Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-09
French Army Fires
at Least Fiue Shots
to One Of Germans

US there was sudden stop. / gazed
round. The generals face was steel
and cement The eyes were cold and
yet fiery. sunlight upon icicles. Some
thing had happened. Cyrano had
sprung to his side. His reddish mus
tache had shot forward beyond his
nose. and 1t bristled out like that of
an angry cat. Both were looking up
at the group above us. One wretched
man detached himself from his com
rades and sided down the slope. No
skipper anu mate Of I. Yankee blood
boat could have looked more feroci-
ously at n mutineer. And yet it was all
over some miner breach of discipline
which was summarily disposed of by
two days OF confinement. Then in an
instant the faces relaxed there was a
general buzz of relief and we were
back at Mes cnfants." again. But don't
make any mistake as TO discipline in
the French army.
Trenches are trenches, and the main
specially of these in the Argonne is
that they are nearer to the enemy. In
fact. there are places where they in
terlock, and where the advanced posts
lie cheek by jowl. We were brought to
a sap head where the Germans were.
AT the other side of Il narrow forest
iohb ilib i.dttI Forward Win ES-
tended hand ANA u German done the
same We could have touched. / look ed
across. but saw only tangle of wire
and sticks. Even whispering was not
permitted in these forward posts.
LIKE FIGURE OUT or
THE PAST OF FRANCE
When we emerged from these hushed
places of danger Cyrano took us all to
his dugout which was tasty little
cottage carved from the side Of hill
and faced with logs. He did the honors
Of the humble cabin with the, air of
seigneur in his chateau. There was
little furniture. but from some broken
mansion he had extracted an iron fire.
back. which adorned his crate 1t was-
a fine. medieval bit of work with
Venus, in her traditional costume. in
the center of IT, 1t seemed the last
touch In the picture of the gallant.
virile Cyrano only met him this once,
nor shall ever see him again. yet he
stands a thing complete within my
memory. Even now as l write these
lines he walks the leafy paths of the
Argonne. his fierce eyes ever searching
for the German worker. his red mus
tache bristlng over their annihilation.
He seems a figure out OF tile pas, of
France.
Tha, night we dined with ye, another
type of the French soldier, the general,
who commands the corps OF which my
friend has one division Each OF these
French generals has striking indi-
Niduality OF his own which | wish
could fix upon paper. Their only com
mon point is that each seems 10 be a
rare good soldier. The corps general
Is Aihos with a touch OF D'Artarnam
He is we'll over six feet high, bluff,
joVial with huge, UpCurling mustache
and voice tina, would rally a reri
ment
1t is grand figure which should
have been done by Van Dyck with
lace collar, hand on sword, and arm
akimbo, Jovlal and laughing was he,
but stern and hard soldier was Turk
ing behind the smiles. This name may
appear in History, and 50 may Hum
berts. who rules all the army OF which
this officers corps is a unit. Humbert
is Lord Roberts fgure-small, why,
quick -stepping, all steel and elastic,
with short. sharp upturned mustache.
which one could imagine as cracking
with electricity in moments of excite
ment like cats fur. What he does
or says is quick. abrupt and to the
point. He fires his remarks like pist,,l
shots at this man or that. Once, to nv
horror. he fixed me with his hard little
eyes and demanded sherlock Holmes
est &c quil est un soidat dams rarmee
Anglaise?" The whole table waited IN
an awful hush. "Mais, mon general"
stammered; II est trop vieux pour
service" There was general laughter.
and felt that | had scrambled out of
an awkward place.
NARROW ESCAPE FROM
GUNNERS OF GERMANS
And. talking of awkward places. | had
forgotten about that spot upon the
road whence the German observer
could see our motor cars. He had ac-
tually laid gun upon it. the rascal.
and waited all the long day for our
return. No sooner did we appear upon
the slope than a shrapnel shell burst
above us. hut somewhat behind me. as
well as to the left. Had it been
stra light. the second car would have
got il, and there might have been a
vacancy in one of the chief editorial
chairs in London. The general shouted
to the driver to speed up. and we were
soon safe from the German gunners
One gets perfectly immune to noises
in these scenes. for the guns which
surround you make louder crashes
than any shell which bursts about Won.
it is only when you actually see the
cloud over YOU that your thoughts
come back to yourself, and that YOU
realize that In this wonderful drama
YOU may he a useless super: hut none
the less YOU are on the stage. and not
in the stalls.
Next morning we were down in the
front trenches again at another por-
ton OF the line. Far away on our
right. from spot named the Observa-
tory. we could see the extreme left of
the Verdun position and shells burst
ing on the File Morte. To the north
Of us was broad eXpanSe of sum,
France, nesting villages, scattered