author:C. N. Williamson

“ Motor cyclists rushed past, white as plaster statues; officers in grey automobiles flashed by, staring at the unexpected vision of women in our car, and nearly twisting their necks off to catch a second glimpse of the Minx. We saw no civilians save in the villages, or working in the fields. On the road we were the only persons not in uniform. It was well, said our lieutenant, that we possessed a khaki car. Nothing else, save military grey, would be permitted on this road, or at Verdun itself, where we would soon arrive. ”

“ I knew now why Monsieur Dufael and General Rayières thought as little of enemy avions as of evil black birds. It was a weird sensation to hurry mechanically for shelter into the hotel, and yet to realize that its walls offered no more protection than an egg-shell. I should have enjoyed being a girl, so that I could be comfortably frightened without shame; but Miss Mix took no advantage of her sex in this way, indeed had an air of happy excitement, as if she were going to her first ball. ”

“ Wayne know that of course she meant us when she telegraphed about Noyon. She forgot to speak. The bombardment and Verdun made her head feel like a 'prize package,' in her refined expression. She hopes that to-morrow is all right for us. What shall I answer?"
Mother swallowed heavily. Pride and many other emotions passed down with that gulp. "Answer that we can make it convenient," she said. And then to me, as Kate obeyed: "What did I tell you? She depends upon us."
Dear, generous Minx! She was not born to be understood by women like Mother. She was born to be loved—by men like me. ”

“ Mother fixed the hour, hoping, I felt, that the Minx would be late, and give her a grievance. But the Minx, though she looks of the type to keep people waiting, is generally on the spot before anyone else: and this was no exception. When I followed the luggage to see that it fitted into the right places, there was the Minx in her smart khaki clothes, standing in the hotel lounge, her hands in her loose, side-pockets—the fashion of to-morrow. With her was a man—also in khaki; and my heart flapped like a fish as I recognized the British officer of the boat—Lord John Hatte. ”

“ I think, in unselfish fear of bereaving her million admirers, Mother might have considered it her duty to accept Monsieur Dufael's suggestion: but the British Public, with the American on top of it—like Osso piled on Pelion—formed too great a contrast with Nancy Mix's nose to be mentioned in the same breath. Mother announced therefore that our facing the bombardment went without saying. In these days, what men risked, women risked also. She looked very heroic when she said this, and beside her the Minx was a mere kitten at the feet of the Statue of Liberty. ”

“ Why should she want to cart us about from front to front——"
"Of course, she wants to," said Mother. "Because we are Who we Are, foolish boy. With us, she shines in reflected glory."
"I see," said I. "It's fair exchange. Her car for our glory!"
"The favor is on the right side. Car or no car, how could she travel all over France unchaperoned? I suppose there are some things which even a Minx cannot do." ”

“ The Germans pretended that they had been fired upon from the shop of a tobacconist after the bombardment and their entrance into the town. Thereupon they proceeded to "punish" Senlis in their usual fashion, shooting the inhabitants and burning as many beloved monuments of history as possible before their army was suddenly and mysteriously called away. They did much and important damage, which Mother had been noting in her black book; but the saddest thing to my eyes was a fairylike little Château, all destroyed save the façade, still decorated by a trellis, on which roses once more bloomed. ”

“ In the orchards between ruined villages, young apple and cherry trees had been stricken down, and lay with their heads on the ground, some not yet corpses, but dying slowly, their spring garlands blooming and fading on the earth; others making a brave fight for life, in thankfulness to rescuers who had bound gaping wounds with bandages. ”

“ But the instant one met the smile of her brilliant, brook-brown eyes and generous mouth, one saw that here was a woman made of courage and superb self-sacrifice. Her face is not hard, but strong. Into what class of life she chose to be born, I don't know. I know only that every unself-conscious gesture is that of a noblewoman. ”

“ There was no danger there now, because the Germans had been pushed back—far back; but we saw the dugout and shelters where the heroes of Verdun had lived through long months; and when in the later afternoon we bade the place good-bye (with a car-full of souvenirs) we understood well why the Germans could not pass, why they will never pass.
HER FIFTH STEP: PARIS TO SENLIS; COMPIEGNE AND NOYON." "I HAVE made up my mind to one thing," said Mother to me the day after we returned to Paris, "and that is, not to be burdened again with Miss Mix when we go to the Noyon Front." ”

“ Little cared the Protestants among them, that Calvin was born in one of the narrow old streets whose houses they sacked and burned, taking away stones and time-seasoned timbers to reinforce trenches outside the town! Many houses had been destroyed as punishment for some fancied crime of the inhabitants of certain quarters, and not one, rich or poor, in the whole city had escaped pillage. Into street after street the Germans had come "by order," with big army wagons, and had emptied the houses of everything worth taking, even to dishes, and pots and pans in the kitchens. ”

“ Both cars had stopped, and suddenly Dufael remembered that the ladies might be frightened. There was indeed some excuse for the stoutest hearts to beat the faster. These giant guns did far more damage than the aeroplanes. Whereas the latter could demolish a roof and an upper story, the naval guns could knock any house, or any hotel, into a cocked hat: and you never knew where the bombs might not fall.
"What will you do, Mesdames?" he asked the three ladies and looked at Miss Mix. "It is not necessary for you to go to Nancy at all. ”

“ We must go. It is certain that Lord John, a British officer, cannot accompany us to a French Front. He will lend us his car, if Miss Mix chooses to stop behind and flirt with him. She will lose her time if she does, I think. His father wishes him to marry Lady Lydia Lamb."
As if any man who had a chance of winning a Minx would let a Lamb be thrown at his head! ”

“ If you wish, you can turn and motor back to Luneville. You can spend the night there. I will have all your belongings packed and sent to you from your hotel. I do not disguise from you that there is no safety anywhere in Nancy during a bombardment except in a cellar, and only comparative safety there."
"But you are not afraid, are you?" said the Minx. "And the General; he won't give up the rest of his leave and go away from Nancy because it is being bombarded, I guess?"
Both men smiled. "General Rayières is so used to bombardments, he sleeps best while they're going on," replied Dufael. ”

“ These poor creatures—those they left in France—had to live somewhere, so they drove them into Noyon. Instead of of six thousand inhabitants, Noyon had ten: four thousand refugees, who were housed anyhow. Nobody had furniture, not even beds to lie on, much less forks and knives to eat with. The Germans had taken all—all—even towels and blankets. There was no coal or wood to cook with, or oil for lamps. Night and day, summer and winter, all doors had to be open. No man, woman or child could stir outside without special permission, and it was hard to get. ”

“ Presently, when the inhabitants judged from experience that there would be peace for the remainder of the night, they prepared to depart for their cellarless homes in the neighborhood. We followed their example, and as we were the last to go. Monsieur Dufael, General Rayières and his aide-de-camp walked with us, in clear moonlight, to our hotel.
"Look," said the Minx to me on the way upstairs (we had dropped behind Mother and Kate for a moment) —"look at the reward of a naughty girl." ”

“ On the journey they meet Miss Nancy Mix, an American girl who is going to France to engage in war service work. Mrs. Wayne disapproves of the girl and dubs her the Minx, but it is only through the good offices of the latter that a permit is secured to visit the front and they leave as a party in an automobile which the Minx has secured from an officer friend. The engaging personality of Miss Mix wins the attention of French generals and officials. ”

“ But as Dufael had prophesied, she welcomed us without fuss, and I soon saw that her respect for him came as much from the fact that he was a man of Lorraine—her own dear, native Lorraine—as from his important position. She and a smiling youthful nun or two gave us chairs in the Hospice reception room, which had no other furniture save a table. "Would you have refreshment?" she asked. No? .. Was there nothing she could give us?
"Oh yes, Madame, if you want to refresh our hearts, you will give us your story of the night when the Germans came!" cried Miss Mix. ”

“ We wondered less that permission for Noyon was given but to a few, and many questions asked!
THE wattle-screens, with "camouflage" of green branches, which had hidden passing cannons and military cars from enemy guns, still rose certain parts of the route, like queer, high fences: for this road until lately had been exposed to fire from vast forests which clothed the commanding heights to our right, where the German line had run—where it ran, even now though further away and out of range. At cursory glance, these forests looked like green haunts of peace ”

“ Can you guess what they hide. Thousands of bodies that neither we nor our enemies have ever been able to bury. When the poppies are gone we shall see them again as we have seen them before, the flat, crumpled bodies huddled in the shell-holes and maybe there will be many more. We have seen worse sights, but—the view is more cheerful for us while the poppies bloom."
OF that dream of Verdun, our lunch in the subterranean dining-hall belonged most of all to the Minx. ”

“ Noyon, and will make her reconstruction its own.
"What a beautiful compliment to America, not to have even the French flag!" said Nancy, that curious change in her becoming more apparent than ever—almost alarming.
Mother said nothing. She considered her book sales in America of importance; but "new countries," like children or servants, ought, she thinks, to know their place. They should not send flags and Minxes flying all over France.
At first sight, we hardly realized the devastation of Noyon. Like the war-stricken forests, she wore a brave face, and tried to hide her scars ”

“ Sister Julie's beautiful voice went on, after a slight pause, "and they promised to spare the Hospice, if we would nurse their wounded with ours. I gave that promise, and kept it. Mademoiselle, cur sisters had to sweep the blood out into the street—French and German blood together—before that night was at an end. And with those German men among ours, it was easier to win favor for the whole quarter. If the houses round us had been fired, we should have burned too. ”

“ She drew from under her evening cloak a bundle of beautiful lace, like that I had seen the women refugees from towns of Lorraine making in the barracks. "Isn't it lovely? There are yards and yards of it. That's what I get for being awkward and silly, and tearing my petticoat. Monsieur Dufael gave it to me to-night."
"To-night!" I echoed. "When did he find the chance to give ycu a bundle of lace without all the world witnessing the presentation?"
"To a brave man all is possible," answered the Minx. And I was not sure whether this were a covert cut at me, or a compliment for our host. ”