As tenderly as a thoroughbred is blanketed after a race the big gun was bundled up again by its crew, and, leaving them to resume their picnicking under the pine-tree, we strode away to the shooting-box and the lunch. And a very excellent lunch it was to which the General, some eight of his staff-officers and our party of four sat down in the dingy old dining-room of the shooting-box. "You certainly mobilized an excellent chef," laughed Captain d'A---- as we reached the entrée. With white wine mixed with water to drink during the lunch, champagne served in the French fashion with the dessert, and cigars, coffee and liqueurs to follow, the commissariat department undoubtedly deserved congratulations. ------------------------------------ MENU du 1º Août 1915 ------------------------------------ DÉJEUNER ------------------------------------ Hors-d'oeuvres Oeufs pochés à la Rossini Tournedos grillés à la Bouchère Pommes frites Pigeons rotis Haricots verts à l'anglaise Crème au chocolat Compote de pèches Dessert ------------------------------------ The conversation was of course not for publication, but one passage I think I can repeat without fear of violating confidence. "Why did not Von Kluck march on Paris when he had the chance?" I asked the officer who was sitting on one side of me. "I will tell you," he replied. "In the 1913 'Kriegsspiel' [great manoeuvres] in Germany the theoretical invasion of France by the attacking armies was precisely the same advance as in actual fact they made the following year. In the maneuvers Von Kluck commanded the right wing precisely as he did in the actual invasion. In these maneuvers he came to a point in his advance where he had to choose between attacking Paris and swinging past Paris in pursuit of the enemy. He decided to attack Paris. The verdict of the board of generals who were judging the maneuvers contained the severest kind of arraignment of Von Kluck for having violated the cardinal principal of German military strategy by allowing a mere geographical point to divert him from the one paramount object of German generalship--the enemy's army. We actually possess a copy of this official reprimand, for 'tout s'achête' (there is nothing that money will not buy), you know. Now when little over one year later Von Kluck in actual warfare came face to face with precisely the same choice of alternatives, with the previous year's censure still stingingly fresh in mind, he ignored Paris and followed the enemy army."