We slept that night at Epernay, in the heart of the Champagne
district. The soil of France is doing its best to keep the vines in
perfect condition and to provide a good vintage to be drunk later to
celebrate the victory of France and her Allies. The keeping of the
roads in good condition is necessary for the rapid carrying out of
operations on the Front, and a "marmite" hole is promptly filled if
by a lucky shot the German batteries happen to tear up the
roadway. We were proceeding casually along one road when a
young officer rode up to us and told us to put on speed because
we were under fire from a German battery which daily landed one
or two shells in that particular portion of the roadway. It is
wonderful how obedient one becomes at times! We promptly
proceeded to hasten! After visiting General Debeney and obtaining
from him the necessary authorisation and an officer escort, we
entered Rheims.
The cathedral is now the home of pigeons, and as they fly in and
out of the blackened window-frames small pieces of the stained
glass tinkle down on to the floor. The custodian of the cathedral
told us that during the night of terror the German wounded, lying in
the cathedral, not realising the strength and beauty of the French
character under adversity, feared, seeing the cathedral in flames,
that the populace might wreak vengeance on them, and that it was
exceedingly difficult to get them to leave the cathedral. Many of the
prisoners fled into corners and hid, and some of them even
penetrated into the palace of the Archbishop, which was in flames.
All the world knows and admires the bravery of the cure 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 confreres
endeavoured to praise him he replied: "My friends, I never before
realised how easy it was 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 on a hole yourself."
After lunch we went out to the Chateau 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.
We went later to call on the "75," chez elle. Madame was in a
particularly comfortable home which had been prepared for her
and where she was safe from the inquisitive eyes of the Taubes.
The men of the battery were sitting round their guns, singing a
somewhat lengthy ditty, each verse ending with a declamation and
a description of the beauty of "la belle Suzanne." I asked them to
whom Suzanne belonged and where the fair damsel resided. "Oh,"
they replied, "we have no time to think of damsels called 'Suzanne'
now. This is our Suzanne," and the speaker affectionately gave an
extra rub with his coat sleeve to the barrel of the "75." By a
wonderful system of trench work it is possible for the gunners, in
case of necessity, to take refuge in the champagne vaults in the
surrounding district, and it is in the champagne vaults that the
children go daily to school, with their little gas masks hanging in
bags on their arms. It appears that at first the tiny ones were
frightened of the masks, but they soon asked, like their elders, to
be also given a sack, and now one and all have learnt at the least
alarm to put on their masks. There is no need to tell the children to
hurry home. They realise that it is not wise to loiter in the streets for
fear of the whistling shells. They are remarkably plucky, these
small men and women of France.
During one furious bombardment the children were safe in the
vaults, but one small citizen began to cry bitterly. He was
reproached by his comrades for cowardice, but he replied
indignantly: "I fear nothing for myself. I am safe here, but there is
no cellar to our house, and oh, what will happen to the little
mother?" The teacher reassured him by telling him that his mother
would certainly take refuge in somebody's else cellar.
On leaving Rheims we passed through various small hamlets
where the houses had been entirely destroyed, and which now
had the appearance of native villages, as the soldiers had
managed to place thatched roofs on any place which had any
semblance of walls standing.
At Villars Coterets the Guard Champetre sounded the "Gare a
Vous!" Four Taubes were passing overhead, so we took refuge in
the hotel for tea. The enemy did no damage in that particular
village, but in the next village of Crepy-en-Valois a bomb killed one
child and injured five women.