I went over all that new ground of ours, out from Noyon to Chaulny and Barisis and the floods of the Oise by La Fère; out from Ham to Holmon Forest and Francilly and the Epine de Dullon, and the Fort de Liez by St. -Quentin; and from Péronne to Hargicourt and Jeancourt and La Verguier. It was a pleasant country, with living trees and green fields not annihilated by shellfire, though with the naked eye I could see the scarred walls of St. -Quentin cathedral, and the villages near the front-lines had been damaged in the usual way. It was dead quiet there for miles, except for short bursts of harassing fire now and then, and odd shells here and there, and bursts of black shrapnel in the blue sky of mild days.

“Paradise, after Flanders!” said our men, but I knew that there was a great movement of troops westward from Russia, and wondered how long this paradise would last.