orking in
conjunction with the large forts placed at intervals in the great
circle. Outside of this zone is open country in which battles are
being fought; where and when, it was our aim to discover.

At the trench where we halted, the men on guard were very much on the
qui vive and the officers were busy with their field-glasses, for they
had just received warning that German cavalry were in front of them in
the valley over which we looked. We stopped to talk for a few minutes
with the commanding officer, and then, releasing our brakes, slid
quietly out in front of the trench, down the hill.

It was silent and lonely in the valley; the whole countryside was
desolate. We saw neither soldier nor civilian. The very air seemed
charged with disaster. In a few minutes we ran into Lagny, which was
absolutely deserted. A curious sensation it is to enter a town having
all the marks of being inhabited and yet to sense the utter absence of
human beings. On the village square, however, we found the Mayor, who,
like so many brave French officials throughout the country, had felt
it his first duty to stand by his community, come what might to him
personally. He told us that the Germans were spread all over the
country between Lagny and the Meaux, ten miles away, and added that
their cavalry had been through the town recently and might return any
minute. He then warned us that we could not cross the Marne, which
ran through the village, because the bridges were all down. We,
therefore, turned south toward Ferrieres, at right angles to our
original course, and parallel to the walls of Paris.

Before reaching Ferrieres, we again touched the outer lines of the
fortified camp. Here a big standing trench was occupied by French
infantry which had been in action with some German cavalry only a few
minutes before. The captain in command asked us to take a soldier who
had been wounded back to the brigade hospital some two or three miles
to the rear. This we did gladly and found the hospital located in the
schoolhouse of a small village. Here we also encountered a wounded
English private who was manifestly grateful to hear the sound of his
own language. The village was occupied by a large body of French
Hussars who were there encamped. Some of them were rubbing down their
horses, others were cooking supper. The gray smoke of the fires
ascending through the poplar trees, the bare-armed soldiers laboring
over their mounts, the deserted houses