Produced by Marcia Brooks, Ross Cooling and the Online Distributed Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) [Illustration: cover--THE CHILDREN'S STORY OF THE WAR By Sir Edward Parrott, M.A., LL.D.] [Illustration: British Soldiers crossing the Aisne. (_See page 244._)] THE CHILDREN'S STORY OF THE WAR by SIR EDWARD PARROTT, M.A., LL.D. AUTHOR OF "BRITAIN OVERSEAS," "THE PAGEANT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC. From the Battle of Mons to the Fall of Antwerp. THOMAS NELSON AND SONS LONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLIN, AND NEW YORK _Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife!_ _To all the sensual world proclaim,_ _One crowded hour of glorious life_ _Is worth an age without a name._ Sir Walter Scott CONTENTS. I. The French Army 1 II. The First Clash of Arms 11 III. The Fall of Namur 17 IV. The Battle of Mons 26 V. Soldiers' Stories of the Battle of Mons 33 VI. The Russian People 44 VII. The Russian Army 49 VIII. The Eastern Theatre of War 54 IX. Victory and Defeat 65 X. Stories of Russian Soldiers 77 XI. The Fighting Retreat 81 XII. A Glorious Stand 91 XIII. "The Most Critical Day of All" 97 XIV. Stories of the Retreat from Mons to St. Quentin 106 XV. Valorous Deeds and Victoria Crosses 113 XVI. Arras and Amiens 125 XVII. The French Retreat 129 XVIII. "Those Terrible Grey Horses" 138 XIX. The Story of Battery L of the R.H.A. 145 XX. More Stories of the Retreat 152 XXI. The Beginning of the War at Sea 161 XXII. The Battle of Heligoland Bight 177 XXIII. The Turn of the Tide 193 XXIV. The Crossing of the Marne 205 XXV. The Battle of the Marne 209 XXVI. Stories of the Battle of the Marne 220 XXVII. More Stories of the Battle of the Marne 225 XXVIII. The Aisne Valley 236 XXIX. The Crossing of the Aisne 241 XXX. The Battle of the Aisne 250 XXXI. Soldiers' Stories of the Battle of the Aisne 257