Roadside glimpses of the great war . d leisurely down the little stream, adreamy, cloudless sky overhead and serried linesof sentries along the banks. It was a beautifultrip, serene and uneventful, with an occasionalstop for locks or the customary glass of wine,through a country where it was said not even arabbit could go. Every bridge along the whole way stood yawn-ing in two or crumbled in ruins, the work ofprecipitous British engineers in their flight be-hind the protection of the river. In the waterbeneath one of them could be seen the upturnedwheels of a German automobile which unknowingl
Roadside glimpses of the great war . d leisurely down the little stream, adreamy, cloudless sky overhead and serried linesof sentries along the banks. It was a beautifultrip, serene and uneventful, with an occasionalstop for locks or the customary glass of wine,through a country where it was said not even arabbit could go. Every bridge along the whole way stood yawn-ing in two or crumbled in ruins, the work ofprecipitous British engineers in their flight be-hind the protection of the river. In the waterbeneath one of them could be seen the upturnedwheels of a German automobile which unknowinglyhad rushed at high speed into the broken all anyone knew the corpses were still pinnedin their death-seats. Meaux slipped quietly by without appeal to last about dusk, we made the little town ofGermigny-lEveque, at the foot of the battle-fieldof the Marne, where England, France, and Ger-many had locked horns for five fearful a forlorn town indeed, almost entirelydeserted and oppressive with the after-battle. o T3 O ^ a, c Q, o o _Q CO Germany in the Suburbs of Paris 173 stillness. We came to a little inn where wehoped to have supper and spend the night. Anold lady, too feeble to flee when the Germanshad come, and now garrulous in her excitement,said she could not even give us coffee. Herone thought in life seemed to be to show us thehavoc the Germans had wrought, the mattresses,straw, and filth which littered every room almostknee-deep; the broken windows, mirrors, andfurniture; the drawers pulled out and ransacked. We left her whimpering at the doorway andpushed on across the river to Vareddes. Therethings were even worse. Great holes were rentin walls and buildings by shell fire, and the wholetown scarred with rifle bullets. Only a half-dozenmen remained of the entire population, and oneof these, an ugly customer, would gladly havestrangled Rader and me on mere suspicion if ithad not been that we had attached to ourselvesa quiet little French artist
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
