n a hole yourself."

After lunch we went out to the Chateau Polignac. To a stranger it
would appear to be almost entirely destroyed, but when M. de
Polignac visited it recently he simply remarked that it was "less
spoilt than he had imagined." This was just one other example of
the thousands one meets daily of the spirit of noble and peasant,
"de ne pas s'en faire" but to keep only before them the one idea,
Victory for France, no matter what may be the cost.

We went later to call on the "75," chez elle. Madame was in a
particularly comfortable home which had been prepared for her
and where she was safe from the inquisitive eyes of the Taubes.
The men of the battery were sitting round their guns, singing a
somewhat lengthy ditty, each verse ending with a declamation and
a description of the beauty of "la belle Suzanne." I asked them to
whom Suzanne belonged and where the fair damsel resided. "Oh,"
they replied, "we have no time to think of damsels called 'Suzanne'
now. This is our Suzanne," and the speaker affectionately gave an
extra rub with his coat sleeve to the barrel of the "75." By a
wonderful system of trench work it is possible for the gunners, in
case of necessity, to take refuge in the champagne vaults in the
surrounding district, and it is in the champagne vaults that the
children go daily to school, with their little gas masks hanging in
bags on their arms. It appears that at first the tiny ones were
frightened of the masks, but they soon asked, like their elders, to
be also given a sack, and now one and all have learnt at the least
alarm to put on their masks. There is no need to tell the children to
hurry home. They realise that it is not wise to loiter in the streets for
fear of the whistling shells. They are remarkably plucky, these
small men and women of France.

During one furious bombardment the children were safe in the
vaults, but one small citizen began to cry bitterly. He was
reproached by his comrades for cowardice, but he replied
indignantly: "I fear nothing for myself. I am safe here, but there is
no cellar to our house, and oh, what will happen to the little
mother?" The teacher reassured him by telling him that his mother
would certainly take refuge in somebody's else cellar.

On leaving Rheims we passed through various small hamlets
where the houses had been entirely destroyed, and which now
had the appearance of native villages, as the soldiers had
managed to place thatched roofs on