and suddenly the head of
a column of infantry swung into view past a street corner just ahead
and the dull "smash--smash--smash" of a thousand feet falling in
unison could be heard through the volume of sound. It was the
Marseillaise of war! The troops were marching to the Gare Montparnasse
to entrain for the front, and in a few days would be in the
battle-line. Their bayonets sloped backward, a waving thicket bent
toward the morning sun. There was no music in their words, which were
sharp and incisive. Each word was a threat, an imprecation, intense
with ferocious meaning. Their intonation carried conviction that the
men meant literally every impressive line they uttered. The words
visualized for me the picture in their own minds. I could sense their
desire to charge the Germans, to close in, to strike, to stab. Perhaps
the deliberate, vengeful premeditation to destroy is more terrible
than the act itself. I doubt if any battle could ever affect me as
did the song of those men. The result was so disintegrating to one's
psychology that for the rest of the day I completely lost balance of
judgment. I felt exultantly certain that the French were going to
smash Germany into tiny bits, and was equally sure that they could, if
need be, demolish all creation.

* * * * *

_Monday, August 10th._ Today Austria and France are officially at war.
The affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Embassy were turned over to us
this evening. This probably means that a flood of Austrians and
Hungarians will be tomorrow added to the Americans and Germans who
already keep us so busy.

Today for the first time we were able to complete all the business
brought to the Embassy. Previously we had to be content with
accomplishing as much as could be done in a sixteen-hour day.

* * * * *

_Wednesday, August 12th._ I have witnessed so much suffering during
the last week that to see people weep now no longer produces any
emotional effect upon me. One's sympathies get numbed by the
over-strain put upon them; the more keenly one feels, the more numb
one ultimately becomes. Today during the long day about five hundred
Austrians and Hungarians poured in upon the Embassy. I examined one
hundred and sixty-four cases between two o'clock and half-past four,
and gave monetary assistance to one hundred and twenty-one.

* * * * *

_Friday, August 14th._ During the pas