BILLETS IN THE FIELD: THE BRITISH SOLDIER AND HIS PEASANT HOSTS.] It says much for the tact of our army in the field that it has wielded the wide powers conferred on it with the utmost loyalty by the French, _vis-à-vis_ the civilian population, without any friction. In all the towns and villages of our zone of occupation you will see printed notices signed by “_Le Général Commandant la ---- Armée Anglaise_,” or “_Le Capitaine_ A.P.M.” (Assistant Provost-Marshal), with directions for the closing of cafés and _estaminets_ at a fixed time, and the hour by which the civilian population must be indoors. In most places the sale of spirits to the British Army is absolutely prohibited. If an _estaminet_ offends in any way against these regulations, the British authorities have power to close it--a power that is often exercised. There is no direct intercourse between the British military authorities and the civilian population, however. The French _officiers de liaison_ attached to the different armies and corps and the Mayors act as go-betweens. Things work very smoothly by this arrangement, which removes the disagreeable possibility of our military authorities having to exercise direct pressure on the French civilians. Billeting and requisitioning are worked on similar lines, and there is a Claims Commission which, in consultation with the French, deals with the redemption of requisitioning receipts and claims for indemnity for damages, etc. The rank and file of our army that went to Mons knew practically only two words of French, apart from _Wee wee_ and _Nong_, French words familiar to every Britisher since the days of Boney, and those were _souvenir_ and _bong_. The British Army increased its French vocabulary by these two words in the course of its triumphal progress from the sea coast to the interior through villages _en fête_, where the peasants loaded the troops with good things of every description, asking only in return a badge as a _souvenir_. That is why most of our men went into action badgeless, and the giving away of badges had to be prohibited. That is why to-day, when you see a man with the initials of his regiment written in faded ink on his cap in default of a badge, you may know almost to a certainty that that man went through the great retreat.