r cameras by now, for the pass which
we carried entitled us, among other important things, to commandeer that
precious fluid, gasoline, whenever needed, and to take photographs; but
we were asked to make no shapshots here. We gathered that there were
certain reasons not unconnected with secret military usage why we might
not take away with us plates bearing pictures of the field wireless. In
the main, though, remarkably few restrictions were laid upon us that
day. Once or twice, very casually, somebody asked us to refrain from
writing about this thing or that thing which we had seen; but that was
all.

In a corner of the turnip field close up to the road were mounds of
fresh-turned clay, and so many of them were there and so closely were
they spaced and for so considerable a distance did they stretch along,
they made two long yellow ribs above the herbage. At close intervals
small wooden crosses were stuck up in the rounded combs of earth so that
the crosses formed a sort of irregular fence. A squad of soldiers were
digging more holes in the tough earth. Their shovel blades flashed in
the sunlight and the clods flew up in showers.

"We have many buried over there," said an artillery captain, seeing that
I watched the grave diggers, "a general among them and other officers.
It is there we bury those who die in the Institute hospital. Every day
more die, and so each morning trenches are made ready for those who will
die during that day. A good friend of mine is over there; he was buried
day before yesterday. I sat up late last night writing to his wife--or
perhaps I should say his widow. They had been married only a few weeks
when the call came. It will be very hard on her."

He did not name the general who lay over yonder, nor did we ask him the
name. To ask would not have been etiquette, and for him to answer would
have been worse. Rarely in our wanderings did we find a German soldier
of whatsoever rank who referred to his superior officer by name. He
merely said "My captain" or "Our colonel." And this was of a piece with
the plan--not entirely confined to the Germans--of making a secret of
losses of commanders and movements of commands.

We went thence then, the distance being perhaps three miles by road and
not above eight minutes by automobile at the rate we traveled to an
aviation camp at the back side of the town. Here was very much to see,
including many aeroplanes of sorts domiciled under canvas