They lay sprawling in the road, and had so lately fallen that their rifles still lay under them.

Three miles farther I came upon the advance line of the French army, and for the remainder of the day watched a most remarkable artillery duel, which ended with Soissons in the hands of the Allies.
Soissons is a pretty town of four thousand inhabitants.

It is chiefly known for its haricot beans, and since the Romans held it under Caesar it has been besieged many times.

Until to-day the Germans had held it for two weeks.

In 1870 they bombarded it for four days, and there is, or was, in Soissons, in the Place de la Republique, a monument to those citizens of Soissons whom after that siege the Germans shot.