A correspondent describes what occurred in a momentary lull in the tumult. A young girl, excited, ardent, patriotic, in a clear call, was distinctly heard above the cries of the vast assembly as she shouted, "Vive Joffre, who saved us from defeat! Vive Pershing, who brings us victory!"
Instantly the crowd responded and for a moment it seemed as if the excitement would break all bounds. The applause became deafening. The vast assemblage took up the moving words of the unknown young girl. "Vive Joffre!" "Vive Pershing!" rose in a wild cry of joy and hope. Indeed, long after the two soldiers had withdrawn and the balcony of the Military Club was no longer occupied, the enthusiastic crowd refused to depart and the streets still resounded with "Vive Joffre!" "Vive Pershing!" Pleased General Pershing must have been by the wild demonstration of the affection and hope, and yet he must also have been made intensely serious by the appeal of two great peoples to lead them to a victory that should forever put an end to the savagery and the cruelty which the German nation, wherever it touched the world through its army, was manifesting as the controlling motive in its life.
CHAPTER XIV
A Wreath for the Tomb of Lafayette
The official calls and the ceremonies that were designed both to recognize formally the full meaning of the entrance of the United States into the world war and to arouse a fresh enthusiasm in the French people were almost at an end. General Pershing announced that on the following day he intended to begin the work for which he had come. Already the headquarters of the American Army had been established at the Rue de Constantin and the work there was in full operation.
However, there were two other visits which the American commander desired to make while he was in Paris. In Picpus Cemetery, Paris, was the tomb of Lafayette. The friendship of the young marquis, his enthusiasm for the ideals of democracy and the aid he had given the colonies in America in their struggles for independence nearly a century and a half before this time, had made his name as familiar as it was beloved in the United States. He had been the personal friend of Washington, his visit to America after the new nation had been formed, his gifts and his example alike had added to the esteem in which he was held there. As Lafayette had come from France to help America so now Pershing had come from America to help France. What could be more fitting than for the American commander to manifest publicly the memories of the deep appreciation which clustered about the name of Lafayette?
Accordingly General Pershing and a half-dozen of his officers were taken to the tomb in Picpus Cemetery. There the little party was met by the Marquis and the Count de Chambrun who are direct descendants of Lafayette. Two orderlies carried a wreath of American Beauty roses which was to be placed on the tomb of the ardent young Frenchman. There were no formal or public services—the occasion being more like a token of the personal feelings of the representative of one great nation for the honored dead who had been the representative of another. The oft quoted remark of General Pershing, "Lafayette, we are here," added to the impressiveness.
General Pershing was welcomed at the cemetery quietly by the two descendants of Lafayette and by them was conducted to the tomb. The General and his fellow officers stood at salute while the orderlies were placing the wreath of roses on the marble slab that marked the final resting place of the brave and brilliant young French soldier.