. A village in Picardy . rance,you who walk so much farther. I, I have legs 156 A Village in Picardy trained for walking by long marches, by a sol-diers life But I knew something of the duties of amilitary chaplain. Had I not seen the bare,dark infirmary where he comforted his inva-lided companions? Had I not visited thebaraque called the Soldiers Library whichwas more or less in his charge; that cheerlesshut with the books locked out of sight in onecorner, and the directions for rifle practiceconfronting one on the wall? Could not onedivine the battle charges when M. lAumonierwent forward in
. A village in Picardy . rance,you who walk so much farther. I, I have legs 156 A Village in Picardy trained for walking by long marches, by a sol-diers life But I knew something of the duties of amilitary chaplain. Had I not seen the bare,dark infirmary where he comforted his inva-lided companions? Had I not visited thebaraque called the Soldiers Library whichwas more or less in his charge; that cheerlesshut with the books locked out of sight in onecorner, and the directions for rifle practiceconfronting one on the wall? Could not onedivine the battle charges when M. lAumonierwent forward in the ranks with his comrades,or stopped only to give them the sacramentas they fell? Did I not know the calls madeupon him by the civilians also, now that he wasen repos? A soldiers life, indeed, has inuredthe military chaplains of the French army tohardships by contrast greater perhaps thanany endured by the other soldiers of France. I strove to stop him, to express to him some-thing of my deep appreciation of this added. [If it hadnt been for the officer, I dont think thesoldiers would have done anything to us.] 157 158 A Village in Picardy burden he had taken on his shoulders in thespiritual care of the children of Canizy. But he waved away all implied is a pleasure, he repeated, and the chil-dren are so good. Thereafter, M. FAumonier became my mostdisinterested ally in our village. Did a massseem desirable, the time was set late enoughfor me to reach it from the Chateau. Whatmattered it that thereby Monsieur did notbreakfast till noon? When Mme. Gabriellewas still undecided over her distribution, heconsented to lend his presence to the function,and thereby insured its success. He evenundertook the responsibility of such a mun-dane matter as the cutting of the glass. Dayafter day, I met him in one family circle oranother, making pastoral calls. Very differ-ent were those happy weeks to the villagersfrom the months preceding, when spiritualconsolation came only wi
Size: 1326px × 1884px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
