as a venir, ils n'en auraient pas le temps.

"Adieu vous tous que j'aimais.

"VIVE LA FRANCE!"

"DEAR GODFATHER AND GODMOTHER.

"I am writing to you, so as not to kill mother, whom such a shock would
surprise too much. I was wounded on the ... at.... I have two terrible
wounds and I cannot last long. The surgeons do not even attempt to
conceal this from me. I go without regret, with the consciousness of
having done my duty. Kindly break the news to my parents the best way
you can; they should not attempt to come because they would not have
time to reach me before the end.

"Farewell to all you whom I have loved.

"LONG LIVE FRANCE!"

Whilst loving his relatives tenderly, the last thought of the dying
Frenchman is for his country. Each one dies as a hero, yet not one
realises it. It would be impossible to show greater simplicity; they
salute the flag for the last time, and that is all.

From Triancourt we went straight to the headquarters of General Nivelle.
They had just brought him the maps rectified to mark the French
advance. The advance had been made whilst we were standing on the
terrace at Verdun the night before. We had seen the rockets sent up,
requesting a _tir de barrage_ (curtain of fire). The '75's had replied
at once and the French had been able to carry out the operation.

Good news had also come in from the Somme, and General Nivelle did not
hesitate to express his admiration for the British soldiers.

He said that there was no need to praise the first troops sent by
Britain to France--everyone knew their value; but it should be a great
satisfaction to Britain to find that the new Army was living up to the
traditions of the old Army.

He added: "We can describe the new army of Britain in two words: '_Ca
mord_'--it bites."

The Father of his own men, it is not surprising that General Nivelle
finds a warm corner in his heart for the British Tommy, since his mother
was an Englishwoman.

At lunch General Nivelle and the members of his staff asked many
questions as to the work of the Scottish Women's Hospitals. I told them
that what appealed to us most in our French patients was the perfect
discipline and the gratitude of the men. We are all women in the
hospitals, and the men might take advantage of this fact to show want of
discipline, but we never had to complain of lack of obedience. These
soldiers of France may some of them before the war have been just rough
peasants, eating,