Yet we knew that already the war had taken toll of nearly every man in
uniform who was present about this board. General von Heeringen's two
sons, both desperately wounded, were lying in field hospitals--one in
East Prussia, the other in northern France not many miles from where we
were. His second in command had two sons--his only two sons--killed in
the same battle three weeks before. When, a few minutes earlier, I had
heard this I stared at him, curious to see what marks so hard a stroke
would leave on a man. I saw only a grave middle-aged gentleman, very
attentive to the consul who sat beside him, and very polite to us all.
Prince Scharmberg-Lippe, whom we had passed driving away from the
Prefecture in his automobile as we drove to it in ours, was the last of
four brothers. The other three were killed in the first six weeks of
fighting. Our own companion, Captain Mannesmann, heard only the day
before, when we stopped at Hirson--just over the border from Belgium--
that his cousin had won the Iron Cross for conspicuous courage, and
within three days more was to hear that this same cousin had been sniped
from ambush during a night raid down the left wing.
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