ate. The
French and English fought sternly on and slowly beat the enemy back.

"Attempts of the Germans to cross the Marne at Meaux entailed terrible
losses. Sixteen attempts were foiled by the French artillery fire
directed on the river and in one trench 600 dead Germans were counted.

COUNTRY STREWN WITH DEAD

"The whole country was strewn with the dead and dying. When at last
the Germans retired they slackened their rifle fire and in once place
retired twelve miles without firing a single shot. One prisoner declared
that they were short of ammunition and had been told to spare it as much
as possible.

"Monday saw a tremendous encounter on the Oureq. In one village, which
the Germans hurriedly vacated, the French in a large house found a
dinner table beautifully set, with candles still burning on the table,
where evidently the German staff had been dining. A woman occupant said
they fled precipitately.

"There was a great deal of hand-to-hand fighting and bayonet work on
the Ourcq, which resulted in the terrible Magdeburg regiment beating a
retreat.

"Monday night General von Kluck's army had been thrown back from the
Marne and from the Morin and to the region of Sezanne and his position
was serious. Immediate steps were necessary to save his line of
communications and retreat. To this end reinforcements were hurried
north to the Meaux district and the Ourcq and tremendous efforts were
made to break up the French resistance in this section.

GERMAN GUNS ARE SILENCED

"The second attempt on the Oureq shared the fate of the first. Though
all Monday night and well on into Tuesday the great German guns boomed
along this river, the resistance of the allies could not be broken.
'Hold on!' was the command and every man braced himself to obey. While
the Ourcq was being held the struggle of Sezanne was bearing fruit.

"The German resistance on Thursday morning was broken. I heard the news
in two ways: from the silence of the German guns and from the wounded
who poured down to the bases.

"The wounded men no longer were downhearted, but eager to rejoin the
fray. On every French lip was the exclamation that 'They are in full
retreat!' and 'They are rushing back home!' and in the same breath came
generous recognition of the great help given by the British army.

"The number of wounded entailed colossal transportation work. I counted
fifteen trains in eight hours. A fine, grim set of men, terribly weary
but amiable,