The men got into the wood by the spaces in the bank along the road and
scattered in the thickets that dotted the side of the spur we were
turning. I was thus protected on my right.

I went up at a trot to the place where the road reached the plateau,
and just as I was on the point of reaching it we were met by a crowd
of village folk--men, women, and children--coming along, looking
radiant. I saw some of them questioning my advance scouts and pointing
in the direction of the north-east. It was the whole population of Le
Charmel that had come out to meet us.

Le Charmel is a small village that stands at the meeting of two roads,
one leading towards Fismes, the other towards Fère-en-Tardenois. It
has the appearance of hanging on to the hillside, for whilst the road
to Fère-en-Tardenois continues to follow the plateau, that to Fismes
dips abruptly at this place and disappears in the valley. The houses
of Le Charmel are perched between these two roads. Thus the people of
the village had a good view of the enemy's retreat, and everybody
wanted to have his say about it. I turned to a tall man, lean and
tanned, with a grizzled moustache, who had something still of a
military air, and seemed to be calmer than the others around him. From
him I was able to get some fairly clear information.

"_Mon Lieutenant_, it was like this.... They went off this morning
early, with a great number of cannons and horses. The artillery went
straight on towards Fismes by the road. The cavalry cut across the
fields, and disappeared over the ridge you see over there on the other
side of the valley. Then towards eight o'clock some of them came back.
How many? Well, two or three regiments perhaps, and some guns; and
they went down again towards Jaulgonne. I believe they wanted to