e of the truth of what we say! And those who saw, and
died--paying the toll of that bloody passing from the Mons to the
Marne--have told it, no doubt, ere this--before that Court whose judgment
can impose the eternal punishment that the soulless crimes demand.

There were thousands in the unhappy throng of refugees. Some few rode upon
hay carts, surrounded by such of their belongings as they had been able
hastily to gather. Others pushed handcarts containing their goods and
household articles. Most of them however, went afoot, trudging wearily
along and carrying what they might. There, in that sickening scene, it was
as it is everywhere. The grotesque and the humorous mixed incongruously
with the pathetic. For instance: Alongside one perambulator with a wounded
child in it rolled another one loaded with huge rings of bread, on top of
which perched a parrot, screaming at every one who passed.

One old lady was trudging along carrying a baby which could not have been
more than two and a half years old, though the weight of his chubby frame
was bending her almost double. I could not speak her language, but I made
her understand that I would carry the child a mile or two and leave him by
the side of the road. The laughter and baby antics of the child brought a
ray of sunshine to our section, and especially to fathers who had left
tots behind them in Scotland. About an hour later I came to a group by the
roadside, who recognized the baby, and I left him with them, making them
understand that the old lady would be along later.

One of the last things I remember in leaving Soissons was an old man who
was carrying his furniture and household goods to what looked like a
modern dug-out in an embankment and covering it with earth so that it
would not be discovered. The boys made a lot of fun of him, but the laugh
was not on their lips very long.

We had just reached the top of a hill on the farther side of the city,
overlooking the railroad yards and repair shops, when we came into direct
view of the German artillery observers, and shrapnel began to storm down
among us. It was like the sudden burst of a thunder cloud. There wasn't a
moment's warning before the smoke puffs began appearing overhead and the
ugly steel splinters and slugs whizzed over our heads.

The regiment deployed in a corn field at one side of the road and
scattered, moving some distance from the highway. The enemy continued to
sprinkle the corn with shrapnel