The Washington herald., 1916-06-26

deep religious feeling, q real belief
that France will triumph In the end
The poorest "poiIu' that one meets
has this feeling. He acts up to it, too
Out on a battlefield In the Argonne dis
trict, a certain Frenchman rushed to
the rescue Of his commanding oficer.
He bought him in under heavy fire, ano
In doing so received three wounds But
without waiting he rushed out again
straight toward the German lines, to
drag another oficer into safety. The
snipers shot him over a dozen times,
and he fell. mortally wounded. But with
his dying breath he sang the Mar
seillaise." The enemy snipers stopped
their firing, In amazement. Toward the
end of the song, the Frenchman's voice
grew weak and faint. Then suddenly
he staggered to his knees, and "Vive la
France Yive la Patrie!' he cried in
ringing tones. Then he fell forward, very
quiet and still. He had fought the good
fight, and died with France" upon his
lips
There are times when even the enemy
is touched by the gallantry of their op-
ponents. After a very fierce engagement.
the opposing forces had taken refuge
each in their own trenches about 100
yards apart. From half way between
the lines came a moan of pain. A
wounded German was lying out in deadly
No Mans Land. His cries were piteous.
Yet none of his comrades dare venture
forth to rescue him.
Suddenly a young French oficer made
a dash into the open. His men were
thunderstruck. for they knew that he was
already wounded, and that now he was
facing certain death. Mon Dieu, his
wound has driven him mad" they cried.
and Back! Back for your life!''
But the young Fvench oficer took no
notice of the calls, and ran to the
wounded German. while the enemy
snipers made the air sing with their bull
let's.
Then suddenly they stopped their fire.
For the Frenchman was tenderly raising
the wounded German in his arms, and
height of madness-with his heavy bur-
den was staggering straight toward the
German forces. A breathless silence
gripped both lines of trenches
When the goal was reached and the
offcer had laid his burden right in the
German trench. the occupants of the
latter were too amazed for speech or
action. But as he staggered back
across the open ground of No Mans
Land they broke into shouts of ap-
plause. For the deadliest hatred must
give way in admiration of a gallant
deed
Several of his men rushed out to
meet tHelr but ere
they could reach him, he had fallen
forward-dead. The effort had been
too great for him in his wounded con-
dition. and a brave and very kindly
soul had passed to its reward.
have just been talking with a
French mother who has lately lost
three sons in the war A week ago.
her fourth son-the Benjamin of the
family-was invalided home. She
y
at the railroad station-only you"
Greatly puzzled, she betook herself to
the arrival platform at an early hour
in the morning. The train came in,
but there was no sign OF her son.
Quickly she made an examination of
all the carriages. and. to her intense
amazement, found him hiding behind
some luggage. When he saw her. k1
rushed past without speaking, hailed a
taxi and drove of
The poor lady went home greatly
perturbed and alarmed. Her daugh-
ters met her on the doorstep. They
were quite pale. Our brother has
arrived. and will neither see US nor
speak to u.s." they said We are
afraid to go inside"
The little French mother ran to her
sons room. The door was locked. but
after many pleadings she persuaded
him to open it. He stood in the open
ing-a wild-eyed figure Of a boy with
drawn face and shaking hands. 'oh.
Maurice. will you not come and speak
to US" she pleaded. Your sisters
have been longing so for your arrival.
and /. too. have been counting the
days till your return"
The little oficer burst into a food
of tears. Leave me alone" he sob
bed. "I shall go mad unless I can be
quite alone"
1t was useless to reason with him. NO.
! refuse to see a doctor" he declared.
IF only you could drive that terrible
face away. would get better"
What face?" said the poor mother.
mystihed.
see it," said the boy. Ever since the
she'll burst near me. it's been there. leer-
Ing and grinning. I can't get rid Of it
1t won't let me steep at nights, either.
That's why they sent me home. hate
tits so ugly. But it's always there"
Hurrying to the telephone. the distract
ed lady summoned the best nerve spe-
cialist she could find. When he arrived.
he shook his head gravely. Madame"
he said. ut is my duty to tell you that
the case is very bad. It's what we call
shell shock. Only a miracle can save the
boy"
So the little oficer is lying, face to the
wall. talking and sometimes sobbing to
himself. He Is only one OF a hundred
similar cases that have come to my no.
tice. And this, perhaps, is the most
dreaded of all war maladies.
In the green countryside behind the
battle line of Verdun, where night and
day the guns are laundering and the
earth rocks with explosions. one still can
find the women and children OF France.
They have no fear. nor do they look
toward the battle line with blanched
faces. Neither do they indulge in fire.
quent journeyinss to the little villages
where they might CLEAN news Instead,
they set themselves to their appointed
tasks, working the land and carrying
on" For all they know, at any moment
German horde may rush across that
land, bringing death and devastation in
its train. Yet never do these women
falter. The personal equation seems un-
known to them. For France" they say,
the crops must be maintained tust as
they were before the war-the armies
must be fed. It's but a little thing that
we can do. Afraid? lie bon Dieu watches
over US! II We are killed, then It's his
will. The only thought that we are con-
cerned with Is to raise the crops"
From the windows of the railway
trains one can see long lines of horsemen
and artillery wendinp thar wov 70 ~.