had still seemed inhabited, though by a mixed race: -crowds of little red and blue soldiers resting, marching, crammed in -troop trains, and knots of men and women at the village corners, or -staring at the gates of the huge deserted factories.</p> - -<p>Now it seemed an empty land. All the life had passed east into the -great war cloud. Only now and again the flash of the lamp on a cluster -of boys and older men, sitting or lying by the road; the non-combatants -of the villages from the war region tramping west, with blue check -bundles tied on the handles of their reaping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> hooks, to earn what they -could, for the later repair of their losses, by helping to harvest. -Need for it, too, as the sight of the immense fields of grain, unreaped -or half reaped, yellowing the lonely fields of the uninhabited country, -suggest ruin to the traveller passing in the train.</p> - -<p>Before Cambrai we passed under a thicker darkness of cloud, and met -a torrent of rain that for the rest of the night and morning hid -everything but the glint of the lamps on falling drops or the more -vivid gleam of fixed bayonets.</p> - -<p>As we neared the frontier the country seemed to become populous again. -The cottages had lights; lights in the fields and through the trees. -Only, as we passed, the strangeness increased, for the population had -come from a different planet. Quiet cottages, with the glow of uniforms -through the wet panes, fields with a few tireless peasant women, helped -by good-humoured soldiers, using even the darkness for a desperate -effort to get in the forsaken crops. The sight of arms and wagons -seemed all the less fitting in the quiet villages because there was no -suggestion of war.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> - -<p>One picture stands out vividly; the glare of the lights through the -rain on a sentry motionless on guard, while a dozen peasant women, -tired doubtless from the day's reaping, slept in his charge, lying -under the ridge of the field where they had been working.</p> - -<p>Beyond Cambrai I was not at liberty to note our direction or record any -details—a natural condition.</p> - -<p>In fact, there would be little to record; for the night was a -continuance of sounds, of lights, of moving unseen men and horses; and -of sudden challenges, coming out of the darkness through the rush of -rain. Only I may add that in one village our welcome was marked by a -different French intonation as the men gathered round us, and a Belgian -advance patrol exchanged jokes with my companions.</p> - -<p>Our route from Cambrai, as a matter of fact, took us to Valenciennes, -where the Belgian officers left me, hurrying to Maubeuge, while I -returned by car to Douai.</p> - -<p>In the grey of the morning I emerged, passing north of Douai, and now -without my companions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> As we raced west, still through rain, we passed -again into deserted countries. The great machine had done its work. -The mobilisation was complete. The dotted sentries, gradually changing -from the smart field soldier to the paternal reservist squeezed into -a uniform—or partial uniform, seemed the only jetsam of the coloured -turmoil of the early week.</p> - -<p>The crawling railway, the American ladies complaining of the slow -trains and closed buffets, brought us back to ordinary life. Officials, -struggling to make us take their passports and their war-regulations -seriously, failed to revive any reality of impression.</p> - -<p>The war frontier, in rain and darkness, was drifting back into the -vague excitement of newspaper reports.</p> - -<p>The separation by nationalities was in full progress. France was being -cleared of all strangers. The consuls, for reasons not clear, were -advising all British residents to return to England at once. The chief -sufferers were the children, boys at school in France, children left -for visits or cures with French families or in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> boarding houses. Before -I reached Folkestone there must have been at least fifteen such small -strays who had had to be adopted and looked after during the succeeding -stages of the journey.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The First Days in Brussels</span></p> - - -<p>Restarting almost immediately, I crossed to Ostend. On the way there -were the usual reassuring but unrecordable sights of the sentinel -cruisers and busy submarines that made these frequent passages -seem, after later weeks in the war countries, like an escape into a -comfortable atmosphere of home.</p> - -<p>At Ostend a party of efficient St. John Ambulance nurses with whom -I had travelled were received with delightful enthusiasm, and free -lemonade, by the Belgian soldiers.</p> - -<p>Brussels proved a contrast after Paris. The panic days, which took a -milder form here in spite of, or because of, the greater proximity of -danger, had passed. The townsfolk were absolutely calm, the shops open, -the life, except for the absence of means of traffic, undisturbed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - -<p>Only at intervals, as the chance of the German occupation increased, -and the news diminished, there would come over the city for a few -hours, one of those electric restless waves which we got to know as -signs of approaching danger. They arose from no definite news. The -crowds repeated no rumours. It was merely an uneasy feeling in the air. -Something had happened far off, and like the unseen fall of a heavy -stone in water the ripple reached and spread over the city, that yet -had no definite information to disturb it.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Brussels, Monday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>In addition to the well-deserved enthusiasm with which Belgian heroism -in arms has been greeted throughout civilised Europe, something must be -said of the success with which the extraordinary demands have been met -by the departments of the civil administration of Belgium.</p> - -<p>During the last few days I have been in contact with a variety of -administrative offices in the capitals of three of the belligerent -Powers. In one country it seems as yet unrecognised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> that exceptional -conditions demand exceptional organisation. In another there is -frank confusion, due to the withdrawal of the majority of the -efficient administrative staff to the war and the concentration of -the remainder solely on military requirements. Only in Brussels has -it been recognised in time that the civil life of a country, properly -controlled, is as important to success as any section of the work of -mobilisation, and that it is not sufficient to proclaim a state of war -and leave everything to an already over-worked military organisation.</p> - -<p>Some genius (we know now it was Burgomaster Max) must have been behind -the details of city administration here, for in their way they have -been as successful in maintaining public confidence as the personality -of the mountaineer King has been in inspiring magnificent enthusiasm -in his army. The streets are kept orderly, retail trade is almost -normal, railway traffic has been rarely interfered with by the immense -task of mobilisation; the complications of travellers and passports -are simpli<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>fied and dealt with efficiently and considerately; the -Press control is effective but courteous; the hospitals are admirably -organised; and the crowds are kept from the stations, on the arrival of -wounded or prisoners.</p> - -<p>All civil organisations are made use of, and even the Boy Scouts are -doing excellent work for all branches, without the error—increasing -across the border—of considering themselves semi-combatants. The -result is that though the crisis, after the first few days, is -being met in all the capitals with gravity and quiet resolution, -Brussels—the most immediately threatened—remains a model of civic -life under strict but considerate administration.</p> - -<p>The moral, if any, is that even in actual war nations are only the -weaker for having to send the whole of their manhood to the front. To -convert the whole community, with its varied forces of activity, into a -single military machine, is to make the machine itself less effective.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Brussels, Tuesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>I have been given to-day every facility<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> to inspect the excellent -organisation for the care of the wounded. A noticeable feature at the -central office is the extent to which amateur help is made use of in -organising, and the efficiency and open mind with which unexpected -contingencies are met and suggestions considered.</p> - -<p>(Later a growing amount of the unqualified "Red Cross" help was found -to be open to the same objections that were made to it as the result of -our own experience in the Boer War.)</p> - -<p>If experience in Paris and Brussels can be turned to account, the -British authorities should pay attention to the organisation of -private motor-cars lent to the force, to make them of real service. A -large proportion are apt to race about without purpose or serviceable -return—the usual difficulty with a crowd of enthusiastic would-be -helpers.</p> - -<p>The prisoners at Bruges confirm the impression that the commissariat -arrangements of the advance guard of the invading German columns was -very defective, owing to the unexpected resistance. The nature of the -wounds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> bears out the reports of inexpert German shooting. A great -number of the Belgian soldiers brought back from the front are wounded -below the knee, and a smaller proportion in the scalp.</p> - -<p>The Bruges authorities are most considerate in allowing books and -games to be sent to the prisoners of war, and letters to be sent and -received. (We were permitted to send down dozens of packs of cards -etc., as a distraction for the prisoners.)</p> - -<p>The population remains completely calm, even at a time when the next -few days may decide their fate. The passage of a German aeroplane -yesterday aroused only momentary curiosity. (Every day at about five -o'clock the aeroplanes circled over the town. We got to look for them. -Almost every night also a bright planet, the "Brussels star" was -watched by interested crowds, who took it for a "Zeppelin.")</p> - -<p>I witnessed to-day the feeding of some 10,000 children of men at the -front. The distribution was excellently organised. Later I saw the -distribution of vegetables to the necessitous.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> - -<p>These days of anxious waiting are taken with quiet resolution and much -good humour.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Brussels, Wednesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The gallantry of the Belgian resistance has astonished the world. It -has surprised the Belgians themselves. It would be a mistake to look -for its source only in the reconstitution of the Army, a matter of the -last few years; or to find in it a justification of war, or a plea for -national military service as the regenerator of racial vigour.</p> - -<p>The war is only the opportunity for the expression of a new Belgian -democratic spirit. The new service conditions have been merely one of -the agencies by which the idea of the individual right to a greater -share in self-government, and the idea of the necessary condition for -such government, national independence, have been disseminated.</p> - -<p>If the Belgians are fighting heroically, it is because they are -fighting for an independence which means not simply a national flag -and a coloured space on the map, but individual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> liberty. They are -defending, each man for himself and his neighbour, a responsible share -in an increasingly popular Government. The inspiration of the national -resistance has been the consciousness in each man of his share of -liberty already gained. This democratic spirit has given life and vivid -purpose to the military machine.</p> - -<p>For the time all difference of party is sunk in securing the primary -condition of liberty, racial independence, and the deliverance from the -threat of that greatest enemy of freedom and individual enterprise, -the military autocracy of Prussia. For the time, that can be the only -conscious idea. But the liberal and more intellectual elements must -be rejoicing in the realisation that the splendid effect of the new -spirit is already justifying the democratic movement by which a share -of popular responsibility has been gained in the past. They may well -be looking forward to a time when the people will be considered to -have earned by their heroism in arms a yet greater part in their own -government.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> - -<p>The association of M. Vandervelde with the ministry has done much to -identify the new spirit of democracy with the central idea of national -existence. It is symbolical of the fact that the cause of Belgium is -the cause of her people. An ardent advocate of peace and international -friendship, he is known to have been one of the most resolutely -convinced that, in this crisis of her fate, Belgium could be content -with no formal protest, that she must fight for her independence to -the last man. (It remains for history to emphasise the measure of -political wisdom that the King showed at this crisis, in strengthening -the influence of his own resolution, never to allow a free passage -to the Germans, by the inclusion in the councils of the nation, of a -personality politically antagonistic, but inspired by a patriotism and -intellectual power second to none.)</p> - -<p>In a country hitherto supposed to have been exceptionally under the -influence of clerical domination it is significant to note the very -small part that the Church has taken in the time of great emotional -strain. In few of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> organisations, civil and military, preparatory -and corrective, established to meet the crisis, has the Church taken -the lead.</p> - -<p>Even the Boy Scouts, as a small instance, who loom large in the -administrative life of Brussels for the time being, and who have -hitherto been divided into hostile camps by Church and lay divisions, -have sunk their differences, and are absorbed into the non-sectarian -and civil machinery. It will be interesting to see what effect the loss -of grip of the Church at this crucial moment may have upon her position -when the new Belgian national spirit, confirmed by trial, can turn its -energies again to problems of government and personal liberty.</p> - -<p>The renaissance, or rather reassertion, is not confined to men. Women -are taking a prominent part, and that not only in replacing men in -subordinate work. It has not been elsewhere stated, but I have been -assured by several of the wounded that much of the power of resistance -in the Liége forts is due to the women of the town of Liége, who twice -a day risk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> their lives in visiting the forts, bringing provisions and -new heart.</p> - -<p>With such wives and mothers there is little reason to fear that the new -spirit will be limited to one generation, or can be accounted for as -merely the reaction from a war fever. The war will but harden it into -manhood.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Belgian Engagements: Eghezee, Haelen</span></p> - - -<p>In a country, or town, under war conditions, all the usual facilities -of civilisation are suspended. Post, telegraph and train cease, so -far as civilians are concerned. Trams, carriages and automobiles are -required for military purposes. Movement out of, or even within, a -town is practically stopped. Not only are the countries sorted out by -nationalities, but even each town and village. A strange face is an -object of suspicious inquiry. A stranger finds it difficult to stay at -places where he is; it is all but impossible for him to leave them. -Permits of a particular kind are needed for any journey; and these -are constantly changing. The precautions are, of course, necessary, -especially to counteract an elaborate spy-system, such as that of the -Germans. They place, however, immense diffi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>culties in the way of war -correspondence. To get the necessary permits for motor travel, the only -method of safe passage for a correspondent, is a matter of much time -and difficulty. When they are obtained, there remains to find a car -still unrequisitioned, and the services of a driver free from military -service and of absolutely sound nerves. In this I was exceptionally -fortunate. To "Lèon the chauffeur" is due the success which attended -my first efforts to get near the battle line, our pleasant reception -in almost all cases there, and our not infrequent escapes from awkward -situations. I was able to make some small return in the rescue of his -jolly family of babies from Brussels on the morning of the German entry.</p> - -<p>Our first excursion towards the actual fighting was a race down the -Belgian lines as far as Namur, to visit the French troops. They had -then just reached the Meuse, and were lined, holding the bank towards -Dinant.</p> - -<p>Liége had fallen. A few forts were said to be holding out; but -communications were cut off.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Brussels, Friday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>A dash down the fighting lines to the south to-day showed us at points -along the route signs of the fierce little fights which have taken -place. The Belgians have held their positions magnificently.</p> - -<p>Our car was stopped every few miles to convey wounded. In these hot -days the troops, lying waiting along the trenches, have been greatly -suffering from the sun. The Belgian army cap is highly unpractical. -We carried a load of some five thousand handkerchiefs, which were -distributed, as well as the usual journals and cigarettes.</p> - -<p>There were intervals of sunlit fields—then masses of dark uniformed -troops. Occasionally chains and wire entanglements appeared suddenly -through the trees by the wayside.</p> - -<p>French troops—jolly fellows, fit and in great spirits—were in Namur. -The sight of cyclists returning from the little victory at Eghezee, -garlanded with flowers, was tremendously acclaimed.</p> - -<p>As we returned in the exquisite summer night<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> we kept passing the -shadows of moving troops in the thin darkness. Three times we heard -the sound of sabots and singing, where the peasants and children were -gathered round the priests, under the trees, in supplicatory services -to the Virgin. As a contrast, twice again during the rush home through -the night there was a flash and report from a nervous sentry, and one -bullet struck our car.</p> - -<p>The Belgian army lay along the line Diest, Tirlemont, Jodoigne, -stretching towards Namur. The Headquarters were at Louvain. It covered -Brussels, and at the same time anticipated a flanking movement on the -north, by Hasselt. The main body occupied field trenches and forts -protected by wire entanglements. It was continually harried by the -countless bodies of roving Uhlans, and suffered considerably from the -heat, as it lay unoccupied in the trenches. It had done magnificently -in the forts; how would it do in the field? It was a time of waiting, -of small distracting engagements. None of us knew where the real stroke -would fall.</p> - -<p>I spent the next few days at Louvain and in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> various villages on the -lines, visiting the wounded in the cottages and shelters.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Thursday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Barricades and guards on every road. The country absolutely at peace. -The peasants working at the crops. But "the Prussians"—for we do not -speak of "Germans"—are pressing us on the north; they are threatening -and breaking in on the south. The first menaces, but the second may -compel our retreat on Antwerp.</p> - -<p>As we run out of Brussels down the shady avenues we are blocked by -little mazes of tram-cars, dragged across the road. Further on, at -every corner, crossing and hamlet, there are barriers of waggons, of -driven logs or piled trees. From these the Civil Guard threaten with -levelled guns. Dangerous citizens, in mediæval hats; they loose off on -suspicion, and are as zealous as most amateurs. They will run on to -a roof to shoot at an aeroplane 2,000 feet above them, regardless of -damage that may be done by their falling bullets.</p> - -<p>Further from the town the uniforms get more patchy; a bowler hat with -the colours of Belgium<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> round it is one of the smartest insignia. In -the hamlets we have the peasants in blouses; but with business-like -rifles, readily handled. Good fellows; stern on their job; but, once -satisfied, ready to laugh back and exchange news. And everywhere -ubiquitous jolly children, scrambling about, even on the barriers -behind the bayonets. A little blue monster, with a large bottle, hopped -and chuckled with glee as a surly guard all but fired on us from mere -boredom.</p> - -<p>We are racing down the line to Namur. Small engagements with Uhlans -are of hourly occurrence to-day in the domestic-looking fields. The -châteaux are deserted. Everyone has an anxious eye on the horizon.</p> - -<p>My red ensign is saluted cheerily by the soldiers, but it has to be -explained to the sturdy peasant guards. An officer stops me to tell me -that I am an Englishman, and to explain that he is riding on a horse -this morning captured from the Germans. The German horses are good; but -the Belgians ride better.</p> - -<p>We are practically among the Namur defences. The challenges come every -two minutes, or less.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> The fields are scarred with modern "forts"; -great wire entanglements, twisted boughs, and red and yellow trenches, -sometimes roofed with the new-cut crops. Little bodies of soldiers, -small, wiry, intelligent men and boys, with pleasant faces already -rough with exposure, crowd round to chat and to welcome the cigarettes -and newspapers.</p> - -<p>"There has been a skirmish here," they tell us; "Two prisoners are in -that cottage"; "Three wounded in the church"; and again and again they -ask, "Where are the English?" and "How many are the French?" Ah, if we -knew! For the Belgian army has played the hero in fort and open field; -but many know they are hard-pressed. Our talk is of the demoralisation -of the Germans, and of their hunger when captured.</p> - -<p>In the middle of a little green wood, sheltered from aeroplanes, -suddenly we are in a fort. Vicious guns are trained on to a -cottage-hedge in full flower, that has been left standing to screen -them for the time. Close beside them, some twenty boys are bathing in -a shady pool. But they are curiously quiet. The chances of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> fight and -death are too near. And, as in all wars, there are terrible stories -growing of the savagery of the enemy.</p> - -<p>Dark, waspish little soldiers lie seemingly at haphazard through the -fields, and they fill the streets of Namur. The town is oddly still. -Even the huge masonry of the fortress, hanging above the beautiful -wooded gorge of the Meuse, seems to share in a suppressed, shifting -quiet of expectancy.</p> - -<p>We wheel out of the town, this time not to see again our French -friends, but away to where the pressure is closest. Only last night -an audacious German detachment of some 300 pressed within a few miles -of the town, at Eghezee, and paid for its folly. Taking possession of -the Chateau of Boneff, they looted the house, and sat down to cook -rice on the stubble slope by the road. An airman marked them down. -A small body of Belgians crept along the road, from Namur, "on all -fours," occupied the trenches already prepared in the potato slope -opposite—finding no sentries or outposts—and swept the detachment at -close range. Prisoners, dead,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> and wounded, few were able to retreat; -but the remainder had some revenge a few hours later on a rash cyclist -contingent of Belgians which followed them too far.</p> - -<p>While I walked the field the horses were still being charred and -buried, the saddlery and cooking pots collected.</p> - -<p>Cavalry patrols of dark, hard-bitten little soldiers speckled the -country round. A careworn young lieutenant arrested me the first time. -He hardly attended to the papers, rolling a cigarette and murmuring -courteously and constantly: "There are so many spies about."</p> - -<p>As we pushed on and out on field tracks for a further view, the car -appeared to materialise a succession of cantering patrols out of the -empty sunlit spaces of fields. Some were courteous: some not. But all, -fortunately, had more serious business to attend to in the end.</p> - -<p>At last we spied a more stealthy line of jogging helmets circuiting -behind trees far ahead. This time we decided that arrest, even after -a race, would be the lesser risk to take. We turned and spurted back, -our doubts confirmed by seeing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> two or three unexpected lines of dots -concentrating upon us or our pursuers. We spun through them and back on -to the larger road. A few shots heard later, a long way behind, gave -us the feeling of having acted as a convenient decoy for at least one -party of the dreaded Uhlans.</p> - -<p>Our next arrest, shortly afterwards, was by a fierce-looking -commandant, on an exceptionally fine horse. He was softened by the -red ensign and the success of his own attempts to talk English. We -agreed that it was difficult to make certain when we were or were not -well within the front, since the two forces were "all in and out along -here." He, too, wished to know "Where are the English?" He had captured -two dragoons that day with his own hand. Some of his troops had the -metal German lances slung on their shoulders.</p> - -<p>On our straight run back to Namur, by entanglements and trenches and -constant challenges, we watched with pleasure an aeroplane circling -above the tremendous hill fortress; certainly, we thought, a Belgian, -because of its low flight.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> - -<p>Half-an-hour later, as I was getting food in the lively centre of the -town, there came the now familiar rush of the highly-strung crowd. In -a small cart, supported by four workmen, an old, respectably-dressed -shop-keeper was being drawn to the hospital with shattered legs and -terribly wounded head. He had been struck down in the street by the -explosion of a dynamite hand-grenade, flung from the aeroplane which we -had watched circling against the sunset. The senseless, wanton savagery -of war.</p> - -<p>Our return in the dark seemed likely to be sensational, for rumour had -it that the Prussians were pressing in again on the north near Wavre. -Up to Wavre we merely had the not infrequent incident of a guard, -who had forgotten to light his lamp to stop us, trying to repair his -omission by firing after our tail-lamp.</p> - -<p>At Wavre, in the half-lit street, we met stretchers passing through the -mute groups of men and children, a grim sign of near conflict.</p> - -<p>Here a genial commandant stopped me for a talk. He had been at Eghezee, -and was now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> on his way to "receive" a small German column that was -pushing in on the east under cover of night. A surprise had been -arranged by the Belgians.</p> - -<p>He brought me up the road north-east from Wavre. We left the car under -dark trees; and he directed me to a hillock on the right. After an age -of waiting, little dispersed flashes and reports came from the hollow -in the dark in front. The Germans were getting into touch. It was the -first time I had heard the mitrailleuse, like the ripping of rough -canvas.</p> - -<p>Answering flash and snarl came from a rough semicircle of shadow in -front and on the south side of them. Larger guns came into action on -the north, muffled behind slopes. There is little to see by day in a -modern battle unless one takes part. Nothing to see at night. I was -due back. When I left the commandant, to return through Wavre, the -stretchers were passing through empty streets.</p> - -<p>It was not yet apparent what line the German northern armies were -about to adopt for their main advance. The Uhlan screen prevented<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -exact reconnoitring. We were aware that the French troops were coming -up; and there seemed to be signs that they intended either to throw -across a number of regiments to assist the Belgians east and south of -Brussels, or to form a continuous line with the Belgian army on a curve -from Diest to Namur. The latter plan would have forced a great battle -in the neighbourhood of Genappe, south of Waterloo. At the same time I -was aware that the Government were anxious both on account of the small -numbers of French crossing the frontier and at the apparent slowness of -their advance. We did not know of the strategy that had concentrated -the French armies upon Alsace-Lorraine, or, consequently, of the time -necessary for the alteration of the balance of troops towards the -north. It was rumoured, as it appears now among the Germans also, that -the British force would either advance by Brussels, and hold a position -in the centre of the defensive loop from the north of Hasselt to the -French positions upon the Meuse and Sambre, or cover Antwerp and the -Belgian left wing, thus preventing a turning movement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> of the Germans -along the frontier of Dutch Limburg.</p> - -<p>The position became clearer when the news arrived of the advance of -German army corps across the Meuse; and of the great concentration that -was proceeding in the neighbourhood of Hasselt. It was still supposed, -however, to be largely a movement of cavalry.</p> - -<p>Heavy fighting was reported on Thursday and Friday at Haelen. Friday -was a brilliant sunny day. It was full of surprises. We forced our way -along rough lanes, to run suddenly into small reserves or batteries -hidden from the aviators under trees. At times we had to move -hazardously with one wheel in a ditch, as we passed lines of munition -waggons, or crowded along jogging lines of cavalry. We skirted behind -the trenches from Louvain to Diest, and thence to Haelen.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Haelen, Friday.</span> -</p> - -<p>Fine fellows these little Belgians; intelligent and quick to respond. -Rather weary now and strained, for many of them have been already long -in the field. Day and night they have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> fighting at odds of ten -to one. They are men who think, and they fight the better for it. A -desperately exhausting fight it is. Dispersed in parties over their -immense front, they have to rush and concentrate the moment that one -of the small squadrons of German cavalry, infinitely scattered, is -signalled. Some, thus, have been in three separate engagements on one -day, in different places. But they are as stout-hearted as ever. Tell -them what the world thinks of their heroism, and they smile with half -humorous pleasure. Tell them what we guess of the nearness of their -allies, and they crowd round with an unselfconscious delight that is -not for themselves but for their nation and their cause.</p> - -<p>As we pass among them, in their "rest" moments, it is easy to make them -cluster, laughing like a crowd of alert boys; but in the fighting line -they are tense as wires, with a concentrated sternness that the Germans -are learning to respect.</p> - -<p>"I have sabred two this morning," a powerful, brown-faced lad, a -cavalryman, who had just finished bandaging a German dragoon with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -broken back, said to me drowsily to-day. This was in a cottage at -Haelen.</p> - -<p>Haelen, the wrecked village, where the Belgians have proved their -heroism in the field, has to-day been the scene of renewed attacks -and unshaken resistance. The Germans, who lost 2,000 out of 5,000 in -the two days' fighting, had to fall back upon the base of their army -corps at Kermpt; but they have been pressing, pressing forward again in -overwhelming numbers.</p> - -<p>The fields outside the village are a terrible sight: littered with dead -men and horses, broken guns, twisted lances. In one trench alone twelve -hundred Germans were being buried, and the harrow was passed over the -brown scar as soon as it was filled in. Cottages burned and black with -shell fire, with dead cattle in the sheds. There were furrows where -the shell had ploughed; and trampled heaps in the crops and among the -bloodstained roots, where the charging horses had been mown down in -masses.</p> - -<p>Among the fragments of leather and helmets were a number of scraps of -letters and postcards,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> carried by the soldiers in case of death, and -a German collection of sacred songs for the campaign. These things are -better left as they lie, and it is unwise, in running between rival -armies, to risk carrying "mementoes" of battle. One very touching -letter, however, that I found here, was carried home by a friend, and -as my translation has already appeared, it may be reproduced:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -"Sweetheart,<br /> -</p> - -<p>Fate in this present war has treated us more cruelly than many others. -If I have not lived to create for you the happiness of which both our -hearts dreamed, remember that my sole wish is now that you should be -comforted. Forget me. Create for yourself some contented home that may -restore to you some of the greater pleasures of life.</p> - -<p>For myself, I shall have died happy in the thought of your love. My -last thought has been for you and for those I leave at home. Accept -this, the last kiss, from him who loved you."</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> - -<p>A German biplane hovered overhead as I examined the positions in the -field. I was anxious to make sure of the German line of advance. I -drove forward over the village bridge, the scene of savage fighting and -bombardment, but still just standing, and unexpectedly found myself -behind the fighting line, facing a renewed German advance. Every house -in the village was wrecked and looted. The street was littered with -broken bottles and remnants. The church tower was gaping with holes: -the Belgians, too, had had to use it to train their guns upon, during -the German occupation. The walls still standing were pierced for rifle -fire.</p> - -<p>As we moved across the long-contested bridge and up the broken -bullet-scarred street it was to the sound of cannon. Waggons bringing -up fresh ammunition poured past us. On the stones under the walls knots -of soldiers, too weary to shift their feet, lay sleeping during their -hour of release from the front.</p> - -<p>At intervals round the battered church wall came the stretchers, with -the still more quiet dead.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> - -<p>I had visited three field ambulances along the line from Louvain during -the day. Now for the fourth time I was admitted to the improvised -ambulance rooms, well knowing what I should find. For the Belgian -remains true to his civilisation. The wounded German prisoners, as they -came in, were treated with just the same care, their death dignified -with the same respect as that of our own friends. And yet the stories -that are told of their cruelty to the peasants, and sincerely believed -by the soldiers, are terrible. "But"—said a little rough, unshaven -peasant infantryman to me—"we are men who feel. Whatever our enemies -may do, we shall continue as we have begun—to the end."</p> - -<p>I was even allowed to speak to some of the wounded in their own -language. Not one had a word of complaint. Poor fellows, they all -believed they had been fighting against the French! I think two of -the finest men I have ever seen were a Belgian corporal and a German -private, who lay dying to-day of bullet wounds, in half-burnt villages -a few miles apart. In the cottage yard a peasant woman, with four -children<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> round her, who had seen her house sacked, was making coffee -over a wood fire for the wounded Germans.</p> - -<p>But the air round us was overcharged. The Belgians had been surprised -in some woods as they advanced from the village this morning. They had -lost heavily. Now they were holding the position well, but the Germans, -in spite of losses, were closing in. Their advanced firing parties -were at the moment within 300 yards of the village. At any instant -their cavalry, whose lances and helmets lay mixed with smashed bottles -about the village square, relics of the past day, might sweep round the -defence.</p> - -<p>All of a sudden one of the changes of mood common to nerves at such -crises came over the soldiers about us. The faces hardened. We were -under arrest. The fact of my talking German to the wounded, a mistake -I learned to avoid later, was sufficient to brand me a spy. I had -taken the precaution to translate each sentence to the sergeant in -charge, but he denied it when I referred to him. Men in the "war -state" are hardly responsible. I was taken, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> the sentries, past a -barricade, held by infantry with Maxims, to the headquarters. The major -commanding, furiously issuing orders, sending out supports, etc., from -the parlour of the last cottage in the street, was too occupied to give -me full attention. "I have the right to shoot you: you ought to be -shot, of course," was all he had time to exclaim at intervals. After a -hurried, unsatisfactory talk I moved outside, and waited, among sullen -faces. And I could see, a few yards off, the little sunlit glade of -trees, where the Belgians were moving and firing, as they covered the -entrance to the village.</p> - -<p>An important prisoner was hurried in, and then away in a car. In the -bustle some change occurred. Another major was in command. A tall, -scholarly-looking man, utterly incongruous in such a scene, shouting -abrupt orders in a cultivated voice. At last he had a moment for me. "I -am perfectly satisfied; but we are in war. You will, I hope, excuse my -forbidding your advance; in fact, it is impossible: the enemy command -the road: good day"—he bowed me out with my guard. Immediately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> only -sunny faces round us again; but still with the fixed, absent eyes, that -tell of danger, close and realised.</p> - -<p>It had not been my wish to advance further. In fact, the car was -already turned, ready for a race back if the Germans broke in. We -waited for a few more minutes to laugh that look out of the eyes of -our friendly soldiers. Then we moved slowly back along the line of -ruins, the traces of death, that made but a single battlefield of the -fight of to-day and the fights of two days ago. We zigzagged through -the sleeping soldiers, stretched unstirring on the cobble stones. The -roar of a German aeroplane passed again over our heads; and the firing -sounded nearer, both to north and south.</p> - -<p>As I circled towards Diest, the roads were choked with munition and -reinforcements. A column of infantry wheeled to take up a position in -a beet-field on our left. A squadron of cavalry in the brown busby -clattered past to head off Uhlans reported on our right. The village -streets were barricaded with waggons; but the crowds of anxious, -waiting women, boys,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> and children laughed and chaffed back at us as -we waited at the barriers on the roads for a gap to be made for our -passage.</p> - -<p>Supports, and more waggons, and the constant rushing cars of officers. -The orchards were full of cavalry horses, many of them captured from -the Germans. The waiting soldiers grinned as I remarked on the fact -that some of them were wearing the boots of German prisoners, even -German regimental breeches. The Belgian mobilisation had to be carried -out in two days. Many of the troopers have had to complete their kit at -the German expense.</p> - -<p>An officer swung into the car. He had come out of Liége to "rest." He -is one of the only two survivors of the party of seven who fought hand -to hand with and killed the seven or more Germans who rode into Liége -to assassinate General Léman. "We watched them riding up the street; -they were waving a white flag. My friend said, 'They have just killed a -sentry.' We fired—thus; and they fired; and their four officers fell; -and the others we killed; but only two of us were left."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> - -<p>As the sun set, long processions of Red Cross waggons, followed by -lines of trudging assistants, and some priests, blocked the roads.</p> - -<p>The troops were moving back into cantonments. A Division was being sent -back to "rest." They swarmed over the fields and surged round the car -for news. Through the wire entanglements, and over the trenches and -bough-fortifications pressed a host of women. A number of wives and -mothers, who had come long distances for a last sight—some of them -had walked over twenty miles to find the right quarter—were thrust at -us enthusiastically from the roadside, and the car was filled so as to -save, if only a few of them, the twelve miles of tramp to a railway. -Many had carried heavy baskets of provisions; but the troops are so -well fed that they were not needed. Delicate, educated women, they -waved courageous farewell to their husbands, private soldiers with -serious sensitive faces, men of the learned professions, and poured -into my ears the stories of hardship that their men were undergoing.</p> - -<p>As we passed, the towns seemed full of silent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> women waiting for news. -Small bodies of troops moved out now and again across the market -squares to repulse approaching Uhlans.</p> - -<p>At one town we traversed, Louvain, the King was in council with the -staff. At Diest a huge crowd was acclaiming a joyful report about the -English, that sent us, too, on our way with very particular reason for -cheering.</p> - -<p>In the last run in, through the dark, we were again made useful: this -time to convey a special mission to the War Office in Brussels.</p> - -<p>The Germans entered Diest soon after we left.</p> - -<p>This was the beginning of the great German flood, that lapped like a -slow tide from Hasselt, to Haelen, to Diest, and bursting upon Louvain -in the next days, poured irresistibly across Belgium.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Namur and the French Lines</span></p> - - -<p>The news of the evening was that of the battle at Dinant: the great -drawn battle that distracted attention from the launching of the bolt -of the main German advance from Hasselt, north of the Meuse. Even the -layman could see the result must delay the French design—if it was -their design—of joining up with the Belgians to cover Brussels. It was -vital, if Belgium was not to be abandoned, that the French should get -up in time. Early the next morning I forced a way once again to Namur, -with the hope of possibly reaching Dinant, and, if not, of finding out -the real strength of the French in the region round Namur. One road was -still open.</p> - -<p>Namur was under the cloud of that silent nameless panic that is more -terrible than tumult.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> It is not found in the fighting lines; only in -the threatened civilian towns occupied by military headquarters in -face of the enemy. Nerves strained to snapping point find their only -vent in black suspicion. As a stranger, to catch a passing eye is to -challenge insult or arrest. For two days I was the only unofficial -visitor in the town. I was arrested five times. I could not sit for -five minutes at my window without hearing the tramp of civic guards or -police on the stairs, coming to interrogate me. My room was searched -twice a day for wireless apparatus. On the second occasion I pointed -out, sarcastically, that the small drawer of the wash-hand stand had -not been searched. It was never left unexamined again! There was no -definite news of advance, but absence of news is the worst trial to -civic nerves. Fear was in the air. But it was restrained and silent. A -lifted voice in the street was followed by a little noiseless rush of -people. On the second day I did not venture a hundred yards from the -hotel, to avoid the wearisome arrests and interrogatories.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Namur, Saturday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Under my window the crowds are waiting round the station for news. -The trains are practically stopped; there may be one to Brussels -to-morrow. Only one road to the north is open; the others are closed, -completing the circle of fortification. Yesterday the aviators were -dropping bombs on to the line opposite. To-day the town is quiet, but -humming restlessly. The thunderstorms may have checked the pestilent -persecution, or possibly the Germans now know all they need.</p> - -<p>South of us, on the Meuse, the two northern armies, French and German, -are facing one another. They were in conflict all yesterday, and there -is no reason now to keep silence about the positions. The scouting -Uhlans, whom I touched at Eghezee and east of Wavre, have done their -work. The main body of the German Army Corps, supposed here to be the -4th, possibly with the 10th in support, appears to be moving definitely -against the French to the south of the fortress....</p> - -<p>All day yesterday, in a sanguinary battle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> they were trying to force -the passage of the Meuse north and south of Dinant. A squadron of -French Dragoons was surprised beyond the river and destroyed. There are -the wildest reports as to the losses of the Germans. An eye-witness of -the attempts upon the Anseremme Bridge described to me the Germans as -swept by the guns, as they advanced in their usual columns, and unable -to fall as they died, so close and massed were the ranks.</p> - -<p>They were repulsed at the time, but they are returning in force. They -have began an attack upon the fort across the river at Davre. The -armies seem to be advancing north-west into the great angle of the -Meuse at Namur, coming into touch with the Belgians and French along -the semicircle from Huy to Givet.</p> - -<p>In a lonely little village south of Namur to-day, where I shared the -deserted street with a few sad-faced women and half a dozen cripples -and old men, the landlord said, "This is the 15th: our feast day. I -usually have hundreds of tourists; to-day you are alone; we are waiting -for the great battle. To-night?—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>to-morrow? Who knows?" As he spoke, -and we waited, the thunderstorms kept rolling up the lime-stone gorges, -and we listened, each time thinking this was the beginning.</p> - -<p>I slipped down from Namur this morning along the front of the French -lines on the Meuse. In all the villages deserted houses; walls pierced -for musketry; wire entanglements; and the picturesque windings of the -river scarred with trenches, and stirring with hardly-seen troops. It -was a curious change to leave our little friends, the dark Belgians, -and meet the moving patrols of French Dragoons, large, splendid-looking -fellows, bronzed and hardened since I saw them leave Paris but a -fortnight ago. But they cannot show more heart than our worn little -Belgian comrades, as they held back the overwhelming numbers in those -desperate engagements I watched yesterday, at Haelen and Diest.</p> - -<p>Where the cliffs on the far side sink to the river the roadside hedges -on this bank were lined with smart, keen-looking infantrymen, by hedge -and tree and trench, leaning across walls or behind trees, with rifle -ready. Hardly an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> eye turned on us. For on the hills across and to the -south the Germans have been sighted. The attack may come anywhere, any -time.</p> - -<p>We got within a mile of Dinant, well within the entrenched lines; past -barriers and fortified bridge ends—where the soldiers lay ready under -screens of sheaves. They were naturally suspicious at first of civilian -dress, but always courteous. Journals delighted them. One smart -dragoon, being shaved under a bough-shelter, musket on knee, received -his first wound in jumping up to ask for a newspaper, and to cheer for -England.</p> - -<p>At last came the final block. "Impossible to proceed; no -despatch-carrier even may pass." Infantry were clustered about us, -keenly watching the other bank. The shimmer of the light blue cavalry -uniform stirred and glittered up the steep lane behind us, hidden and -ready to charge and sweep the bridge clear.</p> - -<p>As the car raced back along the lines, even those who had chatted on -our first passing, or turned to salute, had barely a glance for us. -Something was in the air. The most talkative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> of the captains who had -questioned us looked at our passing with only the absent inward look -familiar now on the faces of men going into action. The dragoons moved -restlessly along the road in quick patrols, carrying news of the enemy -sighted in the woods on the opposite bank. The road is exposed in -all its length, and the car was so conspicuous that I expected every -instant to be fired upon from the trees opposite. A long train of guns -wound out of Namur and blocked our entry.</p> - -<p>What they awaited may come to-night, or to-morrow. We should hear the -guns here if the siege had begun in earnest.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Later.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>A bomb has just exploded on the line opposite my window. The glass roof -of the station is shattered.</p> - -<p>The sound of guns has begun from the forts on the east.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Namur, Sunday midnight.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The French were engaged last night at Dinant, even before we were -clear of their lines. An<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> attempt of the Germans to cross the Meuse at -Bouvignes was repulsed with loss.</p> - -<p>The Belgians this afternoon repulsed an attack at Wierde, east of -Davre, the fort on the defences of Namur across the Meuse, where an -unsuccessful attempt was made yesterday.</p> - -<p>I was out on the lines of the defences to-night with some friendly -soldiers, sharing their supper. I may say the commissariat of the -Belgians is excellently managed. The soup was first-class, and some -of the wives, just back from a Sunday visit to their husbands, tell -me their extra burden of food and wine was not needed by the men. One -woman, white with dust, had walked thirty miles in search of her son -to-day. In the end an officer was found to send her forward in a Red -Cross car.</p> - -<p>Even as I supped in the dark on the outworks with those soldiers, -one of the strange mood changes that are getting familiar in the war -atmosphere took place. Sullen suspicious looks, whispered questions -round me. I withdrew quietly but quickly. (When we hear the true story -of the fall of Namur, this too may have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> to be taken into account. -Soldiers conscious of their terrible losses, a populace half-believing -itself deserted by its allies. French troops sent in, and again -hurriedly withdrawn. The Namur army cut off from its main body, from -the king, and the command.)</p> - -<p>This evening the 28th Belgian Regiment marched in in triumph from its -successful engagement yesterday at Lothain.</p> - -<p>Only the First, Second and Third Division have yet been engaged. They -have borne alone the whole weight of the recent fierce engagements -in the front, from Namur to Diest. To-day the Third, here, is being -replaced by the Fourth.</p> - -<p>The Fifth and Sixth are still in reserve. They will probably be kept to -cover Antwerp, if Brussels falls. The Sixth is the élite of the Army. -The Belgian shooting so far has corrected the inequality of numbers; -but the Sixth Corps contains the chosen marksmen. The Germans continue -to shoot low.</p> - -<p>The trains this evening stopped running for the reason that a column of -150 German cavalry has been located across the line and along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> road -down which we ran this morning; and the Belgians have been preparing a -surprise for to-night. In fact, there is an additional, more serious -and most satisfactory cause, almost laughable in its performance to -anyone in the secret, of which again I may not at present speak. -(French troops were being run in concealed by various devices from -the sight of the airmen. They detrained outside the town. A regiment -of "Turcos" however marched in in the evening, and produced the first -applause I had heard for a long time).</p> - -<p>The aviators have stopped dropping bombs. The soldiers, at least, -believe to-night that "the King has sent an envoy to say that a hundred -prisoners will be shot for every bomb dropped in the unprotected -streets." Only girls and old men have so far suffered from the inhuman -practice.</p> - -<p>I have spoken with two witnesses of the encounter about Dinant -yesterday. The chief struggle raged round the ancient citadel which was -taken and retaken. The French guns smashed the pontoon bridges as soon -as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Germans had built them. The permanent bridges were swept as the -columns advanced. They were mined, but left standing, acting each as a -death trap. The impatience of the French African troops, the "Turcos," -who are spoken of with bated breath, is said to have prevented the -success of a crushing enveloping movement, a yielding in the centre to -pour in on the flanks, which the French could only partially execute.</p> - -<p>Pitiable stories are told of the <i>corps-á-corps</i> charges of the -"Turcos." The stories are becoming so universal that there seems reason -to suppose that the German "machine" has not been trained to meet the -bayonet. The Belgians have already learned to count on the bayonet as -their strongest weapon in meeting the Uhlans.</p> - -<p>The battles at Haelen would suggest that the tubular Uhlan lance is -less serviceable than the Belgian bamboo. It is certainly ineffective -against the solid bayonet. At Haelen I found a large number of -"buckled" and cracked lances along the line of the German cavalry -charges.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> - -<p>The losses yesterday about Dinant seem to have been immense. Rumour -speaks of anything between 20,000 and 40,000 put <i>hors de combat</i> from -the two opposing forces. It is probable from accounts that the number -must be reckoned in thousands. A peasant from a village below Dinant -told me that when he was called back from the fields "by the noise" he -"came over the hill to see the Meuse running red-streaked with blood."</p> - -<p>Allowing for the Ardennois emotion, there seems no doubt that the -fighting was savage and terribly costly, and that one of the many good -reasons that stopped our passage just short of Dinant was the fact that -the dead were not yet removed.</p> - -<p>In this war both sides are very rightly concealing their losses. The -relatives are separately informed, whenever it seems fit; and no lists -are published.</p> - -<p>To-night it is reported among the soldiers, and possibly therefore with -truth, that the Belgians have just blown up and abandoned one of the -smaller forts. "The reinforcements came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> just a day too late; the 4th -Army Corps should have been up yesterday."</p> - -<p>The German corps lately engaged at Haelen and Diest in the north are -reported to be moving south-west from their base at Kermpt and Hasselt. -If this is true, the movement indicates a general advance preparatory -for the battle of the three (four?) armies.</p> - -<p>We know the next move, so far as one side can know it, but it must be -left to explain itself. A few days, and the board in this corner will -have been disclosed.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Monday, 7 a.m.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The surprise joke for the Germans, referred to above, has been going on -all night.</p> - -<p>Regiments of the 4th Belgian Army Corps have also been detraining all -morning. Fresh, brisk-looking men, curiously pallid compared with their -black unshaven comrades, who have been in the field all the week. -Better booted and equipped, having had more time to mobilise. Odd -boots and German prisoners' breeches, belts, and trappings have become -common sights in that hard-worn division. A little captain at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Diest -was wearing blue breeches, one brown riding boot, one regulation black, -a kepi with two bullet-holes through it, and a green Chasseur coat -too small for him. "What would you? I have been in five fights, from -Liége to Diest; the Germans sacked my lodging on the night at Haelen. -I fought them there without a coat. We were seventeen in the corner of -the wheat, cyclists; at night I went back with the two other survivors, -and found my bicycle. One is a philosopher! one must be gay!"</p> - -<p>The Second, Third, and Fourth Regiments of the Line have suffered most. -The Second have lost a large proportion of their numbers.</p> - -<p>The proportion of officers killed is very large; this especially among -the Germans, owing to their massed formations and the distinction in -uniform.</p> - -<p>I saw a letter last night, found on a German officer, bitterly -complaining of the want of preparation, absence of proper scouting, and -reckless waste of life in their mass attacks.</p> - -<p>Little credence can be attached to stories of an enemy's savagery. But -a circumstantial<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> story has been twice told me by men in different -companies that Belgian prisoners were placed in the front line in the -engagement at Landen; and that the Belgians fired low at first until -their friends had fallen, shot in the legs. I give it only for what it -is worth.</p> - -<p>There is no doubt that the battle in which the Belgians lost most -heavily was an early engagement on the Tirlemont lines, where, in the -dark, two regiments of Belgians mistook their line, and fired on each -other. Both lost many men. Under present conditions this must occur. -The airmen are asking that no aeroplane shall be fired upon. They -suffer from their friends.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Namur, Monday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Have you seen a fight between a hawk and a rook, or a hawk and -peregrine? That, or something like it, took place over the open square -by the station this afternoon.</p> - -<p>An aeroplane appeared out of the west; it soared over the railway -against the cloudy sky, stooped, and suddenly, as if struck, shot with -a steep volplane on to this side of the Meuse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<p>There was a rush of cars and crowd. But before it touched a second -aeroplane appeared like a speck in the clouds. It rushed down with -extraordinary rapidity, in sharp dipping planes; hovered, as if -looking for its prey, swooped at the tower on the station, and with -extraordinary audacity wheeled twice above it in exquisite descending -spirals. The flight of the first had brought a crowd of soldiers and -Civic Guards on to every salient roof, and the circling challenge of -the pursuer was followed by a regular salvo of musketry.</p> - -<p>For a second it wavered: I could see the wings riddled with bullets. -Then it steadied, dipped for a rush, and soared away magnificently over -the surrounding heights.</p> - -<p>Two minutes later the first aviator emerged from the station, a -distinguished-looking white-moustached French officer, clearly in a -fearful temper at the wrecking of his machine by the over-zealous -Guards. To make quite sure of some one, they had raked his descent also -with roof practice!</p> - -<p>Hardly had the crowd quieted, when there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> came another rush. Two -fine-looking German officers, in the uniform of the famous "Death's -Head" Hussars, were raced up under guard to the station. The crowd, -with the remarkable restraint that is distinguishing the Belgians, -watched their transference in complete silence. They had been brought -from the north, where a German column has to-day cut all communication -with Brussels.</p> - -<p>For two hours this morning we heard the sound of cannon. Armoured -cars, fitted with mitrailleuse wheels, have been running through the -town. There have been also several mitrailleuses drawn by the famous -dog-teams that can get up any hill-side.</p> - -<p>No trains are running. The station is full of weeping women and -children, who came yesterday to see their soldier husbands.</p> - -<p>The motor-cars stand in their ready ranks, along the river-side. The -Government purchased 12,000 at the start of the war from garages -and private owners. Their use has changed the whole conditions of -transport. The chauffeurs were sleeping in them. I had breakfast this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> -morning with five of them in a little restaurant. A small boy gave -me his Belgian badge. "If you get out alive," said his father, "our -colours at least will have been rescued from the Germans."</p> - -<p>(Namur had now become almost impossible for a stranger. The guns could -be heard bombarding the distant forts. There was every chance that -delay would mean being shut up for a siege, with no chance of getting -news out, in which fortune had so far favoured me. Only a miracle—and -Léon—had kept my car from being commandeered. I arranged to run out -at dawn on Wednesday, and if the Germans were across the road on the -north, to loop west by Charleroi and take our chance with the French -army.</p> - -<p>In the last evening I made an excursion on foot out of the town on the -north, and, clear of the fortifications, had proof of the French being -engaged in the direction of Gembloux. This confirmed the hope that the -junction with the Belgian army had been made in time, and that the -Germans would be forced to fight, against an army in position, in that -region.)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Wavre, Wednesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>I have just reached here from Namur—now a city of rushing crowds and -anxious waiting.</p> - -<p>All through Monday night the French were pouring into Namur, detraining -outside the town. They were concealed under provision bags, etc., -from the aviators. By day or twilight they arrived with helmets and -cuirasses masked. The Spahis and Turcos had a warm welcome. Even a low -cheer from the silent crowds, that washed from point to point like a -restless sea.</p> - -<p>All Tuesday morning, too, the fresh Belgian 4th Army Corps moved in and -through, to replace and reinforce the well-tried 3rd. In the evening -the officers dined and took coffee in the square; to speed off in -motors later to their posts. There was even a little music and singing -in the hotels. The Belgians know their anxious, lonely task is almost -over. The rest they will face in good company.</p> - -<p>This morning we came out, probably only just in time to escape the -siege. Later, the Uhlans were across the line and road. A dispatch<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -carrier was found shot by the roadside an hour after we passed.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the allied armies would seem to have been taking position -in a vast semicircle from Diest to Namur, curving by Quatre Bras -and Wavre. They have been choosing their ground. Not Waterloo this -time—that is too close to the possible distractions in Brussels—but -on a splendid field. It is broken ground, veiling the strength from the -enemy.</p> - -<p>Yesterday the long line of troops, drawn gradually in, stiffened. An -engagement took place near Gembloux. The Uhlans were hunted back by the -Cuirassiers. I was out near in the evening on foot, north of the city, -and heard the operations going on.</p> - -<p>Taking advantage of the lull, we got out of Namur early this morning, -taking cross roads and lanes in front of the French and Belgian lines, -and dodging the Germans.</p> - -<p>The French were advancing, pushing the Germans back. We were soon -involved. The face of the fields and low hills near Sombreffe was -alive with moving troops—columns of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> cavalry, light guns moving into -position, long snakes of infantry scattered up and down the wooded -slopes. An extraordinary sight in the sun, among woods and trees.</p> - -<p>We worked back through the lines. The deserted châteaux were occupied -by various headquarter staffs. Occasionally the country and the -closeness of troops opened. We ran among patrols of the light-blue -Hussars. Anxious to get us out of the way, they passed us on -courteously, with an occasional "arrest." They were clearing the last -Uhlans, the remnants of those which were dispersed yesterday.</p> - -<p>An officer warned us in a lane on a hill. "Wait here," he said. "We -have run down some Uhlans in those woods." We waited half an hour. -No movement, sunny fields; nothing to be seen. Then suddenly, over a -field, out of the wood, a rush of four horsemen, and the snap of a few -shots from the far side. The next instant a running report of invisible -rifles. Three horses fell. The fourth man fell from his saddle, and was -dragged through the stubble. One of the other three got up, leaving his -horse,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> walked a few paces, and fell. A grim sight in the summer fields.</p> - -<p>Finally we were shepherded through to Mazy. Here we were blocked for -two hours by advancing columns, Belgian guns and French cavalry. Slowly -through the village (no peasants or children showing now!) filed -regiment after regiment of French cavalry—glorious fellows. With their -dulled, glimmering cuirasses, helmets covered in dust coloured linen, -and long black manes brushing round their bronzed red-Indian faces, -they are peculiarly savage-looking, in a splendid sort of way.</p> - -<p>Some had slight wounds, scarf-bound; a few the remains of the garish -flowers, given them in some cottage last night, still stuck in their -breast-plates. Several were pallid from loss of blood. All covered with -dust and their horses foam-flecked.</p> - -<p>As they passed, four abreast, some of the files were singing together. -The singing was subdued and hoarse, from tired throats. The sound had -a curiously wild, barbaric note. I remember nothing like it except -the beginnings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> of the Dervish chant, or the short moan of the Indian -war-song. They all had the stern, fighting set of the face, the eyes -sullen and looking only at the distance.</p> - -<p>A few glanced round and smiled grimly: the sudden gleam of teeth and -the flash of light in the eye, breaking through the mask of bronze, -redness and dust, had a startling, almost shocking effect.</p> - -<p>The majority had no glance for us; set faces and a rustle and stir of -black, rusty plumes as the horses shifted uneasily at the car.</p> - -<p>Now and again officers, and white-moustached colonels. A few noticed -us, and gave various orders. Two general officers were specially -noticeable in their subdued glint of armour. The one, white-bearded, -slightly bent, but with a hawk's eye and a perfect seat and a great -brown Irish hunter. The other like a Viking, with a white, drooping -moustache. After inquiry of one of his staff, he rode up as he -passed, with a dignified slight inclination. "You may pass on, sir: -Englishman—and friend," he said.</p> - -<p>A line of Belgian artillery; then the lighter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> horses and trappings -of Lancers; finally cyclists and a detachment of the Red Cross and -ambulance.</p> - -<p>They all passed up the lanes, out on to the hills, with a sort of -rustling, intent silence; for there are no drums or music in this war.</p> - -<p>For many of these great bronzed men, with here and there a fierce -negroid African, we were the last link with the life of towns and -civilians. A few hours, perhaps a day or so, of the sight of the stir -of troops, of the empty country and the sound of war, and they will -be lying in the long nameless trenches in the fields, with the harrow -already passing over them.</p> - -<p>South of Namur also the French are advancing across the Meuse, pushing -forward on the offensive. There may soon be a straight diagonal of the -Allies from Maastricht to Belfort.</p> - -<p>The Belgians are waiting quietly, and, now, more confidently.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Louvain and Waterloo</span></p> - - -<p>The encounter with the French regiments was reassuring for the time; -but as I returned north of Wavre, it became again doubtful whether the -link had really been made. News of the steady flood of Germans pouring -by Diest upon Louvain met me near Brussels. To get an idea of the -relative pace of the German advance I determined to return that night -towards the Belgian left wing and discover for myself, if possible, the -chances of its holding out.</p> - -<p>A few hours at Brussels about noon were enough to convince me that -it would be well now to keep outside and moving independently. The -atmosphere of calm which the admirable organisation of the town had -preserved so long, even in face of the near approach of the German -cavalry on the south-east, was beginning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> break down. The mistaken -policy of silence was having its inevitable effect. For want of news, -rumour was spreading. The Germans were said to be twenty miles, fifteen -miles, ten miles away. Treat people as children, which has been the -policy of the authorities in this war, and you will force them in the -end to behave as children. If ever a population deserved to be taken -into confidence it was that of Brussels. But it was now being treated -with less and less trust every day. Papers were being suppressed; -official communications grew less frequent and more obviously doctored. -Our own authorities contributed by a curt request that all British -correspondents should be ejected. How undeserved this was I was able, -as not of the profession, to appreciate. In view of what was common -knowledge, as to plans, positions and news, among scores of British -correspondents in Brussels, their tact and loyalty were deserving of -high praise and increased rather than diminished confidence.</p> - -<p>I moved my base, therefore, to Waterloo, to a friendly little hostelry -that had already proved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> useful on our long skirmishing runs. In -the late afternoon another excursion to the south-east left little -doubt that the main German advance was progressing on this northern -line. Reports of German cavalry met us in the villages. But what was -happening to the Allied armies? On the return I met, and followed for -some distance through the lanes, a regiment of French infantry, who -were making a forced march to join the Belgians. It hardly seemed -possible, therefore, that the evacuation rumours which I had heard in -Brussels could be true.</p> - -<p>To help towards a solution I started again, this Wednesday evening, -towards Louvain, and ran through the town at dusk.</p> - -<p>I had come to know Louvain very well, in the days of my interviews with -the Headquarter Staff. There was a little restaurant at the corner -of the odd-shaped "Place," facing the magnificent Hotel de Ville, -where I could watch the constant stream of cars and columns passing -in and out of the cordon that surrounded the church, which contained -the Commander-in-Chief, and sometimes even the King. Occasion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>ally a -British Staff officer would cheer me with the sight of the well-known -uniform. There were always Belgian army surgeons, in the brown cap, -ready for a gossip, restless horses with unhandy recruit riders, for -amusement, and walks through the deserted picturesque streets, for a -change to the eye. In a week or so I got to know it well, its quaint -atmosphere of a mediæval university town charged with the restless -electricity of military occupation, the uneasy mystery of an uncertain -fate. And in another week or so—it was not.</p> - -<p>I passed through it, or rather round it that evening for the last time; -past the lines of soldiers sleeping under the station shelters, and the -sentries with their handkerchief puggrees. I saw it only once again, -the next night, by the glare of a few burning houses on the outskirts, -beacons of the Belgian retreat and the German occupation.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Wednesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Beyond Louvain progress in the dark was very difficult. I failed to get -the news I sought, but I heard something of the enemy. I made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> my way -during the night down behind the Belgian lines at Geet Betz, with a -returning officer as guide.</p> - -<p>Here the advanced German right wing, chiefly cavalry—Uhlans and -dragoons—has been trying to turn the Belgian left.</p> - -<p>They have been repulsed once to-day in the attempt to cross the river, -and suffered enormously owing to their advance in column formation.</p> - -<p>The Belgians, too, have suffered considerably from the mitrailleuse, -but have held their entrenchment with remarkable courage.</p> - -<p>The Germans returned to the attack, and were expected to renew the -assault to-night.</p> - -<p>It was too dark to see or be seen in the undulating fields, but voices -from the trenches and the movements of horses, and the occasional rush -of a military motor, acted as signs.</p> - -<p>Taking the chance of something happening within hearing, I made myself -comfortable under some bushes near an open track leading through the -lines of entanglements—so far as they could be located. There was an -occasional sound of distant firing, outposts skirmishing;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> later in the -night a single whistle and the sound of wheels grinding on tracks. What -may have been a battery moved up on to a rise in the ground—seen as -a shadow—about a quarter of a mile to the south. Here they seemed to -stop, for there was silence again.</p> - -<p>Another long wait, and then the sound of cantering horses—some four -or five—coming by the track from behind, inside the lines. Were they -friends?</p> - -<p>They had passed me, and were in a line with the slight hill to the -south, when little sparks of flame—half a dozen or so—glinted for a -second out of the shadows.</p> - -<p>There was the slight "phit" of bullets through the leaves, and then the -purr of a maxim. The canter broke into a sharp gallop down the track, -following upon a single shouted order.</p> - -<p>Some heavier piece of ordnance coughed a short distance to the left. A -reply came from far in front. A rattle, or rather an uneasy stir and -crackle, like a wet bonfire, moved along the lines, and died away in -the dark to the south.</p> - -<p>The sound of the horses' feet stopped—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>probably they had turned on to -softer field-mould. And then silence again.</p> - -<p>But this time the sense of human presence stayed with me. The darkness -seemed strained and alive with tense expectancy.</p> - -<p>The nights are short, and their cover shorter.</p> - -<p>I had to be content with only the sound-picture of the night skirmish.</p> - -<p>During the darkest hours before dawn we got back to Waterloo. On the -southern edge of the battlefield itself I lay in the open, waiting for -daylight, and listening for the sound of cannon commencing that should -declare whether the Allies had really advanced, and were occupying some -position that might still save Brussels and Belgium.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Waterloo, Thursday Morning.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>A Shakespearean interlude this in the great Tragedy. Pistol, and -Bardolph—what you will: the old story of the talkative coward!</p> - -<p>I have come up here, for the first hours of quiet in three weeks; to -escape from the constant excitement of wondering whether the next pair -of galloping lancers approaching across the fields<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> are friend or -enemy; to avoid the agitated nerves of towns, where nine-tenths are -spending their time in trying to discover whether there is any truth or -personal bearing in what the last tenth lets them grudgingly know.</p> - -<p>With all consideration for the necessity of secrecy, the thing is being -overdone. No one can be got to believe that there is really no war -going on; and for want of proper information imagination is beginning -to run riot and nerves to snap.</p> - -<p>A little company of peasants, fine, independent, sturdy folk, now safe -behind the great lines of armies. A jolly company, full of joke and -laughter, but with an eye all the time on the distant hill of the great -battlefield.</p> - -<p>And one stout, serious leader of the local Civil Guard, who spends each -night beside the lion on the mound. Not alone; for three blue-bloused -peasants with muskets wait at the other corners: a curious recall of -the Great Duke's statue at Hyde Park Corner!</p> - -<p>The last time I was here the three, aided by four girls, with their -hair still down, from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> farm, plotted against the braggart's peace. -He dare not climb the 100-foot mound alone in the dark. But he wanted -straw, for a warmer seat.</p> - -<p>In his short absence the three others were hidden in a barn by the -girls. The door shut. In the dark, alone, the leader set out to climb -the mound, thinking they had gone on.</p> - -<p>He talked loudly to himself. Then he began to call their names, -"Pierre! Jean! Georges!—GEORGES!" He reached the top to find himself -alone with the lion and the stars.</p> - -<p>A wild yell: the two barrels discharged in panic: a head over heels -descent: and a huge roar of laughter from the men and girls who had -crept out into the road, prolonged till it became the hysteria of -overtried nerves.</p> - -<p>Then, the growl of cannon in the far distance, and all suddenly were -silent.</p> - -<p>Unwilling to precipitate, by my night attack, the arrangements of the -peasants for escaping by their windows if the wandering Uhlans arrive, -I have come down the battlefield to sleep, in a coat, under the stars.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> - -<p>The night is extraordinarily still. Twice the cannon have droned for a -short time far off. A nearer shot, that roused a momentary shouting and -movement in the sleeping village behind me, must have come from some -nervous or sleepy Civil Guard.</p> - -<p>Earlier in the night there were lights winking far away, towards -Genappe; probably French contingents signalling.</p> - -<p>And the meteors have been falling, criss and cross, in the summer warm -darkness, over the darker cloud above the waiting armies to the east.</p> - -<p>1815; and what were the men then thinking who lay rolled up in their -cloaks to sleep their last night on the fields about me?</p> - -<p>Ninety-nine years; and what are the still greater hosts of young and -old men thinking, as they lie in their coats watching those same stars, -only a few miles away from me, just behind that darker band of trees?</p> - -<p>A century! And the only difference, that the one great army, that then -faced up these slopes against us, now lies protecting us; in its turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -ringing off a hostile army that then slept and stood with us as friends.</p> - -<p>A century of progress! And what to show for it? The armies of four -nations slightly shifted in their relation to these great plains, like -spokes on a turning wheel.</p> - -<p>Firing has recommenced, very faintly, in the distance. Not more -disturbing than the harsh cry of a night-jar in the wood beside me.</p> - -<p>For these few hours the terrible, unreal atmosphere of war, when every -inch of earth threatens a surprise, and no moment seems real till it -is past, has been absent. Night, and the stars, and quiet, have seemed -like old friends, renewing a quiet of thought, restoring proportions.</p> - -<p>I have been writing by the light of matches, under a coat.</p> - -<p>Now the stir of wind before the dawn has passed. A few dogs are -barking. And a shout or two tells of the Civil Guard changing their -watchmen.</p> - -<p>I can see to write in the grey dawn. Beyond my feet, out there on the -hills, brain and sinew are again alert, and plotting cunningly to kill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - -<p>How much of hope and life and promise may have ended in darkness before -the next night covers this sudden glow of sun?</p> - -<p>The uncertain outlines of the Waterloo monuments, commemorating heroic -deeds of the past, in the grey half light have a sinister look. How -soon will the sordid squalor of these new fights be in its turn -converted into such memorials, to entrap new generations into dreaming -that there is glory in war?</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Last of Brussels. The Flight, and the Flood</span></p> - - -<p>Thursday saw the ending of doubt. Although we did not know it, the -floodgates were already opening; the Belgian army was retiring upon -Antwerp, fighting only a gallant rearguard action at Louvain. The -French advanced force, with its tentative claw outstretched towards -Louvain, was beginning to wheel back rapidly to avoid leaving its flank -exposed. Brussels was uncovered; and through the opening between the -armies the torrent of grey troops was beginning to pour.</p> - -<p>With the first light we made a circle towards Sombreffe, and came -upon some retiring French cavalry. It was a puzzling spectacle, as at -Waterloo we had not yet heard of the rapid change in the situation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Thursday, Wavre.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>It should have been a quiet day. A quiet wandering through picturesque -lanes, well behind the supposed fighting lines of the armies.</p> - -<p>Running up and down the wooded, sunny lanes, on the stone setts, we -even came as a relief to the bored peasant guards, lounging in their -blue blouses, under straw shelters. At one remote village, high -placed and only seemingly attainable by cobbled steep lanes, the -Burgomaster made a solemn procession down the steps, with all the civic -dignitaries, to meet us. They may have been waiting in session for a -passer-by since the war began!</p> - -<p>So we came down to Wavre; a short time ago filled with troops, now only -empty, with an uneasy crowd at the corners, and a shifting swarm at the -Mayoralty. We passed cheerfully out on the big, shaded road to Namur, -confident of good passage.</p> - -<p>The feeling changed, in the odd way it does in the most peaceful -scenery when the war atmosphere touches it. The instinct for it is a -valuable one in roving in "open" territory. With<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> a rush down the road -came a cyclist, wearing a tweed cap. Behind him, 300 yards off, from -behind the trees, stepped a grey-uniformed Uhlan officer, who examined -us through his glasses. The cyclist shouted, "There are seventeen up -there behind the trees. I bade them good morning, and they didn't -answer; so I said it was hot, and the officer said, 'Ouaai.' There's -a car just beyond with bullet-holes in it, empty by the road." Lèon -turned in a second on the broad road. The officer stepped back behind -the trees. A rifle bullet spattered on the macadam; and we careered -back to Wavre with the cyclist hanging on behind.</p> - -<p>The news made little disturbance at the Mairie; orders had clearly been -given. The Civil Guards were shut up on the top of the Town-hall; and -all but the road-checks deprived of gun and sword. Six soldiers who -remained were despatched in a car in the opposite direction. For the -first time I began to realise that the country was to be evacuated—and -without warning!</p> - -<p>The guns were booming steadily from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> east, over Jodoigne. This was -our direction. We started out again; but we were hardly out of the -town, past some elaborate barriers, when straggling peasants began to -meet us, crying that the Prussians were close in the woods; cavalry had -been seen moving up the hills on either side.</p> - -<p>It could scarcely be true; Wavre ought to be behind our lines, and -we ought to be all right. We went slowly along the road, to make our -peaceful character plain. I remember few more thrilling journeys -than the slow mile along under the woods, keeping civilian hat and -pipe prominent, and watching, without seeming to inspect, the close -impending line of woods above the road.</p> - -<p>So we came to the next village, Gastouche. The peasants were trickling -out of the cottages, driving cattle hurriedly, dragging babies and -bundles. A few gallant Civil Guards, rather pallid, but full of spirit, -stood at the barriers. We ran gently through the village, reassuring -where we could, turned a wide corner, and there, sitting by the road, -leaning on their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> horses, were a squad of about twelve Uhlans! They -were some 200 yards off.</p> - -<p>I could not make sure of the uniform for the moment; so, to cover -the retreat of the car, I walked a few paces towards them and looked -through the glasses. In reply, a Uhlan stepped out and lifted his. I -let him have a good look, to confirm my pacific appearance, and then -walked slowly back. The car was already out of sight, ready round the -corner. We swirled back through the village, hurrying the inhabitants. -Then, at the far end, leaving the car ready up a lane, we mounted a -bank, and watched the troop ride in, pull down the flag, and cut the -wires.</p> - -<p>Picking up all the women we could, we were back in Wavre to give the -news. Nothing could be done. Not a friendly soldier seemed alive in the -neighbourhood. For a time we watched. With half a dozen anxious elders -I laboriously climbed the great church tower. We strained our eyes, -to see nothing real, but a lot of imaginary conflagrations. Meanwhile -the guns boomed far off, and the refugee villagers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> began to pour in -below us. A curious, pathetic sight. The women had put on their best -black dresses, to save them; the men, their black coats. Later, they -came in as they were, dragging and carrying children, women just from -or near childbirth, girls with scarfs full of food or apples. They were -frightened, hurrying, and quiet. But when the town at last understood -the rage of the men, and of the women too, is past description. There -was no outcry, but they cursed, clustering together, some of the men in -tears, at being deprived of arms, at not being allowed to defend their -homes—they, a horde of big men, against a handful. They were long past -reasoning with. It was a sane order that deprived even the Guards of -arms and shut them, chafing, behind the communal steps.</p> - -<p>At last the sight of the refugees grew too painful. We went off to pick -up what we could. Twice we ran to the near end of Gastouche, bringing -back untidy loads of children and mothers. The second time we tried -to get through, by a corner, a few miles further to Overrysche. We -had just passed the barrier<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> of faggots and village carts, with two -nervous-bold Guards at the "present," when at the end of a short cross -lane through the cottages on the right I saw the flicker and movement -of horse soldiers passing, sixty yards off.</p> - -<p>The same instant a shot came from a cottage behind them, and a rush -of shrieking women down the lane. We turned at once and waited: the -Uhlans, some eight of them, had wheeled back out of sight, where the -cottages ran into the wood. The men shouted to the women to keep -indoors; a few stray children ran back and forwards in the lane, -crying. Then the door of a far cottage opened, and the crippled soldier -who had fired the shot was half-carried out. A fine red-bearded fellow. -He was perspiring, inarticulate with rage at having missed and with the -lust of fighting. We shoved him into the car, with a few more women, -and got back to Wavre. As we passed, we saw some thirty of the Civic -Guard shut in a yard, down a lane, behind a wooden barrier.</p> - -<p>Even the civic calm had begun to quiver.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> The surging, homeless crowd -of villagers were talking loudly at the corners; and every now and then -a farmer in shirtsleeves bicycled furiously in, to complain of a house -occupied or horses stolen. The German outposts were all round us, and -the place undefended.</p> - -<p>The utterly helpless agitation of a population unable to do anything, -seeing itself, without an hour's notice from the authorities, forced -to surrender home after home, and forbidden to resist, was an -inexpressibly painful sight, and cannot occur often, even in war. -Undefended towns, when abandoned, generally have some warning. Here the -enemy dropped out of the sky in an hour; and the peasants looked round -to find their own army gone. There was not even the previous "working -up" of a losing fight.</p> - -<p>A shout and a rush. A cyclist, red-flushed, raced into the square, -brandishing a Uhlan helmet, picked up—who knows where? Another greater -shouting and swarming, and two stout farmers rode in, leading four -splendid Uhlan horses, Irish-bred, and full of mettle. Where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> did they -come from? What did it all mean? Time may show.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Waterloo, Thursday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>To-day's story is still unfinished.</p> - -<p>As the day wore on at Wavre, it became clear that Brussels was to be -included in the general evacuation. The sound of the guns could be -followed, as the Belgians fell back towards Antwerp.</p> - -<p>This was, then, no more a matter of "Uhlan-hunting," by withdrawal and -encircling movement. The Prussians had penetrated too far, by surprise -or with foreknowledge; the country was being evacuated.</p> - -<p>The horses of Uhlans captured were fresh, signifying no lost or -wandering parties, but portions of a main column that had camped near. -The troops, also, which we had seen were behaving quietly, not in the -savage manner of the after-fight. They knew the country was clear of -soldiers, and could take their time. To this, probably, we owed our own -immunity at Gastouche. A column of some eight hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> horse could be -seen with the glass moving over the hills south of Wavre.</p> - -<p>We heard that Louvain was being evacuated. About five o'clock we left -the Civil Guard behind their railings, helpless and furious, and -hurtled towards Brussels. To some twenty little patrols of cavalry and -cars we gave the news. Their faces told me it was not the unexpected.</p> - -<p>Not a quiet run. Twice the distant "burr" of the aeroplanes, and we -identified the German "Taube" machines over the woods. We turned -east towards Jodoigne; to find the trenches empty, our army gone. An -armoured car, packed with German infantry, flashed through a cross-road -behind us. Once again a waving of arms checked us, and the peasants, -half fearful, half excited, warned us of a wood ahead; but we rushed it -without incident.</p> - -<p>So back to Brussels—to the close gathering of restless crowds under -the lamps, the quick glance of suspicious eyes, and rumour, nervous, -whispered rumour.</p> - -<p>The roads were crowded with fugitives with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> bundles, cows, and carts. -The suburbs hummed uneasily. The evening papers were just appearing, -announcing that "the situation is unchanged; the Germans are still -along the Meuse"; while every third man on the road had seen them -within fifteen miles, and the air had quivered with the approaching -guns all day!</p> - -<p>The game of secrecy has been played too long. It has deceived nobody -and increased the unrest. It is to be hoped that the good sense of the -Belgians will forgive it, for the sake of its innocent purpose, when -the hour of triumphant return comes.</p> - -<p>I left Brussels again late in the evening and worked down towards -Louvain, in the dark, meeting the last of the fugitive crowds and -the trains of wounded. Leaving the car securely hidden, by by-lanes -and cobble-ways I got forward, avoiding the flank of the retreating -Belgians, and making for the light of two burning cottages—my last -sight of Louvain.</p> - -<p>A few small fights were still going on, as sound and sight indicated. -Covering parties of Belgians, in small numbers, were heroically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> -sacrificing themselves to protect the strategic retreat on its -northward wheel.</p> - -<p>Below a slight field-slope, upon the crest of which the flash of -rifle fire and the long snake-rattle of the mitrailleuse showed where -some section was still making a last stand, I found a shelter. I had -made for the west of their certain line of retreat down the fields, -and hid uncomfortably in a ditch of bushes, which discovered itself, -accidentally and somewhat painfully, in the dark.</p> - -<p>Clearly, only a few men were holding the trench above. The whistle -of shot, well overhead and to my left, was continuous. Soon there -was the buzz of a motor down an invisible lane below, and one of the -German cars, fitted with a mitrailleuse-wheel, got into position, to -begin raking them from the rear. By means of motors, in this flood of -advance, the Germans have moved up light guns and infantry at the speed -of cavalry.</p> - -<p>A few scattered shots getting nearer told me that the men above me were -running back. One, blundering so that I could hear his feet, clearly -wounded, stopped running, as the sound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> showed, near me. I got him -after a time into the same ditch as myself. It ran along close to where -he fell.</p> - -<p>Having cleared this corner, the Germans had evidently something better -to do. The firing above and below stopped. After a long wait I managed -to get the little trooper, one of a regiment I had chatted with last -week, down to an abandoned cottage in the lane below. Only an arm -wound; so I left him, bandaged, for the Red Cross to fetch in.</p> - -<p>I got back slowly, keeping the line by the burning cottages. The -drive that followed will not easily be forgotten—at headlong speed -through awkward lanes. Only once—we were running without lights—did -a challenge stop us; but we chanced its being a friend, and only heard -the stray shot after us, in the dark.</p> - -<p>Some day I may be able to write the story of the "audacious chauffeur." -He swept me thirty miles through the night with extraordinary nerve and -skill. Only one of several daring runs.</p> - -<p>There was no rest this last night. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> clear Brussels would be -occupied in a few hours. In that event we were under promise to bring -out a certain frightened mother and her babies. The event had seemed -remote; but, like the tide on flat sands, while we watched the distant -edge of the sea, it was already up, round, and behind us.</p> - -<p>We were already all but cut off, since Brussels must now in a few hours -cut the last of its communications.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Friday, Daylight.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Down the car went again at 3 a.m., while I tried to get some sleep. It -seemed only a moment later that there was shouting in the village, and -a rattle of wooden sabots passed under the window, running.</p> - -<p>I looked out, under the cottage blind; and in a few minutes, through -the grey early light, two or three mounted, grey-shimmering Lancers -walked their horses down the street. It seemed as if they were -provoking the cottagers to fire at them. More probably they were -perfectly confident in the general evacuation of this district.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> There -were more, the women told me later, riding past outside the cottages.</p> - -<p>It was an undignified time of waiting, with no chance of a fight. -Nothing to do but dress, smoke, and get the papers ready in case they -came in. The terrible "game" is so real, even for the non-fighter, that -their passing, and the quiet of the empty street that followed, brought -more relief than one cares usually to confess to.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Bruges, Friday noon.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>It was no use trying to sleep there, with the nervous chatter beginning -of the women clustered under the windows, and with the chance of "more" -coming. The loan of a captured Uhlan horse, a trophy which the village -was now anxious to dispense with, and another lift from a car returning -for wounded, took me down again in the fields to the east of Brussels.</p> - -<p>A different sight this morning. For the Prussians were already half-way -into Brussels, on a clear parade march. The squalor and horror of the -battlefields were behind them. They were flooding easily through open, -still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> country, with the surrender of the city already promised them. -The insane game of war was being played out with at least one cleanly, -if, for us, melancholy, move.</p> - -<p>I got out short of Cortinbeck. A few casual cyclists gave me confidence -to wait. The roads were moving in the distance with advancing cavalry. -I could see, with the glasses, more crossing the sky line. It seemed -better to avoid, on the return, some dusty advance party patrols, in -cars; but they appeared to be paying civilian casuals little attention.</p> - -<p>When I regained the outskirts of Brussels the entanglements of wire -and the barriers of omnibuses were being cleared away—that pleasantly -reassuring joke—and the arms of the Civil Guard were being piled by -the streets. Zealous, honest Dogberries! It seemed hard that, after -being a conscientious and needful nuisance to their friends for so -long, they should not be allowed to challenge or scrutinise even one -enemy!</p> - -<p>I did not wait to see the entry into Brussels. There are limits to the -passive endurance even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> of a non-combatant. The only triumphant entry -I shall willingly witness is the return there of the brown, tired, -gay-hearted little Belgian soldiers, whom I have learned to admire as -an army and sympathise with individually in their magnificent struggle -against odds.</p> - -<p>The nature of our load made it wise to make a safe circuit west of -Brussels, on our retreat. The watching lion at Waterloo, as we passed, -seemed to wear a different look: surprised to see no battle array, -indignant at his desertion.</p> - -<p>At first, by request, we did courier work, carrying the news to -isolated town-garrisons. The further we got, the less curious did the -people become for news. Resignation, apathy, stolid village optimism, -according to the locality.</p> - -<p>Our armfulls of blue-eyed babies, five, six, and eight, brought the -only smiles to the faces we saw. The great mass of cars had already -gone; yesterday and before. A few hurrying cars, carts, and bicycles -with luggage. Now and again in a village the little crowds of peasant -fugitives with bundles. Occasionally some women, resting and cooking -by the wayside.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> The further down the line, the more troublesome -again became our familiar checks, the local watchmen, at their now -pathetically futile barriers. It would have been cruel to assure them, -when they became obstructive, that their authority was gone. We circled -by Waterloo westward, almost as far as Oudenarde.</p> - -<p>At one village a swarm of little dark-eyed Flemings, in sabots, -pretended to shoot us with large bows and arrows made of half-hoops, -from behind a sham barrier of branches and wheel-barrows; a half-tragic -commentary. At Ghent our car was within a single word of being -"requisitioned." The babies fulfilled their object by capturing smiles -and safe passage.</p> - -<p>At Bruges we have been kept for an hour because "German spies" have -been signalled as having passed in a car up the road. Having got so far -as to stop all the bridges, the dignitaries can do no more. The world -is upset, and must wait.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Ostend, Friday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The crowd of carts and cars that accumulated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> at last proved too much -even for the patience of the Gardes, and we all crushed through and -over.</p> - -<p>Nowhere had the news been received; everywhere the blind is still kept -down. It is a dangerous game to play, with men raging as I have heard -them the last few days. But the result may justify it.</p> - -<p>It is no good recalling the shadow moments of pain and tragedy that -cover like a cloud even the small corner which one man may see of this -destruction and panic called war.</p> - -<p>Every event is out of proportion, impossible. The dead body one -stumbles over is no more real or important than the bad-mannered -shop-keeper who is doing his best as a civic sentinel. One thinks of -nothing but the chance of the next fantastic incident; and if it comes -as a death or as a child crying, it seems equally serious, equally -foolish, equally without origin or relation to the next event.</p> - -<p>In the course of these two days, started so peacefully, it will be seen -that we have been involved in the French retreat on the west, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> the -Prussian flood and the dramatic evacuation in the centre, in a corner -of the last battle at Louvain, on the east, in the evening, the morning -entry of the enemy to occupy Brussels, and finally in the east of the -flight to the south. If we put the facts of the last few days together, -so far as we know them, without going outside official information, -this seems to be about the position:</p> - -<p>The German northern army, profiting perhaps even more than we did by -the check at Liége, had two possible alternatives, supposing their -objective to be Brussels, and the "hole" on the frontier by Mons and -Charleroi. And Brussels was necessary, to re-affirm their credit in -Berlin.</p> - -<p>The first alternative was through by Gembloux, Quatre Bras, and -Genappe, avoiding the forest of Soignes. This would have struck the -weak link between the French advanced force, in the neighbourhood of -Sombreffe, and the Belgian lines from Wavre to Diest.</p> - -<p>The second was to push north, along the frontier, to Hasselt, and break -through the Belgian left before it could be reinforced by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> the French, -threatening both Antwerp and Brussels.</p> - -<p>This was their choice. They were aware that the French could not push -up rapidly enough to establish the link firmly, or in great enough -numbers to be able to reinforce the menaced left wing.</p> - -<p>The French, nevertheless, did some very fine marches in order to profit -by the splendid Belgian resistance at Liége and Haelen. But it was -too late for the change of plan. When I was among them, at Mazy and -Gembloux and Perwez, it seemed as if they were in time to force the -Germans to take the more southerly line, and face them and the Belgian -arc on their north. The Germans knew better. Under screen of their -scattered Uhlans, here and there all over the country, forcing the -Belgians, always in inferior numbers, to expand and contract as their -attacks were located, they moved a far larger force than was estimated -across the Meuse. Behind their pause at Liége they converted the -hastily mobilised inferior troops, whom the Belgians had learned to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -despise, into the engine of magnificent equipment and pace that is now -launched across Belgium.</p> - -<p>This has pushed rapidly north, by motor, ahead of the French; and by -sheer weight of numbers, hurling columns in mass, at great sacrifice of -life, has broken the Belgian left at Diest and Aerschot in the terrific -fights of the last two days.</p> - -<p>The French made great efforts to get up, and actually got a certain -number by forced marches far enough to take the places of decimated -Belgian regiments in the line. But the smashing numbers and artillery -made the Belgian position, in its open trenches and entanglements on -easy country, impossible. Their left once turned, the small Belgian -army had no choice but to fall back on Malines and Antwerp. They had to -choose between defending Brussels, to keep the link with the French, -and covering Antwerp, which opened the road to Brussels. Antwerp was -obviously the more important, and better prepared for defence. Brussels -must have been destroyed in a siege, with immense loss of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> life to the -huge numbers who have swarmed into it.</p> - -<p>Wavre and all the district where I was travelling to and fro yesterday -was therefore evacuated, as the Belgians retired north. Their -retirement compelled a synchronous falling back of the French upon the -Sambre, to protect their own left wing when the link with the Belgians -was broken.</p> - -<p>The Germans obtained free passage both on the east and south to -Brussels. The rapidity of their progress is evidenced by the fact that -when I passed round west of Brussels to-day, advance cavalry patrols -were already reported in the neighbourhood of Oudenarde (about 35 miles -west of Brussels, towards Lille).</p> - -<p>It will be seen that, on paper at least, the Belgian army is in no -pleasant position. If the Germans continue to press northward on their -left flank, the Belgians will constantly have to be wheeling to their -own left front, to face them on the east. They will be forced to -retreat until they rest upon Malines and Antwerp.</p> - -<p>At the same time any small force of Germans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> left in Brussels is -largely out of the game. The Belgians threaten their northern -communications. The farther the Germans push north, to Ghent or Ostend, -the more danger that their lines can be cut. All depends whether this -German northern advance is merely an army of occupation, to subdue -Belgium, or the main army of advance upon France. In the latter case, -it will not now be stopped this side of the frontier.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Ostend, Saturday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>To-day the German flood has advanced with extraordinary rapidity. The -Belgian army is for the moment off the board. At express speed and with -clockwork regularity the country is being occupied. We know now that -this must be the main army of attack.</p> - -<p>Sweeping from the east by three routes, and through and past Brussels, -the main German advance has turned south-west. Passing close to -Waterloo and through Hal it is directed against the frontier between -Valenciennes and Maubeuge. A lighter cavalry column is passing further -north, as if towards Lille.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> - -<p>The main advance, since my encounter with it at Cortinbeck and at -Waterloo, on the morning after the battle of Louvain and Aerschot, it -has been impossible to follow. But to-day I took the region from the -French frontier, on the west of Brussels, with some idea of "beating -all the bounds" of what is left of our surrendered but unoccupied -country. For, with the exception of the section from Malines to -Antwerp, Belgium has been surrendered, the troops on the way have been -disbanded, and the Civic Guard has been discharged. At Alost yesterday -I met many of them, dismissed from Brussels, but still in uniform and -anxious for news. To-day I came across them again in Ghent, further -reduced and in mufti. In many cases their wives have insisted on -destroying their uniforms.</p> - -<p>I looked forward to a restful day in the Flemish rural districts, with, -perhaps, some news of the French. I was tired of coming upon Uhlans -round corners. It is a peculiarly trying business, exploring for an -enemy, with no troops, no sound of guns, or the consequent rumours, to -warn beforehand of their proximity! It is even more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> disagreeable when -you have to lose your enemy again rather faster than you have found him!</p> - -<p>The wandering about the fertile, remote province, with its long, -shaded, cobbled roads and low-cottaged, dusty villages, was a pleasant -change. In the morning the region was still entirely untouched by -the war. The dark-eyed children, with bleached blonde hair, in noisy -sabots, swarmed like puppies in the streets and about the car. The -Civil Guard were the only distraction. In the country fields they -generally could not read at all, and waved us on, blushing in their -blue blouses. In the small towns they could read "Vlamsch," but no -French, which irritated them. Often "Madame" had to be called in to -help, before the carts and ploughs were shoved aside. One old peasant -was particularly troublesome. He was both deaf and blind, and behind -his road-barrier of harrows he nursed a rusty bayonet dating from -Waterloo.</p> - -<p>The only incidents of the early day were an agitated hay-cart that -upset upon us, and a line of retreating engines, at Ingelmunster, -which took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> the level crossing at the same moment as ourselves. "The -service is so disorganised," the station-master excused himself for our -scratched paint.</p> - -<p>On the French frontier—near Poperinghe—we met our friends the French. -A cavalry contingent entertained us pleasantly at lunch round the -soup-pot. Satisfied of the safety of our western border, we turned -east, to cut across the noses of any advancing German columns. My -object was to discover if they were striking north to Ostend, or direct -west towards Lille, as well as south-west on their main line. Through -Ypres, Roulers, Vijve, and Deynze we ran to Ghent. The country was -still clear; the "war feeling" absent; but the Flemish are slow to -catch emotional infections.</p> - -<p>In Ghent we met the news. The Germans had flooded incredibly swiftly -north. A column had in the morning reached Melle, just south of Ghent. -Reports of eye-witnesses of its passing put it at 70,000 cavalry. -Clearly it was a fair-sized and fast column.</p> - -<p>I felt certain that it would turn west, and not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> continue north to -Ostend. It must form part of a quick cavalry turning movement to the -north of the main advance on the French and British position. We should -have time to make certain later in the day. Passing quickly through -Ghent, to avoid "requisitioning" of the car, we pushed out towards -Termonde, on the east, hoping to be able to make sure of the position -of the Belgian lines also, on their new arc of defence.</p> - -<p>Warnings of "Uhlans" soon began to meet us in quick succession. We -touched the outposts of the Belgians, and having thus made secure of -our two frontiers, west and east, to avoid unnecessary risk we ran back -to Ghent. The Belgians are worn and have lost heavily. The troops do -not yet know where the British are. They were, consequently, difficult -to deal with.</p> - -<p>Ghent was in the now familiar condition of crowd panic. The railway -communication had practically ceased. Disbanded soldiers were trying -to get away. The squares were crowded with anxious, waiting people; -the roads beginning to fill with the crowds of fugitives on foot -and in carts. While waiting for a few moments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> to talk to Belgian -friends—quickly made in time of war—occurred an unpleasing incident. -A corporal of the line, followed by three privates in uniform, suddenly -rushed across the square, their faces red and drawn with terror, and -demanded the car. The chauffeur, an old soldier, was at once involved -in fierce argument. My new-made friends faded away.</p> - -<p>The crowd, simmering with panic and crying already of "treachery" and -"revolution," as the effect of the extent to which they have been kept -in ignorance of the military situation until too late, swarmed round in -an instant angrily.</p> - -<p>At the words "Give it up or I fire," frantically shouted, I thought it -time to interfere. I had two bayonets at once thrust against my chest.</p> - -<p>"Where do you wish to be taken, friend?" He growled the name of some -village on the French frontier. The position grew clearer. He was one -of the "disbanded" escaping to his home. There were many, all about us, -but in civilian clothes.</p> - -<p>"I will take you, in uniform, to any place you choose at the front; but -no law compels<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> me to carry fugitives." ("Fuyards" is much stronger.) -"Get into clothes like mine, and I'll drop you at any (<i>sacré</i>) -hiding-hole that suits you."</p> - -<p>The effect on the crowd was electric. The soldiers faded; and we left, -after a proper interval, to let the crowd cool down.</p> - -<p>Not a quarter of a mile to the west of Ghent, where the roads were -spotted with carts of escaping households, an enormous Franciscan monk -blocked the road, with uplifted cross. "Stop, and take us, in the name -of the Virgin." He was supporting two wounded soldiers. It appeared -that, in foolish panic, all the private hospitals had been emptied. -"<i>Sauve qui peut</i>" was the word. The sick and wounded soldiers, many -from Liége, dressed in any odd civilian clothes, were being turned out -on to the roads to find their way to remote homes.</p> - -<p>We bundled them in; took them to the nearest railway line; flagged a -train at a level crossing, and sent them off, with breathless blessings -from the railway window. But the roads were full of them: men limping, -men almost crawling, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>out money, and with only the dangerous -soldier's "pass" to carry them to their villages, already held by the -enemy.</p> - -<p>For many hours we had given up our purpose of localising the column, -and travel backwards and forwards over the province, scattering them -far and wide in remote villages, either to their wives, or often in the -care of kindly women, who would pretend to be their wives or mothers, -in safer places. The strange panic feeling had now spread wide. -Everywhere were the little swarms of subdued people, with puzzled, -sullen faces, seen in forlorn villages. The cottages were emptying, -shop-windows being hurriedly covered, and signs hastily painted out.</p> - -<p>The Civil Guard, disbanded, were being confusedly shoved into civilian -dress by their terror-stricken wives and daughters.</p> - -<p>Occasionally I had to sit and make explanatory conversations in -the market places to knots of depressed Flemish civic fathers, who -would otherwise have made even more difficulty about our frequent -journeyings. "Where are the English?" "Who has betrayed us?" "Why<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> have -we been kept in the dark, and now find ourselves helpless?"—all of -them unanswerable questions.</p> - -<p>It became peculiarly difficult to keep up such talk, when, later in the -day, every quarter-hour would come a rush of clogs down the street, and -the roar of "They're coming!" The elders melted miraculously, and I was -left in the empty street facing a row of half-filled beer glasses, and -the thought that it might be true this time.</p> - -<p>Towards evening we ran into the French outposts again, at Ypres. They -are well over the frontier, and ready.</p> - -<p>We turned north at last in the dark, realising that even in these few -hours the tide of Germans had almost cut us off, even from the coast. -No province was to be left us by the immense efficiency of the machine. -It was moving now over undefended country. It has been notably revised -since Liége.</p> - -<p>But a cry from a dark group under the dark trees on a lonely twelve -miles of road again stopped us: "<i>Nous avons peur</i>" (we are afraid) -wailed sadly, as we shot past. Two wounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> soldiers, with two children -who had been to visit them. They, like many others, were from the -heroic Liége forts. They would be safe at their homes in Courtrai. On -the road, wandering, as many more were, right across the German line of -advance, they were in considerable danger.</p> - -<p>To run for Courtrai was to run from the French lines, directly at the -head of the probable German advance.</p> - -<p>Peasants, however, assured us that nothing had been seen; and it would -complete our locating of the positions of all the armies in this corner -of the world, if we found trace of the enemy.</p> - -<p>It was an exhilarating night run. Still the knots of folk at the -corners, but now even the children were silent.</p> - -<p>We dropped them, our last load, at the cross road entering Courtrai. -The car was turned to come back; when, from far down the other branch, -towards Deynze, came the roar of a racing car at full speed, devouring -the silence. Half a mile off sounded a shot, and again two, nearer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> us, -a little later. We started to move, and in a few seconds a car with -three Belgians in uniform rushed past us. One lay back, and his arm was -being bound up by his companion. They shouted warning. "They are back -there: we have come over one." And again: "Look out! There are more in -front!"</p> - -<p>We did our best to keep up with them—a rather wild race in the dark, -on roads straight but rough, for long black miles at a time. They drew -ahead, but this served also to draw the fire from us. Twice again a -shot sounded sharply in front. But we only had the half-gleam of the -lamps on a shadow-man and a frightened shadow-horse, when we, in turn, -passed the Uhlan patrols who had fired.</p> - -<p>It was not worth continuing as far as the French lines, clearly the -object of the car ahead. We turned off on the first good diagonal to -the north. We had learned what we wished. These were the usual Uhlans -clearing the ground; ahead of an advance to the west; not for the -present to the north.</p> - -<p>The return to Ostend all through the night was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> strange in its quieter -fashion. The Flemish peasant, once he is frightened or suspicious, -becomes a dangerous man. We had serious difficulties at infinite -numbers of barriers. And always the halt brought round a muttering, -shuffling swarm of hostile faces and voices. Along the roads we passed -small carts and wagons, creaking slowly with families of fugitives. -There was no reason for any one to fly in view of the general -surrender, but suspicion and panic were spreading, and stories of -German savagery wildly exaggerated and widely believed.</p> - -<p>Occasionally the lights glanced off long lines of black-shawled women, -returning from night pilgrimages to more potent saints. In the middle -of long black stretches of lonely road we passed suddenly before open -shrines, blazing with votive tapers. Near big villages, in the larger -shrines the heads of many children were silhouetted sharply against the -dazzling altars. Generally a ring of kneeling women outside shut the -children in; and the momentary sound of chanting came and went as we -passed.</p> - -<p>At a crossing a train, without lights, crept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> back timidly towards -Ghent. At another, seven trains in succession went past, full of -volunteers shipped to the French frontier. A car, with the windows -smashed by bullets, deserted under the trees, told of the passing of -more Uhlans. We half expected to find the Uhlans already here when we -returned; but it was only the exit of carts and carriages of luggage -that interrupted our race in, near midnight. We had started to define -the boundaries left to us, and before our return very little was left -us but the sea!</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">England, Sunday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Arriving at midnight at Ostend, I found myself "almost the very last" -foreign inhabitant. The Uhlans had been reported at twenty miles; we -had seen them at thirty; they were expected at any hour. Of the method -of my leaving, and of the episode of the dramatic visit of the Fleet -the next day, the time has not yet come to write.</p> - -<p>The placid river under Rochester Castle, two days later, in very -tranquil sunlight, is the last memory picture of this phase. The peace -atmosphere of England hit the senses like a thick,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> pleasant vapour. -The sensation was actually physical. I have experienced it again, at -every subsequent crossing in or out of the countries at war.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Antwerp and Malines</span></p> - - -<p>The passage of the great armies across the frontier and through -eastern France could not be approached. For the moment, west Flanders, -behind the German lines, offered no comfortable footing. There seemed -a prospect, however, that Antwerp might be immediately besieged. My -journey there was further justified by the chance of discharging a -useful public mission. I started by Flushing; spent a day sailing with -some Zeeland fishermen; and thence, as the railway to Antwerp was -interrupted, completed the journey by boat and irregular transport.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Saint Nicholas, Friday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Holland is friendly. There is only one opinion among the fishermen, -sailors, and peasants of the south.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> - -<p>Picturesque fellows they are, with their black caps, mahogany -faces, earrings, and gold brooches; and the women, with their white -head-dresses, black silk wings, and brown necks and arms, with coral -and gold bangles.</p> - -<p>No doubt in their minds. 'Anything but the German flag! We'll stay as -we are, if possible. If not, we'll be English for preference!'</p> - -<p>The Dutch soldiers on the frontier take the same view: 'Any fate -but Prussia!' But they have a fear: 'In other countries this is an -officer's war; not of the people. Who knows what 'they' will decide up -there! But, as far as we have a voice, no traffic with Germany!'—and -then usually follows an anecdote concerning a recent civic snub to a -member of the royal family, which need not be set out.</p> - -<p>There is strong repudiation of the story that German troops have been -allowed across Dutch Limburg: 'They were refugees, all who passed; and, -of course, we welcome all such. Why, we even have the German Crown -Prince's family at the Hague.' (This is generally believed!)</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p> - -<p>A Dutch fishing-smack, with an Irish skipper, put me across yesterday, -Thursday, on to the south bank of the Scheldt. A warm sleepy sunset, -and a drowsy peaceful little toy port.</p> - -<p>A burst of warlike energy had carried the fishermen as far as the -making of wire entanglements; but gaps, large enough for the passing of -the stouter burghers, had been considerately left.</p> - -<p>I travelled some distance on a goods truck. When it halted, a few idle, -polite sentries, anxious to avoid responsibility, passed me on to a -cavalry patrol. Pleasant, talkative fellows, they handed me over in -turn, on the frontier, to a company of mounted Belgian volunteers with -whom they had been fraternising.</p> - -<p>These had as yet seen no fighting themselves; but there was only one -subject of talk, the Highlanders: 'There are 20,000 of them, and they -pipe all the time! At Mons they played while the rest shot, and the -pipers can play with one hand and shoot with the other; it must be -terrible!' I had this story ten times over.</p> - -<p>And again, of the British: 'They are uncanny<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> fellows! Why, even in -hopeless positions on a retreat they never go on retiring till they are -told to!'</p> - -<p>The patrol was without its officer. It is a tragic little episode, -illustrative of the conditions of war. His mother was Dutch; and she -lay dying just across the frontier, in Holland. As a Belgian officer, -he could not cross to see her in uniform or with arms, or he would -be imprisoned. If he crossed as a civilian, he would be treated as a -deserter. He was away, trying, in vain, to get some relaxation of the -laws governing neutral territory. Only a mile or two off, and yet he -must be too late.</p> - -<p>As no passenger train to Antwerp would leave before next day, one of -my new friends packed me into a van, one of a long train of vans on -trucks going up with supplies to the front. The intention was to join -the main line at St. Nicholas, and take the train thence in the morning -to Antwerp. But as the supply train ran on to near Malines, there was -every reason for going with it.</p> - -<p>A few of the Malines residents were creeping<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> back, in the dusk, to the -empty town. The Belgians have shown remarkable pertinacity in these -'interval' returns. A father and son, sleeping in their cart on the -road, gave me a lift into the town.</p> - -<p>Malines was deserted. It was the night of an interval between the -retirement of the Germans and the resumption of advance by the -Belgians. But the German bombardment continued, directed obviously at -the destruction of the church and the empty buildings. At intervals the -guns resumed throughout the night; but their fire was ill-directed.</p> - -<p>As we were threading our way through the streets, a clatter of hoofs -warned us to take shelter. We hurried into the empty church. In the -dark, through the door, we heard, and saw in the faint light, a few -peasants walking past with hands raised, driven by some mounted Uhlans. -Four of the peasants were left sitting hunched up on the steps. After -long, anxious moments the patrol clattered away, firing wantonly at the -windows of the church; and again firing in the distance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> - -<p>During our wait, to let them get clear away, there was the deafening -report of a shell bursting not far from the church; and plaster rattled -down from the roof.</p> - -<p>Much of the town was in ruins; swaths through the houses, cleared away -to free the fire from the Belgian forts. And the prominent buildings, -public and private, had evidently provided targets for the German guns.</p> - -<p>To-day I heard that, while I was getting clear of the town, a very -gallant rescue was being made by four Belgian ambulance men. They -ran cars to the river, crossed a small pontoon, left by the Germans, -on foot, and succeeded in carrying eight wounded Belgians, left in a -little schoolhouse behind the German lines, back across the pontoon to -the cars. They had been lying there untended.</p> - -<p>The Belgian troops, or what I saw of them as I worked back to the -railway this morning, seemed in excellent heart. The repulse of the -Germans two days ago, and the strength of the fortress behind them, -have gone far to remove the anxiety that inevitably followed their -heavy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> losses in the recent field actions and the growing consciousness -of hopelessly inferior numbers.</p> - -<p>Many of them belonged to the fresh divisions, the flower of the heroic -little army. At last they know 'where the English are,' and 'what the -French are doing,' and the vague and intimidating hugeness of their own -task has contracted to a definite, perceptible plan of campaign.</p> - -<p>An eye-witness tells me the retreat from Louvain was conducted in -splendid order and in high spirits. The Germans followed till they came -under the fire of the outermost fort.</p> - -<p>To-day the little Belgians were as cordial and ready to smile as in the -first days after Liége.</p> - -<p>In the grey morning to-day the country near the Belgian lines was an -extraordinary sight. Already the light was flashing from the water of -slight, precautionary inundations; and there are whole tracts ready to -follow suit. Chateaux destroyed, for purposes of defensive fire; woods -cut down; trees, which obstructed the ranges, hacked away; a country -already half devastated, as if by an enemy.</p> - -<p>But the success outside Malines had reassured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> the peasants. They could -be seen dribbling slowly back to their cottages in unobtrusive clusters -on road and field.</p> - -<p>A troop train, crammed with soldiers sitting close on the floor of -cattle-trucks, many of them of the volunteer army, brought me back -towards the headquarters. Troops were constantly leaving us, and fresh -truckloads being added: all in good heart, and full of individual -exploits. We were banged about, and shunted here and there among guns -and ammunition trains.</p> - -<p>At one point the firing sounded only just across the field. The train -stopped, and several trucks emptied in little coloured floods of -soldiers into the wet fields. The men doubled in open order, just -over the edge, out of sight through the green park-like trees in the -sunlight. The scattered fire gradually drew away; and we moved slowly -on again.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Antwerp, Friday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>At St. Nicholas, the headquarters of the General commanding on the -west, I ran again into the uneasy, strained atmosphere of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> towns -near the fighting line. It was familiar at Namur and elsewhere. -Uncertainty, constant coming and going, parade, spy-mania, secrecy, and -military rule. In such places the civilian is like a child confused in -the middle of a race-course; something to be herded and scuffled out -of the way; suspicion of others is the only safe outlet for his panic -feeling. We do not know this condition yet in England. May we never -experience it! To catch an eye is to create an enemy. A sudden movement -brings a rush of the silent crowd. An outward routine; an inward -volcano of fear, mistrust, and over-strained nerves.</p> - -<p>The soldiers at the front, if one can get there, are friendly enough. -Only for the moment, when men are going into, or are actually in -action, does the 'war-mask' make a man remote and unaccountable. Out of -action the more humorous northerner drops it gladly; the southerner, -less easily. Farther back from the front, at the anxious, waiting, -military headquarters, or in the town or village strung to snapping -point of nervous tension by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> immediate uncertainty and peril, -is the danger-point for the looker-on. I made the experiment, as an -obvious stranger, of sitting outside a restaurant. In five minutes a -white-whiskered, respectable magistrate sat down opposite, and glared -dangerously. "You are a renegade!" I made no answer. A crowd began to -collect. "You are a German!" It was dangerous to let him go on. Better -attract the police than risk the crowd. "You may have the right to -question me, sir: you have none to insult me"—and I stood up suddenly, -upsetting him behind the heavy little table. A regulation "arrest" -followed; the first. In two hours I was interrogated seven times by -different descriptions of uniformed and civilian officialdom; and three -times was escorted to various military authorities, who, at last, -became not unnaturally petulant. Finally I had to retire within doors. -This is merely illustrative of the atmosphere; for the individuals -remained undemonstrative.</p> - -<p>Troop trains poured in and out of the station. Boy-sentries, struggling -under huge rifles, paraded the cobbles and mustered at the corners.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> - -<p>At last, the single train to Antwerp. Nobody but inhabitants were -allowed to enter by it. The "word of the day" was whispered me with -infinite secrecy. The women, waiting to identify the wounded, who -passed in constant groups from the trains, swarmed over the platform -for farewells. Then a dark journey under a red moon; a passing sight of -camps, and soldiers moving without lights; spaces of water.</p> - -<p>And the end of it all, an easy, normal, almost careless passage into a -comfortable town, sure of itself and its defenders. For Antwerp lives -perfectly tranquilly. Only at night are the dark streets and the unseen -movement of people strange. Since the audacious, and fatal, passage of -the Zeppelin, no lights are allowed, even in windows, after eight. It -must have been a terrifying sight in the dark sky. The brightly lighted -airship close over the sleeping houses, so light that the number on -board could be reckoned. It drifted silently down wind, over the roofs, -well inside the defending circle. Then the roar of the propeller began; -the populace rushed out, and there followed a succession of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> shattering -explosions from its ten unseen and ill-directed bombs. Now precautions -are taken; and the great silver pencil of the searchlight has swung and -passed all to-night over our heads.</p> - -<p>No signs of a town besieged.</p> - -<p>Prices low, no war feeling, a steady traffic. Only rarely the rattle of -an armoured motor through the street; for nearly all military movements -are made at night. Except for the universal error of the withholding of -news, the control of the population is admirable in its restraint. We -have no "nerves" here yet.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Antwerp, Saturday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The Germans have been forced to keep a retaining army in front of the -Belgian lines at Malines. How big this is, it is impossible at present -to say. It seems to be no more than a retaining force, protecting -communications.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, the Belgians have half of their army intact, some -60,000, fresh and in good heart; with the remainder of the troops from -Liége, Louvain, and Namur, now reconstituted and keen to keep up their -splendid record.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> - -<p>It will take an army of 150,000 to invest Antwerp, with its double line -of forts.</p> - -<p>There is a vague rumour that a secondary and larger force is advancing -directly upon Antwerp from the east, independent of the force already -facing Malines on the south, and that the big siege guns are being -brought up. The eventuality must be contemplated. The Landsturm -(reserve army) is already at Liége. The Germans have the reserves to -spare, and it would be consistent with their plan to follow their -swift-moving columns at the front with a second supporting army, -to occupy the conquered territory, already almost evacuated by the -advanced troops, and invest Antwerp. If the troops can be spared from -Prussia and France, the effort will be made. But not, I think, until -the blow at France has failed.</p> - -<p>The importance of Antwerp, as the final seat of the Belgian Government -and the last base from which the army can operate, cannot be overrated. -With Antwerp lost, the army, and all the possibilities of its position -upon the German flank, threatening the communications,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> would be -baseless; and must be forced to surrender, or to cut its way through to -Ostend.</p> - -<p>Germany will mask Antwerp for the present. And later on a siege of -Antwerp may not be calculated in terms of Liége. There the Germans -attacked with infantry and light field-guns. They have now brought up -their heavy siege guns. The rapid fall of the forts of Namur is the -measure of the difference.</p> - -<p>The outer line of Antwerp forts are one and a half miles apart, -alternating fort and redoubt. The silencing of one fort by the heavy -guns would leave a gap of three miles, through which troops could be -poured.</p> - -<p>The Belgian Field Army would have to hold the gap or gaps; behind them -the second line of forts would repeat the resistance, in their turn, -under increased difficulties. It might cost a number of lives, but of -these the Germans are careless. A big army with siege guns could manage -it, and not take unduly long.</p> - -<p>It will be seen that it is of the utmost importance to protect Antwerp, -not by strengthening the defence more than has already been done,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> but -by the operations of a relieving force, acting from the coast, upon the -left of the German investing army.</p> - -<p>The presence of British troops and ships at Ostend, which has been -announced officially in all the Belgian and French papers, has -already begun to effect its purpose; by reassuring the Belgians, and -distracting the Germans from pouring all their reinforcements on to the -front in France.</p> - -<p>It is also forcing the light, skirmishing German parties of advance, -which threatened the extreme left of the Allied armies, from Courtrai -to Dunkirk, to contract.</p> - -<p>(The anticipations here outlined have since been borne out closely by -the actual events of the fall of Antwerp.)</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Sunday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The Germans resumed their bombardment of Malines yesterday. The church -tower provided their chief object. They were successfully kept out of -the town.</p> - -<p>The news is confirmed that something like a "whole army corps" has been -diverted from its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> advance across the frontier by the spirited sally of -the Belgians.</p> - -<p>I was down on the lines west of the city again to-day. The troops are -in fine spirits at their success. The British sympathy and admiration -have been greatly appreciated. The tribute of the House of Commons is -spread by the journals broadcast, in large print.</p> - -<p>At my small point of view there was only some slight skirmishing. -Since four o'clock yesterday the big guns have been having a rest. -Some peasants, captured and released, report the retirement of German -cavalry upon Louvain. These peasants have had seven days of terror. -They, including some women, have been driven at the head of a small -German contingent to and fro, threatened with death behind and in -front. They relate that those who fell out were shot. Some of them were -allowed to stop last night on the steps of the Cathedral, as they were -being herded through deserted Malines. They must have been the same -whom we saw pass, and heard afterwards murmuring there, while we waited -concealed inside.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> - -<p>The large number of Belgian wounds are in the legs; possibly from lying -behind two little elevated screens, in place of entrenching; but the -German rifle-fire is still low.</p> - -<p>The Germans, advancing <i>en masse</i>, are constantly described as firing -from the hip. In front of the trench which I visited, the ground was -cut up by rifle-bullets in a continuous line, a few feet short of the -raised bank. Towards the end of the hour I spent there, came a sudden -ten minutes of furious firing. The hail of bullets whipped against the -far side bank in travelling waves of rustling sound, like the passing -of sharp gusts over a moor.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Later.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The air is yellow and heavy from the continuous bombardment of the past -days. Sudden showers of rain, out of cloudless skies, come from the -same cause. The guns began again to-night.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Ostend, Monday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The Belgian Army was active this morning. Already at dawn as I passed -out of Antwerp through the wire entanglements and small<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> inundations -about the military camps, they were on the move for another attack. The -guns were in action to the south of us.</p> - -<p>The country, in the line of Ghent, is now free. It was possible to -travel almost to the French frontier before the alarm of Uhlans began. -But the villages, populous and filled with panic last week, are now -half deserted and melancholy. The refugees pour aimlessly to the coast -and back again, according to the rumours. The railways run, advancing -and retreating, according to the movements of the enemy. In the morning -trains may run straight, in the evening make a cautious loop. A curious -situation, significant of the double occupation of the "open" territory.</p> - -<p>I wished to clear up some of the mystery enveloping the northern end of -the French frontier. I therefore passed through Ghent westward. Last -week I left a German cavalry column disappearing into the silence of -"no official news" into the neighbourhood of Courtrai. This afternoon -I met news of them, or their like, returning in the same quarter, as I -made a hurried run to the border. It was near Ypres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> that the peasants -met us with warnings "The Germans have been sighted, and are expected -here."</p> - -<p>From a safe retreat, in a wood on rising ground, we watched a small -line of German wagons, probably of wounded, winding into and out at the -other end of the short village street. It was accompanied and followed -by cavalry and a few cars.</p> - -<p>It has been heartening to see any Germans facing in the right -direction, before I descended once again upon Ostend.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></p> - -<p class="center" ><span class="smcap">Paris and the Trenches</span></p> - - -<p>The ten days of the great conflict across France were now ended. The -military machine, the most powerful that the world has seen, had swept -past us across the silence of the frontier. Perfectly prepared beyond -all anticipation, and driven by the utmost forces of military despotic -tradition, it had achieved a performance remarkable in the history of -wars. But the machine had been met, and though we did not yet know it, -the momentum of its hammer-blow had been exhausted, by a defensive -retreat which will rank as unsurpassed not only in military history but -in the record of the greatest feats of human endurance, of the supreme -conquests of the spirit of man over the machinery of man's invention.</p> - -<p>Outmatched by ten to one, fighting by regi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>ments, by groups, by -individuals, the soldiers of the independent racial spirit, of -voluntary subordination to the service of war, had resisted, doggedly, -inch by inch, and outlasted in the end, the devastating impetus of the -vast war engine. Still an unbeaten army of unconquerable personality, -the survivors waited outside Paris, reinforced, ready to resume the -offensive. Failure in organisation, suspected failures in collaboration -might have been fatal to the moral of a mechanically trained army. To -the elastic temperament and combination of our soldiers, bringing each -a free man's personality to the work of his chosen profession, nothing -could be fatal but loss of life itself, or loss of faith in the common -cause.</p> - -<p>I returned again to Paris when the Germans were within a long march -of the outer forts. The journey took an interminable time. The direct -lines were threatened by the enemy or blocked with the movements of -troops. We wandered to remote junctions west of Paris, and had to fight -good-humouredly for standing-room with crowds of reservists recalled -to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> the colours. No doubt owing to the greater magnitude of the problem -the French railway organisation, for other than military service, did -not compare well, during the earlier stages of the war, with that of -the Belgians, who showed a remarkable power of keeping their ordinary -traffic almost normal, and of reconciling it with the movements of -their own or the enemy's troops.</p> - -<p>Paris was practically empty. A second greater exodus was going on. The -Government had retired to Bordeaux the day before. With few exceptions -even the war correspondents, the last usually to cling on, had -vanished. Our Embassy had left with the Government. Our Consulate had -also vanished, leaving a large number of anxious countrymen stranded. -Doubtless they acted under orders. But, in pleasing contrast, a few of -our Consuls seem to have been allowed to exercise a more considerate -discretion, and remained doing excellent service till the threat of -occupation passed. Most of the Government offices were being occupied -by soldiers. General Gallieni, the Military Governor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> was taking a -firm hold. We felt at once that the defence of Paris in his hands was -to be really "<i>jusqu'au bout</i>."</p> - -<p>Life in Paris was undergoing a second mutation. On the occasion of my -first visit, at the outbreak of the war, it was in the throes attending -the surrender of individual liberty to the control of the Departments -of official military government. The Departments had now retreated, -and civilian life was under the necessity of readjusting itself to the -confused beginnings of a purely "soldier" rule. The inconveniences -lasted only for a few days. The Military Governor organised his staff -for the unaccustomed work of administration with conspicuous energy.</p> - -<p>All that was left of Paris, passive, observant, and quick to grasp the -necessity of subduing even its natural inclination to caustic comment, -accepted the situation philosophically. For a day or two we still -listened for the sound of the guns of the forts, which should announce -the beginning of the siege. But in place of them came the quick rumour -of the British successes near Compiègne, of the German faltering and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> -hesitation, of the swing south, and finally of the retreat from the -Marne. People began to return. Paris life regained something of its -vivacity; only the dark quiet evenings, and the occasional visit of an -airman, survived inside the defences to remind us of the war. Now and -then the sight of a British soldier being embraced on the streets, and -treated to an extent that jeopardised the influence of Lord Kitchener's -letter, made a link with the with-drawing armies. News was reduced to -the customary minimum.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">In the trenches, Friday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Here, outside the gates of Paris, within the circle of the forts, there -is a note of instancy and reality which is hardly shared by the city -itself even since the nearer approach of the invaders. The red and blue -dots of soldiers move briskly with purpose over the fields, under the -heavy, summer trees. Just a flash of sun here and there on bayonet or -helmet.</p> - -<p>Fortune has introduced me to a collection of non-commissioned -officers—jolly follows, in good<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> heart. Some spoke English. One was -a Russian who had served as a volunteer in most of the armies of -the world. We sat under a tree in the shade, and they superintended -the heavy work of more red dots with grey shirts, sweltering in the -sun and digging trenches in the dusty, brown soil. In the distance, -business-like little lines of blue and red moved away over the horizon. -For the German cavalry is near us, in the Forest of Compiègne, to the -north. It had reached to Soissons, even to Creil, yesterday.</p> - -<p>The British caught them well two days ago; but now they are between us -and the British, in their distracting, scattered Uhlan fashion.</p> - -<p>We do not ask now: "Where are the English?" We know! But now it is: -"Where are the Indian troops? How many are they? Where do they land?" -Most of my friends are volunteers, full of spirit, and new to the work. -We are rather puzzled by the position. Of course the German strategy -is contrary to all sound rule. But still the "strategic retreat" seems -to have drawn out the French lines almost as long as the line to the -German base. We<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> appear to pin our faith to that mysterious unknown -factor, of which the Press speaks, and to the Indians and Turcos, and -other oddments.</p> - -<p>Then comes the interruption of reality. A few dispatch riders, in -faint dusty blue, gallop past. A few wounded, supported, bandaged, -or carried, come more slowly through the hot fields, along the dusty -trenches and entanglements. A German mitrailleuse car, "blindée" -(armoured)—that French invention that the Germans have turned to such -account—has rushed on a French outpost. These are its victims. But the -car is—we are told—"accounted for."</p> - -<p>The touch of war is only a momentary disturbance to the quiet, busy -work of the red-and-blue and red-and-grey dots, marching and mattocking -in the afternoon sun round us.</p> - -<p>Paris itself is "empty." Four weeks ago the Boulevards were deserted, -but it was the emptiness of emotional stress, varied by the rush -of sudden crowds and alarms. This was followed by our declaration -of war; and coincidentally the streets grew again alive. Now they -are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> deserted, but this time in earnest, for the inhabitants have -dispersed where they may. There is no panic; none of the "nerves" of -a month ago. The little unrest is due to the <i>reductio ad absurdum</i> -of war news, which characterises this war in all countries. The only -crowd to-day was the crowd of automobiles at the Invalides, getting -permits to leave the city before 7.30 to-night, the last moment of -passage permitted. Even the 5 o'clock circuit of German aeroplanes -created small sensation. It is no longer "new." Yesterday, gentlemen -of sporting tastes took shots at the aeroplanes, as they sat at coffee -on the Boulevards. To-day, some of the Brussels caution, which found -in such promiscuous shooting a yet greater danger for the inhabitants, -has asserted itself. A mitrailleuse on the Madeleine secures the civic -safety.</p> - -<p>Four weeks ago chance made it necessary for me to pass hours in almost -every Government office in the city. There was then the inevitable -confusion due to the fact that most of the efficient staff had gone -to the front just at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> moment at which every individual found his -rights to move and exist had become vested in a series of public -offices, and no longer in himself. Chance took me to-day to wait in -almost all these offices yet once again. It was again a moment of -dislocation, for the Government have gone. The offices are in the hands -of soldiers. The citizens have to adjust their existence anew to yet -another control, that of a purely military organisation.</p> - -<p>All the landmarks are shifted. Begins anew the scuffle for the usual -permissions to move or exist. As a pleasant contrast to the general -flight and upheaval, the United States Embassy and Consulate are -looking after the individual anxieties of half the nationalities of -Europe with a courtesy and efficiency beyond all praise. Paris is -empty, but sunny and still itself. Through the empty street the columns -of red and blue soldiers pass, with dusty boots, making bright streaks -of colour. Like a mother of pearl shell left on the beach, the colours -of Paris remain vivid, though the life in her Government is gone south.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Friday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Another interlude—Shakespearean if you like. The talk of the first and -second Watchmen and the second Citizen outside the walls. A drop-scene -before Paris, in the second act of the great war tragedy.</p> - -<p>The gates had closed before I could get in. A corporal, who considered -himself under an obligation, suggested taking refuge in a shelter with -five non-commissioned officers, who were superintending the defence -works. He knew one of them. The rest were not of his regiment, and -suspicious, as men are behind the lines. But two or three gathered -round to smoke; and, Parisian-like, thawed with their own talk. The -rest rolled up on the straw, and moved restlessly in tired sleep, -outside the range of the single light.</p> - -<p>Naturally the talk turned first on the stranger: "What a risky job. -Now, a soldier goes safely where he's told, and can fight there, with -friends round. But you may be shot by anyone, as the easiest thing to -do! No inquiries as in peace time. Anyone may do it; and it's only<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> an -unlucky incident. No mention in the papers even! Why, even generals and -officers have been shot in this war by mistake."</p> - -<p>The risk set my corporal talking of a younger brother of his, whom he -had brought up and seen married; their two wives are together at home -with the babies. "He is of the—1st line, the little brother—only -so high. I do not know where he is. Only one postcard with no date -or address, saying 'Still living.' That is all, two weeks ago; and -the war may be over, and we shall never know. Perhaps we shall have -his regimental number returned, and never know. The little one whom I -brought up—only so high."</p> - -<p>There was only one opinion about the English troops. "What fellows they -are—<i>charmants garcons!</i>—big and cool-looking in their 'green'; and -impassive! And then, so gay, always so gay—except their songs!"</p> - -<p>"I cannot understand them, but they laugh all the time, even when they -are too tired to walk;"—it was a cuirassier speaking—"I helped to -carry one in the other day; four of us. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> was near Amiens. He was -dying; his legs—so. He kept on saying something which we could not -understand; perhaps it was a message to his mother or sweetheart. But -he smiled always, and shook hands. And he said: 'Good friends. Good old -England.' I understood that. He died before we found the ambulance."</p> - -<p>I asked cautiously, later, why there was the constant question about -the whereabouts of the "Turcos," Indians and Japanese. Were we not -enough? There was a volume of answer. "Ah, but we are civilised! We -thought this fighting would be civilised. They cut the heads off their -bullets. Here is one! And they rough the edge of their bayonets—I -have picked them up! But it is with savages. And we have not the -temperament." A volunteer emphasised this, a bearded manufacturer, -with a family, in ordinary times: "And these others know the barbarous -methods of fight. It is of their nature. They can be ferocious. The -savages fear them."</p> - -<p>The old walls of Paris, the third line of defence, remain a cherished -sentiment. The famous story<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> of Todleben riding round them on -inspection, with two officers, in silence, and only remarking quietly -at the end: "<i>C'est tout? Paris est prise d'avance!</i>" was treated as a -German's joke!</p> - -<p>"The walls? They will be fought to the last! The stones of the street -of Paris will rise up in new barricades—if 'they' get so far!"</p> - -<p>A volunteer infantryman arrived with a packet of salt. Salt is getting -rare. The arrival was made the occasion of a quick cooking of the -universal soup. The talk flickered up; chiefly of friends and positions -of regiments, details confused and not to be recorded. The end of one -story, however, stands out vividly: "We were only three, and he could -not walk further, and it was a cold night. We could not put him in a -haystack, for the 'Bosches' burn them; or in a cottage, till 'they' had -gone past. So we made a shallow trough between the furrows, leaving him -warm with his head uncovered, and pulled a harrow above him. In the -morning the peasant who had left the harrow would find him, warm; or it -would be easy to finish burying him."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> - -<p>The last of them rolled up in their coats and straw to sleep, my -corporal still murmuring: "I wonder where he is, the little one—so -high? Perhaps, after the war——"</p> - -<p>And it seemed only a moment later that the dawn began behind Paris, -yellow behind the grey towers above the still mists.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Paris, Saturday dawn.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>During the respite of the last days the army of defence has at least -got what sleep it could.</p> - -<p>The trenches within the circle of forts are cloaked before dawn -by mist. Here and there, hidden under temporary shelters, a groan -or murmur tells where the soldiers sleep on straw, behind the -entrenchments. The stations of the local railway lines are filled with -straw, and among sacks and accoutrements the more fortunate are asleep, -crowded close under the open sheds.</p> - -<p>If I move my head, shadows loom out of the mist—the close-standing -sentries. Singular figures, hidden in white vapour to the waist.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> -All wearing heavy cloaks of different types, but made uniform by the -military cap, the shouldered or grounded musket.</p> - -<p>The challenges run round, in subdued tones. Even suspicion seems -lulled. In the truce of the night the mind even of the sentry is -passive. The artificial atmosphere, that makes all but the known -uniform an enemy, is forgotten for the moment.</p> - -<p>Back towards Paris, the city is shoulder-deep in white mist. Only the -spires and towers emerge, grey and sleepy. The summit of the Eiffel -Tower is lost again in a yet higher belt.</p> - -<p>As the grey light grows yellow and red with the coming sun, the towers -are projected against it as if floating in mid air, a city of dreams. -Can this be the town that is waiting half empty, garrisoned with -soldiers, every public office a barrack or ambulance, for expected -bombardment, almost certain siege?</p> - -<p>Yet only a few miles to the north—how few the citizens do not yet -know—the advance patrols of the enemy are also resting, sleeping under -the same bands of white mist. They are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> at Pontoise; some of them have -been encountered even near the Seine in the glades of the Forest of St. -Germain.</p> - -<p>And behind us, also hidden by the mist, the restless movement of our -own troops continues. Trains are shunting and banging; there is the -rattle of heavy wheels on the roads....</p> - -<p>The yellow light widens; the mist lifts and grows thin. The sentries -seem to shape themselves, and swing their cloaks. A general stir -rustles out of the shelters. The clatter of cooking-pots and boots, -even of voices, begins round us. The night has been warm, and a sultry -feeling falls again at once with the opening of day. A cavalry patrol, -visible already in its lighter blue uniforms, files past. The men move -out to their work on the earthworks. There is the rattle of arms as the -rifles are freed from their standing stooks. Strange sheaves these, in -their threatening lines, by the edges of uncut cornfields. They begin -to glitter as they are lifted in the early sunlight.</p> - -<p>The sound of a distant shot, unexplained, startles my little circle of -view into alertness.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> The truce of night goes in an instant with the -mist. Suspicion, the sharp tension of prospective attack, change in -a second the atmosphere. Orders, loud voices, and movements tell the -beginning of another inconsequent day in the unnatural war.</p> - -<p>Paris, as I return, is already awake: sharp outlined and stirring. -Carts are moving in and out of one gate, which has opened early. Small -parties of officers roll out noisily in motor-cars from their city -quarters.</p> - -<p>It is time to get back to the suppressed, shepherded existence of a -civilian in a town under military government, for whom rumour-fed -ignorance is considered to be the only safe-guard against panic.</p> - -<p>Psychology of an elementary character might form a part of the training -of the experts in war.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Paris, Saturday midnight.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The pause outside Paris continues. It is neither ominous nor -reassuring. After their astonishing march the Germans have to collect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -themselves for the great move. Rushed by their pace and volume, but -acting on a concerted plan, the Allies have retired with deliberate -skill upon their intended positions; with Paris as pivot. For the time -fighting tactics are of less importance. Strategy, for the first time -since the failure beyond the frontier, is again to decide.</p> - -<p>The Germans have failed to force a decisive victory on their course -across France. The Allied Armies are still unseparated, their temporary -dislocation is cemented five times as strongly. Havre is still -covered, Paris is covered, the connection is retained with the armies -in Lorraine. The Crown Prince's army has failed to keep pace in the -centre. The front for the Allies is contracted; they have again a -strategic base on Paris; they have succeeded in gaining, in spite of -the tremendous pursuit, their chosen lines of defence to north and east -of the capital.</p> - -<p>During the last few days the Germans have discovered the strength of -the position of the Allies by means of their unsuccessful raids at -Compiègne and elsewhere. They have possibly got some further news -from the west. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> have had to rest their men and horses after the -terrific march; get up their great siege guns; prepare their positions -and platforms, and reconnoitre the admirable defensive strategic -positions. Do they mean to attack Paris? There is now doubt of it. It -has been "Paris or die." May we hope the "die" will be cast?</p> - -<p>There has been a considerable movement of their troops to the south, -east of Saint Denis. This has been construed into an attempt to turn -the rear of the French positions on the frontier; to create a diversion -in favour of the Crown Prince's army; to link up with this, and either -surround the French army of Lorraine or advance in double force on -Paris. This would imply a hesitation in the advance of the terrible -"marching column," a relenting of the pace—in fact, a blunder of -magnitude, in view of the importance of time.</p> - -<p>It is more than probable that the movement south, to the east of Paris, -is preparatory to an advance upon the capital from two directions, the -east and north-east. This would at once threaten the connection with -the armies of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> Lorraine; do something to clear the road for the Crown -Prince in the centre; and substitute for an immediate attack upon Paris -an advance upon the main position of our armies.</p> - -<p>The design is being retarded by the usual measures; measures which, to -the lay mind, might well have been employed in retarding the advance -through Flanders and mid-Belgium.</p> - -<p>Paris is going to be defended to the last wall. General Gallieni's -thirty-eight-word proclamation has created a profound impression. If it -comes even to street fighting, the few survivors in the city here are -prepared to see the walls burning about them.</p> - -<p>Perhaps I may mention the open secret that, if the Germans are -rejoicing in the progress of their great siege guns, towed by 30-50 -horses, we have a surprise quite as cheering for them here, once they -get to close grips.</p> - -<p>And besides this, we are all asking ourselves how long their nice sense -of humanity will prevent the French making more use of their explosive -secret? This is a war to kill, to be decided by the number killed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> - -<p>And then Lord Kitchener's "unknown factor"; we know a great deal about -it now.</p> - -<p>General Gallieni is an administrator of established reputation, -and a fighter by temperament. I met him to-day on his round of the -fortifications. He is never away from the vital points; at the same -time his administration of the town has got into working order with -rapidity. He passed, with a salute, in a cloud of dust, the car in -front guarded by a black orderly.</p> - -<p>And even if Paris goes? Well, the campaign is clear. Sentiment is not -to interfere with this ingenious campaign against superior forces.</p> - -<p>It is impatient work, waiting in a placid town for an unheard enemy. -I went out to look for him to-day. The roving "Uhlan," the "hooligan" -of the war, had been reported yesterday at Pontoise, and in the Forest -of St. Germain. I had an enchanting tour through the long glades, -in sunlight, for my pains. Not the gleam of a lance as far even as -Pontoise. The windings of the Seine were only alive with boys bathing -and the sharp detail of red and blue sentries on the bridges. Many -bridges are closed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> but there is none of the worry of the stops -by "Civic Guards" at every corner that jolted one in Belgium. The -challenges are rare, and business-like.</p> - -<p>I ran all through the forest, cheated of even a "view" of the enemy. -It is not saying much to say that our lines are not yet back upon the -Seine. The French aviators floated overhead, but not even the audacious -"Taube" broke the blue and green of sky and forest.</p> - -<p>At Versailles I ran again into the suspicious atmosphere of the purely -military town. Hardly a civilian to be seen. All houses closed. Why is -the purely military town the most nervous? At Paris we look calmly even -on aviators and dragoons; only the British soldier, one of the many -"missing" returning now in numbers to rejoin their units via Paris, -is overwhelmed with greetings, little crowds, and embraces. But at -Versailles the vibration of war nerves made every bare cobbled street -"jumpy" in atmosphere.</p> - -<p>All along the shady roads through the forests of Marly wound the -peasant carts, freighted with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> refugee women and children. Under the -trees by the wayside carts in hundreds were drawn up, loaded with -household goods and trusses of hay or straw for the patient horse -or donkey. The women sat round cooking-pots set on wood fires. The -children played noisily. The chief game was "Germans"—a tin pot on a -stone, at which a gipsy-looking band hurled bricks from a safe ten feet.</p> - -<p>Drifting aimlessly here and there, ready to move at a rumour, the great -army of the homeless, just as in Belgium, moves through the fertile -fields. It is depressed, purposeless, puzzled. Turned back from the big -towns, reluctant to cross the Channel, uprooted from the home-fields, -like plants torn up and swirled endlessly in a weir pool—moving -endlessly back and forwards. The generations of peace, the rich product -of human progress, that war is killing.</p> - -<p>Through their unheeding lines on either side passed ceaselessly the -wagon-loads of hay, the munition carts, the cavalry patrols, all the -sacrifices to the new idol of devastation. We are long past cheering -soldiers in the war-lands.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Movements in the North</span></p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Sunday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>THE Germans are turning sharply south, descending diagonally on the -east of Paris. The country they held, or partially held, three days -ago, as far west as Compiègne, Gisors, and Pontoise, is now free of -all but isolated patrols. The brilliant cavalry action at Compiègne, -where the British lost six and recovered sixteen guns, may have been -but a feint to cover the alteration of direction. Amiens they still -hold, and the line due south of it. Our forces, keeping touch with the -enemy, have moved forward their covering line across and to the east of -Paris on the side of the Marne, with a curve south near Paris on their -left wing. What is the reason of the change? Is it merely a move in -the great chess game designed at Berlin; first the powerful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> "marching -column" striking directly at the more vulnerable north-west corner of -Paris, so as to draw out the French defence in that direction, thinning -its connecting links with the eastern army; then a swift change, and -a blow at the weakened centre, with the intention of cutting off and -surrounding the eastern army very near to fatal Sedan?</p> - -<p>Is it an attempt to force a decisive action before attacking Paris, -since the Allies, in spite of their costly retreat, are still an -undefeated army, now safely established in a strong defensive position? -Is it this attempt, combined with the intention of joining forces -with the Rheims armies of von Buelow and Wurtemberg, and of cutting -communications behind the army opposing the Crown Prince?</p> - -<p>Or has there really been some definite change of plan forced upon the -northern army of von Kluck? Has he recognised the danger of pressing -in upon Paris from the north and north-west between the scissors of -the armies in the Marne and of some other army in the west and north, -still unknown to us. The difficult change of line<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> is, in that case, -to be made in order to secure a concentration of the armies, and a -later attack on Paris from the east. This I suggested as an explanation -yesterday. It is the more certain coup, if it can be brought off; and -it is less exposed during its operation to any threat from the north -than would be a diagonal blow at north-west Paris. A few days will -show; but I expect to hear shortly that the armies have been engaged on -the east side of the Oise, along the Marne.</p> - -<p>I traversed to-day all the region from Paris to the north country, -passing through the subtle Paris entrenchments and over the nervous -Seine bridges, all ready to be dynamited.</p> - -<p>The country, forest and field, was strikingly beautiful in really hot -sunshine. But empty. The picturesque white villages were deserted -and green-shuttered; the grey stone towns with only a few silent -soft-footed peasants, and solitary neglected children. Here and there -a few black-hooded women were hanging a wayside cross or shrine with -votive flowers. There was again the oppressive expectant feeling of -the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> that is left open to the enemy, undefended. Under the -trees, or trekking aimlessly along the roads, knots and processions of -homeless peasants, with their high carts heaped with household goods. -Here and there a little drove of their cattle. All the folk, brown, -depressed but resigned. As the tide of Germans has passed south and -east, they have been creeping inevitably back, with a sort of homing -instinct. A few blue cavalry patrols, French, caused them succeeding -fear and reassurance. Magny, Mantes, Gisors, Gournay, Beauvais, back -and fro, we made certain that the tide was retreating; and followed on -the tail of our own advance close enough to get clear as to the general -position. The wayside refugees were from local villages, and we could -do little to relieve them except to help some of the more helpless on -their way.</p> - -<p>At Pontoise, a French cavalry column was passing through eastward, -the direction of the new move. The women stood ready with bottles and -jugs, and ran beside the horses to receive back the glasses, cramming -cigarettes into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> smiling troopers' hands. Several of the men, with -difficulty controlling their horses, plucked the red wool tassels from -their epaulettes, and gave them in return as souvenirs.</p> - -<p>At Mantes we came upon a collection of motors, families flying from -Paris to the north on the safe western route. For miles together we ran -through entrenchments and fortified positions, prepared to meet the -expected stroke of the hammer at the west of Paris. Only a few troops -remained in the trenches, sparks of colour through the orchards on the -great rolling wooded uplands. The others have moved eastwards, to the -scene of the battle now imminent on the east of Paris.</p> - -<p>We met a brown, battered company of our own men also. They were resting -from their exhausting retreat, and lined the roads, cheerfully greeting -columns of French who moved eastward past and through them.</p> - -<p>Later, the shuttle was weaving in different fashion. Here, on road -and train, our troops in their turn—but this time fresh-complexioned -reinforcements—were pouring eastward; while the worn-looking French -soldiers stood aside, or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> lay resting to let them pass, with hearty -jokes and salutes.</p> - -<p>Then we ran out north into open undefended territory. Again deserted -villages. Now and then a sharp contrast, when we hit some level -crossing, and a line of trains passed us, pouring continually south -with crowded carriages and trucks of ever fresh reinforcements.</p> - -<p>Beauvais is unoccupied by either side, but it remains a funereal town. -A few women in black, a few inhabitants creeping back. Silent clusters -on the Cathedral steps.</p> - -<p>Here an incident occurred, illustrative of the interpenetration of the -armies in these "open" districts.</p> - -<p>We were sitting at coffee in the square. A car, blowing a continuous -blast, rushed through. In it were two grey figures, German officers, -with a grey-tunicked driver. They flashed through, sitting very -low. Immediately there was a quick, quiet rush of women and boys to -the shelter of the Mairie and the Cathedral. The movement seemed -instinctive. Their faces remained expressionless, almost apathetic.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> - -<p>Ten minutes later we were carefully leaving the town. When the German -patrols take to motors, one cannot count upon the start we had in -Belgium against the customary Uhlan horse. Another motor dashed quickly -past. In it were two other grey-tunicked German cavalrymen. But these -were prisoners, being run through south from near Amiens. Supposing -these two cars had met, what would have happened?</p> - -<p>I have asked a number of questions, to some of which we know the -answers. I will venture one more. Why have the valuable little -sea-ports been left absolutely unguarded against the small raiding -German patrols that alone at present threaten all the coast? Not an -army of occupation, but a few hardened men landed, would be sufficient -to protect much that is valuable, but which now lies open to any chance -three men with arms. And time allows the Germans to spare little more.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Monday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The great battle on the new front has begun. This is the third day of -the fighting. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> German left, pushing south past Ourcq, got as far as -Coulommiers, at the same time pressing upon Paris from the east. They -have retired again upon Meaux, in this quarter. Of the fortunes further -east there is no news. The British troops are holding a vital point in -the defensive against the double move, the direct blow south and the -eastern attack upon the city.</p> - -<p>The countermove of the Allied left wing to meet the German change of -front has been carried out with remarkable rapidity. The alternate -passing of our own and the French troops through each other's positions -in taking up their fresh lines was an interesting time of intricate -manœuvre to watch. Paris has become a pivot; no longer the direct -object of defence or attack. Any victory of the German right outside -the eastern line of defence, would have the advantage for the Germans -of sending both armies intermingled back upon and through the forts, -impeding their fire. The new move thus places Paris in the position of -the prize of the battle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> - -<p>The north is clear of both armies. Amiens is the most westerly town -occupied by the enemy. The new position of the Allies has led to an -abandonment of all the sea-ports. The inhabitants have been ordered to -disarm, and the bases and stores have been removed.</p> - -<p>The recent moves of the Allies have suggested, in their mass, -remarkable mobility and promptitude. They have worked with a precision -and simplicity that have made them seem the product of very cool -design, and even of long anticipation. The Germans would seem to have -made the mistake of considering our army out of the game. They have -advanced heedlessly across it, unaware of its elastic recovery and of -its reinforcement.</p> - -<p>The very complexity of the few moves met with in detail during the last -few days has given considerable reassurance. Their very disconnection -from the course of apparent events, engagements already officially -acknowledged, shows them to be no expedient of the moment, but part of -a prepared scheme, played now on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> the chosen field, and with the moves -following an expected order.</p> - -<p>I have been spending most of the day witnessing the development of -one of the expected moves. The sunlit fields were alive with marching -troops. The headquarters, at Rouen, were crowded with staff officers. -Several nationalities and all arms were represented. There was the -quivering suspicious atmosphere that accompanies an action in near -prospect. Beyond certain boundaries, Evreux, Les Andelys, Gisors, I -was told I should go in "peril of life," "at my own risk." Long before -I had traversed them sufficiently to be satisfied of the positions, -through the orderly, coloured confusion of an army in the field, the -risk had been sufficient, without crossing the bounds to find the -enemy. There was anxiety, strain, but there was the new excitement of -men on the offensive. We are assured of our defensive lines. We can -afford to take the initiative.</p> - -<p>There was plenty of personal incident—a conversation with a fierce -general in a shady, deserted château, agreeable in process and -issue;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> arrest and escort by a clattering Lancer patrol; the sight of -dismounted cavalrymen making embrasures in the walls of an orchard, -with momentarily turned, scowling faces.</p> - -<p>In general purport the hours with this elusive force were more -interesting than the sight of an actual engagement—that is, all the -spectator can see of one.</p> - -<p>Later in the day, in the course of a wide circle, I came down from -the north on the rear of the German right flank. This country was -supposed to be deserted. But the German army is well in touch with -the chess-board in the north and west. The peasants told me of the -proximity of two hundred Uhlans and a battery of guns. But it was -impossible to find any trace of a further German advance westward.</p> - -<p>The check to the Germans near Coulommiers is promising. Their right -wing seems to have recognised that the forces opposed are too strong, -for several reasons, for their congenial fashion of attack, and is -falling back. Their combined armies have withdrawn too far south-east -to attack Paris again by any surprise move.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> They have been moving to -break the line of our armies opposed to them directly south, and to cut -through them well east of Paris, towards Sézanne. There is a general -atmosphere of reassurance among our troops to-day. The tide has turned, -and I date the turn from <i>September 6th</i>.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Tuesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>There is a very satisfactory development of the position beginning -on the west of Paris. Much of the north-west region, which for a -time was left unoccupied (including the sea-ports), is again in -process of resumption. The rapidity of the German hammer-attack made -a concentration of our troops necessary outside the weaker defences -of the city. It was remarkable, the pace and precision with which the -Allied Armies, after ten days of continuous fighting, and their hurry -of difficult retreat across France, took up position on their new base -at Paris. They converted a widespread movement of defensive retreat, -over an infinite number of small tactical points, into a finely -consolidated, new strategic position. But they could do no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> more for -the moment in the north than hold the railway lines through which the -reinforcements were being poured.</p> - -<p>Then came the German new front to the south. The Allies' reinforcements -had to swing to meet them, or rather to pour men across to adjust -the balance at the threatened points. To this the fresh British -reinforcements were specially devoted; again to hold the key, and more -than one key, of the new lines of defence.</p> - -<p>The movement is complete. Strengthened at the weak link, the French -have been able again to set their grasp upon the "open" country of -the line north of the Seine. The boundaries of the extension, and the -ultimate intention of the movement may be best left to the intelligent -to surmise. Its significance for us is its reassurance as to the -confidence of our armies in the strength of their eastern line of -defence, its evidence that they are now strong enough to attempt in -turn offensive movements and resume their connections, only briefly -threatened and never entirely interrupted, with their north-western -sea-bases.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> - -<p>The last two days have been spent in following this movement in far -more detail than can yet be written. Its interest has been due to its -moral effect as much as to its strategical importance. The great issue -is being fought out, for the present, on the east of Paris.</p> - -<p>After leaving our new headquarters to-day we swung across to the east. -The country—Forges, Gournay, Gisors, Clermont—is still unoccupied. -The beautiful brown and grey stone villages with faint-red roofs -and dark mediæval gateways are shuttered and empty. A few noiseless -children, a woman or two, a hungry couple of curs on the dusty cobbles. -The roads are clear of refugees, wandered further afield in their -high-wheeled laden carts. Only here and there a few stolid, hardy or -resigned village folk cling on, and form clusters before a solitary -open restaurant, headed by some sturdy Maire. The restaurant has still -good bread and wine, nothing more.</p> - -<p>The fields are almost deserted; miles of rich meadow and crops in the -white sunshine. One or two farmers or women with stout little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> sons at -work in the crops, make rare and startling breaks in the passing lonely -landscape.</p> - -<p>But there was a change to-day. Every now and then in remote places -a scouting car with a splash of uniforms, or a vicious-looking -mitrailleuse car with helmets cloaked in linen, threatening over its -grey edges, met us in the miles of shaded lanes.</p> - -<p>Some of the small towns had again guards, military or civic, who gave -us pause; while each protested that the new military control had -made some different kind of "pass" necessary. Some wanted a red one, -some a blue. Some wanted a "visé" from the local Maire. Fortunately -during most of the hot day, the Maires were absent or asleep, and it -was agreed to be better to wake the one at the next village. The next -village was generally also asserted to be a regimental headquarters. In -these cases it usually proved to be utterly deserted.</p> - -<p>In one little town, near Clermont, we came in for a strange echo of the -war. A woman in a high cart drove past quickly, while we were talking -with the Maire and the woman of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> inn. There was a sudden silence. -Then a dramatic, passionate outburst from the handsome, sibyl-faced -hostess, who had two sons at the war:</p> - -<p>"Think of it: that woman! There were three of our soldiers chased from -the fight at Creil. They took refuge with her. She is rich and has -a garden. She hid them in the hayloft; threw their uniforms in the -garden. The Germans came. They slept in her house. They said: 'We are -forced to fight; it is not of our seeking: the French attacked us.' -They found the uniforms. They put a pistol to her breast: 'We will -shoot you if you do not say where are those soldiers.' She cried: "In -the loft." They shot them; all three. The traitress!—and it would have -been so easy for a woman to lie!"</p> - -<p>A village near Creil itself gave us another echo. A German field-cap -hung over the forge. The old smith, one of the last men now left in -the village, explained it had fallen from the head of one of three or -four German soldiers who had been chased through the street a few days -before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> "It shall hang there till the owner returns for it," he added -grimly, "May my great-grandchildren see it still hanging so!"</p> - -<p>And yet one more, and this within sound of the guns, that have been -echoing nearer or fainter these last days. A woman ran out of the door -of a solitary cottage towards Senlis, waving her arm. One stops quickly -these days. A man was dying inside. She had burned his uniform; but I -knew at once he was a German. He had been shot while scouting; had hid -himself, and crawled to her house. We did what we could for him. From -him I learned that the Germans are already reinforcing to meet the -western move, and of many things that are hidden from us—no doubt, for -our good—or vaguely guessed at. It was no matter of "communication -with the enemy"; he was already past the line that divides small -irritable tribal mortals; he was joining issue with the last great -common foe.</p> - -<p>We left him to die in the care of the woman who had not "passed by on -the other side." Her son would visit her shortly—she had refused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> to -leave her cottage—and would bury him in the field. No one else was to -know.</p> - -<p>This is the meaning of the machine of war: The man joins the machine -for the honour of the nation. The machine drives him, one of a nameless -herd, for a few days, beyond his strength, to his death, for the honour -of the machine. And yet the nation is made up of the men; and the -machine is made up of the men; and the men die. But for such machines -we should know better what is the honour of the nation—that is, of the -men—for the men would judge of it, as men, for themselves.</p> - -<p>We approached as near as we could venture—for we were behind the -enemy—north of Betz and close to the sound of the guns. We saw as -much as anyone is likely to see of the fighting in such warfare: the -distant sight of greeny-white smoke-balls bursting over trees on a far -hill; the slight movement, round the edges of distant woods that sloped -towards us, of small grey dots, that were assumed to be the enemy.</p> - -<p>Returning across the north of Paris by circuitous ways, we came round -by the west,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> through the entrenched positions. During the day, we -passed over five bridges already mined with dynamite, and one wooden -bridge with the props half cut through. It is a stimulating experience -to crawl over bridges, like Kew Bridge for size and sunny situation, -with the warning from armed soldiers at either end that too much -vibration may send them exploding into the air, or dropping into the -river. We are warned to avoid even the comfort of a cigarette; and -there are other impediments to make the passage tortuous and exciting.</p> - -<p>The one relief on nearing Paris is the infection of its unconquerable -gaiety. After days in the terrible "war atmosphere," every face -suspicious, every mile a wrestle with the shadow of puzzled mistrust, -it was a lightening of the whole evening when two veteran "grey -moustaches" levelled their muskets on a bridge, and threatened to shoot -us with a twinkle in their blue eyes—the first smile of the day.</p> - -<p>And this is only one day on the fringe of the great struggle of whose -incident, triumph, and lonely death there shall be small record.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Battles on the Marne</span></p> - - -<p>Tuesday's distant sight of the Germans moving north-west across the -hills above Betz was in reality a side-view of the masterly and rapid -retreat that von Kluck made from the Battles on the Marne. The French -and our own troops were close on his heels; but so skilfully was the -retreat executed that our cavalry was unable to operate effectively, -and the German western armies extricated themselves from our enveloping -movement without severe defeat. They were falling back at express speed -upon the position already selected along the heights behind the Aisne. -On the morning after regaining Paris I ran out through Lagny to Meaux, -to follow up the line of the battles.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Paris, Thursday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Those have been grim fights round Meaux<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> the last few days. It is no -single battlefield; rather a continuous line of battles. But Chaucotin, -Poincy, Penchard, Chambery, may be remembered in history as the -triangle where the flood was first turned back. The line is marked on -the fields like the waving edge of a past tide on the beach—those -pleasant fields, stubble, meadow, trees, that fall from either side to -the wooded, sheltered river; and among them, caught as in a hollow, -Meaux itself, its cathedral, by some miracle, still unharmed.</p> - -<p>The loss has been great, especially on the side of the Germans. The -peasants to-day were shovelling into the long trenches the terrible -harvest of death. All round us was the litter of battle, smashed -muskets, smashed helmets, and broken life.</p> - -<p>I could follow the fighting foot by foot from well south of Meaux. -Haystacks torn down and scattered over the field for trusses of -shelter. Haystacks still standing, their north side torn and holed -with shrapnel, with trusses like wings on either side whence the men -had fired. Burnt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> woods, trees cut down and broken, and the long brown -lines of trenches.</p> - -<p>Some of our own men took me round them. Trenches finely made but, in -the hurry, not so finished as those which the Italian workmen, turned -on to this surprising task instead of digging the Metropolitan tunnels, -have made near Paris.</p> - -<p>The German trenches were distinguishable by their shape, more hurried, -as of the attacking side. It was possible to follow the story—the -trenches where the shell had burst well behind; the tell-tale breaks -where the Germans had found the range; the trample and dead horses of -cavalry charges.</p> - -<p>At Penchard our —— division had suffered fearfully. Before they fired -a shot the Germans had the range; and the men stood by helplessly or -ran back—those who survived. But the Germans are far on the retreat -now from Penchard!</p> - -<p>At Poincy they played yet another trick, and paid for it. Beaten by our -close fire from the trenches—how close I could measure—one in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> every -three Germans got up and ran back, leaving two or three hidden. Our men -came quickly up, taking no cover. From close range they were swept away -by the unexpected fire. But they came back—with the bayonet! "And, -sir, the Prussians don't like cold steel. But we left them no time to -say so!"</p> - -<p>At Chaucotin the peasants were burying many hundred Germans, by the -trenches, in a wastage of swords, muskets, and broken saddles and arms. -And in the distance, beyond the Marne and Ourcq, the battle we could -hear still going on.</p> - -<p>In Meaux, as I looked over the bridge, the steam-barges deep in the -green shadow of the river below were moving slowly towards Paris with -yet more wounded. The decks were bright with the blue-red guards.</p> - -<p>Even on this side of Meaux overturned wagons, sunken barges, and -the inevitable trenches and piled trusses told of some hours of -the day-long battles. Further forward, on the Ourcq, were torn and -scrambled banks, where, I was told, our cavalry drove the enemy -actually into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> the canal. Our cavalry has done magnificently.</p> - -<p>It was jolly in Meaux to hear good northern English, and English with a -brogue, and to see the confident, bronzed faces. The men are in great -heart. "I have had five weeks out of bed. It's a bit slow here"—this -town was all but deserted—"but it's a lark. We've got 'em!"</p> - -<p>Man to man, and against odds, on these fields the British and French -have flung back the weight of the tide.</p> - -<p>Beyond Chambery there was yet another sign—a collection of 150 German -wounded, waiting to be brought down. At last we were following an -advance, if only in a small corner of the great field.</p> - -<p>Through all the villages along the Marne those who loitered by the -silent closed houses showed holiday faces. Close outside Paris life -seemed to be hardly affected. It came as a surprise, in the sunny -fields, to pass by long, noisy trains of motor-lorries, bearing an -infinite number of names of firms. And longer, slower trains of wagons -with white and dappled grey horses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> were dragging in captured German -pontoons, splashed with coloured soldiers. Some of these were even -sitting in rope-nooses slung from the projecting beams. About them, the -files of tramping infantry or fretting cavalry.</p> - -<p>One of these motor-wagons to-day saved us a shock, and gave us a -spectacle. Taking a wrong turn, which we followed, it ran down a steep -road to Esbly, and, just ahead of us, shot over the edge of an exploded -bridge into the river. The driver got out by jumping in time. The -village was quite deserted.</p> - -<p>In war time there are only a few through routes left open. The rest -are torn up or blocked. Every exit from a town, except one or two, is -barricaded with piles of trees, stone-sacks, logs, hoardings, wire, and -earth. In some cases the loose structures threaten more danger to the -defenders. The through routes left are broken up at intervals by walls -and pits, mazes through which one winds precariously. The barricades -are held by stern soldiers. But the army of Paris has admirable manners.</p> - -<p>Probably few civilians in this war will be able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> to see the "Military -Zone" of Paris. Yet it is a wonderful sight. Twice I ran through it -to-day. Vast grounds, with horses exercising, ridden by grey soldiers. -Huge parks of guns, guarded by blue soldiers. Immense enclosures of -cattle. Lines of stacks; stores of forage of all sorts; acres of -wagons; sprinkled with soldiers of many colours.</p> - -<p>And all this passes, in one form or another, across those few miles of -sunshine and fields, to the dry-looking brown trenches, the trampled -roads and tattered-looking trees and stacks, and at last to the -terrible remnants of the short human tragedy, that lie for a while -among the furrows and then for ever beneath them.</p> - -<p>In a few months these battlefields which I traversed to-day may be -part, if a small part, of history. The muskets we helped to carry back, -packed among a few refugee peasants, may be in museums of honour.</p> - -<p>To most of the men who died there, and made the names of these fields -famous, their names were unknown. But for those who see them still -only as ruined, littered fields, it is the dead, whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> names will be -forgotten, who alone are present in thought.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the troops are progressing up the Marne. Our soldiers are in -fine fettle. For the moment at least there is respite from tension. As -I came back, away from the faint sound of guns, through the heart of a -thunderstorm, the clouds broke in glorious wet mists of golden sunshine -over Paris.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Lagny, Friday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Official reports to-day say that the Germans have fallen back nearly -forty miles from their furthest point of advance at Coulommiers. Also, -that the British force has crossed the Marne between La Ferté and -Chateau Thierry, and that the Prussian Guard has been rolled back upon -the marshes of Gond.</p> - -<p>In so far as it goes this is correct, but the news is at least two, -probably three, days old. The German right is retiring north and -east, upon Rheims, Oulchy-le-Chateau and Compiègne. The British -forces, upon whom has fallen the brunt of the fighting at this vital -angle, one formed by the French line south-east from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> Senlis and -Nanteuil-le-Haudouin, and continued by the British north-east to -Chateau Thierry, have succeeded in straightening the line, and thus -eliminating the angle that gave us anxiety at the beginning of the -battle.</p> - -<p>It was the beginnings of the German retirement that I identified, when -I approached from the north of Nanteuil three days ago. Its serious -character is confirmed by what I have seen these last days from the -south.</p> - -<p>Starting from the north of Meaux to-day I recrossed the great bend of -the Marne, by the help of a cattle barge that just held out for the -crossing. It was doubtful what army we might find beyond.</p> - -<p>It soon became evident that our official news was well behind the -actual advance. Cannon were audible from the east-north-east. Near -Torcy the battle was evidently going on.</p> - -<p>Here and there, especially along the line of the Ourcq, were the signs -of the progress of the week's battle of nations. The double lines of -opposing trenches, hasty and scamped on the north (the German's). -Torn-down stacks and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> stooks. Boughs and trees hacked down, across -paths, or on the open roads. Branches lying in open mid-field, -evidently carried forward as cover, and dropped for the final rush. -Trees and stacks still smoking and black with fire.</p> - -<p>A few peasants, with their carts standing by, were at the grim labour -of interring the dead; charring the horses with fire before dragging -them into the holes. Broken harness and accoutrements lay in little -heaps, for removal. The old peasant women, with their brown, immobile -faces tied round with coloured handkerchiefs, sat in the carts or -helped. It is a grim task for many reasons; but the kindly rain has -come to help. Bad for the men ahead of us, this rain, it will be -worse for the Germans, in a hostile country, with more limited means -of protection or remedy to be obtained from their base. And fever is -beginning.</p> - -<p>The peasants could naturally give little information as to the -regiments or happenings. Only the broad facts could be followed. Near -Ocquere, the ruts of advance and retirement of the German batteries, -a shattered gun marking the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> firing position. East of Cocherel a -mitrailleuse car, overturned, too broken up to be worth capture. But a -couple of cheerful R.A. mechanics were at work on it, hopefully.</p> - -<p>Round a much-perforated cottage, just to the north of St. Aulde, a -fierce fight must have taken place. The furniture had been dragged out -as cover, and on the summit of a trench, a hollow scraped in the hard -soil, stood a large china crock, evidently set there by some cheerful -trooper in derision of the German rifle-fire.</p> - -<p>The sound of firing grew heavier towards Torcy, to our north-east, -during the afternoon. Clearly a great battle was in progress. -Impossible to approach nearer. We were already between our line in -action and the French reserves who were holding the country behind, and -forwarding up lines of munition wagons and supplies.</p> - -<p>There were wounded in the cottages, the jetsam of the battle in front. -But the line of the British communications was to our east, towards the -Marne at Charly. We could get no news of the happenings in front. We -were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> constantly challenged, constantly headed to the rear in some new -direction. The men who passed us had the "battle look," the look on the -face of Michael Angelo's "Dawn." I had enough to do to look after the -personal factor in such an atmosphere.</p> - -<p>And now we know what was going on there, across those little -tributaries of the Clignon, at Torcy, a few blocked miles ahead. A -thousand prisoners! Fifteen guns or more! The Germans fairly matched -and beaten!</p> - -<p>This has been no mere "blind," this rolling up of the German right, -which we have watched with such anxiety. If their right was weakened, -as I assume, to reinforce the armies in Prussia, they have paid for it. -For they have lost, and lost heavily and badly; and at the corner, and -against the little army which it was their desperate concern to break -and overwhelm.</p> - -<p>All I could conclude, as we forced our way back, was that the day was -not against us. The movement of men was forward. The strange telepathic -current that runs through villages long before reports reach them, was -all of relief.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> It was cheerful soldiers in blue who shoved my car on -to the water-logged barge on the Marne; and, after a drift downward -during which we scarcely breathed, it was laughing peasants who pulled -us up on the far bank.</p> - -<p>It is something to have been at least across the Marne and near on -such a day, to have had the sound of those guns in one's ears, to have -watched for the first time in five weeks' campaigning the forward -movement of our armies.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The next morning, as soon as the barriers would let me pass, I was -out again in pursuit of the receding armies. Day by day these flights -became longer, and as the first glow of victory after the Marne battles -passed into the deadly quietude of the long death grapple on the -Aisne, day by day the difficulties of approaching the front increased. -The easy smiling soldiers became again suspicious, and the constant -challenges and "arrests" more numerous.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Saturday, with the pursuit.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>North through Neufchelles again, and all but on to the banks of the -Aisne. I had to leave the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> car, because of vanished bridges, and get -forward north and west on foot. I was blocked at last in the heart of -an advancing column, resting in a half burned village.</p> - -<p>The shells were bursting on the far side of the slopes. The French -forces were coming up, and were dispersing as they arrived over the -fields, distributing to the scattered positions. Far from our right -and ahead there came the fainter sound of the guns of the British -contingents, continuing the forward movement. They have advanced far -since I approached behind their successful battle at Torcy. (This -Torcy, on the Clignon, should not be confused with Torcy near Lagny, -south of the Marne.) Occasionally, from the remote north-west, I -thought I heard the echo of the same sound coming down the wind. If -this were so, could it be that much desired enveloping movement from -the west?</p> - -<p>A few prisoners passed in carts. All with the herded, hunted, pallid -look of frightened and exhausted men. Think of their start for this -great march a few weeks back, amid the shouting and flags, and to the -sound of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> perpetual vaunting, foolish processional—"Deutschland, -Deutschland über alles!" And now, lucky to escape the squalid wayside -grave, the little raw brown mounds all over the fields. One or two, -in the grey tunic, with the colourless face and the bare head of the -prisoner, were hanging on to French officers' motors, acting as grooms -or mechanics.</p> - -<p>Some men of the —— Regiment, carried in the car, told me they had not -slept for two nights and days, though they joked heartily enough! It -was not therefore a surprise to see a number more dead asleep under a -shanty. I walked past two, who lay a little apart. One stirred in his -sleep on the stones. The other was dead. But death is now too common a -shadow in this deadly mist of war, that drives and condenses in trench -and grave-mound over the sunlit fields, to call for notice.</p> - -<p>A little group of English artillery formed another break in the -monotony of fighting. They were preparing for the reception of fifteen -hundred German horses just captured. Concerned only with the care -and cure of their sick charges,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> they had no thought for the noise, -turmoil, and incident of war about them. Give the trained man his own -job, and he will see the world fall about him with only an absent -glance!</p> - -<p>Further to the east I was shown the site of a curious incident. Some -deep German trenches ran down a slope from the road to a wooded hollow. -Here some thirty rearguard Germans had been captured. "We should have -had 'em all, all the eighty, but the colonel was too kindhearted! He -got one of our guns round and up there through that wood, just to sweep -them trenches. And then he rode forward alone to ask 'em to surrender, -some of them still firing at him! And most of them crept out there by -the cross trench into the road again, and got away behind the rearguard -lot. You see how? And one of the beggars we got had a gold watch; and -the colonel wouldn't have us take it away from him!"</p> - -<p>The conviction grew stronger and stronger, as I followed the lines of -gradually accelerating retreat and obviously slackening defence, that -cavalry, cavalry, is what we want to give the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> tired enemy no rest, and -prevent them reforming upon the supports that are being hurried from -Berlin again on to this wing. Our own cavalry has done magnificently -this campaign, and saved the critical days of retreat from Mons. If -only they have been sufficiently rested and reinforced!</p> - -<p>The French cavalry does not seem to have been always fortunate. It has -too often timed its brilliant charges too late, and only swept over a -crest when the German guns had got the range and could mow them down. -Hence their support has not always been available at the right moment. -But their courage and dash have been characteristic. Under a rocky -knoll in a sloping cornfield which I passed on my return the line of -one of these costly charges was only too clearly marked.</p> - -<p>South, towards Lizy, a few peasants in carts were already dribbling -back to their looted villages. The Prussians were here for a week or -so and fought in the streets, using the furniture as obstacles. The -destruction is pitiable. The châteaux were in many cases pillaged. -Their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> gardens are strewn with bottles. The lawns are heaped with -bolsters and palliasses. In one château, near Lizy, the orchard wall -and trees were pierced and wrecked with shells in some prolonged -assault, while over the opposite wall, commanding the deep little green -lane alongside, a splendid mass of scarlet and orange lilies still -glows triumphantly from the deserted garden.</p> - -<p>In one such devastated village, between Meaux and May, a strange -incident checked us. A dignified old peasant, wandering in the -wreckage, was pouring out to me a passionate recital of wrongs. A -son shot, a farm wasted, ruin before him. There passed a uniformed -Government employee, with a dangerous, nervous face, who called out: -"Be silent! The French have done us more harm than the Germans!" At -such a time, in such a place, it was an insane outcry. Never have I -heard such a torrent of execration as when the old peasant turned and -sprang at him. Nothing but the vicious look and gestures of the younger -man kept murder from being done. The incident was illustrative of the -unbalanced mental condition to which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> war reduces the non-combatant. -The younger man was himself ruined, and like a desperate, snarling -fox he turned to hurt the nearest sentient thing, his more injured -neighbour.</p> - -<p>In torrents of evening rain I left the battle still continuing beyond -the hill, and the two German armies being edged north-west through the -forests of Villers and Compiègne, already in part behind the line of -Soissons. So, back through the country north of the Canal of Ourcq. A -few days ago it was in German occupation; now comfortably patrolled by -Cuirassiers, in their rain cloaks; with watch-dog camps of infantrymen, -cooking under straw shelters, cheerful and singing for all the torrents -of rain and chilly wind. I am writing on an earth mound, on the wrong -side of the Ourcq Canal. Some fifty sappers are hurriedly trying to -repair the temporary bridge which we crossed this morning. It was frail -then. Since then a huge lorry has gone through it. Eighty more of the -great Paris omnibuses, now loaded with provisions, are waiting on -the far side. It will never carry their weight, and we must get over -first. We have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> done our share of work on the bridge, to earn an early -passage. In the next field some soldiers are digging out the airman -from under a fallen biplane.</p> - -<p>The country has turned from a sunlight green to a dull grey with the -passing of the summer; and there is an autumn mist of twilight heavy -over the forests where the Great Machine is threatening to dissolve -into its human elements, and confess its human limitations.</p> - -<p>The feet in the proud Prussian parade to Paris are slipping, slipping, -on the road.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Sunday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Von Kluck's and Von Buelow's armies are still in full retreat; -separated from the army of the Prince of Wurtemberg, with which they -made a fragile connection by means of the Guard. The Guard themselves -are perilously thrown back into the marshes of St. Gond.</p> - -<p>This is the real thing. The men are fighting more feebly; the machine -has become human; the cavalry horses—no longer the fine spirited Irish -stock I had myself to dodge in Belgium a few weeks back—are worn -out. It is pitiable to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> see the tired beasts loose and useless in the -fields, or dead skeletons by the roads.</p> - -<p>But the retreat has been fiercely contested. I followed to-day the -line of the battles north from Meaux, passing by those of which I have -previously written; guided by the forward movement of troops and the -traces of the retreating armies.</p> - -<p>The retreat here roughly follows the line of the Ourcq. The battle -has been fought with the French in desperate rearguard actions, at -Vareddes, May, Beauval, Neufchelles. But nowhere can it be said an -engagement began or ended. All along the road and through the adjoining -fields it is the same terrible story—the trees scarred with shell, and -the road littered with broken boughs: the fields scraped with hurried -trenches: the stacks torn down for cover and holes scooped in their -backs: the stark dead horses of artillery and cavalry lie in scores -over the field and by the roads; and here and there still figures, or -a cluster of figures in the German grey, still reproach the desolating -injustice of war. The cyclists took a leading<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> part in the pursuit, -and scores of broken, charred frames marked where the German artillery -found the range and caught their advance.</p> - -<p>At every rise in the road, especially beyond May, more serious defences -had been prepared. Fortifications of earth and squared stones between -trees and bank; and here and there a deep burrow into the bank, -bespeaking the human weakness that sought extra cover. And behind these -earthworks, in the holes they left, lie the still figures. Fresh, -shallow mounds, where the peasants have buried the fallen where they -fell, run along the rim of the hard road itself.</p> - -<p>The retreat, as it moved north, became almost a flight. Munition -carts lie overturned, a machine-gun or two wrecked. Beside where the -batteries swept the road, great piles of undischarged shells are still -heaped, abandoned in the rush.</p> - -<p>More tragic evidences were the scattered heaps of sleeping blankets, -flung aside as the men were wakened by the rapid surprise pursuit. -Broadcast, bottles and barrels; the Prussians, for want of food, seem -to have looted the villages for drink. It was the same in Belgium. -A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> pitiable piano, with the works shot away, stood in a field, with -a dead man and dog beside it. The instantaneous stillness of a past -battlefield is its deepest impression. Every grim vestige is suggestive -of violent movement and sound, but it is all snatched into silence.</p> - -<p>As I advanced, the long lines of wagons were still pouring up with -troops and munition; happier now, and confident. The cannon sounded -ahead from just over the fields, where the Germans have been forced -back on the Aisne. I discharged a load of troopers and guns, and -waited, listening to the thunder across the hill. It is more restful -work. We have them! A few prisoners drove past us, blanched with -nervousness and hunger. The wounded were being carted past to the Red -Cross cottages. And still the flood of French supports is coming up.</p> - -<p>From Crecy to Villers, from Villers almost to the Aisne, I have -followed them now some thirty miles and more of savage fighting, of -hurried retreat.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Monday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Northward, northward! and now to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> east; escaping one fatal trap by -a most skilful movement of tired men, but beginning in humbler fashion -to retread the wasted fields of the proud parade from the frontier. So -swift, it is difficult to keep in touch with their retreat. Oho! this -is a different business to fleeing before their lightning march across -Belgium.</p> - -<p>And they are different men to meet, the stragglers and prisoners of the -harried army, to the perfect equipage of war I watched coming over the -hills, triumphant, into helpless Brussels. Weary, anxious men, scarcely -human, with mask-like faces.</p> - -<p>But you would steel your heart if you could follow the tracks of their -arrogant progress and vengeful retreat. If you saw the deserted, -ravaged villages, heaped with the remnants of the poor man's bare -necessities. If you passed through the tainted atmosphere of the -countless battlefields, that makes a sick offence of a country of -prosperous peace.</p> - -<p>I came from the west into Senlis to-day, a day after its evacuation by -the Germans. A detour took me through the Forest of Ermenon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>ville; the -beautiful pine and heather glades and wide lakes haunted by memories of -the humanist philosopher, Rousseau. It is haunted now by other ghosts. -Impossible to suggest the eerie sensation of passing in utter silence -through the village and forest spaces. Not a soul to be seen. Not a -sound. But jettisoned along the road the dissolute debris of a vanished -army. The woods cut for hurried defences. The houses wantonly broken -and looted; and myriads of bottles, from the pillaged wine that served -for food.</p> - -<p>The desolation and silence prepared me for a shock. And it came. -Senlis, Senlis of history, with its exquisite tower of open stone-work -and frame of romantic beauty, is a wasted ruin.</p> - -<p>As I moved up the deserted streets, for a moment I was deceived. -But every house, as I looked into it, was a shell; burnt out, -skeleton-like, staring at the sky. Fire, and pillage, and ruin. And why?</p> - -<p>The French soldiers held the last houses with effective fire. Then, for -ten days the Germans held the town; and destroyed it, for amusement!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> -The Mayor and other elderly burgesses were set in front of the hotel, -in single file, and shot with a single discharge, for practice. They -were not allowed to speak to their wives and children, who stood by.</p> - -<p>Proud of the fact, the General and his aide-de-camp have signed their -names large in the hotel book—may they be kept, for execration!</p> - -<p>The hostess of the hotel was forced to open every room, with a pistol -held at her throat. The two old maid-servants who had stayed to look -after the "great house"—now a smoking shell—were abused and injured. -One wanders half an idiot in the village, still weeping.</p> - -<p>Eighteen hundred bottles of champagne—they would have no other -wine—were looted from the cellars. Double them, and you will not be -able to account for the ankle-deep litter of glass in the streets. -Hardly a house of importance is left with roof or floor. And how do you -think it was done? Straw was piled. The tapers were stolen from the -shrines and cathedral, and the soldiers amused themselves by throwing -the lighted candles in at the windows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> of the houses. No wonder the -small, crêpe-covered population is all in the streets. Here and there I -saw a woman scraping in the burnt ashes, to clear a kitchen hearth, or -look for some remnants. The station is a bleak ruin. Only the Cathedral -tower, exquisite and light, protests against the sunlit sky.</p> - -<p>But they were finely caught. The Zouaves, Chasseurs d'Afrique, who are -pouring up through this country, arrived in trains of taxi-cabs between -four and five a.m. The officer—no matter how he was occupied—fled -out in his shirt; could not find his regiment; and was shot. The rest -decamped—those who escaped. The prisoners I saw being sent back.</p> - -<p>Not a crust is left in the neighbouring villages. At Mont l'Evigne the -few surviving men snarled at the mention of bread.</p> - -<p>You will hear with the less revolt of the horror I passed earlier -in the day—some two hundred and forty Prussians, dead in one farm -together, black and unburied, for want of peasants to bury them. They -were killed by shell-fumes possibly, but had been bayoneted for double -security.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> - -<p>It would be easy to amplify the details—the utter destruction of -the houses, the stories of the insolence of the invading horde. The -inhabitants, poor folk! are taking it with the quiet, deep indignation -of a civilised people. Wagons of the wounded, of the American -ambulance, passed in long train through the town, back from the front.</p> - -<p>It was a relief to escape again into the broad green drives of the -forest of Compiègne; to see only the abandoned German lorries, the -scattered brown graves in the fields, where the horde were hunted back. -In the forest we passed through miles of fierce brown Turcos, marching -and resting. Their gorgeous colours and turbans, and fierce faces, a -strange contrast to the deep shadowy avenues of the green forest. It -was a greater satisfaction to follow the pursuit; to be the first from -the outside world to greet the oppressed villagers and townsfolk; to -hear in Compiègne the welcome "des Anglais!"; to listen to the women -disputing whether "the Crown Prince" had really been there, and if it -was he who escaped in half a uniform, and shot the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> French Dragoon -officer (who is lying in the hospital), when his pursuing cavalry -arrived almost in time to save the bridge.</p> - -<p>We followed them back, by the Oise, to the Aisne. The ambulances of -our wounded kept on passing us. The fresh troops poured up in pursuit. -But "one can breathe again now" was the word of the day, in village -and town. We were barely an hour or two behind that hurried retreat. -And there was no fighting. They had not stopped, or combined, to fight -again—yet.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Paris, Tuesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>As an instance of the working of the Machine the retreat of the German -western army, with tired troops, has been almost as remarkable a feat -as the great advance.</p> - -<p>The hammer-blow at Paris was attempted, and checked as it fell. The -second concentration of strength was launched on the west centre of -the Allies' line. It only just failed, after a five days' struggle of -almost superhuman magnitude. And now with lightning-like celerity the -failure has been recognised, the strings of the armies<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> drawn tight, -and the retreat accomplished with remarkable precision and pace.</p> - -<p>At first the pursuit had to be conducted with forces almost as -exhausted—men who had carried through the tremendous task of fighting -a retreating battle for ten days, of converting it into victory and -advance, and of then flinging themselves into the very different -attitude of mind, and of manœuvre, demanded by rapid pursuit of a still -unrouted enemy.</p> - -<p>I have been out again to-day in the attempt to catch up with the march -of return. The broken bridges, the abandoned wagons and munition, the -stragglers, all speak of the precipitance of the northern-eastern -wheel. The captured guns and mitrailleuses were being run back into -Paris. The peasants and spectators' carts were loaded up with German -trophies—undischarged shells, in their wicker cases. The ambulance -wagons still passed, fetching in the wounded of both sides from the -cottages, and even a few of to-day's fighting. But the provision for -ambulance has proved altogether insufficient for the casualties.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Germans have retreated upon a line of concentration where the -armies of Von Kluck, Von Buelow and Wurtemberg can unite and present -a new front, formidable enough to secure them the necessary rest for -re-formation.</p> - -<p>They never contemplated a halt south of the Aisne. It is beyond the -river, on the Soisson-Rheims and Soissons-Compiègne curves, that their -precautionary trenches were prepared.</p> - -<p>Nothing gives a more definite idea of their own recognition of -temporary defeat than the sight of their nearer trenches—abandoned -without ever being used. The small wrinkle of earth and sods, with -the spoon-shaped scoop for a single man behind, that they have taken -to making for the retreat. Not so often as before the more elaborate -continuous trench for a mass of men. They have learned a little of -"open" fighting.</p> - -<p>But they have hastened past them unused.</p> - -<p>The Turcos and Zouaves are pouring up this line in great heart and -hope. But the march is fatiguing, the roads heavier after rain.</p> - -<p>In the villages and towns, Haramont, Coeuvres,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> and others, the folk -cluster round, stoic as ever, but easily smiling, hardly yet realising -their release after the fortnight or more of terrifying oppression. In -many cases they have been well used. The requisitions and regulations -have been only those inevitable, from an invading army in hostile -territory.</p> - -<p>One curious but unimportant little coincidence in a day in which there -is no great action to report: A week ago, I mentioned a curious scene -in Beauvais, when through the silent, desolate town suddenly echoed -the continuous blare of a horn, and a motor with two Prussian officers -flashed through. Ten minutes later another car passed us on the -outskirts of the town. This contained two other Germans, but this time -prisoners under guard being carried back to Rouen. The cars did not -meet! The first car had an odd coloured wheel. Near Longport to-day I -saw it again, wrecked by the roadside, the odd wheel high in the air.</p> - -<p>As I looked out from the trees on the edge of the high plateau, the -flat green valley of the Aisne looked untenanted, peaceful. For the -present our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> cavalry have been naturally not in much better condition -than the Germans. We have been unable to surround or outmarch to an -extent that could convert repulse into serious defeat. They are far -enough away, at any rate, to reassure Paris. "Plus à Paris—plus à -Paris!" It is almost a tragic picture now—that of William II. watching -on the hill by Nancy, in his white cloak and silver helmet; the man -who has been swayed by every psychic wave, romantic, religious, -military, until he has brought an Empire tottering to the brink of -ruin. Lohengrin above Babylon: the self-chosen emissary of an imagined -providence looking out on the mirage of his promised land.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">On the Oise and the Somme</span></p> - - -<p>The armies were now fast locked along the Aisne. The varying fortunes -of the first week made them impossible of approach. It was of interest -to discover what was taking place on the German right and rear, where -the position was still obscure, and the line of battle still indefinite -and, therefore, easier of access.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Amiens, Thursday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>They are in touch again, and the German right is being enveloped.</p> - -<p>It called for a long stroke from Paris to pass the wheeling left wing, -for it was needful to avoid disturbing the intervening armies.</p> - -<p>The journey through the Paris defences, those heedfully guarded lines -that few civilians have hitherto penetrated on the north, was full of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> -interest. By Neuilly and Pontoise we passed the careful fortifications, -<i>chevaux de frise</i> of old railway lines crossed and pointed, sandbag -forts, and the rest, all innocently couched under hedges of trees.</p> - -<p>Every quarter-mile a challenge by different varieties of uniform. The -peasants busy working at the trenches. For though Paris is regaining -its own appearance, and the Parisian is even daring to begin to poke -fun at his absent Government, there is no relaxation of watchfulness. -"Until France is clear, and beyond, Paris is on guard!" Gallieni -guarantees it.</p> - -<p>I am getting accustomed to meeting odd company on the road. Three days -ago it was General Gallieni and his staff, escorting two civilian -Ministers round the battlefield, reacquainting themselves with the new -developments. Two days ago it was the Bishop of Meaux, in his lawn -sleeves and violet biretta and robes, in a motor-car. To-day it came as -an assortment of —— officers, and a captured German pontoon train in -wagons. At a railway<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> crossing I was held up by a train full of German -prisoners.</p> - -<p>I turned east, skirting Creil and Pont, visiting the green glade and -small brown graves that were said to mark the heroic charge of the -Lancers, that first check to the oncoming tide upon Paris. Then back -west to Meru, and north to Beauvais. Now and again the scarred walls -of the end-houses of villages told where the Allies had fought on the -great retreat.</p> - -<p>At La Deluge—suitable name—an outlying farm was half burnt and in -ruins. Here a small body of Germans had been wiped out by a French -detachment in a six hours' siege. But an impassive farmer was leading -his horses out of the ruins to resume work in the long-deserted fields.</p> - -<p>Beauvais—and what a change! No longer the deserted city of a few -widows running for shelter to the cathedral. Full of life, full of -troops. We lunched cheerfully, at a freshly-opened hotel, on sheep's -feet and pigs' trotters, with a jolly corps of French aviators.</p> - -<p>The country is filled by our new army from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> west. Mitrailleuse cars -met me every mile. Amiens is occupied by it. A few English and Scottish -soldiers, punctilious to a point, delight the seminary students by -saluting them as parsons in the streets.</p> - -<p>The Germans left Amiens between Friday and Saturday, having -requisitioned 100,000 cigars and drunk "only mineral waters," of which -they have left their reckonings scrawled large on the tables.</p> - -<p>It was one of the centres at which French reservists had to present -themselves. Seeing the large number of men in the streets, the -Germans issued an order that 1,500 men were to present themselves -at six o'clock on the morning of evacuation, together with all the -remaining motor-cars. In the dark morning they were marched off to dig -entrenchments further east; and so far none has returned.</p> - -<p>The Germans cleared the public hospitals, not the private ones, of all -the German and French wounded. The French they treated well, but the -"Turcos" they forced out of bed at the point of the sword.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> - -<p>Amiens has suffered little, except in pocket.</p> - -<p>A yellow-haired hostess had us arrested here, as "Germans." One -chuckled to see her returning to make vapid conversation after the -betrayal—the Delilah! And one returned to her afterwards for another -glass of coffee; for a courteous arrest is the assurance that we are -again in the heart of a competent army.</p> - -<p>All along the road I was warned that odd bodies of Germans were still -about in the woods. As I swung east, for Peronne, I had the proof. -South-west of Bray a shot or two on a wooded hill made us stop. It was -too far away to be intended for us. A band of peasants, with a few -dragoons, were methodically beating a wood for some stray Germans, -firing and shouting, like beaters, as they moved through.</p> - -<p>Presently four German infantrymen emerged at our end, with their hands -raised, without arms. Footsore, frightened. We were made use of to run -them back to Doullens, where they were transferred to an armoured car. -It was a depressing drive. The beaten man is an insult to humanity, of -whatever race he may be.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> - -<p>Some distance from Peronne the sound of firing sounded closer. I left -the moving base, and part ran, part walked, about five miles forward -and south-eastward. At last coming over a field, I lighted upon a small -moving column of Turcos.</p> - -<p>The officer, a large brown-eyed southerner, saw me first. He had no one -to detach to go back with me, and was not unfriendly. It is a toss up -whether troops of this type will embrace or shoot. Perhaps as a warning -against temerity I was hurried forward to what appeared to be an odd -end of a firing line. From the direction of the sound of the guns it -appeared to be well on the right of a German position. Our extended -line seemed to be overlapping them on the north.</p> - -<p>With a number of my guard I crawled up and into a scanty trench, -occupied by a line of some thirty Turcos. The next men gave our -reinforcement a glance, but no more. On the actual line they have more -important things to think about. The continual zip of bullets sang -overhead. There was the wicked "bubble" of a machine gun not far to -the right. The man<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> beside me talked continuously to himself. Two of -the men further south presently slid forward against the breast-work, -and leaned there motionless. In response, I suppose, to an order, my -neighbours, who had been firing rhythmically, disappeared over the -bank of the slight trench forward. I waited where I was, fortunately -unheeded as I sat under the bank. The firing receded. I saw the backs -of my friends disappearing into a wood in front. After a while, the Red -Cross stretchers came along and picked up the two men near.</p> - -<p>It was already late in the day. They came up, some dozen -stretcher-bearers, under the direction of a young French surgeon, who -was serving as a trooper, in uniform. I was engaged at the moment in -some amateur bandaging, with the aid of a pocket Alpine surgical-case -that has seen service in the Swiss mountains and in Belgium. They -accepted me as an extra helper with little difficulty. Detained still, -but allowed to help. Men at the front are concerned only with realities -and their immediate work. An extra hand is an extra hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>Along our trenches in the field there was little to do. The dead were -left for later burial by the peasants. The seriously wounded were -carried back, about a third of a mile, to where two Red Cross motors -waited on a cross road. Another contingent was working from some fields -on our left. A full ambulance ran past us as we came out on one trip to -the road. It was all done very quietly and efficiently. The only raised -voices were those of two men with whom the fever of bad wounds was -taking the form of the furious raving of anger.</p> - -<p>In most cases the Turcos were stoical and silent. One or two of the -more lightly wounded had only to be helped back, after the first aid -had been given on the field. One of them, as he limped along with his -arm round my shoulder, hissed a whispered account of the exact form -of death he designed for the next German he fought. It was chiefly -gesture; and the dark brown face, close to my own, with the startling -white gleam of the eye, gave it an almost theatrical ferocity.</p> - -<p>In the dark it was decided to make a further search. My car, which -a soldier was dispatched<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> to recover, was accepted to help in the -task. It was a dark night, rather cold, but clear and starry. It was -cheering to recognise the great planet which in Belgium we used to -call the "Brussels star," because night after night Brussels used to -stand in the streets watching it, never failing to recognise it as an -approaching "Zeppelin." If you watch a star or lamp at night for long, -it always seems to be in motion, backwards or forwards, up or down.</p> - -<p>We crossed to where the Germans had retreated. The men carried -acetylene lamps; two had electric flash-lamps, and another carried one -of my car lights. It was a strange search, stumbling along the little -pits of moist, cold earth in the dark. The lamps were masked, and -flashed only occasionally, and downwards; and all talk was under the -breath. It was uncertain that the Germans might not be somewhere near.</p> - -<p>We stumbled upon five or six bodies, but the enemy had clearly had time -to remove their wounded with them. Two, however, left for dead, had -been revived by the cold of the night,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> and were groaning. We found -them by the sound. They were back some way from the trench, in the wet -grass. One had been hit behind the shoulder, presumably while he was -retreating.</p> - -<p>The dark chill of the night, with the little quick flashes of searching -lights, and the mutter of occasional orders in the silence, lent -additional impressiveness to the steady, business-like courage of the -ambulance men. It is a work that requires very practised nerves under -modern fighting conditions. None of the excitement of fighting for -them, or the stimulus of "hitting back"; yet they get hit themselves -often enough. These long days of furious bombardment, raking long lines -of hidden positions, trench and village, must inevitably, and without -intention, find shells dropping upon man, house or wagon, whose Red -Cross is unseen or indistinguishable.</p> - -<p>The greater credit to the men whose dangerous work and even occasional -death can earn them no glory of individual exploit. Like the fishermen -mine-trawlers in the North Sea, they are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> the nameless heroes of -humanity on the edges of the shadow of inhuman war.</p> - -<p>The firing began again before dawn, far to the south. When I left them, -to convey two of the wounded Germans and an ambulance assistant back to -the village, the surgeon and his party were getting hurriedly into two -of the wagons, to follow up again behind the fighting line.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Boulogne, Friday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Last night I crossed to England, returning early to-day in one of the -worst storms conceivable on a Channel crossing. Boulogne and the north -are beginning to simmer with a new movement.</p> - -<p>The southern position is still stationary. The forcing of the Germans -out of their strong defensive trenches is a question of time and of -endurance. The French and British have the advantage of superior -facilities for moving men or getting up reinforcements by rail.</p> - -<p>It is still difficult to say whether the German right, as it lies, -is fighting a stubborn rearguard action on the retreat, or if it is -intended to hold<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> its present lines. If the latter, it is in danger -from the Allies' overlapping left, and from their movement on the -north-west.</p> - -<p>Our own troops would seem to be carrying again the burden of some of -the fiercest fighting, about Soissons.</p> - -<p>The region north of the German lines, which I traversed to and fro -to-day, is a region of vague skirmishing, somewhat similar to that -existing in northern Flanders. The Germans and French are alternately -occupying the towns and villages near the frontier with small patrols -or armoured cars. The Germans, on the whole, are contracting their web.</p> - -<p>Lille is free for the moment, and either army uses it. The Cambrai -neighbourhood is of course still German, on the line of their -communications. The French are spreading up to the border again, in a -gentle wave. The country is absolutely peaceful. The people go about -their work in the fields with little regard for the wandering parties -of war that go past on the roads.</p> - -<p>It is a different sight from the deserted fields,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> the panic-stricken -peasantry, the hurrying troops, that filled this border when I came up -last. That was in the week of concentration, after mobilisation, when I -reached Valenciennes from Paris with a party of Belgian officers. They -went to Maubeuge, I back to Calais. There have been flooding armies -back and through that opening into Belgium since that week.</p> - -<p>A few British stragglers still come in. A party of seventy with two -officers, all in uniform, got through two days ago. Another courageous -contingent of artillery came through with horses and men in fine -condition. But the majority have been dressed by the peasants in the -oddest of peasant remnants. They look hearty and bronzed, and the -better for the holiday in the fields. In many of the woods further -south German stragglers now take their place. The relations between -these small unarmed bodies when they meet, both in strange territory, -neither sure which should take the other prisoner, are pregnant with -curious situations. Three Irishmen, whom the peasants hailed me to -bring down from a copse where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> they lay hid during the day, told a -tremendous story of stalking a German officer and knocking him off his -bicycle. With a nice appreciation of their common position as outlaws, -they then let him go.</p> - -<p>For the moment we can but wait the issue of the long struggle on the -Aisne. Of the greatest value would be the success of the French in -penetrating the line on the east, against the German centre or left.</p> - -<p>Another success on our left, valuable as it would be, would only force -back von Kluck and von Buelow, accelerating their retreat, upon a new -position on the frontier, without necessarily seriously defeating the -combined armies. A success on our right would imperil their whole line, -and cut off their retreating right wing in the Argonne. Under modern -conditions, however, it is almost impossible for strategy to achieve -the surprises which produce big defeats. The most we can look for, to -end these long triturating battles, is the possibility of using more -easy communications so as to be able to outnumber the enemy some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>where -on the line, and so force a retreat by sheer weight.</p> - -<p>This evening I ran all down the coast almost to Dieppe, and made the -interesting discovery that all the coast towns, which only a few days -before had been declared "open," and ordered to surrender all arms to -their civic authorities, are again in military occupation. To follow -the new development, I made, in the late evening, for Amiens, in -violent wind and cold rain.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Amiens, Saturday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>For the present the news remains the same—the continuation of a battle -for positions, savagely contested; the Germans fighting for time, time -for the full use of their reinforcements and for the escape of their -left wing in the Argonne region. The Allies are fighting to break the -line on the east and to hold it, or turn it, on the west. Time, too, -with its possible happenings in this quarter, is also in their favour.</p> - -<p>We only hear of what is happening along the south front of the German -army. About its south-west aspect there is a great silence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> - -<p>The Amiens and northern German troops have fallen back upon a strong -series of positions, which make an acute angle with those of their -south front along the Aisne. Following the line of the Oise north, from -the junction with the Aisne, they hold the line of highlands on either -bank north to Noyon, thence west of the river to St. Quentin; they -cover the railway lines by Chauny, La Fere, etc., with Laon, as centre. -Thence north to Cambrai.</p> - -<p>It will be seen that their communications are exposed to attack from -the west. The distances are too great for continuous protection in -force. I have been able to-day myself to reach the railway line in two -places, between Bapaume and Peronne, without interruption.</p> - -<p>The country is more or less covered by cavalry and motor detachments, -whose action is necessarily local. These are in turn hunted, marked -down, or reported by the French and English motor-cars fitted with -machine-guns. The game is exciting, and is succeeding in its object -of condensing the German dispersed bodies. But there are signs of a -more serious pressure from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> the Germans beginning, that may eventually -remove the centre of interest from the battle going on farther south.</p> - -<p>The long-continued battle on the Aisne is in the nature of artillery -duels, fencing for positions, followed by infantry attacks and -counter-attacks on either side. So far we have had the advantage on -the west, but at great cost. The counter-attacks by the Germans on our -troops in the course of the nights have been repulsed with loss.</p> - -<p>In the long business of wearing down we have the advantage, both in -convenience of supply-service and in freshness and number of troops. -But for a decisive issue, in view of the strength of the German -position, we may have to hope for the entry of some new factor upon the -scene.</p> - -<p>The strong winds have dried up the roads to a large extent, and the -movement of men and guns is again becoming easier.</p> - -<p>In the region in which I have been able to approach the fighting, our -counter-moves were proceeding vigorously and with plenty of confidence.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> - -<p>Amiens is in the overstrung, spy-mania condition of a town but just -free of a hostile army, and again occupied by a friendly but mysterious -military. As I ran in to-night in the dark, narrowly escaping driving -into the river at the shattered bridge of Picquigny, I met the -atmosphere like a thick fog. Sentinel challenges at every corner, -suspicious civilian crowds thronging round if ever we checked. Two -correspondents have been arrested as spies, and cannot be traced. To -get myself and the car out without detention, I start to-morrow at the -first light.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Creil, Sunday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>This has been a day of rather exceptional interest and incident. -A number of hours have been spent in following up a line, and a -direction, of which it has now become indiscreet to write in detail, -but of whose possible importance to the issue of the battle of the -Aisne and Oise those who have followed my account will be already aware.</p> - -<p>That Von Kluck, if it is still Von Kluck on the German right, is alive -to its importance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> there is evidence in the strong reinforcements -constantly thrust out towards the line Paris-Amiens, to anticipate the -French movements, and in the vigour of the offensive which is pushing -out to the west of Noyon. The conflicts between the patrols and our -flying mitrailleuse-cars have made a distraction in the north to the -unvarying character of reports from the long and terrible ding-dong -battle on the Aisne and Oise.</p> - -<p>Even the French papers are saying it to-day. "Keep your eyes also on -the west. Don't be discouraged by the absence of material progress in -that long-drawn conflict between the entrenched armies!"</p> - -<p>That is all one may say after a number of hours spent in tense progress -in sight and hearing of friendly and hostile forces. (<i>Note.</i>—I -was following the development of the French encircling movement, by -Clermont and Lassigny, round the German right wing.)</p> - -<p>You are tired probably of reading about races with Uhlans. But they -retain their freshness of excitement for the participants. I must add -yet one more, and that happened only this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> morning. We were passing -from Moreuil to Montdidier. Outside Braches the wreck of a motor -car, the two hind wheels smashed by some sort of projectile, led to -questions. It had been destroyed, seemingly for practice shooting, by a -body of Uhlans who crossed the line last night. The three occupants had -fled to the village.</p> - -<p>The patrol was said to have gone on westward. Uhlans are very local in -this wide, rolling country. Fifteen hours had intervened. They might be -miles away. We ran on, with only a wary eye for the edges of the woods. -The road, swinging up and down over the rolling, wooded slopes, ran up -and over a crest, contouring round a grassy down-summit on a terrace -which faced towards the west. The railway line and river lay below to -our right. A long, straight road, bordered by tufty-topped trees, ran -up along a sky-line to join our terrace-road from the west.</p> - -<p>We were swinging slightly down-hill to the road-junction about a -quarter of a mile ahead, when, quite a third to half a mile down -the cross-road on the right, horsemen became visible, appearing and -disappearing between the trees.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> They might be a friendly patrol; but -we put on full speed. It was soon settled. Some half-dozen broke into -a gallop, or rather a canter, up-hill to intercept us. We had the -advantage of slope, pace and distance to the crossing. The tilt of the -hill and the road-bank also shielded us. I was only concerned about the -moment of crossing at the junction, where we should be straight in view.</p> - -<p>Some of the Lancers, some twenty in all, had halted and seemed -preparing to fire. Luck favoured us. The half-dozen scattered men -galloping up the road got in the way of the rest, and covered our -crossing. We raced past, a good three or four hundred yards ahead at -the junction. The road-bank and clumps of bushes again sheltered us, -and a distant shot or two came nowhere near. It was rather joyous to -turn and watch in glimpses over the bank the clearly irritated grey -troopers pulling up their puffed horses.</p> - -<p>We were still at full speed, in a sort of after-math of excitement, -some three or four kilometres further on and across the next rise, -when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> a placid green copse beside the road ahead suddenly grew alive, -and a little swarm of men with bayonets moved quietly out to block the -road. But the red and blue of the French army is visible afar. They -greeted us from fifty yards off. "What have you seen?" We gave them -the news. It appeared they were out on the trail of just twenty-five -such marauders. Two came on with us to Montdidier to report. The rest -marched off on a line that might cut ahead of our band. This is the -railway line to the north, and for the last few days it has constantly -been the scene of such little conflicts, on the one part the attempt to -occupy the line, on the other to protect it.</p> - -<p>In return for the news I was allowed to move up, under escort, and -partly "requisitioned" for troops, nearer to the great battle than I -hoped. First to Clermont, then by cross roads to Estrées; thence to -near Giraumont, south-west of Ribecourt, which lies at an angle of the -Oise north-west of the Forest of Laigue. From here, following a small -cyclist contingent pushing their cycles, I got on foot through the -woods on a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> track, until I could look down on the Oise. I did not see a -battle. But, since it has been generally assumed that the Germans are -east of the Oise, at least to as far north as Noyon, it was surprising -to hear a very heavy cannonade proceeding from due north, showing -clearly that the Germans were engaged well west of Noyon, towards -Lassigny.</p> - -<p>Where I was, however, the sight was all the more picturesque for the -absence of the suggestion of destruction. The day had been squally, -alternating silver streaks of sunlight and violent, windy rain. A -silver shield of sunlight lay along the Oise to the north. The French -were pushing up the western slopes of the river. At two points the -troops, bright chequers of colour, were crossing on pontoon bridges. -On the far bank they were trickling up in narrow streaks of colour -again, into the green forest that swayed black with the wind. They were -extending and supporting the French advance on this wing, which is -pushing very gradually north, from as far west as Clermont, through the -forest and fields towards the Noyon line.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> - -<p>The only signal of a battle progressing was the constant reverberation -of guns that seemed to come alike from all quarters of the sky. I could -identify only the peculiar uniform of the Senegalese and the light blue -of the cavalry, as they moved past through breaks in the trees. Then -the rain came down again, fiercely, and the scene lost colour in a grey -drift of cloud and wind. Once so far up, and clear of the obstruction -of bases, it was well to see all one could. Returning down the line of -the Oise, and keeping in the woods, I got to the extreme west corner -of the Forest of Laigue, where the Aisne joins the Oise. Most of the -bridges have been blown up, and it is well not to approach those that -exist, as things are.</p> - -<p>Choosing a sharp corner, and retaining only what was essential for -warmth, part wading, part swimming, I got across the Oise—it was -decidedly cold—and followed at first the north bank of the Aisne.</p> - -<p>The trees gave necessary shelter. It was a long and exciting walk, -or rather stalk, east and then north through the forest, behind the -French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> lines. All the traversable ways had to be avoided. The word -"forest" gives a false idea of the open glades and blank stretches of -country that give little cover. The firing seemed very near in front; -but it also seemed to be on either hand, confusingly.</p> - -<p>A final long and enforced wait at last made it apparent that the sound -was, if anything, coming nearer in this quarter. The Germans might be -pushing a counter-attack southward. In any case, further progress would -have been hazardous.</p> - -<p>The retreat was like the advance. Glimpses of moving men through the -trees; long waits; distant knots of ambulance men waiting, or moving -southward. Always the confusing echo of firing, sometimes silent for -intervals, sometimes clear and close as the south-west wind lulled. -So back and over the Oise, with a big leafy branch to cover my drift -across the river.</p> - -<p>It was, frankly, a relief to rejoin my moving base, doing ambulance -duty at Estrées, and to be on the clear road again. As I left the -river, several barges of wounded were moving slowly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> southward. The -little columns of Red Cross motors held the roads. This has been a -terribly costly battle. We have held our own magnificently, but it -has been against superior numbers, backed by accurate shell-fire from -strongly-entrenched positions.</p> - -<p>Unless the line can be pierced on the east, the great hope, thus -limiting the Germans to the few lines of communications to the northern -"troué," and unless their western lines can be seriously threatened -from the north-west or in Belgium, we may look for a long, wearing -winter campaign, a "stalemate" in the present positions. But a good -deal has still to happen before we need make up our minds for that.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Creil, Monday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>I have been now once again making south, to resume contact with the -battle along the Aisne. You have heard the account of the melancholy -condition of the country north of and around Meaux, and of the ruins of -Senlis.</p> - -<p>Creil is in little better state. This was one point at which the -tremendous German march<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> upon Paris was first checked, to swing, with -lost momentum, south and east, and then recoil.</p> - -<p>The roads to the north and east bear the usual signs of past warfare. -Wayside entrenchments, significantly enough often facing north-west, -as if the Germans, when they checked, had half prepared to meet attack -from that quarter. Hastily obliterated milestones and sign-posts. -Villages with a house here and there destroyed. At Cauffry, for -instance, the big Mairie is burnt out, nothing else touched.</p> - -<p>Entering Creil from the north, at first only every house in four or -five seems to have been injured. Further down towards the river, -every second house; and then whole rows of empty shells, shattered by -bombardment, burnt out with fire. Others still standing, with every -window broken and the doors smashed in; pillaged and scooped out, as -if by the enormous paw of some predatory beast. In the cold autumn -wind and driving rain the inhabitants are sheltering in the empty -frameworks, doorless, windowless, often roofless. The town is full of -the usual tales of suffering. The boy scout, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> piloted me, grew -passionate over the long tale of a lady called <i>la belle Andaluse</i>. -It embodied all the atrocities; with the single exception of the now -dubitable anecdote of the "little boy who was shot because he pointed -his toy gun at a soldier." For any one who has read the story of -Napoleon's campaign in this district, in 1814, and of the Cossack -atrocities perpetrated among these villagers, it has a grim meaning -to hear, in 1914, their descendants in the same villages recounting, -unknowingly, much the same catalogue of outrages. Civilisation will -seem to bray at him, like a donkey running round in a well-wheel.</p> - -<p>In the grey chilly evening the river dividing the town is a melancholy -sight. The two twisted ends of the great girder bridge, blown up by -the French on their retreat, droop into the broad river. Below this, -still survives the remains of the German pontoon bridge, by which they -crossed. A big ferry further down makes the only connection with the -region north-west of the Oise for a number of miles.</p> - -<p>None of the heroics of war in these depressing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> after-views and moody, -hopeless faces. A column of French sailors swung through just now; fine -fellows, bronzed, and singing in time to their springing step. It was -more reckless, more tuneful than the toneless, barbaric little chant of -the Cuirassiers as they rode past me at Sombreffe in August. But that -did not jar with the sunlight and woods and the noise of armies going -into battle. Here the song seemed garish and discordant, in the grey, -miserable awakening of a town to its own ruin.</p> - -<p>And, if this of Creil, what shall we have left to say of Rheims, or -to think of its cathedral and churches, reported to-night to have -succumbed at last to the week's bombardment? To German Culture—let -Louvain be the memorial; to the Imperial Piety—the ruins of Rheims.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">On the Aisne</span></p> - - -<p>Paris was pleasantly tranquil. Folk were returning. The Boulevards -had almost their traditional crowds. At the same time the long lock -upon the Aisne, and the absence of news, had recalled something of the -atmosphere of anxiety and doubt. Rumour was rife. In the usual attempt -to check it, as well as to cover certain military moves, the circle of -the defence was being drawn tighter. All permits were being cancelled. -When I left Paris again, to try and regain the lines on the Aisne, it -was with the knowledge that it would be necessary to take increased -risks, with less chance of getting communicable news. If the position -were to resolve itself, it would be on the north coast; as the result -of a different development of the battle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span></p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">North of Paris, Monday night.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>The army of the west that I have followed with personal interest -through all its developments during the last weeks is now officially -acknowledged as being in contact with the Germans.</p> - -<p>Of the excitement of watching its growth and passage through the north -of France, at Rouen, Beauvais, and Amiens, I shall be able to speak -more fully when the official details as to its composition are allowed -to be made public. "Keep your eye on the west" is all we have been able -to say as reassurance during the two long anxious weeks of assault upon -the profound German trenches on the Aisne.</p> - -<p>And now, certainly not too soon, when the Germans have extended -themselves once again in desperate efforts to break through on the -south at Soissons and Rheims, comes the threatening pressure of the -new army upon their lines of communication to the north. Have their -reinforcements, brought from Belgium<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> and the Argonne, come up to check -it in time?</p> - -<p>Nor is this all. We have all deduced from the German activity lately -the movement westward and northward of the French troops on our left -wing, up past Clermont and Lassigny. This has of itself been gradually -overlapping the German right. Now it forms a single enveloping arc with -the forces pressing in upon St. Quentin.</p> - -<p>It was only when the magnificent fighting on the Aisne made it clearer -day by day that the Germans were fairly held in the south that such a -movement of troops became justifiable. We could reconstruct now where -these troops were drawn from, and the moves of the splendid game that -the Allies have played. But that must wait until the game is played out.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile that fearful sacrifice of life upon the Aisne two weeks ago, -fighting unparalleled in history for severity, has gained its object. -Time has been won for the one move that serves to hook the Germans out -of their immense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> entrenchments. We start the third week of the battle -with easier breath.</p> - -<p>There have been many rumours that the Germans were really further south -on the line of the Aisne than public information acknowledged. There -were sections of the line about which nothing was known, and not only -that mysterious west.</p> - -<p>It is possible we may hear later that there were anxious days last -week, when Rheims was not the southern boundary of the Germans, nor yet -Soissons; and that some of the ground now slowly won at great cost has -but been regained.</p> - -<p>It was to clear this up that I spent to-day travelling behind the whole -line from Rheims to south of Compiègne; approaching it at the vital -points, so as to define the German position. Although there had been -German cars imperilling the road, it proved to be only some of their -reckless skirmishers. We got through, without a rumour of them, to the -heights south of Rheims.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> - -<p>Passing thence east, it was not difficult to place, from sound and -sight, that the Germans lay well east of the town; and that, with the -duel taken to-day more easily on both sides, the French were assailing -them upon the heights of Nogent l'Abbesse.</p> - -<p>Their loss of the height of Brimont, on the east, prevents the French -making use of the Canal of the Aisne and Marne, or the adjoining -railway. At the same time, the French retention of the line of heights -of Craonne on the west commands any advance of the Germans upon Rheims -by this route.</p> - -<p>Circling away from Rheims to the west, I came up south of the Aisne -and the Craonne heights, by Poncherry and Montigny. Here I met a train -of wounded and some stragglers in the village, who told me of the -sustained assault that is being made upon the French positions; the -Germans making charge after charge, even with the bayonet, but being -repulsed with great loss.</p> - -<p>It is obviously vital for the Germans, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> the growing pressure on -their flank, to break through on the south, and, by threatening Paris -and separating the armies, to force a withdrawal of troops from their -communications.</p> - -<p>I was near enough to the Aisne to be able to see the character of -the country on the far side, which has cost both Britain and France -so dear to assault. A gradual slope of about half a mile up from the -river, steepening into scarps and wooded heights, and dotted with white -quarries. These latter were held by the Germans deeply entrenched, and -their guns commanded the passage of the river.</p> - -<p>Driven at last over the edge of the hill, they returned again and -again in massed charges, and were swept away by our men, more lightly -entrenched, high up, just under the brow.</p> - -<p>To the west of this, as far as Soissons, the two weeks fighting has -mostly consisted of long-range artillery duels, across the river and, -later, over the heights. The Germans, better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> hidden, and with longer -range, shelled our slighter trenches with fearful accuracy.</p> - -<p>About Soissons the British resisted successfully a concentrated -assault of more than a week's duration, certainly not less in savage -determination than that upon the French around Craonne. Our cavalry -especially distinguished itself.</p> - -<p>Several men wounded, or resting from the front, in these villages, told -me the same story: "It began about six—heavy, accurate shell fire; -there was a lunch interval; it stopped about dusk every day. Then in -the night, often came the charges. One night I couldn't count them! It -was awful. Kill, kill, kill, and still they came on, shoving each other -over on to us!"</p> - -<p>No man but had his story of comrades on either side shot or smashed -day after day, of the shriek of shells, of the perpetual groaning of -the wounded as they lay in the wet trenches. "Seven days and nights -of it! and some nights only an hour's sleep." And all the same<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> -description—"It was just absolute hell." No one found another word to -describe it.</p> - -<p>And the sight of the men bore it out. Muddied to the eyes, soaked, -often blood-caked. Many were suffering from the curious aphasia -produced by the continuous concussion of shells bursting. Some were -dazed and speechless, some deafened. And yet, splendid to relate, I -saw on no Briton's face, wounded or resting, the fixed, inhuman stare -of war. Even the wounded were in good spirits, unconquerable,—the -sporting "looker-on" attitude of the British soldier.</p> - -<p>I scrawled a line of letter for some of them; they all wanted it said -that it had been "hell"; that they were glad to be out; but not sorry -to have been in. Many wanted advice added to "brother Tom" or "cousin -Dick" not to rush into it; but they knew themselves, as anyone who -knows the breed would know, that it was just that scrap that would make -Tom or Harry mad that he had not been in it too!</p> - -<p>The French were more absorbed and aloof, less of "professional" -fighters. They could not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> do without the personal touch. A little group -of the Line sat before a burnt cottage sharpening and caressing their -bayonets—"Rosalie" they call them, for love of their bloodstained -edges.</p> - -<p>Soissons has suffered little less than Rheims. Not from fire as yet, -but six or more dark, jagged holes showed where the cathedral has been -shelled. The town looks more than half in desolate ruins.</p> - -<p>The fighting here has been indescribably fierce. At Bucy-le-Long, just -to the north-east, the Germans dropped shells into a school converted -into a Red Cross ambulance, killing many wounded. One of the wounded -assistants described the scene. "They didn't intend it, probably; we -had troops coming up just behind, and they're poor shots!"</p> - -<p>Description of the sights and sounds of past battlefields are -monotonously grim, and useless to repeat. But the villages and country -in the track of this long battle, along the south of the Aisne, cannot -be left unmentioned, if war is to be recognised as reality.</p> - -<p>To move here is to move in a country of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> abandoned trenches, half used -as graves; to move through the tainted air of the unburied; to see the -countless dead, broken life, broken humanity, burning, or being thrust, -with the fortunate callousness of the peasant, into trench and pit; -to meet at every turn some deadly reminder of mortality; to see every -house and field flecked with some pitiable wreck or litter of battle. -The details need not even be imagined.</p> - -<p>But the wounded, as I saw them, returning in car and train, lying in -temporary shelters or waiting their turn at wayside stations, are at -once a more painful, more real reminder. British, and French, and -African, side by side, patient, courageous, appreciative of the little -help that can be given by the few hands. It is the one sight that can -still move one—that look of youth and hope struck out of the face -of the young soldier, the dulled expression, of just clinging on to -consciousness of life, that alone survives.</p> - -<p>At Villers Cotterets and Crepy I saw and talked with many of them; -but not for news of their exploits. We shared a common weariness<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> -of war-talk—the details were too present; and most of them -characteristically, when they had asked for news about "the victory," -spoke most of the peasants, and the hardship and suffering they had -seen in the villages; very little about themselves or the friends they -had seen killed.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">South of Rheims, Tuesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>With even more difficulty to-day we made our way up again into the -battle region. Rheims was the first object. I managed to get to a point -where I could look down and out at the city from its southern heights. -Picture it for yourself, the long, rolling, wooded circle of hills, the -broad green plateau of trees and houses, dipping to the irregular town; -and in the centre, an immense landmark, the high, grey cathedral, with -its two crowned towers of elaborate stone-work.</p> - -<p>At the first view, in the grey daylight and the roar of the wind, -nothing seemed unusual. The outlines of tower and town looked as -before. Then I put up the field glasses, and in a second the sight -fell to pieces, with the sudden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> incongruousness of the destruction of -Pompeii or Jerusalem as we see it on the coloured moving pictures, when -the walls fall flat under red artificial flames, and in a second the -towns remain only geometric sections of black ruins.</p> - -<p>The roofs were there, but shattered into dark caverns of bombardment. -The gables stood, blank, and with windows transparent to the sky. The -streets, scarred white or in dark hollows of crumbled brick. And the -Cathedral? The walls were standing, the towers, and much of the roof, -but blackened and defaced. The towers, blurred in detail and fractured. -The windows, with tracery shattered, and blinking as it were painfully -at the unusual daylight that streamed in upon the black ruin of the -nave.</p> - -<p>And over all the grey haze of conflagration, mixing in one dark -overhanging curtain with the yellow pestilent fumes of past bombardment.</p> - -<p>Beyond, on the further heights, the grey sky was seamed with the spurt -and smoke of occa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>sional bursting shells; and the ear, guided now -by the eye, could distinguish from the rush of the wind the single -explosions of the German shells and the nearer crash of the hidden -French batteries, as they responded, firing across the hill at the -unseen army.</p> - -<p>I would not, even if it had been easy, have approached nearer. Details -of destruction could add nothing to the realisation of these monstrous -reactions of war. This was, to myself, the second conscious shock in -all the two months of warfare—Louvain was the first. The sight of -dead and shattered bodies soon passes unrealised. There is nothing of -the man who lived, even if we have known him well, left in lifeless -remnants. What he meant and what he produced are no longer there. -But to see a dead or an injured child, a mutilated work of art or -thought, is to see the murder of men's souls: the defacing of the ideal -which men live and die to conceive, to embody, and to leave as their -contribution to the eternal principles of beauty and continuance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> - -<p>What has provoked this wanton, deliberate destruction? The anger of -disappointed, hungry, chilled men in their realisation of failure and -fatigue? The revenge for the death of some popular commander, some -General von Revel, von Rapine, or von Ruin? Who can say yet? On the -spot there seemed to be no "military" excuse, of tactics or precaution. -It looked like the irresponsible outrage of a tipsy child with a heavy -hammer. Whatever the conditions of ultimate peace, let us see to it -that the hammer of ponderous armaments is forced from Germany's hands. -The "philosophical Teuton brain" may then have time to clear itself of -the fumes of a reeling militarism.</p> - -<p>The tapestries have been buried. It is reported that the treasures of -the Cathedral are safe. Why, O why, was no effort made to remove the -priceless windows in time? We did it in our Minsters as long ago as -the seventeenth century, before the threat of bombard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>ment; and the -confidence in German "culture" cannot have been so deep-rooted!</p> - -<p>I was glad that I could not see the injury to the famous "rose" window -in the west front, through which the sunset used to colour the pillars -of the nave with a marvellous amber and gold light.</p> - -<p>As I passed by the town I met the venerable Cardinal Archbishop, in -his robes, a strange contrast to the knots of uniformed soldiers and -the few darkly-dressed, depressed inhabitants. He reached Paris, from -the Conclave, two days ago, and, impatient of the absence of news, has -come out to see for himself what has befallen his cathedral; and that -in spite of the German raiding cars, that have fired on passengers on -the roads from Paris yesterday and to-day, and of the proximity of the -cannon. I took off my hat to a very gallant man.</p> - -<p>But a week or so ago I stood up and cheered the grand old Bishop of -Meaux, when, as one of the first civilians to get into Meaux after the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> -battle of the Marne, I found him, in violet robes, still going gently -round, looking after his few surviving flock. He, almost alone, had -refused to leave the town, and endured all the risks of the encircling -battles and the indignities of the German occupation.</p> - -<p>The Germans have made no exception of priests and professors in -their "disciplinary executions," and now that they have started on -the cathedrals—first Louvain, then Malines, then Rheims, and now -Soissons—a bishop who stayed to face them showed a good man's courage.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Wednesday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>In a village south of Rheims this morning I was delayed for some time -by the passing of a column of German captives, being brought down from -Craonne by the French. There must have been more than a thousand in -this single division. Some of them were big fine fellows; a number -quite lads; all looked pallid and with the strained look of fatigue and -hunger. A few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> were allowed to sit a while by the road, to rest sore -feet.</p> - -<p>Those to whom I spoke, allowing for the fact that they were frightened -and probably anxious to propitiate, confirmed the impression that the -Germans have lost very heavily and are in sore straits for food. They -spoke of the practical destruction of whole regiments, more especially -in the assaults round Soissons and Rheims. To the audacity and -omnipresence of our airmen, and to the accuracy of our shell-fire on -their trenches, their accounts bore constant witness.</p> - -<p>One lad, a "Sextaner" in an Ober-Realschale, was allowed to rest for -some time, and soon began to talk quite cheerfully. He showed me his -pocket diary, a strange little document. It contained chiefly the -notices of his messing together with six or more of his chums, and of -the rare additions of food other than rations. On later pages came the -little notes of someone missing in the evening. A few new names were -added. These, too, disappeared. Finally, almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> the last entry, of -four days ago, came the sentence, "Remains only Max and me." But Max -was not with the prisoners.</p> - -<p>At certain of the base villages as I followed the line south of -the Aisne, I saw other prisoners, active and willing as ambulance -orderlies. They were already moving about cheerfully—the French are -most kindly captors—but none of them had lost the stamp of pallor -imprinted by the exhaustion and strain of that prolonged fighting -march. Not one but was tired of the "useless war." It is only the -stay-at-homes who have not lived in a war atmosphere, for whom it -retains its colour of heroics after a few weeks of its squalid -realities.</p> - -<p>I crossed the Vesle, on a pontoon bridge, and visited two of the seven -bridges which the Germans destroyed as they retired before the British -over the Aisne near Soissons. A south country Briton told me the story -of that first crossing.</p> - -<p>"We were the advance division. We got there at nightfall, a desperate -long march. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> Germans had dynamited seven out of the eight bridges, -but one just stood. We were ordered to shuffle across it singly, at ten -yards intervals. It began at midnight, in the dark, a queer, nervous -job; and we weren't all over, quite, by five in the morning. Two of the -chaps slipped in, astray in the dark, one just ahead of me. I thought -it was the bridge going up—the sort of 'plump' he went!"</p> - -<p>I have had that feeling several times these last weeks, the stealthy -crawl across the bridge with dynamite already laid below it.</p> - -<p>North of the forest of Villers, the region which is a grim cemetery -of men and of the homes of men, full of the smoke and dust of ruined -houses and of the smoke and dust of burning piles of what were men, -many soldiers were still lying on straw under shelter from the rain, -waiting their turn to be fetched down by the ambulances. There are -scores still waiting.</p> - -<p>For one I took down a letter. This is its substance: "Jack and me were -in that show<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> at Shivers (Chivres-sur-Aisne?) It was not man-fighting -that week; just banging with engines over our heads, and getting them -too, often enough. When it got dark, 'they' always rang off. And we -went out, not under orders, just for our turn; about six of us. Jack -got a sentry—here—and we got to the pit; but they were on us before -we could mess the gun; and it was pretty fair hell in the dark; just -jabbing at anything you heard or touched. Three of us got back; and we -left 'them' some burying to do on their own, too."</p> - -<p>The valley of the Aisne has a deadly sameness. At Retheuil and Chelles, -the silent apathetic peasants—all too few—were heaping remains of men -and horses for burning, or dragging them into the long raw trenches -that scar the fields with white issues of lime. Anything of value or -metal is dragged off, the bodies thrust in, and, for all the pestilent -air, the peasant stolidly munches at his bread between whiles.</p> - -<p>It is astonishing how little it affects one after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> a day or two. I -don't believe the sight or sound of always present death, or even, for -that matter, the more intolerable affliction of sleepless nights, wet -trenches, cold winds, and continuous strain, has taken five minutes of -his quaint optimism from the British soldier. And yet this war is being -fought without the exciting accompaniment of bands or drums. There are -no parade sights; no colour.</p> - -<p>It is almost impossible to get the names of their places of past -adventure from the soldiers. The French names, if ever heard, are soon -forgotten. It is exciting to them even to hear that they are near -Paris. They date from "where So-and-so got hit," or "where we got those -fags from a hofficer," or where "the women ran out to give us drinks -as we rode by." Very often the name survives as a mysterious village -called "Ralentir." (Visitors to France may remember that this is the -big notice put up outside villages, the "Drive slowly" warning to -motorists.)</p> - -<p>It was curious to recall, as I looked north later<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> in the day towards -Vic-sur-Aisne, that I got almost as far as this a fortnight ago, after -the German retreat from Meaux, thinking I was well behind our armies, -and found and smoked in, their line of abandoned trenches, in the -company of two incursious peasants. The Germans were even then making -their huge entrenchments on the hills ahead, and it was to cost a -fortnight's fearful fighting before our men made good their position on -my seemingly lonely slope of fields.</p> - -<p>We were "requisitioned" again, to run to Mont St. Marc. As I looked -across at the Forest of Laigue, I knew now that the check that turned -me back in those woods last week, after swimming the Oise, was one of -the violent counter-attacks by the Germans; when they ventured, as they -rarely have done, to charge with the bayonet.</p> - -<p>On that same day, the bombardment which I heard from the direction -of Lassigny, proves now to have been the beginning of the French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> -resistance to the German advance in that quarter against General -Castelnau.</p> - -<p>At Crepy, on the return, a Turco, whom I must have met at the fierce -skirmish south-east of Peronne, recognised me as he lay, a strange -figure white with loss of blood under his African tan, his turban and -brilliant uniform bloodstained, waiting to be moved into an ambulance -car.</p> - -<p>"Ah, they got me for a time, not long"—it was odd French—"but I -assisted two with that, first (the bayonet), and then there remained to -me these" (a significant gesture of the hands).</p> - -<p>A badly-wounded north countryman, who lay beside him, with a nurse -temporarily bandaging his shoulder—another shrapnel wound; they are -nearly all shrapnel wounds—evidently understand the gesture, if not -the lingo. "Fine chaps at a scrap, the darkies. It's funny, though, I -couldn't use hands like that; sort of claws fashion. Now I could go on -with a fist—this way—all day; just smash them. Some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> difference in -education, d'you think? Or just natural?"</p> - -<p>The nurse stopped the speculative opening. But think of it; in -the surroundings! Our undefeated British soldier, tolerant of the -individual, critical of the "foreign ways," ready to argue an -abstraction, to fight, to make or be turned into a joke, even while -every breath was a painful effort.</p> - - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Thursday.</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>There has been a lull in the fierceness of the struggle along the -Aisne, which is developing into the Battle of the Rivers. (<i>Note</i>: I -believe this to have been the first time this name was suggested.) The -lull is doubtless not unconnected with the great changes of front in -progress. Some days ago I was involved in the movement of the French -forces round the left wing by Clermont; later, to-day I was to learn -from an airman of the even greater rapidity with which the Germans have -poured their reinforcements, and their army from the Vosges, on to the -line<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> of the Oise towards Peronne. (It was the mass of these troops, -and the rapidity of their swing across on the inner lines, that enabled -the Germans to anticipate the Allies' move and, for a time, even push -them back at certain points, at Lassigny, Chaulnes, and Peronne, as we -now learn from the official communications.)</p> - -<p>To-day was my last visit to the lines on the Aisne, the last -opportunity of seeing something of the actual fighting. We reached -Fismes early in the day, and, as there were rumours in Paris that the -Germans had penetrated south in this region, we were relieved to find -an extremely peaceful landscape. Only the usual traces in the villages -and on the fields of past fighting.</p> - -<p>Here fortune favoured us. For several weeks we had been inquiring in -vain on all our excursions for a certain French regiment of the line, -which contained the much-loved brother of my friend and driver. At -Fismes we came by chance upon a small section of his company, who were -escorting some wounded. We fraternised at once; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> they told us where -we should find him, engaged in the trenches across the Aisne. Not only -this, but they gladly took advantage of the car to run four of them -back to their advance post, or rather as far as was permitted us, under -their helpful escort.</p> - -<p>On foot we traversed the last fields to the bank of the river. The -appearance of this grim border region of past battle, the burnt -cottages, scarred fields, blackened trees, and the faintly-marked -trenches and pyres of the buried and incinerated dead, has been already -described. There is a terrible monotony in such scenes.</p> - -<p>The Aisne was crossed on a light pontoon, for foot soldiers only. I -will not specify the point nearer than to say that we were behind a -notable junction of the allied armies. A low spur, rather exceptionally -tree-covered, came down close to the bank on the far side. In a -temporary base-camp, of shelters and enlarged trenches, under the spur, -the much-sought brother greeted us, and a very cordial welcome<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> was -given us on his account. A lieutenant was in charge, who invited us to -share the combined rations. The staple was a loaf of bread, hollowed -out and filled with some very highly scented sort of tripe; apparently -a popular and certainly a filling meal. Actually, too, hot coffee in -pannikins. We contributed the usual cigarettes and journals.</p> - -<p>The lieutenant did not see his way to letting me go forward, although -the German fire on our trenches ahead had ceased for some time, and -the only sound of guns came from some distance away, in the direction -of Craonne. The time passed, however, unnoticed, in the interest of -watching the movements of sections passing and repassing the river, in -relief or support. Twice a number of wounded were carried past and over -the bridge. They were still being collected, or brought down, after -the desperate German assaults by night and day that preceded the lull. -Three small detachments stopped in passing, moving up to the front.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> - -<p>They were all sun-browned, rough-chinned men here. Some had been in -the trenches for a week or more, and looked fine-drawn and battered. -They were uninterested but confident. Not the sort of gallant gaiety -and glitter we are accustomed to associate with the traditional French -soldier. That, if it survived the parade times, has given place to a -serious intentness upon the one idea, a kind of setting of the teeth to -face the issue and force the victory. For the French soldier has more -imagination than ours. He has to make up his mind not to picture to -himself results and effects which our men simply disregard, as not part -of their particular professional concern.</p> - -<p>The stories they told had necessarily great resemblance. Of hours of -crouching under well-directed shell-fire. Of men killed or decapitated -beside them, of hairbreadth escapes from shrapnel, of confused night -attacks, of the joy of using "Rosalie" upon the hated grey bodies, -when at last they got the chance. And, above all, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> the continuous, -dreadful noise of the guns and of the shells passing. Several were -partially deafened or stupefied by the concussion. A few told of -comrades who, not from failure of nerve, but from the mere physical, -shattering effect of the perpetual roar and scream upon more nervous -systems, had had to be sent back for a time from the line. And "spy" -stories, as numerous as ingenious.</p> - -<p>After an hour or so the "brother" had to go up to take his turn in -the trenches with others. Our officer had gone off in the interval -at a summons; and the sergeant left in charge—we were now firm -friends—agreed to let me go up a specified distance for a certain time -with the section moving out.</p> - -<p>We turned to the right round the end of the spur, about thirty of us, -ascending diagonally up the side, with a parallel valley receding below -us. I had been given directions as to how we were to take advantage -of the natural cover, and in places where we should have been more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> -exposed to observation from heights or airmen this cover had been very -ingeniously supplemented.</p> - -<p>The firing from the greater plateau towards Craonne grew more distinct, -but even so it seemed to be none too vigorously prosecuted. The -cautious approach along the wet green slope towards a real, if distant, -enemy, revived the feelings of keen excitement of our man-hunting game -in the Lake Fells. But in the valley bottom, and occasionally on our -slope, there were harsh reminders of reality in the pits of shells, -broken trees, the litter in abandoned trenches, and here and there the -unburied German dead. A number of peasants were engaged in removing -these last traces, in the more sheltered depressions. But, as the -corporal explained with a shrug, "What would you? If they see where we -are, they fire. We cannot risk the good living for <i>those</i>!"</p> - -<p>All too soon, as it seemed, we reached the advanced point where on an -upward slope, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> work of pushing forward diagonal trenches was going -on. On our left the hill hid the view; but across the valley, on the -right, the same active, methodical work was just visible in the slight -stir and occasional glint of mattock or red trouser. With a gesture -my attention was drawn to a carefully concealed battery. I doubt if I -should have seen it for myself. "They haven't marked that down yet; -that's for a surprise when they begin again!"</p> - -<p>We crossed a system of narrow man-deep galleries, well-covered, and -which had evidently been heavily shelled. I was hurried forward through -this, now with even more caution. "They've got the range of this; but -we're out there now":—and the "brother" indicated a point a third of -a mile ahead, where, it seemed, a sap was being carried forward, on a -zigzag towards the crest. Just as we were advancing, the unmistakable -moan of an aeroplane sent us to cover, under the old entrenchment. -I failed to see it; but a sudden outburst of firing on our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> left, -that died away again, gave the line of its passage. "You may expect -something here, after that——has been over," was the remark, made to -me, I think, with half malicious intention.</p> - -<p>In a small pit or field-quarry on the slope, of innocent appearance, -but in reality converted into a very adequate straw-lined shelter or -base for the men engaged in digging beyond, I was left; while the -section moved forward to take the places of others. These, when they -came down, would see me back again. I saw the "brother" leave me with -regret. My companions were four men and a corporal, rather glum and -tired, but not unfriendly. Two had been slightly wounded, but had -refused to go down.</p> - -<p>We had barely got on to terms, with grateful cigarettes, when a single -growl echoed across the slope in front; and the unmistakable crescendo -whine of a shell passed high and to one side above us. It was followed -by another, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> shrilled its menace more directly overhead; and the -flat, quaking explosion, hitting the ear like a blow, could be heard -further down over the slope. The men paid scarcely any attention. "It -will not go on; we shall not reply," said one. "Reassure yourself: it -is at our old trenches," added one of the wounded men, with half a -grin. The sensation of being shelled over is denied to the civilian; -and in my own case the opportunity was probably unique. I risked the -reputation for unconcern of the race, and crept out and up under the -higher lip of the depression; from here, well sheltered, I could look -backward and down the slope.</p> - -<p>Four more shells passed in quick succession. The roar of the discharges -rolled in a continuous echo back and across the little valley; through -this the singing scream of the shells stabbed venomously. One fell -beyond the old trenches, and exploded in the ground—I saw the huge -shattered cavity as I returned. Two burst<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> accurately, man high, over -the earthworks, faced with sods, of the abandoned gallery; the sight -and sound were indescribably shocking to the unaccustomed eye and ear. -The last did not explode, but, from the spurt of earth, buried itself -deeply twenty yards nearer me up the slope.</p> - -<p>As I had been told, no reply was made in this quarter, and no more -followed the six. A quarter of an hour later the returning section -came back; and again, with an escort of twenty dumb, earth-stained, -and hungry blue-coats, the cautious return was begun. As we got down -the caution was dropped. "They don't want it to-day any more than we -do"—and we clustered in a quick walk back to the base.</p> - -<p>As an impression of the futility of warfare, the sight of this useful -manhood, designed to dig a fruitful soil for profitable living, now -burrowing for life in barren trenches, was sufficient. As an impression -of its hideous trespass, the intrusion of those discordant shells, -shrieking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> over the sunlit hill with a sort of murderous absurdity, -splitting the still air into shreds of hateful noise, and vanishing -against the motionless trees in drifting clots of sickly green vapour, -was all complete. If further proof were needed, it lay about me in the -melancholy accidents of destruction, scattered over the "no man's land" -that I recrossed on my return. The whole suggestion was of some recent, -sordid violent orgy, by a party of criminal tramps, in a peaceful -garden.</p> - -<p>Many of the bridges were broken down, and, after rejoining the car, -we had to make a wide sweep to the west. The roads were blocked by -the wagons and columns of the French westward movement. I passed -again through Crepy and Senlis, and round west of Clermont, which was -obviously in the agitated condition peculiar to a military occupation. -The distinctness with which the guns could be heard from the St. Just -road, suggested that the Germans had advanced considerably to the -west, since I had last heard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> them from the south of Lassigny. From -Montdidier we turned east, hoping to get to Roye; but it was getting -late and the road became hopelessly congested. An aviator whose -machine had been injured and to whom I was able to give a lift, told -me that he had seen the German reinforcements pouring up in very great -numbers behind the Oise; and it was clear that, for the moment, their -possession of the inner lines had given them the advantage in forming -on the new front.</p> - -<p>Through by-lanes west of Roye we made towards Rosières in the dark, -hoping to hit a main road back towards Amiens. We were stopped again by -the sound of firing in front and a little to the east. Before turning -back we determined, if possible, to discover its meaning. Leaving the -car in a field, the driver and I walked forward cautiously through the -woods in the direction of the sound. We were in one of the big hangars -of large forest trees that crown the crests of the rolling uplands in -this district.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> As we came out of the wood, and just across the crest, -there came a sudden crackle of rifle firing from the trees on the -opposite crest, about a mile and a half, so far as I could calculate -in the dark, to the east. For the moment it was difficult to account -for it; but the driver suddenly called my attention to some little -sparks of flame in the dark sky. They seemed to be dropping on to the -far wood. The reason at once suggested itself:—a daring German airman, -making a night flight, had located a detachment of the French in the -wood, probably by their camp fires, and was dropping little balls -of flame to give the range to his associated battery. A few minutes -later the dull boom of heavier guns, firing from a greater distance, -which continued for some fifteen minutes, and then ceased, made our -speculation a certainty. It was a curiously suggestive glimpse; the -darkness lit and broken for a moment, declaring the presence of the -unceasing, sleepless strife.</p> - -<p>It was clearly not possible to force our way<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> further north; and, as -it was now too late to gain entry into any town of shelter, we spent a -not uncomfortable night, sleeping in and beside the car. With the first -light we turned west and south, and regained Paris almost as soon as -the gates were opened.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Shadow of the War</span></p> - - -<p>There could be no object in making further visits to the deadlock along -the Aisne. The German advance, which I had followed across Belgium -in the beginning of the war, and met again where it shattered upon -the Allied position east of Paris, had failed. Their rapid consequent -retreat on to the heights of the Aisne, and the reassembling of their -armies, had been successfully accomplished. Both sides had been unable -to convert the end of the first great move into decisive victory or -defeat, and had dug themselves, after desperate initial efforts, into -impregnable entrenched positions. The serpents of war were dragging -their slow coils west and north, seeking more open ground for a fresh -grapple.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> - -<p>The new development had to be looked for in the north. Time must elapse -before it could take definite shape. The first phase of the war was -ended.</p> - -<p>In the interval, before the next began, like a foiled snake drawing in -its head and thickening its coils, back in Belgium the huge length of -the German army was beginning slowly to swell itself out, forcing the -last of the unhappy population out of town and village, to the coast, -and to the sea itself. For "military reasons," doubtless. No difficulty -in assigning them. Only, if there has been one happening more than any -other which has revealed to those outside the war atmosphere, the utter -negation of personal life and moral law that is covered by our easy -talk of "strategy," "tactics," and "moves," it has been this further -persecution of the Belgian people. We may discuss it, as critics, as an -excusable part of a defensive campaign. We feel in our hearts, that it -is no other than the instinctive ferocity of the beast of prey, headed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> -off its next kill, and recoiling to savage its last victim.</p> - -<p>War, the war of Ilium, of Agincourt, of Waterloo, used to be a -brilliant affair. Death harnessed to a glittering car of Juggernaut. -Men went under the wheels in the rush and flame of colours, and to the -sound of bands and the applause of multitudes. The car is now hidden in -a dull, deadly rolling cloud. We can only hear the rumour of the hidden -wheels. Our sons and friends move into the darkness. Of many of them, -all we shall ever know is that they have not returned. The greater -heroes, that they go as gladly as ever did a chosen knight into crowded -lists. The finer men, that they fight as stoutly with no record of -their gallantry, no mark even of their death-place.</p> - -<p>But we must make no confusion. It is the men who are to be praised: -for their sacrifice of all they know to be better in life, for their -acceptance of the fantastic chance which is forced upon them by their -devotion to an ideal.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> War itself, fighting, is a mad anachronism. We -can judge of its folly the better, because we are now allowed to know -so little of its secret noise and flame. We are not dazzled by its -incidents; but its shadow falls on us all.</p> - -<p>But then, afterwards, there must be no sentimentalising over the -glitter of a splendour we have not seen; no wilful blindness when, the -cloud cleared away, the light of sanity falls again upon the nakedness -of its inhuman mechanism, the hideous squalor and vulgarity of its -monstrous destructiveness.</p> - -<p>A few days ago I was waiting with a crowd outside a Bureau in Paris. -Anxious, resigned faces passed me going in or out. No tragedy, no -moving emotion. The families of the soldiers in the front were making -their weekly inquiry for the little numbered disc each soldier wears -for identification. The best they could hope for was to receive -nothing, to have to come and ask again, and again, till the end of the -war. The only break would come when the little disc<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> at last might -be handed them, and they would know that son or husband, somewhere, -somehow, had vanished in the shadow of war for all time.</p> - -<p>In Wavre, where I used to pass continually on the way to the Belgian -lines, was a small welcome restaurant, kept by a cheerful pretty girl, -her young husband, and a baby. There was laugh and joke as to "what -would happen if the Prussians came!" On the morning of the day of -evacuation I passed again. Still only quiet anxiety and less ready -smiles. Three hours later I returned. The Uhlans were entering the -edges of the town. A peasant rushed into the swarming square, waving -a Uhlan helmet. There was a savage rush; and a woman shrieked: "It's -the head of the devil who wore it I want!" It was the young wife. A -fury, raging at her husband; for the men had been told to disarm. "Take -it," she screamed furiously, thrusting his rifle at him, "never see -me again, if our house is entered without one brute shot." Blanched, -shaking with passion, and speechless,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> the young man walked out. I saw -her again on the road to Brussels, aged, scarcely sane. The man had not -come back. She had lost her child.</p> - -<p>In west Flanders, on the day that the Prussian columns were pouring -across Belgium, I passed in the morning a remote, picturesque little -crossing. A very old peasant, in a smock, deaf and almost blind, acting -as a Civil Guard, gave me great difficulty. He had blocked the road -with harrows, and threatened viciously with an old muzzle-loader and -rusty bayonet of the time of Waterloo. In the evening, carrying some -wounded soldiers, we passed again. He was still hugging the bayonet. -We persuaded him to let us bury it, his useless death-warrant, for the -Uhlans were flooding behind us. With that, realisation at last came to -him. He walked deliberately back towards the cottage. "All that I had -left, for my son is dead. But I will destroy this too. The Prussians -shall not shelter there."</p> - -<p>The same night I was driving on the long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> dark roads back to the -coast. Occasionally the lights flashed on lines of women, in widows' -black, returning in silence from the shrines. Now and again a blaze -of light startled us from the roadside. The shrines of saints, bright -with votive candles all this night of terror. And remote from their -homesteads, and from the war, the heads of crowds of small children -showed black on the steps against the altar lights; while in a -semicircle on the road outside knelt the shadows of women, enclosing -their children, the last possession left to them. I stopped the car -before one shrine, and a high woman's voice, in which all emotion was -dead, called out from the darkness: "Is that death?"</p> - -<p>South of Peronne, hardly a week ago, we gave a lift to four refugee -peasant-women, trudging heavily back to their homes. Two weeks before -some German cavalry had swept suddenly into their small village. Ten -men had been ordered to go with them, the husbands of two of the women, -the sons of two others. They had dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>appeared in the shadow, and not -one had returned. We reached the outlying cottage of the first. Some -small skirmish had raged there. The house was half destroyed, and three -or four dead horses lay grotesquely rotting on the field. The woman -stood for a moment unmoved, and then turned to a neighbour: "War has -taken my sons, and has left me these."</p> - -<p>Four days ago a French soldier of the line stopped me just south of -Vic-sur-Aisnes. He was hobbling back from the trenches, wounded in the -knee. He was clearly half stupid with fatigue and the detonation of the -days of firing. He kept repeating to himself, over and over again: "I -cannot remember: there were five, all killed near me; and three said to -tell somebody a message, before they died. I cannot remember what it -was, or who they were. I cannot remember: there were five——" and so -over again. These were the last messages out of the edge of the shadow, -and they were lost. But there would always be the discs. Better<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> that -the details should not come. There would then be still the chance of -imagining some heroic setting of death.</p> - -<p>We may well remember that such death is heroic, whatever its loneliness -or its revolting circumstances. But let us borrow no false colour from -an imaginary pomp and circumstance in war itself. It is dissolution and -the end of hope that is hidden in the cloud. In England we are happily -still free to interpret the obscurity according to our fancy, to -picture death in battle as somehow not death. For those who have moved -by the edge of the shadow there is no illusion left. The cloud shifts -from village to village, from week to week, only to let us see in its -track nature outraged, emotion degraded, humanity defaced.</p> - -<p>We have chosen war, and must follow it to its undiscriminating end. Let -us see to it that it is for the last time.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Arms and the Man</span></p> - - -<p>There must be no misunderstanding. We may condemn the futility of the -appeal to arms as the ultimate method of arbitriment between civilised -beings; we can have nothing but whole-hearted admiration for the man -who has answered the appeal.</p> - -<p>Civilisation, if it means anything, has meant the development of -the sense of humour. It was the gradual realisation of an absurd -disconnection between seeing a man scowling, and clubbing the life -out of him so that <i>he</i> should see no more, and between hearing his -insults, and depriving <i>him</i> for all time of hearing, that brought -primitive man out of savagery. The same discovery, of its incongruity -put an end to the duel among us. Our German opponents have always been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> -behind us in this, in civilisation, in the sense of humour. It is with -a feeling of disgust as much as of anger that we find our civilisation -cannot save us from being dragged down to the level of savage brawling.</p> - -<p>But the appeal to arms once made, and our national and personal -ideals once involved in the hazard, we may well be proud of the -sane, temperate spirit with which the men of our race assert their -superiority, even in the whirlpool of elemental passions that is war. -Actual fighting, the killing of men, cannot be done well except by men -in the rage of the fighting fever, in the passion that "sees red."—It -is no surprise to us that the British soldier can still charge like -seven demons. To lie for hours passive under fire, with death close -round in the trenches, calls for a still rarer emotional concentration, -the white animosity that flares steadily but does not flicker.—To -those who know our history, it is no news that the Briton, for cold -unshaken courage, can still out-last all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> other men. But what, in a -Briton, who has seen the soldiers of several nations reacting under -the war-fever, touches a deeper chord of pride, is to see that our -countrymen can pass in and out of the "fighting state" with the mental -detachment of civilised beings. Even in the "red rage" they become -neither blind nor deaf to the call of humanity or reason. They maintain -personality against the overwhelming war atmosphere of animal fury -and suspicion. When the fighting shadow passes, they are still their -natural selves, kindly or surly, or intelligent, knowing what they -like or dislike, with no collective infection from a false pride, a -simulated enthusiasm or hatred.</p> - -<p>Of this power of maintaining mental balance, through all the flux -and reflux of the "fighting state," military record gives us little -idea. But it is the deciding factor in racial wars. The degree of -its possession by the several races in the end decides for victory -or failure. The nation that has the strongest vital stock survives<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> -longest. As between two such vital races in conflict, that must prevail -which is the better "civilised"; which can maintain its characteristic -strength, its individual consciousness, against all the assaults of -violent physical or mental emotion.</p> - -<p>A captured Prussian lieutenant, with whom I had a quick talk beside the -road near Rheims a few days ago, was pleased to express surprise at the -courage and doggedness of our British "mercenaries," as he called them. -He thought I was insulting him, when I told him that the conditions -under which our volunteer private served were very similar to those of -the German officer!</p> - -<p>It has been always a new surprise to find how many Germans, even those -who know military history and are well acquainted with England, have -allowed their sense of national rivalry with us, of jealousy rather -than hatred, to blind their judgment, otherwise expert in military -matters. They have continued to make three elementary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> blunders about -our army; and they are now paying dearly for the miscalculation.</p> - -<p>The first blunder has been to confuse a man who volunteers to fight for -his own country, as his profession, with a "mercenary"; by which we -mean a man who hires himself out to fight for any country which offers -him enough pay. The second has been in some way to reason that a man -who voluntarily makes himself efficient to defend his own country, and -receives an allowance for it, must be inferior, as fighting material, -to a man who compulsorily so serves his country, and receives an -allowance for it. And the third has been the astounding ignorance of -the teaching of military history, which proves conclusively that, from -the time when the Spartans beat the Athenians down to the present -day, the professional-soldier army has always beaten the amateur or -conscript army, even at great disadvantage of numbers.</p> - -<p>That is the essential difference which we have been seeing every day -in the field. Our men<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> are fighting, just as consciously, for the -preservation and honour of their country, as are their conscript -enemies. But, because of their race, they do not care to make a parade -of that consciousness. We do not encourage in war more than in peace -the "jelly-bellied flag-flappers" whom Mr. Kipling has pilloried. It -takes a very special story of pluck to draw from any collection of our -soldiers even a "Good old England!" or a "What will they say at home to -that?" Fighting, manœuvre, fatigue, firing, wounds, death, they are all -just parts of their professional job; which they like to do well for -its own sake, and in which they have a technical interest.</p> - -<p>When the fighting is done, in camp, in reserve, in intervals, it is -striking to see the different look on the faces of the different races. -The Briton keeps nothing of the fixed "war" look, the strained, set -expression and eyes of some other races, as if the weight of a country -was on their shoulders, as if death was near in thought and always -being defied, as if the whole world was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> an object of suspicion. The -moment his "job" of fighting, or whatever it may be, is done for the -time, the Briton becomes himself again. Just a tired and gay, or a -tired and grumbly fellow who has finished his job, according to his -ordinary nature.</p> - -<p>England and his home and family have not been saved with every shot he -has fired, and when he is off duty, he is not worried about the future -of the Fatherland. He has learned in a hard school that his duty is -just his job; and he has learned to do his job, killing, cooking, or -horse-tending, with a keen, impersonal, professional interest.</p> - -<p>When I said something like this to a German officer in prison at -Bruges, he jumped at it: "Ah, just so! He fights like a machine: he has -no heart in it! He will be beaten by our Germans, inspired by the one -thought of the German flag!"</p> - -<p>Not a bit! A boxer does not do less damage because he has learned how -to fight, as an art,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> with years of training. When he is in the ring, -heart tells in the end, but it tells through the degree of skill. When -you have got a soldier who fights for the love of it, as a profession, -and, besides that, has become a master of the art, you have found -a champion who will out-last a rank of compulsory-service amateurs -inspired by all the patriotism under the sun!</p> - -<p>Put our volunteer professionals in the firing line, leave them to fend -for themselves on a terrible retreat, like that from Courtrai, and the -individual grit, the racial inspiration will carry them through to the -marvel of the world. Their training will stand them in all the better -stead. They will know how to fight, what to do, even when their company -officers have fallen, when they have lost their unit. Patriotism, -personality, they are there behind the professional keenness, as a -driving, reserve force. Our machine is not a barrel organ grinding out -"Die Wacht am Rhein," which wants the big handle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> turned to keep the -machinery going. Break the living organism, and each cell will remain -instinct with life.</p> - -<p>What strikes the Continental troops most is our soldiers' gaiety! It -is not that the men are excitedly funny or tuneful, in trench or camp. -(Our songs the French consider funereal!) But between fights they -become just themselves again. The fighting job is over for the moment. -It would be absurd among fellow professionals to make a fuss about it. -The eternal grumbling Briton grumbles still, about his wet feet (he -has just come in from fifteen hours under fire in the muddy trenches); -about his food, traditional subject of caustic jest; about some old -"puffing Sal," a howitzer that made a mark of his trench all day. He -will talk of the mud she scattered over him, not probably of the pals -hit on either side of him. Such grumbling seems to the Continental -trooper a joke, a tremendous social effort. The cheery man rags as -heartily as he ever would. The unsociable man sets to wash<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>ing or -eating imperturbably. What is there to make a fuss about?</p> - -<p>Of course, if an outsider like myself spoke at such times of the day's -fighting, the men would lighten up with the interest of professionals, -anxious to explain things. "We were on in that ball-room show"; "The ----- and the —— caught it hot there"; "Nice little bit of shooting -the Germans did there"; "Never knew we were hit and stood like -sillies"; and then perhaps a stiff argument about the merits of "Ruddy -Jim" or "Old Cough-drop," which would, as likely as not, prove to be -two of the enemy's batteries that had been giving murderous trouble.</p> - -<p>No wonder the foreign comrade, with his serious conception of the great -danger and great issues that lay behind such affectionate nick-names, -would listen astonished, and wonder how they "keep it up." Keep it up? -It is just themselves! Unimaginative, humorous, business-like men at -their work, boys in their ways of thought and speech off duty.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p> - -<p>The letters home are on the same reserved but natural note. -Professional information being barred, the soldier has had to fall back -on the few conventional phrases to express personal feelings, which our -tongue-tied nation allows itself. They are learned in childhood, and so -come easily.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>It was often the same scene. In some deserted little village, dusty, -sun-white, and shuttered, the glimpse of a khaki coat and a sun-red -British face has cheered and checked us as we ran through.</p> - -<p>Pleasant to hear the broad easy tongue; and we retire to the one little -wine-shop, that still keeps open because it is near a base-camp.</p> - -<p>The rumour of English newspapers in some unaccountable way gets abroad. -Soon there are a dozen or more khaki caps crowded in the little room. -The few peasants left drift in there too. The usual long handshakes, -absurd French tags of talk. The soldiers are plundered of their last -emblems, as mementoes. Not a village<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> in the war area where one does -not see peasant caps and peasant frocks decorated proudly with the -insignia of some one of the British regiments.</p> - -<p>Then comes talk of the chance of getting a letter home. Half of the men -retire to violent wrestles with foreign pens and ink at the table in -the rear of the shop: the rest stay yarning.</p> - -<p>The letters are always read aloud or left open as a point of honour; -but I had never once to suggest the omission of a line which gave place -or date or regimental names. The tradition of the silent war has gone -deep. Further, very few either knew or cared where they were or had -been. The names meant nothing. Even the sense of time had been lost in -the constant occupation and the turning of day into night.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Certainly the letters I saw at that end were far less picturesque -than those published in the papers; but the latter, of course, are -a selected number. The traditional "English tongue" learned in the -elementary school, with its stiff<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> conventions, held the paper. These -scraps are typical of many read to me:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Dear brother,—I hope you are well, as this leaves me. I am quite -well. And I have not written before, as there has been no time. And I -hope She and all are well. Please give them my love. I have seen ——, -and we have seen lots of fighting. I think that is all, so must end. -Love to —— and ——.—Yours affectionately, etc."</p> - - -<p>"Dear Dad,—This is the first time I have written, and I have had no -letter. Please write soon, and ask Mum and sisters to write. I am -quite well, as I hope this finds you. It is very hot, and it is bad -for the horses. Baby Bob must be a big chap now. Give him my love. A -gentleman is taking this. Tell all to write and send some cigarettes.</p> - -<p>I will not write any more, so will end.—"</p> - -<p> -From, etc.<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p> - -<p>Sometimes the human touch breaks through the conventions, in a kiss -sent to a baby or in a scrawled P.S.:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Dear Mother,—I am very well, as I hope you are and father. And —— -and ——. It has been very hot, and I have not slept in bed for four -weeks. But I am all serene. Give Tom my love, and I am glad he has -joined; we must all do something. Don't worry.—From your loving son, -——."</p></blockquote> - -<p>—and then a big scrawl all across the reverse sheet, and again the -big scrawl across the back that brings a catch to one's throat—"Don't -Worry, Mother." "<span class="smcap">Don't Worry.</span>"</p> - -<p>I don't suppose they bothered much at home, when they got these -letters, at the absence of battle news. Husband, brother, or son, -the sight of his writing is enough. "I am quite well"—and for those -waiting another milestone in their shadow-time has been safely passed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p> - -<p>In many of the Irish letters the mode is more picturesque, the -expression comes easier.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Dear ——,—We got it last night but one, and J—— and C—— went -home, God send they meet no Germans there. J—— had it in for them -since big Tom went. I'm as I was, with a chip off my foot that's -healing fine, and I hope you're doing well in these bad times. They -have a story here that the German's firing silver bullets, as the -leads run low. If I got a few in me, I'll bring them home to set you -up. Send all the cigarettes you can find and chocolates. This is hell, -and I have no time to write, the kisses is for yourself, but I expect -the girls will steal them off the paper. Keep laughing, woman.—Your -affekt. boy, ——."</p></blockquote> - -<p>This, again, is from a very young north Irishman:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p><blockquote> - -<p>"Dear Wife,—I have not written before, for my time has been full -up. If it's not all right about the money go to Mrs. ——. She has a -good heart. Write soon, and send some cigarettes. How is little Dick? -Give him a kiss. He must be a great man now in this long while. Give -my love to the old lady, and write soon, soon, SOON. I am wading in -blood.—Your affectionate husband, ——."</p></blockquote> - -<p>He had not actually seen any fighting; but the "neighbours" would want -that battle touch for their talk, and so good manners demanded it.</p> - -<p>Little scrawls, on scraps of paper, written on a stone or rifle-butt, -they were shoved into my hands. Sometimes given by word of mouth.</p> - -<p>"I hope you are quite well, as this leaves me," comes to have the -force of a symbol, when we think of the remote homes to which the -conventional phrase will mean so much. In fancy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> we can follow each of -them, by sea, and rail, and cart, to the moment of the postman's knock, -the opening door....</p> - - -<p class="center"><i>Wyman & Sons Ltd., Printers, London and Reading.</i></p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROM THE TRENCHES ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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