"This Yorkshire regiment has had hard luck. Only one other regiment in
the Expedition has had worse. They have marched from the Belgian
frontier, and they have been in four big actions in the retreat--Mons,
Cambrai, Saint-Quentin, and La Fere. Saint-Quentin was pretty rough
luck. We went into the trenches a full regiment. We came out to
retreat again with four hundred men--and I left my younger brother
there."
I gasped; I could not find a word to say. He did not seem to feel it
necessary that I should. He simply winked his eyelids, stiffened his
stern mouth, and went right on; and I forgot all about the Uhlans:--
"At La Fere we lost our commissary on the field. It was burned, and
these lads have not had a decent feed since--that was three days ago. We
have passed through few towns since, and those were evacuated,--drummed
out and fruit from the orchards on the roadsides is about all they have
had--hardly good feed for a marching army in such hot weather. Besides,
we were moving pretty fast--but in order--to get across the Marne,
toward which we have been drawing the Germans, and in every one of these
battles we have been fighting with one man to their ten."