e
dead lay heaped up along the way which was leading down to Paris; but as
one of them told me: "It made no manner of difference; as soon as we had
smashed one lot another followed, column after column, and by sheer
weight of numbers we could do nothing to check them."

After this the British forces fell back, fighting all the time. The line
of the Allies was now in the shape of a V, the Germans thrusting their
main attack deep into the angle.

This position remained the same until Monday, or, rather, had completed
itself by that date, the retirement of the troops being maintained with
masterly skill and without any undue haste.

Meanwhile Gen. Pau was sustaining a terrific attack on the French
centre by the German left centre, which culminated on (date omitted).
The River Oise, which runs between beautiful meadows, was choked with
corpses and red with blood.

From an eyewitness of this great battle, an officer of an infantry
regiment, who escaped with a slight wound, I learned that the German
onslaught had been repelled by a series of brilliant bayonet and cavalry
charges.

"The Germans," he said, "had the elite of their army engaged against us,
including the Tenth Army Corps and the Imperial Guard, but the heroism
of our troops was sublime. Every man knew that the safety of France
depended upon him and was ready to sacrifice his life, if need be, with
joyful enthusiasm. They not only resisted the enemy's attack but took
the offensive, and, in spite of their overpowering numbers, gave them
tremendous punishment. They had to recoil before our guns, which swept
their ranks, and their columns were broken and routed.

"Hundreds of them were bayoneted, and hundreds were hurled into the
river. The whole field of battle was outlined by dead and dying men whom
they had to abandon. Certainly their losses were enormous, and I felt
that the German retreat was in full swing and that we could claim a real
victory for the time being."

Nevertheless the inevitable happened, owing to the vast reserves of the
enemy, who brought up four divisions, and Gen. Pau was compelled to give
ground.

On Tuesday German skirmishers with light artillery were coming
southward, and the sound of their field guns greeted my ears in that
town which I shall always remember with unpleasant recollections in
spite of its Old World beauty and the loveliness of the scene in which
it is set. It seemed to me that this was the right place to be in order