Another silence. The square jaws set a little more firmly. Then: "Carry on!" says our host.
[CHAPTER II.]
ARRAS, THE WOUNDED TOWN.
While I was in the British lines I visited Arras.
Everyone knows that since February of this year this ancient town has been included in that part of the front which is held by our Allies.
Soldier or traveller, whoever enters the ruins of Arras, is subject to the strictest regulations, which have been imposed for the sake of the security of individuals and the preservation of the general order. The steel helmet is obligatory, as is the gas mask.
Numerous notices instruct us "not to move about except upon the footpaths and hugging the walls. It is absolutely forbidden to use the middle of the roadway." A useful precaution in a town whose outskirts are held by the Germans.
The town is divided into districts. On notice-boards are posted various directions such as, "Rendezvous Place No. 1." For there is no longer any Grande Place or Petit Place or any other spots whose names are known to the people of Arras—only Place 1, 2, 3, and so on.
I have noted, in this connection, the following, as a novel example of organisation and forethought: