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Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury), 1876-1944

"Paths of Glory Impressions of War Written at and Near the Front"

The
whip, I believe, signifies dominion, and sometimes brute force.
Beyond the tableland, and along the succession of gentle elevations
which ringed it in to the south, the pounding of the field pieces went
steadily on, while Von Zwehl lectured to us upon the congenial subject
of what he here had done. Out yonder a matter of three or four English
miles from us the big ones were busy for a fact. We could see the smoke
clouds of each descending shell and the dust clouds of the explosion,
and of course we could hear it. It never stopped for an instant, never
abated for so much as a minute. It had been going on this way for
weeks; it would surely go on this way for weeks yet to come. But so far
as we could discern the General paid it no heed--he nor any of his
staff. It was his business, but seemingly the business went well.
It was late that afternoon when we met our third general, and this
meeting was quite by chance. Coming back from a spin down the lines we
stopped in a small village called Amifontaine, to let our chauffeur,
known affectionately as The Human Rabbit, tinker with a leaky tire valve
or something.


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