. They
did not weep, nor say much, but were wonderfully brave. I remember a
little family in Robecq whom I packed into my car when shells began to
fall among the houses. A pretty girl, with a little invalid brother in
her arms, and a mother by her side, pointed the way to a cottage in a
wood some miles away. She was gay and smiling when she said, "Au revoir
et merci!" A few days later the cottage and the wood were behind the
German lines.

The northern defense, by the 55th Lancashires, 51st Highlanders (who
had been all through the Somme retreat), the 25th Division of Cheshires,
Wiltshires and Lancashire Fusiliers, and the 9th Scottish Division, and
others, who fought "with their backs to the wall," as Sir Douglas Haig
demanded of them, without reliefs, until they were worn thin, was heroic
and tragic in its ordeal, until Foch sent up his cavalry (I saw them
riding in clouds of dust and heard the panting of their horses),
followed by divisions of blue men in hundreds of blue lorries tearing
up the roads, and forming a strong blue line behind our thin brown line.
Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria had twenty-six fresh divisions in reserve,
but had to hold them until other plans were developed--the Crown
Prince's plan against the French, and the attack on Arras.

The defense of Arras by the 3d and 56th Divisions--the Iron Division and
the London Division on the left, and by the 15th Division and Guards
on the right, saved the center of our line and all our line. We had a
breathing--space while heavy blows fell against the French and against
three British divisions who had been sent to hold "a quiet sector" on
their right. The Germans drove across the Chemin des Dames, struck right
and left, terrific blows, beat the French back, reached the Marne again,
and threatened Paris.

Foch waited to strike. The genius of Foch was that he waited until the
last minute of safety, taking immense risks in order to be certain of
his counter-stroke. For a time he had to dissipate his reserves, but
he gathered them together again. As quick as the blue men had come up
behind our lines they were withdrawn again. Three of our divisions went
with them, the 51st Highlanders and 15th Scottish, and the 48th English.
The flower of the French army, the veterans of many battles, was massed
behind the Marne, and at Chateau Thierry the American marines and
infantry were given their first big job to do. What happened all the
world knows. The Crown Prince's