"Yes, Madame."

"But I wanted him to motor me over to Soissons to-morrow!"

"Well, if he gets back to-night and they leave him a single machine,
I'll let you know, Madame."

In the afternoon the drum beat anew and I learned that all the bakers in
the village (there were three of them) having been called to the front,
we were likely to be without the staff of life. In the presence,
therefore, of the impending calamity, the village government had decided
to take over the bakery--it had found an old man and a very young
apprentice who would do the work, but each citizen was requested to
declare the number of persons composing his household and in order to
economize flour, so much bread would be allowed per bead and each family
must come and fetch his supply at the town hall between eleven and
twelve o'clock!

Needless to say, it must be paid for in cash, though the Board reserved
the right to look after the village poor. In like manner, all the salt
had been reserved for the army, and we were to be rationed to
seventy-five grammes a week per person! It all sounded rather terrible,
but when put into practice it was proved that the rations were very
generous and no one had reason to complain.

By four o'clock the next morning there was a perpetual stream of farm
carts down the road leading towards Chateau Thierry. I dressed and went
to the stables where George and Leon were already harnessing. More than
once I had a tight feeling in my throat as I patted the glossy backs of