here he and his staff were
quartered, and pointed to the extensive but quite mongrel art collection
on the walls. "The absent owner does not appear to have been much of a
connoisseur," he laughed, "That picture over there worried and puzzled
us for a long time," pointing out a large impressionistic canvas over
the mantelpiece representing a nude male and female figure kneeling on
the seashore and looking out over the impressionistic water at what
looked like an island. "Finally my Chief of Staff hit upon a
satisfactory solution, suggested that it represented 'Adam and Eve
Discovering Heligoland.'"

Gen. von Emmich's headquarters produced another interesting story. At 3
P.M. a general alarm was sent out to the reserve troops to prepare for
immediate retreat, as the French were coming. Every bit of baggage was
picked up and loaded on wagons, the infantry in full marching kit lined
up--everything ready in record-breaking time without rush or confusion
to withdraw on the word of command. But no command to march
came--instead a "well done" from the General as he rode down the long
column. It was just a little "fire-alarm drill" to keep the reserve
troops up to the high-water mark of efficiency.

Gen. von Zwehl, nicknamed Zwehl-Maubeuge, is probably almost unknown in
America, though the dark blue enamel maltese cross of the Pour le Merite
order at his throat tags him at once as worth while. Von Zwehl is the
outward antithesis of von Emmich. He looks like anything but a
fighter--a quiet, gentle-looking soul with kind and a bit tired eyes,
soft silverly hair, and a whimsical sense of humor, a gentleman of the
old school. "But you should just see him in the field during a
fight--he's a regular whirlwind," one of his staff said.

He confirmed the fact that Maubeuge had fallen on schedule time in ten
days and that he had taken over 40,000 French prisoners, that he had
given the French commandant till 7 P.M. (German time) to surrender, and
that the appointment was kept with great promptness, also that the
French were a bit chagrined when they learned they had been "taken in"
by a single corps. I also learned that he and his corps had arrived in
time to stop the first English corps which had crossed the Aisne and was
marching on X.

Gen. von Zwehl praised the English troops against whom he had
successfully fought, and who are now in the North, saying, "The English
soldier is a splendid fighter, especially on the defensive." Aske