Evening star., 1915-09-24

mustache that SHOULD grow would not
grow. His comrades said he spent
most of his time shaving. There was
a bit of kidding" and then the officer
asked:
What have you for the Boches?"
81 have prunes for them, my captain,
said he promptly. That is slang for
bullets. His comrades patted him on
the back in delight. There was moth
ing in that worth repeating, but there
was everything in the manner in which
the men received the little jest. Men
who were not fairly running over with
good spirits would not have roared IN
such entire approval. Even minor
humorist is certain of an appreclatlVe
audience at the front.
My French is of the menu and tram
sort. So that as We tramped through
the trenches I sometimes failed to under
stand an eXpla nation. The omission was
always repaired by the nearest man.
This trench might be remarkable for this
or that. If l failed to get the technical
tiles of the explanation l was at least
treated to illuminative pointing and
shoulder struggling. The general i'm
trenches are quite the finest trenches
in the war The men exhibit the pride
of a young father in babys first tooth.
am quite aware of the danger OF gen
eralzation upon insufficient evidence. 1t
may be that the men on the remainder oil
the French front are not so CHEEKY as
these chaps. 1t is quite true that the
army of the Lorraine has had compara-
lively little fighting lately. Now and
then they shell the Germans or the Ger
mans shell them. but for the most part
they have only to hold their trenches.
Neither side has undertaken a determined
offensive here since March. But there is
enough fighting to keep the danger OF
sudden death prominently before one
eyes. Somewhere guns were firing con-
tinually. Some of our best jokes were
heard in trenches where the silence
sign was posted. lest too great merrl-
ment stir the German neighbor to bomb
throwing rage.
Returning Soldiers Cheer Paris.
But ! believe that same spirit ami
mates the entire French army today.
When I reached Paris some weeks ago
/ found the City rather quiet, rather sad,
though infinitely more lively than when
I last went to the French front in May.
Paris is always. the fire trench of the
Gallo pessimist One can hear more
bad news that isn't true in Paris than
anywhere else in France. 1t is a poor
day that doesn't reveal some disheart-
ening fact that would be infinitely more
disheartening if it happened to be fact.
After a little I noticed that the city was
beginning to perk up. This woeful ma
laria was being dispersed.
what is it?' l asked. what has
happened"
Men are beginning to get home from
the front on leave was the reply.
1t had made all the difference. For
eleven months not one French soldier
had been given days leave. Inelf
women folk and men folk did not know
what had happened to them. They did
not know whether they were well or
i'll, well fed or ragged, starved or stuff
ed. 1t isn't any wonder that Paris look
ed down her very pretty nose. Anything
might be happening behind that screen
of silence. One cannot blame Paris Tor
looking upon the dark side.
Then these lusty bucks came home
cheering Everything was we'll with
them in the best of all possible wars
The outlook was persistently bright.
The one man. in France who never
repines and never doubts and never
worries is the soldier He has the most
magnificent pride in his fighting ability,
and the most supreme confidence OF
certain victory. If the spirit ] saw IN
the army of the Lorraine were not COM
mon to the whole front it would not
have been reflected in the mirror OF
Paris. But I did not realize the slgnlfi-
cance of it until I came here ] had not
believed it possible that an army could
be happy. 1t seemed against. nature
Spirit I'M Moral Barometer Rises.
because it shows that the spirit in the
moral barometer of the French people
has risen greatly in the last three
months When 1 visited the French
fornt in May was the first correspond
ent who had been with the German
army to be permitted to see something
of the French army in action. At that
time the F'renchman seemed sufficient
ly confident to me, but grim. 1t was as
though he were determined to see the
thing through, but he did not know how
far he would go. Now he is something
more than confident. He has tried him
self out against the enemy. He knows
or he thinks he knows.
This world will be very pleasant, in
deed, when we have won the war;, the
French soldier seems to say to him
self Then one can in ones minds eye
see him strike himself upon his fore
head in self-reproach:
But nonsense" he seems to say. at
is delightful world today, and l am
very happy"