Evening star., 1921-11-11

| 1915. and received the Mons star. ~'.-
tion of his day dreams and his night
mares. He had reached The front.
| "It Is II O'clock The war is over
some one voiced.
/ Heck" he said. And Just got
there"
| Then ne laughed a short little laugh
| that was made hall OF reiie1 ana nail VI
| disappC in :ment
The American soldiers g fmmoned into
! line for the third and last phase OF we
; Argonne drive will remember IL all tne
days of their lives. But the memory
that will lie always closest o their
hearts AMI will color most BEAUTIFULLY
the stories they will ell their children
in the glorious years to come rs not tne
memory of the pursuit.. which was W.
umphant, not he speed. which was ex-
hausting beyond all words. II Is "a her
i the memory of he scores OF coTnn1uni-
/ ties reclaimed in the path that led from
I Grandpre TO Sedan, the little Old lost
| towns Of +. ance. -
Win Back $50 Towns.
| From that mild September morning
when the lst American Army struck
| its first blow northwest of Nerdun. TO
that misty and murky November
/ morning when the order, cease mr.
ing" sounded from Switzerland TO the
sea. mo thar $50 towns and villages
were w w won back by force OF arms.
Some Of these. the first recaptured.
were so nearly obliterated that those
who had lived there all their days did
mot find one familiar wall or doc. 10
greet their deSolate return. But other
I-more than half of all-were little
! battered by the war, and In all OF
4 those from BuZancy nor lhWard
| ifalf-incredulous, altogether jubflant
! population stood waiting with out
| stretched hands, waiting with laugh-
ter and tears and songs and coitee
and kisses, the advent OF their dehr-
ere 8.
fields, the women and old men and the
, children, there 20 wave sheets as
white flags of fr:enaliness and ap-
peal. Sometimes they went fearfuHy
| into their cellars and stayed there un-
til they heard the uproarious and un-
imistakably American voices ra.iins
down to them: The boches have
parted. the boches nave part ed"'' -
They wee of one spirit these peo-
| pie, and II was the spirit OF the little
! old woman of Brieulles-sur-Bar Y
j glowed in her. even as she stood amh
the rui-s of her horne
| Germans Flee in Afternoon.
At o"lo-k on the afternoon OF
the day before the armistice was
signed the Germans had fed from
! the town. At 3:20 the last OF them
had set off the mines, which opened
great gaps in the road leadirg to the
village. At 4 o'clock came the Amer
leans. The explosion had blown her
barn to bits and wrecked her house.
Now while Yankee engineers We're
tearing down the remains of that
house, to bring new road into being
! with the stones she stood guard over
her bits of rescued furniture. hud-
died in the mud. polishing them with
Mating the passing doughhoys on the
back. or bending in love and reverence
to kiss the h nd of every po'lu VINO
paused to speak to her. Down neF
wrinkled cheeks the tears were rain.
ing steadily. but they were tears OF
hanpiness. Thera was no doubt at
ali about that. Even with her home
a wreck?
"Mon dieu, a house can be rebuilt:
1t Is not so with the life OF man..
Thus spoke the little old woman OF
lPrieulies- -sur-Bar.
In most of these towns. when dawn
came on the morning after the
eleventh could be heard the jingle OF
harness on the frosty morning air.
the rumpus of the mules. the growing
chorus of curses and laughter the
music OF an American regiment wax
ling from slumber In some the hon
ored guests were leaving that day. In
the ha!f-frozen mud of one OF these
towns. little Sirl of about ten: snavery
in her gingham Dress was murmuring
sonething about bl"nket-
Gosh" said one very small dough-
boy rumpling his hair. i cant stand
| th"t" -
1t was lighter when he took to the Dad
a half hour later. And II any guar
| termaster takes action in the matter
may God have mercy on his-the guar
termaster's soul! 80
Bells Peal Forth. s.
| It was that same morning that the
great news came. Surely. bells rang
forth the tidings from Rome to san
who will always believe that. in all
| the chimes which sounded the world
over that morning Of November IL,
the sweetest notes OF all came from
the liberated belfrfes of France.
| Though 1t was all France that eele-
brated. in every village and town, rne
day OF deliverance, the day the ARM
stice was signed, yet 1t was In Paris.
| the heart of all FRANCE that the ex-
u'tation re" ched its h.i :.
and stocial under air raids and big
bertha bombardments. which had
! found heart. In the race OF threat
ened offensive to celebrate the Fourth
and Fourteenth of July with bunting.
parades and cheers. which. for four
years and more had been darkened and
sad by night, tight-lipped, but smiling
by day, awoke on November IL. 1918.
| about the middle of the morning. ~
4 Il awoke with q long-drawn-out rosr,
born first Of unbelief. and then. with
the realization that the ar!nis ice WAS,
at last actually signed, It shook OF its
cloak Of unbelief and gave way to nn-
feigned. delighted. rapt surprise. The
| uar grew as the news spread, and from
] he big buildings. Paris poured forth. to
walk. walk, walk ceaselessly up and
down the crowded boulevards. in and
out Of the great squares and public
places, anywhere. everywhere, just to
see and be seen, to see the glow Of vic
tory reflected from the faces Of the
est Of "all Paris" It asked no more:
t was enough.
The day had come. The day for which
the gayest Of capitals had waited 90
long and 30 patiently. under the bufets
| Of the enemy's guns BY day and under
the thudding blows of his bombs by
night. had actually materialised. And
in that day, as soon as It could rub
it's eyes and come to itself and be sure
that the hideous dream had passed.
Paris came home to itself, and the homo
coming was glory.