War

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <div class="fig">> <ANTIMG border="0" src="images/cover.jpg" width-obs="35%" alt="Book Cover" /></div> <br/> <br/> <hr /> <br/> <br/> <h1> WAR</h1> <br/> <br/> <hr /> <br/> <br/> <h1>WAR</h1> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <h4>BY</h4> <h2>PIERRE LOTI</h2> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <h4>TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY</h4> <h3>MARJORIE LAURIE</h3> <br/> <br/> <br/> <div class="fig">> <ANTIMG border="0" src="images/deco.jpg" width-obs="10%" alt="Publisher's Mark" /></div> <br/> <br/> <br/> <h3>PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON<br/> J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY<br/> 1917</h3> <br/> <br/> <hr /> <br/> <br/> <h5>COPYRIGHT, 1917, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY</h5> <br/> <br/> <h5><i>Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company<br/> The Washington Square Press, Philadelphia, U. S. A.</i></h5> <br/> <br/> <hr /> <br/> <br/> <h3>TO MY FRIEND<br/> <br/> LOUIS BARTHOU, P.L.</h3> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <hr /><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</SPAN></span> <br/> <h2>CONTENTS</h2> <div class="centered"> <table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> <tr> <td class="tdl" width="8%">&nbsp;</td> <td class="tdl" width="82%">&nbsp;</td> <td class="tdr" width="10%" style="font-size: 80%;">PAGE</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">I.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">A Letter to the Minister of Marine</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_9">9</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">II.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Two Poor Little Nestlings of Belgium</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_12">12</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">III.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">A Gay Little Scene at the Battle Front</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_18">18</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">IV.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Letter to Enver Pasha</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_28">28</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">V.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Another Scene at the Battle Front</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_34">34</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">VI.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Phantom Basilica</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_53">53</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">VII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Flag Which Our Naval Brigade do not Yet Possess</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_68">68</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">VIII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Tahiti and the Savages with Pink Skins Like Boiled Pig</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_80">80</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">IX.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">A Little Hussar</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_85">85</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">X.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">An Evening at Ypres</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_95">95</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XI.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">At the General Headquarters of the Belgian Army</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_111">111</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Some Words Uttered by Her Majesty, the Queen of the Belgians</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_127">127</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XIII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">An Appeal on Behalf of the Seriously Wounded in the East</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_139">139</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XIV.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Serbia in the Balkan War</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_148">148</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XV.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">Above All Let Us Never Forget!</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_151">151</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XVI.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Inn of the Good Samaritan</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_157">157</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XVII.<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</SPAN></span></td> <td class="tdl smcap">For the Rescue of Our Wounded</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_174">174</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XVIII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">At Rheims</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_177">177</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XIX.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Death-Bearing Gas</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_192">192</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XX.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">All-Souls' Day with the Armies at the Front</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_205">205</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XXI.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Cross of Honour for the Flag of the Naval Brigade</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_211">212</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XXII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Absent-Minded Pilgrim</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_219">219</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XXIII.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The First Sunshine of March</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_242">242</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XXIV.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">At Soissons</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_265">265</SPAN></td> </tr> <tr> <td class="tdrtp">XXV.</td> <td class="tdl smcap">The Two Gorgon Heads</td> <td class="tdrb"><SPAN href="#Page_299">299</SPAN></td> </tr> </table></div> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <hr /><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</SPAN></span> <br/> <h2>WAR</h2> <br/> <br/> <br/> <br/> <h2>I</h2> <h3>A LETTER TO THE MINISTER OF MARINE</h3> <br/> <p class="noin"><span class="smcap">Captain J. Viaud of the Naval Reserve, to the Minister of Marine.</span></p> <p class="right"><i>Rochefort, August 18th, 1914.</i></p> <p class="noin"><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> <p>When I was recalled to active service on the outbreak of war I had hopes of performing some duty less insignificant than that which was assigned to me in our dock-yards.</p> <p>Believe me, I have no reproaches to make, for I am very well aware that the Navy will not fill the principal r&ocirc;le in this war, and that all my comrades of the same rank are likewise destined to almost complete inaction for mere lack of <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</SPAN></span>opportunity, like myself doomed, alas! to see their energies sapped, their spirits in torment.</p> <p>But let me invoke the other name I bear. The average man is not as a rule well versed in Naval Regulations. Will it not, then, be a bad example in our dear country, where everyone is doing his duty so splendidly, if Pierre Loti is to serve no useful end? The exercise of two professions places me as an officer in a somewhat exceptional position, does it not? Forgive me then for soliciting a degree of exceptional and indulgent treatment. I should accept with joy, with pride, any position whatsoever that would bring me nearer to the fighting-line, even if it were a very subordinate post, one much below the dignity of my five rows of gold braid.</p> <p>Or, on the other hand, in the last resort, could I not be appointed a supernumerary on special duty on some ship which might <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</SPAN></span>have a chance of seeing real fighting? I assure you that I should find some means of making myself useful there. Or, finally, if there are too many rules and regulations in the way, would you grant me, sir, while waiting until my services may be required by the Fleet, liberty to come and go, so that I may try to find some kind of employment, even if it be only ambulance work? My lot is hard, and no one will understand that the mere fact that I am a captain in the Naval Reserve dooms me to almost complete inaction, while all France is in arms.</p> <p class="right">(<i>Signed</i>) <span class="smcap">Julien Viaud</span>.<br/> (<span class="smcap">Pierre Loti.</span>)</p> <br/> <br/> <br/><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</SPAN></span> <br/> <hr /> <br/> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />