f his unconsciousness one of
these beastly birds was sitting on his chest waiting for him to die. That
is war!"

"Yet there are other things in war. Fine and splendid things. It was
magnificent to see your English gunners come up. They were rather
late in the field. They did not appear until midday on September 7,
when the big battle was going on, and when we were doing our best
to push back the German right wing. They came up just as if they
were on the parade ground, marvellously cool, very chic fellows,
superb in their manner of handling their guns. It was heavy artillery,
and we badly wanted it. And nothing could budge your men, though
the German shell-fire was very hot."

"That is the way with your British gunners. They are different from the
French, who are always best when they are moving forward, but do
not like to stay in one position. But when your men have taken up
their ground, nothing can move them. Nothing on earth!"

"And yet the German shells were terrifying. I confess to you that there
were times when my nerves were absolutely gone. I crouched down
with my men--we were in open formation--and ducked my head at the
sound of the bursting 'obus' and trembled in every limb as though I
had a fit of ague. God rebuked me for the bombast with which I had
spoken to my men."

"One hears the zip-zip of the bullets, the boom of the great guns, the
tang of our sharp French artillery, and in all this infernal experience of
noise and stench, the screams of dying horses and men joined with
the fury of the gun-fire, and rose shrill above it. No man may boast of
his courage. Dear God, there were moments when I was a coward
with all of them!"

"But one gets used to it, as to all things. My ague did not last long.
Soon I was cheering and shouting again. We cleared the enemy out
of the village of Bregy, and that was where I fell wounded in the arm
pretty badly, by a bit of shell. I bled like a stuck pig, as you can see,
but when I came to myself again a brother officer told me that things
were going on well, and that we had rolled back the German right.
That was better than a bandage to me. I felt very well again, in spite
of my weakness."

"It is the beginning of the end. The Germans are on the run. They are
exhausted and demoralized. Their pride has been broken. They are
short of ammunition. They know that their plans have failed. Now that
we have them on the move nothing will save them. This war is going
to finis