I arrived at Nieuport-Baths along the river Yser with Captain Ricard, who said to me:
"With all that racket, to-day, we are sure to find the Admiral and Commandant Delage——"
At the moment we reached the locks we were well serenaded—the shells literally rained around us. At regular intervals the larger ones burst in the city. Abject ruins—I no longer recognized this once lively little city which I visited during my childhood, dead and deserted to-day!
Finally we came, about four o'clock, to the admiral's shelter, where we found him, with Commandant Delage and the chaplain.
I was received with smiles and hearty handshakes; on similar days one is always sure to be received by the admiral in a most charming manner.
"Lucky chap," he said, "well have you chosen the day of your first visit to Nieuport. What a bombardment, hey! fortunately all goes well, practically no losses—that right, Delage?"
Commandant Delage smiled all over.
"Yes, admiral."
At that moment a shell burst so close that pictures were torn from the walls and a chair was turned upside down. A cloud of dust spouted through the ventilating shaft—at the same time we heard a rumbling of falling walls, the clattering of splintered glass and broken tiling falling on the ground.
