nt of armies and the swing and sweep of campaigns. Then the
curtain closes and again you are shut in.

Let me put the case in another way: It is as though we who are at the
front, or close to it, stand before a mighty painting, but with our
noses almost touching the canvas. You who are farther away see the
whole picture. We, for the moment, see only so much of it as you might
cover with your two hands; but this advantage we do have--that we see
the brush strokes, the color shadings, the infinite small detail,
whereas you view its wider effects.

And then, having seen it, when we try to put our story into words--when
we try to set down on paper the unspeakable horror of it--we realize
what a futile, incomplete thing the English language is.

This present day in Aix-la-Chapelle will be, I assume, much like all the
other days I have spent here. An hour ago small official bulletins,
sanctioned by the Berlin War Office, were posted in the windows of the
shops and on the front of the public buildings; and small groups
gathered before them to read the news.

If it was good news they took it calmly. If it was not so good, still
they took it calmly. If it was outright bad news I think they would
still take it calmly. For, come good or evil, they are all possessed
now with the belief that, in the long run, Germany must win. Their
confidence is supreme.

It was characteristic of them, though, that, until word came of the
first German success, there was no general flying of flags in the town.
Now flags are up everywhere--the colors of the Empire and of Prussia,
and often enough just a huge yellow square bearing the spraddled, black,
spidery design of the Imperial eagle. But there is never any hysteria;
I don't believe these Prussians know the meaning of the word. It is
safe to assume that out of every three grown men in front of a bulletin
one will be a soldier.

Yet, considering that Germany is supposed, at this moment, to have
upward of five million men in the field or under arms, and that
approximately two millions more, who were exempt from call by reason of
age or other disabilities, are said to have volunteered, you would be
astonished to see how many men in civilian dress are on the streets.
Whether in uniform or not, though, these men are at work after some
fashion or other for their country. Practically all the physicians in
Aix are serving in the hospitals. The rich men--the men of affairs--are
acting as