"Already I had jumped at him--and I literally nailed him to the gate. "Ah! To feel the crushing of bones--when one is accustomed to cultivate flowers--to feel the crushing of bones!" BRITISH STOLIDITY, BELGIUM. _October_ 9, 1914. War? At the beginning no one knew then what it was. The enemy bombarded us with shells of an enormous caliber, which excited, more than anything else, our curiosity. Two "Tommies" started to swim across the river Nèthe to where the enemy had but recently been thrown back. They repeated to everyone who asked them where they were going: "We want to see the BIG cannon, yes the BIG cannon!" THE PRISONERS OF GENERAL DE MAUD'HUY, NEAR ARRAS. _January_, 1915. Upon leaving table one day with General de Maud'huy, we came upon a group of German prisoners, who immediately looked at us, saluting respectfully. "These are 'my prisoners,'" the general told me, "they work in the cantonment." "I had at the beginning about a dozen boches and mustered them every night because we were only ten miles from the line of fire." "Several escaped?" I asked. "On the contrary," he replied. "The second night we counted eleven, the third, fifteen. Now there are fifty. We never knew where they came from!" "I have enough boches. I mustered them all yesterday and told them that if their number kept on increasing I would send them all back. You will agree that it is impossible to keep a strict count under these conditions!" THE ADMIRAL, NIEUPORT. _March_ 7, 1915. I saw Admiral Ronarc'h for the first time to-day. All morning the city of Nieuport was bombarded with shells of a very large caliber, crushing and enveloping the poor little Flemish homes in great clouds of brick-dust and smoke. The ground trembled. Our Marine Fusiliers[2] must have paid them back in full, for they returned a heavy fire from the large guns of the fortress. I arrived at Nieuport-Baths along the river Yser with Captain Ricard, who said to me: "With all that racket, to-day, we are sure to find the Admiral and Commandant Delage----" At the moment we reached the locks we were well serenaded--the shells literally rained around us. At regular intervals the larger ones burst in the city. Abject ruins--I no longer recognized this once lively little city which I visited during my childhood, dead and deserted to-day! Finally we came, about four o'clock, to the admiral's shelter, where we found him, with Commandant Delage and the chaplain. I was received with smiles and hearty handshakes; on similar days one is always sure to be received by the admiral in a most charming manner. "Lucky chap," he said, "well have you chosen the day of your first visit to Nieuport. What a bombardment, hey! fortunately all goes well, practically no losses--that right, Delage?" Commandant Delage smiled all over. "Yes, admiral."