an and Austrian internes. Finally I found one
who thought he knew me well enough to trust me with a pass. He
explained that the garrison of Paris occupied a zone which extended
out from the walls ten miles in all directions. Outside this were the
moving armies, and once beyond the defensive zone we could, at our
own risk, go where we chose. My permit stated that we were bound for
Lagny, which is about twelve miles from the gates and well outside the
circle of defense. I took one of the Embassy automobiles driven by a
skillful American amateur, Melvin Hall. He drove his own six-cylinder
high-power car, carrying a light touring body.

We left the city about four o'clock in the afternoon by the Porte de
Vincennes. Immediately we left the walls behind us, we found all the
roads guarded by French troops and barred by elaborate obstructions.
Every two or three minutes we were brought to a stop by little gated
forts built across the highway, which were loopholed for rifles and
commanded the road in both directions. These were designed to retard
German scouting parties or halt German mitrailleuse automobiles. The
barriers were built of an extraordinary variety of material: trees,
paving-stones, barrels, carts, hen-coops, sandbags, boxes, and
fence-rails. At each barrier were stationed a score or more of
soldiers, and as one approached, one saw the gleam of bayonets and
heard a sharp, imperative "Halte-la!" When we came to a full stop, two
or three of the sentinels would step out cautiously and suspiciously,
their rifles all ready for action, while in a gingerly way they
examined our papers.

The barriers were usually placed in positions of strategic importance,
on hills or ridges, and always one was found at each end of the main
thoroughfare of every village. All the side streets of the villages
were closed and fortified, and any opening between the outermost
houses was piled high with obstructions. Each little town within the
fortified zone thus became itself a small fort, a complete circle of
defense. We travelled along slowly for some ten miles, being halted
and examined about every half mile. Finally we came to a great trench
which ran across the fields on either side of the road. Facing away
from Paris, one looked over a valley, and in the distance could
distinctly hear the boom of guns in action.

We were now at the outer line of the defense zone, within which all
the roads, bridges, and valleys were held by infantry w