A Visit to Three Fronts: June 1916Doyle, Arthur Conan
History
A Visit to Three Fronts: June 1916
Doyle, Arthur Conan
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
When we emerged from these hushed places of danger Cyrano took us all
to his dug-out, which was a tasty little cottage carved from the side
of a hill and faced with logs. He did the honours of the humble cabin
with the air of a seigneur in his chateau. There was little furniture,
but from some broken mansion he had extracted an iron fire-back, which
adorned his grate. It was a fine, mediaeval bit of work, with Venus, in
her traditional costume, in the centre of it. It seemed the last touch
in the picture of the gallant, virile Cyrano. I only met him this once,
nor shall I ever see him again, yet he stands a thing complete within
my memory. Even now as I write these lines he walks the leafy paths of
the Argonne, his fierce eyes ever searching for the Boche workers, his
red moustache bristling over their annihilation. He seems a figure out
of the past of France.
That night we dined with yet another type of the French soldier,
General A., who commands the corps of which my friend has one division.
Each of these French generals has a striking individuality of his own
which I wish I could fix upon paper. Their only common point is that
each seems to be a rare good soldier. The corps general is Athos with a
touch of d'Artagnan. He is well over six feet high, bluff, jovial, with
huge, up-curling moustache, and a voice that would rally a regiment. It
is a grand figure which should have been done by Van Dyck with lace
collar, hand on sword, and arm akimbo. Jovial and laughing was he, but
a stern and hard soldier was lurking behind the smiles. His name may
appear in history, and so may Humbert's, who rules all the army of
which the other's corps is a unit. Humbert is a Lord Robert's figure,
small, wiry, quick-stepping, all steel and elastic, with a short,
sharp upturned moustache, which one could imagine as crackling with
electricity in moments of excitement like a cat's fur. What he does or
says is quick, abrupt, and to the point. He fires his remarks like
pistol shots at this man or that. Once to my horror he fixed me with
his hard little eyes and demanded 'Sherlock Holmes, est ce qu'il est un
soldat dans l'armee Anglaise?' The whole table waited in an awful hush.
'Mais, mon general,' I stammered, 'il est trop vieux pour service.'
There was general laughter, and I felt that I had scrambled out of an
awkward place.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account