Another day he had seen the most extraordinary of all the spectacles
of the war. All the taxicabs, some two thousand vehicles, conveying
battalions of Zouaves, eight men to a motor car, had gone rolling past
him at full speed, bristling with guns and red caps. They had presented
a most picturesque train in the boulevards, like a kind of interminable
wedding procession. And these soldiers got out of the automobiles on the
very edge of the battle field, opening fire the instant that they leaped
from the steps. Gallieni had launched all the men who knew how to handle
a gun against the extreme right of the adversary at the supreme moment
when the most insignificant weight might tip the scales in favor of the
victory which was hanging in the balance. The clerks and secretaries
of the military offices, the orderlies of the government and the civil
police, all had marched to give that final push, forming a mass of
heterogenous colors.
And one Sunday afternoon when, with his three companions of the "siege"
he was strolling with thousands of other Parisians through the Bois
de Boulogne, he had learned from the extras that the combat which
had developed so near to the city was turning into a great battle, a
victory.
"I have seen much, Madame Desnoyers. . . . I can relate great events."
And she agreed with him. Of course Argensola had seen much! .
Pages:
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497