ear that the object lesson will be in vain!

[Sidenote: A nucleus for the forces of freedom.]

Can the Czechs become an actual nucleus for the forces of freedom in
Russia and Siberia? They already are. The extent of their influence in
Siberia, in the region of the Don and in the heart of the Central Powers
themselves, is only limited by the support they receive from the Allies
and the restraint of the latter in independent action. The fate of
history may depend on the working out of the Czecho-Slovak miracle--a
plain gift of fortune to the cause of freedom.

Copyright, Asia, Journal of the American Asiatic Association, September,
1918.

* * * * *

The spirit which animated the American soldiers in France was a
revelation to the Allies, although it was precisely the spirit which
Americans at home knew would inspire them when they reached the actual
fighting line. Some instances of this spirit, and of experiences on the
American firing line, are told in the following pages.

SIX DAYS ON THE AMERICAN FIRING LINE

CORPORAL H.J. BURBACH

"We have arrived!"

[Sidenote: We reach the front.]

The French Army officer, who, skilled through years of actual artillery
service on the French fronts, had been my instructor through weeks of
training, and my guide up to the Front, stood still and spoke most
casually, as if our destination had been a Chicago restaurant.

[Sidenote: My comrades are hidden in the fog.]

"Yes, sir." I tried to be as casual, but could not disguise the
excitement that filled me. "Shall--the guns--" and I stopped, startled
at the tone of my own voice. It sounded as if it were coming from some
person a dozen feet away. And as I stood there a sense of elation, that
was possibly partly fear, swept over me. I looked about me, toward the
direction of the French officer who had spoken, toward the fellows of my
battery who had accompanied me up to the Front. I say toward their
direction, for I could not see my comrades--the fog that had come over
the land at sunset was too heavy to allow one to see an arm's length.

The officer snickered.

"Is this all that there is to it? Are we really on the firing line?" I
asked aloud. "Why, it's as quiet here as the Michigan woods!"

The officer laughed again.

"At this minute, yes," he said; then, "Wait here, I will be back
directly, and no noise!"

[Sidenote: The firing line seems a lonely place.]

He went off throu