whole villages had gathered in the same
fields and around the same stacks.

And when the daylight appeared they had got up hurriedly and the roads
were already crowded with mournful pilgrims seeking refuge further and
further inland. I must confess that I had not expected to see such a
sight. It made my heart ache. I was seized with a fury and longed to
be able to rush upon the enemy, drive him back across the frontier,
and restore the dwellings forsaken by these poor folks.

What human being, however cold-hearted, could help feeling deep pity
at the sight of those poor, weak and inoffensive creatures fleeing
before invasion? There were pitiable sights on every hand. A mother
pushing a perambulator containing several small children, whilst five
or six others were hanging on to her dress or trotting along around
her. Poor invalids, dragged, pushed, carried by all possible means,
sooner than be left in the hands of the Prussians. Old men helped
along by boys; infants carried by old men. And as they passed they all
cast a look of distress at the officer who rode quickly by, averting
his eyes. I thought I saw a reproach in those glances: they seemed to
say to me: "Why haven't you been able to defend us? Why have you let
them come into our country? See how we are suffering. Look at our
little children, who cannot walk any further. Where are we to go now
that, by your fault, we have left the homes of our childhood, and of
our fathers and our fathers' fathers? Is that what war is?" I urged
on my horse to get them out of my sight and to reach the fighting line
as quickly as I could.

Suddenly the report of a gun sounded straight in front of me. Further
off a few rifle shots were audible, and then guns again, accompanied
by concentrated rifle fire. A kind of shiver passed through my whole
body.

My first battle! I was going to take part in my first battle! I felt
really mad and intoxicated at the thought of at last realising the
dream of my life. But other feelings were mingled with it. I
reflected: "What effect will it have upon me? I expect I shall come
into the middle of the fight when I get over that ridge. Shall I duck
my head when I hear the bullets whistling and the shrapnel bursting
around me? I am determined to play the man. I know Wattrelot is close
by, trotting behind me. He mustn't see the least symptom of
nervousness in me."

The noise of the guns became louder. "By the way!... I wonder what
Wattrelot feels