Over on the other side of the house, 40 feet to the right of it, was
another hedge behind which was a French battery of .75's. This battery
had been through the Marne and they were veterans of the finest order,
the very cream of the French artillery service, and their Captain was an
educated gentleman, speaking English as fluently as his native tongue.
They had come up from the Champagne district to reinforce the position
at Ypres and their battery also consisted of six guns, each gun capable
of 24 shells a minute.
In appearance these guns are the last in the world to give one the
impression of supreme efficiency; when we saw them coming down the road
we wondered what they could be and were amazed when informed that they
were the famous .75's that had made the work of the French guns ring
throughout the world; we couldn't at first bring ourselves to believe
that these were the famous guns until we saw them at work, because there
is nothing in the general aspect of the piece to make one think that
they are any better, if as good, as our old field pieces.
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