come or upon which side would lie the ultimate
victory. The seasons came and went in Saint Loup
bringing with them wind and sun and fruition, but
few men remained to care for the land; Eusebe must
work himself in his vineyards, sweating and swearing
as he sprayed and dug and felt the weight of his age
on his back which ached fiercely after a hard day's
digging.
"Sarnipabieune!5 swore Eusebe, 'I will bottle my
wine if I rupture my kidneys! Are my grapes to rot
because all men are knaves and imbeciles with their
hideous war? If I tread my grapes on the coals of
hell my wine shall be not only bottled but sold!9 And
he angrily deluged a quaking plant till its leaves
turned blue with sulphate of copper.
In the streets of the town might be seen the
wounded, who had wandered along from a neigh-
bouring chateau; the chateau was now a convalescent
home being run by a patriotic lady. And quite often
these wounded would stop and gaze at the ancient
church and the picturesque houses, or exclaim with
delight at a group of palms, or point to the tall euca-
lyptus trees, for many of them were clerks from the
north who had passed their lives upon office stools
which had only been left for the mud of Flanders,
Now they limped, supporting their weight upon sticks
or swinging a shattered leg between crutches, or
trying to light a cigarette with a brown-gloved hand,
palpably artificial. Some wheeled themselves in
invalid chairs, manipulating the wheels with much
skill as they eased them over the uneven cobbles;
while others coughed carefully, having been gassed
and sent to Provence because of its climate.
All things considered they were really quite cheerful
and would often visit the Cafe de la Tarasque where
they generally ordered a lemon squash, an iced
------'le or a cup of black coffee. And if Mfere
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