of the 'Marseillaise' on her lips, and by her
fearless example averted a retreat that might have meant disaster
along the whole front. Only the men who were in that fight can fully
understand why Sir Douglas Haig was right in christening her the Joan
of Arc of Loos."

A more mature French Amazon is Madame Louise Arnaud, the widow of an
officer killed in the war. She commanded a corps of French and Belgian
women who were permitted by the War Minister to don uniforms. The
corps was intended for general service at the front, one-third of them
being combatants, all able to ride, shoot and swim.

After the great allied offensive in the west had spent its force--or
rather the force of its initial momentum--quite an interesting battle
broke out, this time on paper. It consisted on the one side of an
attempt to estimate the results of success and to attach to them the
highest possible value. The energy of the other side was devoted to
belittling these results and proclaiming the alleged futility of the
venture. Thus, King George telegraphed to Sir John French on September
30, 1915:

"I heartily congratulate you and all ranks of my army under your
command upon the success which has attended their gallant efforts
since the commencement of the combined attack."

Lord Kitchener sent this message:

"My warmest congratulations to you and all serving under you on the
substantial success you have achieved...."

In his report of October 3, 1915, General French stated that "The
enemy has suffered heavy losses, particularly in the many
counterattacks by which he has vainly endeavored to wrest back the
captured positions, but which have all been gallantly repulsed by our
troops.... I feel the utmost confidence and assurance that the same
glorious spirit which has been so marked a feature throughout the
first phase of this great battle will continue until our efforts are
crowned by final and complete victory."

The following sentence is culled from the French official report on
the fighting in Champagne:

"... Germans surrendered in groups, even though not surrounded, so
tired were they of the fight, and so depressed by hunger and convinced
of our determination to continue our effort to the end...."

Rather contradictory in tone and substance were the German dispatches:

"The German General Staff recently invited a number of newspaper men
from neutral countries--the United States, South America, Holland, and
Rumania--to inspec