Here is part of the description of scenes on the battlefields on the
banks of the Marne as told to a Paris correspondent by an eyewitness:
“The greatest optimism reigns. I saw the remains of blown-up bridges and
hundreds of lifeless horses and mules in the deserted trenches. Dead
soldiers had been buried and the wounded cared for, and some priests
were throwing burning brushwood on carcasses.
“In the blazing sunshine not far away I saw a little boy, son of a
Turco--for the Turcos often bring their wives and children on or near
the battlefield.
“He had a rifle of some wounded soldier which he was hugging in his
little arms as if it were a toy. He was perfectly happy surrounded by
evidences of death, destruction, suffering and blood. His father was
lying wounded in a village close by. The child had strayed away.”