s lesson of ruthlessness. "Burn these wasps out! Lieber Gott, we
will teach them a pretty lesson!"

They had all the material for teaching the pretty lessons of war--
inflammable tablets which would make a house blaze in less than five
minutes after they had been strewn about the floors and touched by a
lighted match (I have a few specimens of the stuff)--incendiary bombs
which worked even more rapidly, torches for setting fire to old barns
and thatched roofs. In the wonderful equipment of the German army
in the field this material of destruction had not been forgotten and it
was used in many little towns and villages where German soldiers
heard real or imaginary shots, suspected betrayal from any toothless
old peasant, and found themselves in the grip of fear because these
Frenchwomen, these old men of the farm and the workshop, and
even the children, stared at them as they passed with contemptuous
eyes and kept an uncomfortable silence even when spoken to with
cheerful Teuton greetings, and did not hide the loathing of their souls.
All this silence of village people, all these black looks seemed to
German soldiers like an evil spell about them. It got upon their nerves
and made them angry. They had come to enjoy the fruits of victory in
France, or at best the fruits of life before death came. So these
women would not smile, eh? Nor give their kisses nor their love with
amiability? Well, a German soldier would have his kisses even
though he had to hold a shrieking woman to his lips. He would take
his love even though he had to kill the creature who refused it. These
Frenchwomen were not so austere as a rule in times of peace. If they
would not be fondled they should be forced. Herr Gott! they should
know their masters.

5

At the little town of Rebais in the department of Seine-et-Marne there
was a pretty Frenchwoman who kept a grocer's shop and did not
care for the way in which some German soldiers made free with her
biscuits and sweetmeats. She was a proud and fearless young
woman, and when the soldiers grinned at her and tried to put their
arms about her she struck them and called them unpleasant names
and drew an open knife. So she wanted her lesson? Well, she had a
soft white neck, and if they could not put their arms about it they
would put a rope round it and hang her with her pride. But she was
strong and quick as well as proud. She cut their rope with her knife
and fought like a wild thing. So they sla