the french do nothing without a flavoring of sentiment. rhetoric flowers in the official proclamations; it makes one laugh even to read the textbooks for soldiers, they are so strewn with fine, resounding phrases; and so, of course, it was quite impossible for coco’s regiment to get away without one of those stirring, gesticulative speeches by the colonel.
it was at the toulouse railway station—parents in tears. the girls gazed admiringly. gossipy veterans of ’70, seeing themselves reincarnated in these fresh young soldiers, patronized them egregiously with advice. coco and the other lads listened, but11 did not hear; they were smiling at the girls sticking bouquets in their rifle barrels.
“look back for the last time at your homes and your loved ones,” cried the colonel, with all his badges on his breast, “and shed the tear without which our high sacrifice would not have its price. lift up your hearts, and so forth, and so forth, my children—en avant!”
children indeed they were, overflowing with the emotion of the south, these soldiers, and our coco, with a gulp in his throat, seemed even more young than most. the war! how often had he heard it predicted for that year, or the next, or the next—the inevitable war that was to give france her long-hoped-for revenge. now, it was actually here! no more blank cartridges, no more sham battles—war!
but coco’s tears soon dried. they were a merry lot, those twenty-year-old “pioupious,”12 even on that tiresome trip to the front. the youngsters had the worst of it during the mobilization. they sat all that journey on rough-board temporary benches in the luggage vans. starting and stopping, side-tracking and backing—munching the emergency rations (hard tack and canned beef), for mother’s cheese and chocolate didn’t last long—waving and yelling to the patriotic spectators along the line, it took them almost three days to reach chalons.
at the military camp two more days were spent in concentration, exercises, and inspection. the last orders were received. then, at five o’clock in the morning of the sixth of august, the column started for the frontier.
coco was a private in the tenth company of the twentieth regiment of infantry. his army corps, the seventeenth, formed the13 left wing of the fourth army. on their left, paralleling their march, was, first, general ruffey’s cavalry division, and beyond that the fifth army, under general lanrezac. on the extreme left wing of the advance were the british. meanwhile, marching on lorraine and alsace, were the sixth and seventh armies. with all these columns hurrying to the front, filling all the roads, railway transportation was impossible. it was a march of some seventy miles to the frontier.
so, through the lovely forest of argonne, the boys set out, singing and joking as they strode along. it was pleasant enough at first, a romantic adventure; but with his heavy rifle, his heavy cartridge belt and bayonet, and his musette full of food slung over his shoulder, it was not long before poor coco began to get weary. on his back, with his knapsack, and his rolled overcoat and his tin14 bidon and tin gamelle, with the intrenching tool and his share of the company’s baggage, he carried fully sixty pounds. they marched on one side of the road. along the other side automobiles whirled incessantly back and forth, motor busses filled with provisions rumbled along, dispatch bearers on motorcycles, officers on horseback—raising dust a-plenty.
coco’s chum—his “copain”—was fran?ois foulot, the son of a cabinetmaker in toulouse, a big, athletic, kind-hearted chap with a bushy black pompadour. coco had told me about him in paris. the two boys were members of a little musical and dramatic club in toulouse, and had been friends from childhood. you should hear coco tell how, on that long march, fran?ois took care of him, carrying his rifle when coco was tired, carrying even coco’s knapsack for him, helping him grease his boots at15 night when coco’s feet began to blister. fran?ois was like a big brother.
at the nightly bivouacs along the road the two boys always slept side by side; that is, when they slept at all. the excitement (and the hard ground) for the first few nights kept them wide awake, in spite of their fatigue.
“mon dieu, how will this all end?” they asked each other. coco didn’t know, fran?ois didn’t know; but neither thought the war could possibly last more than a few months.
