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ON THE WAY TO THE FRONT 23
high roads, all arteries of communication on land and water,
in fact everything that can pass by the name of road is of the
utmost importance in war time, as they are the means of
carrying the troops to the parts where the fighting is going on.
But most important of all are the bridges, especially those
spanning the great rivers. Any accident to one of these bridges
means the severing of an artery for some time ahead. It may
mean the loss of a battle. Everything must run as if it were
greased, in war there must be no miscalculations, no sundering
of the points which join the front with the interior. The
cutting of his lines of communication is a distinct reverse to
the enemy. The profession of the spy and plotter carries
with it little honour and much danger. But had the allies
been able to do so, they would certainly with the aid of enter-
prising emissaries have attempted to destroy the bridges, say
across the Rhine, and thus stop or delay the German advance.
Hence every important bridge throughout Germany has been
guarded with sentries since the beginning of the war, and no
bridge and viaduct is ever without one or two Landsturm men
of middle-age, wearing dark blue uniforms, and in the evenings
and at night grey overcoats ; they pace faithfully up and down
at their posts on the bridges or under arches with arms crossed
and the rifle held vertically inside the left arm, until they are
relieved by their comrades. As the car dashes past with its
fluttering war streamer, they come briskly to attention with
the rifle to the order.
Well, we are now at my dear old Halle on the Saale, where
I once studied geography with the charming and humorous,
one eyed but yet keenly wddeawake Professor Kirchhoff.
Halle is exactly as it used to be. In its main street there are
plenty of people about, mainly children and young people,
for this is the great highway to Merseburg and to the fighting
West, and many military cars dashed past during the hour
we halted in the town. Here also large war maps are exhibited
in the booksellers’ windows, and outside them interested
groups of Halle folk are gathered, mostly schoolboys, who
talk importantly in loud voices of the silt^nt, significant evidence
of the little flags. At Halle another horseshoe nail or maybe a
bit of glass caused tyre Number 2 to burst, and as the accident
happened exactly opposite Schultheiss’s door, von Krum and
I saw in this a direct hint from fate that we wanted a glass of
beer. There we sat and chatted at the table with its many-
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