ng that
Castelnau had told him.

Very likely they were not talking of the war; indeed, most likely it was
about friends in their army world, for both have a good wit, a keen and
amiable understanding of human nature. At all events, they were enjoying
themselves. So they passed on into the woods, followed by the guard who
would place their cushions on their favorite seat, and the two who had
been lieutenants and captains and colonels together would continue their
airing and their chat until they returned to the business of directing
their millions of men.

* * * * *

It was raining in this darkened French village near Verdun and a passing
battalion went dripping by, automobiles sent out sprays of muddy water
from their tires, and over in the crowded inclosures the German
prisoners taken at Douaumont stood in the mud waiting to be entrained.
Occasionally a soldier or an officer came out of a doorway that sent
forth a stream of light, and upstairs in the municipal building where we
went to pay our respects to the general commanding the army that had won
the victory which had thrilled France as none had since the Marne, we
found that it was the regular hour for his staff to report. They
reported standing in the midst of tables and maps and standing received
their orders. In future, when I see the big room with its mahogany table
and fat armchairs reserved for directors' meetings I shall recall
equally important conferences in the affairs of a nation that were held
under simpler auspices.

This conference seemed in keeping with the atmosphere of the place:
nobody in any flurry of haste and nobody wasting time. One after another
the officers reported; and whatever their ages, for some would have
seemed young for great responsibilities two years before, they were men
going about their business alert, self-possessed, reflective of the
character of their leader as staffs always are, men whose feet and whose
minds never dragged. When they spoke to anybody politeness was the
lubricant of prompt exchange of thought, a noiseless, eight-cylinder,
hundred-horse-power sort of staff. If the little Corsican could have
looked on, if he could have seen the taking of Douaumont, or if
Wellington could have seen the taking of the Ridge, I think that they
would have been well satisfied--and somewhat jealous to find that
military talent was so widespread.

The man who came out of the staff-room would have wo