d
does not "go the limit"; I have never seen an intoxicated specimen
afield.

One of the soldiers told the following story to illustrate the iron
discipline enforced in the Kaiser's army in the case of the inevitable
black sheep: "A Frenchwoman, who kept a small tavern, came to our
commandant and complained because a Bavarian soldier had wantonly turned
the spigot and allowed a whole cask of red wine to run out on the
ground. After an investigation the offender was found guilty and for
punishment tied to a tree for two hours. To be tied fast by your head
and legs is the most dreaded punishment, because you are disgraced
before all your comrades."

From X I started out on a foot tour, and entered the Grosses
Hauptquartier (Great Headquarters) unchallenged, by the back door.
Journalistically it was disappointing at first, for it was Sunday
morning, and apparently Prussian militarism keeps the Sabbath holy.
There was no interviewing the Kaiser, for he had gone "way down East"
and with him his War Minister, Gen. von Falkenhayn. The courteous
commandant, Col. von Hahnke, was not on the job. Even the brilliant
chief of the press division, Major Nikolai, was out of town when I
called on the Great General Staff.

But there were compensations, for at a turn of the road I saw a more
impressive sight than even the motoring Kaiser--a mile of German
cavalry coming down the straight chausse, gray horsemen as far as the
eye could see and more constantly coming over the brow of the distant
hill, with batteries of field artillery sandwiched between, while on the
railroad track, paralleling the highway, infantry and heavy artillery
troop trains crawled past in endless succession, as closely together as
subway trains during the rush hour at home. An allied aeroplane,
hovering overhead, would have learned something to its advantage.

I had innocently blundered into one of the most important troop
movements of the war, but how many and where they were coming from or
where they were going to I pledged myself not to disclose. The
inevitable company of cyclists rode at the head of the long column that
was still passing when I went to bed. Next came an imposing staff--then
a mounted band blaring away, then a crack guard cavalry regiment, proud
standard flying, then cavalry less elite, here and there a palefaced
spectacled trooper who looked like a converted theological student.
Whole regiments came riding down the pike singing "The Red, Wh