The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1918-05-22
FRENCH keep AMERICANS GRAVES
GREEN AS TRIBUTE TO ARMY'S VALOR
Palm Sunday Brings Out Throngs to Cemeteries and "Buis" Is
Freely Scattered Over Resting Places of General ~Pershing's
~Heroes-croWds Bare Heads in Silent Honor
to Comrades in Arms.

ing there, Dut on the crosses above
them there was the name and organi-
cation of each of them and that was
enough.
Somehow / seemed to have been &C
quainted with them for a long time
and / could almost picture how they
had looked when they landed over
here. So / read the names Of them
all and placed my little piece of buis
upon the grave of one Arthur II. Peter
son OF the - Ambulance company.
Tribute to Americans.
Mile. Therese decorated each Of the
others In the same silent way that /
had done. For a few moments no one
seemed to have anything to say, and a
deep silence prevailed until madehoi-
selle had decorated the last, saying as
she did so:
lies pauvres garcons, lis sont venus
ST loins pour mourir." (The poor boys ;
they have come so far to die).
"Mais lis ont fms de souffrier seux
la, cest a leur pauvres meres que je
pense, moi" said Mime. Reveillon.
(Their suffering Is over; 1t is of their
poor mothers that / am thinking).
When / could trust myself to speak
| tried to smile my appreciation of
their generosity, and said:
"But there are hundreds of your
Poilus here"
"Ah. oui." said monsieur, 'but we
are very fortunate In having them
here near us, while these parents back
In America have not had the oppor-
tunity to even bid them goodby."
Their sorrow, their respect and their
sympathy were profound and sincere.
1t Is beyond my capacity to describe II
further. Here were mothers mourning
the loss of other mothers whom they
had never seen, did not know, nor
would they EVER know. Ii was not SO
much for the sons that lay buried
there but those hat were left behind
to mourn. All these women had
mourned the loss of some kin since
1914 and their sympathy vas genuine.
All Pause In Silence.
There were other persons In the
cemetery who had come to honor their
dead In the same way and as I looked
they all stopped and read "A nos
camarades les Americans" paused
and In silence gazed at the crosses and
passed On.
This was Palm Sunday, but I had
forgotten that and / found myself be
lieving 1t Memorial day back home
We left the field and continued on to
the garden on the outskirts of the
town. Here some two hours later as
we sat In front of the maisonnette
at one end of the garden. mademoiselle,
struggling through a sentence In Eng
lish, was suddenly interrupted by q
volley Of rifle fire.
"EcoutezI I" (~listen) she said. "Qu'esi
que c'est?" (what Is thatO Another
volley and then another. No one
stirred. A bugle note struck the air
lie clarion" said mademoiselle, ant
again complete silence.
From far away II came, but In thu
intense silence II was easily distin
J guishable, and when the last note hat
died away mademoiselle turned to m'
and said: "Qu'est que c'estY'
After a second I found my voice ant
was just about to explain when
"Ecoutez I"
Another volley, followed by two
more. Again the clarion. And AGAR
mademoiselle said: "Qu'est que c'estr
Final Sad Rites.
Well / knew what 1t was, and before
I could tell her In my mind I coult
plainly see the open grave exposin,
for the moment its contents: the fr
ing squad with rifles pointed over thu
opening; the corporal giving the words
of command. The final note of 'taps'
added the last touch Of sadness to tn
picture and I told mademoiselle NJ
best I could the meaning of 1t all. Sh,
has been working In a hospital sine
the beginning of the war, so she un
derstood very readily.
Monsieur was at the other end o
the garden and had only stopped hi
work just long enough to look up a
the firing, and, not understanding
went back to his work. Now he cam
up, declaring he was tired and did no
feel like doing any more work tina
afternoon. Nine. Tollot insisted WI
visit her garden before we go home
SO we nut up the chairs and left.