[1] All numerals throughout these volumes are for the purpose of
enumerating the various stories and episodes herein told--they have no
relation to the chapters in the original sources.
MY VISIT TO KING ALBERT--THE KING WHOSE THRONE IS THE HEARTS OF HIS
PEOPLE
"_I Am Bound on a Mission from the President of France_"
_Told by Pierre Loti, of the French Academy, and Captain in the French
Navy_
This master of the modern school of French letters offered his
services to his Country at the outbreak of the War. As Captain
Julien Viaud, of the Naval Reserve, this famous author was assigned
to the dockyards. He longed for more active service and appealed to
the Minister of Marine: "I should accept with joy, with pride, any
position whatsoever that would bring me nearer to the fighting line,
even if it were a very subordinate post, one much below the dignity
of my five rows of gold braid." With his masterful touch Pierre
Loti is immortalizing the War in literature. The story here told
of his visit to King Albert, of Belgium, is from his notable story
entitled "War" in which he describes with simple but touching words
his encounters with wounded soldiers, sisters of mercy and homeless
little Belgian orphans. This one story from his book of twenty-five
inspiring chapters is reproduced by permission of his publishers, _J.
B. Lippincott Company_: Copyright 1917.