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150 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
a second time, and listened once more to the inspiriting strains
of the parade march.
On our return to Vouziers the General handed me over to
the care of Cavalry Captain von Behr, a brother of the
Chamberlain. He was a merry and lively gentleman, and
when the General asked him to show me every attention, he
promised that I should want for nothing. And he kept his
word, for during the period of fully a week which I spent with
him and his comrades, I had occasion to see and learn much,
and to make the acquaintance of many notable and estimable
men, von Behr had retired from the army long ago, but on
the outbreak of the war he had re-entered the service in a
cuirassier regiment and was now in command of a reserve
squadron. His troop was now quartered in the barracks of
the 3rd French Cuirassier Regiment. As the day was not yet
spent he immediately proposed—like a true cavalryman
—
a visit to a riding-school which had been fitted up as stables
and barracks. There we found the horses well-groomed and
well-shod, in their stalls along the walls, while the men had
arranged their beds on a litter of unthreshed wheat. The oat
sacks were lying piled in large stacks. The bridles, saddles,
arms and accoutrements were suspended on brackets and
pillars. The interior of this stable, and of another immediately
adjoining it, presented an aspect of military order, discipline
and precision, which ensured that in case of need the squadron
could be in the saddle, fully equipped, in a few minutes.
A third building in the same grounds had been assigned to
the French prisoners and their German guard. Thus the
strangers were neither better nor worse provided for than the
cuirassiers. They had arranged their beds in the best possible
way along one of the walls. Armed with sketch-book and pen,
I paid several visits to them during the following days.
Lastly we also looked in at the barracks, now fitted up as
a clearing hospital. We had the best imaginable cicerone, the
head surgeon himself. Dr. Zinsser of Cologne. He was famous
as a physician and surgeon. As a man he was charming and
fascinating. It was always a great pleasure to me to meet
him and hear him talk of the experience he had already gained
during the war, and which had induced him to introduce many
alterations and improvements in the hospital arrangements.
We made a hurried round through some of the hospital
wards, where nurses and Catholic friars were passing softly
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