come to take part in the great battle then beginning. They were troops
composed of Europeans and Africans. The vanguard, on entering through
the Orleans gate, had swung into rhythmic pace, thus crossing half Paris
toward the Gare de l'Est where the trains were waiting for them.

The people of Paris had seen squadrons from Tunis with theatrical
uniforms, mounted on horses, nervous and fleet, Moors with yellow
turbans, Senegalese with black faces and scarlet caps, colonial
artillerymen, and light infantry from Africa. These were professional
warriors, soldiers who in times of peace, led a life of continual
fighting in the colonies--men with energetic profiles, bronzed faces and
the eyes of beasts of prey. They had remained motionlesss in the streets
for hours at a time, until room could be found for them in the military
trains. . . . And Argensola had followed this armed, impassive mass of
humanity from the boulevards, talking with the officials, and listening
to the primitive cries of the African warriors who had never seen Paris,
and who passed through it without curiosity, asking where the enemy was.

They had arrived in time to attack von Kluck on the banks of the Ourq,
obliging him to fall back or be completely overwhelmed.

A fact which Argensola did not relate to his sympathetic guest was that
his nocturnal excursion the entire length of this division of the
army had been accompanied by the amiable damsel within, and two other
friends--an enthusiastic and generous coterie, distributing flowers and
kisses to the swarthy soldiers, and laughing at their consternation and
gleaming white teeth.

Another day he had seen the most extraordinary of all the spectacles
of the war. All the taxicabs, some two thousand vehicles, conveying
battalions of Zouaves, eight men to a motor car, had gone rolling past
him at full speed, bristling with guns and red caps. They had presented
a most picturesque train in the boulevards, like a kind of interminable
wedding procession. And these soldiers got out of the automobiles on the
very edge of the battle field, opening fire the instant that they leaped
from the steps. Gallieni had launched all the men who knew how to handle
a gun against the extreme right of the adversary at the supreme moment
when the most insignificant weight might tip the scales in favor of the
victory which was hanging in the balance. The clerks and secretaries
of the military offices, the orderlies of the governme