Far be it from me to say that they will not fight like lions.

If they do, however, it will surprise most of the military men with whom I have spoken on the subject.

As yet all they have done has been to make frequent "pacts with death," to perform unauthorised strategical movements to the rear whenever they have been sent to the front, to consume much liquor, to pillage houses, and--to put it poetically--toy with Amaryllis in the trench, or with the tangles of Nearas' hair.

Their General, Clement Thomas, is doing his best to knock them into shape, but I am afraid that it is too late.

There are cases in which, in defiance of the proverb, it is too late to mend.
Officers in a position to know, assure me that no really serious sortie will be made, but that after two or three days of the sham fights, such as took place to-day, the troops will quietly return into Paris.