Then darkness fell, and in the darkness we went through an old, old town
where are the French General Headquarters. Sentries challenged us to
right and left, and sent us forward again with friendly looks. The day
had been very long, and presently, as we approached Paris, I fell asleep
in my corner, only to be roused with a start by a glare of lights, and
more sentries. The _barriere_ of Paris!--shining out into the night.
Two days in Paris followed; every hour crowded with talk, and the vivid
impressions of a moment when, from beyond Compiegne and Soissons--some
sixty miles from the Boulevards--the French airmen flying over the
German lines were now bringing back news every morning and night of
fresh withdrawals, fresh villages burning, as the sullen enemy
relaxed his hold.
On the third day, a most courteous and able official of the French
Foreign Office took us in charge, and we set out for Senlis on a morning
chill and wintry indeed, but giving little sign of the storm it held
in leash.
To reach Senlis one must cross the military _enceinte_ of Paris.
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