message for the people of France or for the people of America, who made the victory of France possible.
I had gone to seek him as far as the building, at the back of the Invalides, where his office is situated. It is a poor, dull and low building. On a little door an old poster had been pasted upon which this faded inscription can be read: "Military Allied Committee—General Staff of Marshal Foch." I had mounted a dark and chilly staircase and waited in a dimly lighted hall, in the company of an orderly officer. Finally, I had been conducted into a very simple room where a man in civilian clothes was seated behind the most ordinary of desks. Thus I found myself in the presence of the conqueror of Germany; I was in the presence of Foch.
He has retained that same slim and vigorous silhouette which was his during his journey in America in 1921, but his gestures are less abrupt. He still has the same grave and slow tone of voice which Americans have heard, but maybe it has grown somewhat feebler. Anyhow, his memory has remained prodigious: not a single instant, during the hour I remained with him, did I notice any relaxation in it. He remembers everything without any hesitation, and recollects all the names, all the facts and all the dates.
As soon as I had explained the purpose of my
