One more instance: A pale, emaciated man of middle age, with both hands amputated, suffering a martyrdom without a murmur, without a reference to what happened to him on the battlefield, accepts with gentle politeness the cakes and chocolates offered to him. Seeing a large letter on his bed, I asked if he had news from home. "No, madame, it is from the government announcing that I am decorated with the Médaillé Militaire and the Croix de Guerre. Please read it to me."
"N———, cannon-servant, was admirable for devotion and sang froid; when a shell wrecked his cannon and killed all his companions, severely wounded himself in both hands, he remained at his post alone, notwithstanding his atrocious pain, to guard the remains of his companions and his cannon."
To people upheld by such ideals, inspired with such patriotism, to whom France means all that is sacred and beautiful, "defeat cannot come." Until the detested enemy has been thrown across the Rhine, no suggestion of peace would be welcome; they will even call on the dead to defend their beloved land, as witnessed in the following story, vouched for by General Zurlinden, from whom I have also obtained some of the above facts:
It would interest all men to know how the now famous cry, "Stand Up, You Dead!" was first shouted forth. On April 8th, 1915, Adjutant Pericard, acting lieutenant of the 95th Regiment of Infantry, found himself in a perilous position. A trench having been taken the day before by the 1st and 3rd Batallions was the object of a violent counter-attack, the occupants were withdrawing, and the trench on the point of being taken by the enemy. Lieutenant Pericard was in reserve, but seeing how badly things were going called for volunteers, and with his little band rushed to arrest the enemy. He succeeded in retaking the trench, but feeling himself abandoned, he looked back and saw only dead and wounded, not another man on his feet. It was then he shouted his famous war-cry: "Stand Up, You Dead!"
Dinard, November 1st, 1916.
A RED CROSS HOSPITAL IN BRITTANY
I
Within the walls of this cool, tranquil place