To-day the N.C.O. of the 6th gun, to which I am temporarily attached, called the men round him:
"Les poilus!"[2]
"Here we are!" answered a voluntarily re-enlisted man who was already grey about the temples. "Hairies without a dry hair on our bodies!"
"Listen to this!"
And the N.C.O. in a hoarse voice began to read an order of the day:
"For five days, without interruption or respite, the 6th Army has been engaged in combat with a foe strong in numbers, whose morale has hitherto been exalted by success. The struggle has been a hard one, and the loss of life due to gun-fire, and the exhaustion caused by want of sleep and sometimes food, have exceeded all that could have been imagined. The courage, fortitude, and endurance with which you have borne all these hardships cannot be adequately extolled in words.
"Comrades, the G.O.C. has asked you, in the name of your Country, to do more than your duty; you have responded even more heroically than seemed possible. Thanks to you, victory has now crowned our arms, and now that you know the satisfaction of success you will never let it escape you.
"For my part, if I have done anything worthy of merit, I have been rewarded by the greatest honour which in a long career has fallen to my lot—that of commanding men such as you.
"From my heart I thank you for what you have done, for to you I owe that which has been the aim of all my efforts and all my energy for the last forty-four years—the Revenge for 1870.
"All honour and thanks to you and to all combatants of the 6th Army.
"Claye (Seine-et-Marne) 10th September 1914.
"Signed: Joffre.
"Countersigned: Manoury."
"Hear, hear!" cried some one.