Produced by Al Haines [Frontispiece: WITH THOSE WHO WAIT] WITH THOSE WHO WAIT BY FRANCES WILSON HUARD AUTHOR OF "MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF HONOUR," "MY HOME IN THE FIELD OF MERCY," ETC. WITH DRAWINGS BY CHARLES HUARD McCLELLAND, GOODCHILD & STEWART PUBLISHERS -------- TORONTO Copyright, 1918, By George H. Doran Company Printed in the United States of America A MES AMIES FRANCAISES, HEROINES TOUTES ILLUSTRATIONS WITH THOSE WHO WAIT . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ VIEW OF CHATEAU-THIERRY MONSIEUR S. OF SOISSONS WITH HIS GAS MASK A VILLAGE ON THE FRONT DOOR OF MADAME HUARD'S HOME--PARIS VIEW OF ST. GERVAIS FROM MADAME HUARD'S PARIS HOME THE COURTYARD LEADING TO MADAME HUARD'S CELLAR A COURTYARD IN MONTMARTRE MONSIEUR AMEDE FLOCKING TO READ THE COMING COMMUNIQUE IN A LITTLE FRENCH CITY MAXENCE WITH THOSE WHO WAIT I Once upon a time there wasn't any war. In those days it was my custom to drive over to Chateau-Thierry every Friday afternoon. The horses, needing no guidance, would always pull up at the same spot in front of the station from which point of vantage, between a lilac bush and the switch house, I would watch for the approaching express that was to bring down our week-end guests. A halt at the bridge head would permit our friends to obtain a bird's-eye view of the city, while I purchased a measure of fresh-caught, shiny-scaled river fish, only to be had of the old boatman after the arrival of the Paris train. Invariably there were packages to be called for at Berjot's grocery store, or Dudrumet's dry goods counter, and then H. having discovered the exact corner from which Corot painted his delightful panorama of the city, a pilgrimage to the spot almost always ensued. A glance in passing at Jean de la Fontaine's house, a final stop at "The Elephant" on the quay to get the evening papers, and then passing through Essommes with its delightful old church, Bonneil and Romery, our joyful party would reach Villiers just in time for dinner. A certain mystery shrouded the locality where our home was situated. Normandy, Brittany, the Chateaux of Touraine, the climate of the Riviera, have, at various seasons been more attractive, not only to foreigners, but to the Parisians themselves, so aside from the art lovers who made special trips to Rheims, there was comparatively little pleasure travelling in our immediate neighbourhood, and yet what particular portion of France is more historically renowned? Is it not on those same fertile fields so newly consecrated with our blood that every struggle for world supremacy has been fought?