He told me how sad it was to see the ruin of the beautiful country through which they had passed, and what a mistake it had been from his point of view not to have foreseen the methods of Germans and drummed out all the towns through which the armies had passed.  He told me one or two touching and interesting stories.  One was of the day before a battle, I think it was Saint-Quentin.  The officers had been invited to dine at a pretty chateau near which they had bivouacked.  The French family could not do too much for them, and the daughters of the house waited on the table.  Almost before the meal was finished the alerte sounded, and the battle was on them.  When they retreated by the house where they had been so prettily entertained such a few hours before, there was not one stone standing on another, and what became of the family he had no idea.

The other that I remember was of the way the Germans passed the river at Saint-Quentin and forced the battle at La Fere on them.  The bridge was mined, and the captain was standing beside the engineer waiting to give the order to touch off the mine.  It was a nasty night—­a Sunday (only last Sunday, think of that!)—­and the rain was coming down in torrents.  Just before the Germans reached the bridge he ordered it blown up.  The engineer touched the button.  The fuse did not act.  He was in despair, but the captain said to him, “Brace up, my lad—­give her another chance.”  The second effort failed like the first.  Then, before any one could stop him, the engineer made a dash for the end of the bridge, drawing his revolver as he ran, and fired six shots into the mine, knowing that, if he succeeded, he would go up with the bridge.  No good, and he was literally dragged off the spot weeping with rage at his failure—­and the Germans came across.

All the time we had been talking I had heard the cannonade in the distance—­now at the north and now in the east.  This seemed a proper moment, inspired by the fact that he was talking war, of his own initiative, to put a question or two, so I risked it.

“That cannonading seems much nearer than it did this morning,” I ventured.

“Possibly,” he replied.

“What does that mean?” I persisted.

“Sorry I can’t tell you.  We men know absolutely nothing.  Only three men in this war know anything of its plans,—­Kitchener, Joffre, and French.  The rest of us obey orders, and know only what we see.  Not even a brigade commander is any wiser.  Once in a while the colonel makes a remark, but he is never illuminating.”

“How much risk am I running by remaining here?”

He looked at me a moment before he asked, “You want to know the truth?”

“Yes,” I replied.