battalions of British infantry, at a double, over Madame Delbet's little
garden bridge, and they deployed and opened fire on the retreating
Germans. _"A Paris!"_ and _"Plus Paris!"_ are words that
Madame Delbet says will always ring in her ears, for these phrases
exactly describe the picturesque side glimpse of the war that passed in
her pretty little courtyard, lined with rose-bushes, near her rustic
wooden bridge. Professor Pierre Delbet vouches for the implicit accuracy
of this characteristic conversation between his mother and the young
lieutenant-general of the Prussian Guard Corps.




_Saturday, September 12._


Forty-first day of the war. Rain and drizzle with southwesterly wind.
Thermometer at five P.M. 15 degrees centigrade.

Good news. Six days' steady, hard fighting results in a French victory
all along the line of the Marne. The German retreat is general. It is
astonishing to see how quietly and calmly Parisians receive the welcome
news. They are naturally delighted, but there are no wild outbursts of
enthusiasm. They fully realize that this is merely one of the phases of
the long, hard struggle.

Both General-in-Chief Joffre, and the German General Staff, foresaw that
the great battle of the Marne must be decisive. General Joffre, in his
order of the day of September 6, impressed upon his troops that "upon
the coming battle the salvation of the country would depend," and