THE BEAUTIFUL PARISIAN PRINCESS,
THE GREAT DUNE.
March, 1915.
We are going to install an electrical machine on the right bank of the river Yser. My men are bringing the heavy box in which it was transported. With its timbers protruding from each end, which makes the carrying less difficult, the gray covering looks more like a sedan chair.
And I think of a pretty princess taking her daily promenade along the edge of the water, which is unusually beautiful——
The weather, alas, is very bad, and the men are tired. The first rays of the spring sun have not come to warm the earth. In fact my poilus have more the air of carrying a funeral urn.
"Hey," I shouted, addressing them, "what would you say if you had a beautiful Parisian Princess in that box?"
"What would I say," returned an old corporal, "what would I say? I would say nothing, but I would put her in my bunk to warm my feet, and you fellows could battle among yourselves!"
LA CORVÉE, THE GREAT DUNE.
April, 1915.
The rumble of the surf and the noise of the big guns do not sound well together.