straggling procession. None of them was weeping; none of them
apparently had been weeping. During the past ten days I had seen
thousands of such refugees, and I had yet to hear one of them cry out or
complain or protest.

These who passed us now were like that. Their heavy peasant faces
expressed dumb bewilderment--nothing else. They went on up the road
into the gathering dusk as we went down, and almost at once the sound of
their clunking tread died out behind us. Without knowing certainly, we
nevertheless imagined they were the dwellers of Montignies St.
Christophe going back to the sorry shells that had been their homes.

An hour later we passed through the back lines of the German camp and
entered the town of Beaumont, to find that the General Staff of a German
army corps was quartered there for the night, and that the main force of
the column, after sharp fighting, had already advanced well beyond the
frontier. France was invaded.




Chapter 2

To War in a Taxicab


In a taxicab we went to look for this war. There were four of us, not
counting the chauffeur, who did not count. It was a regular taxicab,
with a meter on it, and a little red metal flag which might be turned up
or turned down, depending on whether the cab was engaged or at liberty;