_Beyond a knoll opposite the church of Montauville, take on the right a downhill road which turns sharply and leads to the village cemetery. Here the road forks. Take the road on the left, which first dips and then a little further on rises in the direction of_ =Prêtre Wood.= This road is in bad condition, but in dry weather motors can go as far as the entrance to the wood. [Illustration: FRENCH AND AMERICAN GRAVES ON THE ROAD TO THE PÈRE HILARION FOUNTAIN] _About 800 yards from the cemetery the road branches, that on the left going to_ Fey-en-Haye. _Take the road on the right, which soon leads to_ =Prêtre Wood.= _On the right, at the roadside, about 1,200 yards from the fork, are two graves_: one of an American, the other of a French soldier. _Three hundred yards further on, in a ravine to the right of the road, are the_ =fountain= _and_ =house= _of_ =Father Hilarion.= All around are numerous trenches, shelters and military works of all kinds. Père Hilarion fountain remained for some time between the opposing lines. Germans and French alike came there every day to draw water, and by a tacit understanding each side came at the definite hour. During this respite no shot was fired from the trenches. [Illustration: THE PÈRE HILARION FOUNTAIN AND HOUSE] _Follow the road_ (leaving on the right a steep uphill road, 150 yards from the fountain) _which for 800 yards, down a gentle slope, crosses the_ part of the wood called the “=Mouchoir=” and =“Croix des Carmes” Sector.= This formed the first Franco-German lines. [Illustration: THE HOUSE OF FATHER HILARION IN PRÊTRE WOOD] The sight is a moving one: destroyed trees, the ground torn up by shells, trenches fallen in and battered shelters. _When the road reaches the crest, look back._ The sight is more tragic still. In the distance is seen Mousson Crest, which stands out above the trees of Prêtre Wood and, _to the right, on a small hill, 100 yards from the road_, the site of the famous “=Croix des Carmes.=” [Illustration: GERMAN TRENCHES IN “MOUCHOIR” SECTOR, PRÊTRE WOOD, NEAR PÈRE HILARION FOUNTAIN] [Illustration: PRÊTRE WOOD, THE “PELLEMENT” TRENCHES IN “MOUCHOIR” SECTOR] When the position was taken by the French, sappers of the Engineers Corps piously removed the cross from its place and carried it to the cemetery in the valley where the heroes of these battles lie buried. There they erected it, and surrounded it with some of the barbed wire from the late German trenches. _Return to Montauville, then to Pont-à-Mousson by the same road._ [Illustration: PRÊTRE WOOD. “MOUCHOIR” SECTOR _Gen. Le Bocq in a Trench, twenty yards from the enemy lines._] [Illustration: Road Through the forest to Montauville Road to Norroy Mousson Crest PRÊTRE WOOD. CROIX DES CARMES SECTOR] [Illustration: Hill 372 Mousson Crest Père Hilarion Fountain Site of the Croix des Carmes PRÊTRE WOOD. BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND GERMAN LINES