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The sister village of Merbes-le-Chateau, another kilometer farther on,
revealed to us all its doors and many of its windows caved in by blows
of gun butts and, at the nearer end of the principal street, five houses
in smoking ruins. A group of men and women were pawing about in the
wreckage, seeking salvage. They had saved a half-charred washstand, a
scorched mattress, a clock and a few articles of women's wear; and these
they had piled in a mound on the edge of the road.
At first, not knowing who we were, they stood mute, replying to
questions only with shrugged shoulders and lifted eyebrows; but when we
made them realize that we were Americans they changed. All were ready
enough to talk then; they crowded about us, gesticulating and
interrupting one another. From the babble we gathered that the German
skirmishers, coming in the strength of one company, had found an English
cavalry squad in the town. The English had swapped a few volleys with
them, then had fallen back toward the river in good order and without
loss.


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