But
when the rear-guards amount to some 100,000 men, resistance is still
formidable, not to be handled with anything but extreme prudence by
those who have such vast interests in charge as the Generals of
the Allies.
Our way takes us first through a small forest, where systematic felling
and cutting are going on under British forestry experts. The work is
being done by German prisoners, and we catch a glimpse through the trees
of their camp of huts in a barbed-wire enclosure. Their guards sleep
under canvas! ... And now we are in the main street of a large
picturesque village, approaching a chateau. A motor lorry comes towards
us, driven at a smart pace, and filled with grey-green uniforms.
Prisoners!--this time fresh from the field. We have already heard
rumours on our way of successful fighting to the south.
The famous Army Commander himself, who had sent us a kind invitation to
lunch with him, is unexpectedly engaged in conference with a group of
French generals; but there is a welcome suggestion that on our way back
from the Somme he will be free and able to see me.
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