Page:Armistice Day.djvu/166

144 Americans east of the Meuse that the armistice has been signed and that we would stop firing at eleven. At 9:50 we went over the top, and by eleven had pushed the Boche back a kilometer and a half. Just before eleven the Boche took out their watches and fired until the second hands indicated the hour. Then they rushed forward crying 'Kamerad,' and tried to embrace us. They said they had learned to consider us their most worthy foes, and had no hard feelings for Americans. But our men had been instructed not to fraternize and the Boche met with a cold reception.

"There was no noticeable cheering or celebrating then by the Yanks. But it was remarkable how Americans abruptly appeared from nowhere, so that the whole landscape, which had previously been dead and deserted, suddenly swarmed with life and movement."

That evening, from Switzerland to the North Sea, the line which had been dark for four years glowed with bonfires, and Verey lights hung in the sky, no longer the torches of death. All the pleasant sounds of peace returned to that devastated land. Dogs barked, cows mooed, and Frenchmen will tell you that the cock of France, awakened by the unaccustomed illumination, crowed triumphantly all through that memorable night.