_By A. De Lapradelle and Frederic R. Coudert_ This is a series of extracts from letters written from the French trenches, from hospitals in France, from officials and soldiers in the French Army and from members of different private families. Spontaneously written and telling of the things as they are from the personal viewpoint of each writer, these letters form an excellent record of history in the making. Suffering, courage and hope speak their simple language and without intent reveal the very soul of the courageous nation. The letters here reproduced are by permission of the publishers, _D. Appleton and Company_: copyright 1916 I--GLIMPSE OF A BURNING VILLAGE This letter was stopped by the receipt of marching orders. It continued a little later with the following vivid descriptive passage: * * * * * "The flames of a village destroyed by shell fire, a livid moonlight and a terrible storm, such were the precursors of our entrance this morning into a pretty village of the Vosges, where a dozen houses were gutted, burned or totally demolished by shells. Chickens were pecking at the door-sills of the deserted houses. That is war! Our men might have been put in bad humor by all this. But no! Their witty remarks cheered the situation. They are laughing and chatting now, while the German bombs are falling not far from us, whistling through the air with metallic shrieks, followed by frightful explosions. Our men are getting used to this music of a special style." II--STORY OF THE GOOD WOMAN A good woman in whose house a lieutenant was quartered told him the following story of the occupation: