‘Some Russians will live, now, who would have died . . . that
is some good in a world gone wrong. . . .’
But then the great offensive began in France. The tension and
anxiety grew acuter, day by day. More news of the German advance,
more Americans arriving in France, and we wondered which would
come the fastest. Even in the streets, when one went out, one
could feel the general anxiety, and see it in the people’s faces
as they passed.
In April, came the famous Army Order of Lord Haig, when he said:
‘Our back is to the wall.’
Walter came in with the _Sunday Evening Telegram_, and threw it
on the table, and a sense of dread and insecurity came with him
into the room.
He said:
‘This is the end of everything!’
And I thought of Guy and Hugo, out there in France, with the
Germans pressing them back, step by step. There seemed so many
Germans, and so few with them.