operated upon the baby and took a piece of shrapnel from its back, and
once well and strong it constituted itself lord and master and king of
all it surveyed. When it woke in the morning it would call "Papa," and
twenty fathers answered to its call. All the pent-up love of the men for
their own little ones from whom they had been parted for so long they
lavished on the tiny stranger, but all his affection and his whole heart
belonged to the rough miner-soldier who had brought him in. As the
shadows fell one saw the man walking up and down the ward with the child
in his arms, crooning the Marseillaise until the tired little eyes
closed. He had obtained permission from the authorities to adopt the
child, as the parents could not be found, and remarked humorously:
"Mademoiselle, it is so convenient to have a family without the trouble
of being married!"

What we must remember is that the rough soldier, himself blinded with
blood and mud, uncertain whether he could ever reach a point of safety,
yet had time to stoop and pick that little flower of France and save it
from being crushed beneath the _camion_ wheels. I told General Nivelle
that the hospital staff intended to keep the child for the soldier until
the end of the war, and we all hoped that he might grow up to the glory
of France and to the eternal honour of the tender-hearted fighter who
had rescued him.

After lunch we stood for some time watching the unending stream of
_camions_ proceeding into Verdun. I believe it has been stated that on
the average one passed through the village every fifteen seconds, and
that there are something like twelve thousand motor vehicles used in the
defence of Verdun. The splendid condition of the roads and the absence
of all confusion in the handling of this immense volume of traffic is a
great tribute to the organising genius of the chiefs of the French Army.