which was in flames. All the world knows and admires the bravery of the
curé of the cathedral, M. Landrieux, who took upon himself the defence
of the prisoners, for fear insults might be hurled at them. He knowingly
risked his life; but when, next day, some of his confrères endeavoured
to praise him, he replied: "My friends, I never before realised how easy
it is to die."

One of the churches in the city was heavily draped in black, and I asked
the sacristan if they had prepared for the funeral of a prominent
citizen. He told me that they were that day bringing home the body of a
young man of high birth of the neighbourhood, but that it was not for
him that the church was decked in mourning. The draperies had hung there
since August 1914--"Since every son of Rheims who is brought home is as
noble as the one who comes to-day, and alas! nearly every day brings us
one of our children."

We lunched in the hotel before the cathedral, where each shell-hole has
an ordinary white label stuck beside it with the date. The landlord
remarked: "If you sit here long enough, and have the good luck to be in
some safe part of the building, you may be able to go and stick a label
by a hole yourself."

After lunch we went out to the Château Polignac. To a stranger it would
appear to be almost entirely destroyed, but when M. de Polignac visited
it recently he simply remarked that it was "less spoilt than he had
imagined." This was just one other example of the thousands one meets
daily of the spirit of noble and peasant _de ne pas s'en faire_, but to
keep only before them the one idea, Victory for France, no matter what
may be the cost.