A faded wreath,
which evidently was weeks old, lay at the bronze feet of the three
figures. But the institute behind the monument was an institute no
longer. It had become, over night as it were, a lazaret for the
wounded. Above its doors the Red Cross flag and the German flag were
crossed--emblems of present uses and present proprietorship. Also many
convalescent German soldiers sunned themselves upon the railing about
the statue. They seemed entirely at home. When the Germans take a town
they mark it with their own mark, as cattlemen in Texas used to mark a
captured maverick; after which to all intents it becomes German. We
halted a moment here.
"That's French enough for you," said the young officer who was riding
with us, turning in his seat to speak--"putting up a monument to glorify
three francs-tireurs. In Germany the people would not be allowed to do
such a thing. But it is not humanly conceivable that they would have
such a wish. We revere soldiers who die for the Fatherland, not men who
refuse to enlist when the call comes and yet take up arms to make a
guerrilla warfare.
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