LETTERS WRITTEN BEFORE GOING INTO THE
ATTACK, CHÂLONS-SUR-MARNE,
ELEVEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT.
April 16, 1917.
To Captain Noël D——
My dear friend:
I regret that I was not able to grasp your hand to-night—I leave in a moment to join the Morocco Division——[32]
If you receive this letter, you will know I have fallen in the attack on Mont-sans-nom. Do not pity me. When I was a child, I experienced then a profound emotion in reading the lines of the Cid——
"To die for country is not a sad fate,
In death there is glorious immortality!"
This is not the time to grow sentimental, because I have only a few minutes more—It is raining hard outside and I have builded a roaring wood fire in my room—I have burned not a few of my old papers, as you advised me——
If I am unlucky, you will find a letter which I wish you would send to Madame X—— together with some bric-à-brac and souvenirs you will find in my room——
There is also a box on which is written "Destroy in case of my death": burn it!
I wish to thank you, my dear friend, for all you have done for me since I have known you—You have been to me a devoted brother and I have for you a deep affection——