was not so decreed. Almost
immediately another name flashed into the ken of every one, until even
lisping children said _Joffre_ with reverence second only to that
wherewith they named Omnipotence. Then the weary years dragged on, and
so many men were incredibly brave and good that it seemed hard for
anyone to become pre-eminent. We began to say that in a war so vast,
so far-flung, no one man _could_ dominate the scene.

But, after nearly four years of conflict, a name we had heard and seen
from the first, among many others, began to differentiate itself from
the rest; and presently the whole wide world was ringing with it: Foch!

He was commanding all the armies of civilization. Who was he?

Hardly anyone knew.

Up to the very moment when he had compassed the most momentous victory
in the history of mankind, little was known about him, outside of
France, beyond the fact that he had been a professor in the Superior
School of War.

Now and then, as the achievements of his generalship rocked the world,
someone essayed an account of him. They said he was a Lorrainer, born
at Metz; they said his birthday was August 4; they said he was too
young to serve in the Franco-Prussian war; and they said a great many
other things of which few happened to be true.

Then, as the summer of 1918 waned, there came to me from France, from
Intelligence officers of General Foch's staff, authoritative
information about him.

And also there came those, representing France and her interests in
this country, who said:

"Won't you put the facts about Foch before your people?"

If I could have fought for France with a sword (or gun) I should have
been at her service from the first of August, 1914, when I heard her
tocsin ring, saw her sons march away to fight and die on battlefields
as familiar to me as my home neighborhood.

Not being permitted that, I have yielded her such service as I could
with my pen.

And when asked to write, for my countrymen, about General Foch, I felt
honored in a supreme degree.

In due course we shall have many volumes about him: his life, his
teachings, his writings, his great deeds will be studied in minutest
details as long as that civilization endures which he did so much to
preserve to mankind.

But just now, while all hearts are overflowing with gratefulness to
him, it may be--I cannot help thinking--as valuable to us to know a
little about him as it will be for us to know a great deal about