AUSTRO-ITALIAN MOUNTAIN FRONTIERS 



567 



this levity when I supplement it with the 

 statement of the very profound respect 

 I cherish for these gay "toy soldiers," 

 many of whom have since laid down 

 their young lives at their country's call. 



Certainly no grave apprehensions, no 

 grim cares dulled the sunny days of last 

 July to these merry youths. The service 

 was sometimes "bien dur" to unaccus- 

 tomed legs, for these Chasseurs are not 

 recruited merely from Savoy and Dau- 

 phine ; they are not, like the Kaiserjager, 

 born mountaineers, but are drawn from 

 all France — from the low, sunny Midi, 

 the high tableland of Auvergne, the apple 

 orchards of Normandy, and from city 

 streets ; thus in the summer each must 

 get his training upon mountain roads. 

 In winter there is snow practice with 

 skis and, of course, always gun drill. 



We met them everywhere. At La 

 Grave in number, for a detachment made 

 a two days' halt there ; at St. Christophe, 

 whence a party started on a practice 

 climb over the snow and ice of the ^leije, 

 the "classic" snow peak of the French 

 Alps ; on the Col du Galibier, busy with 

 theodolite and range-finder ; holding im- 

 promptu wrestling matches on the turf 

 by the Alpine garden of Lautaret : march- 

 ing briskly in heavy equipment through 

 Valloire ; kneeling devoutly in the old 

 cathedral at St. Jean de Maurienne. We 

 are accustomed to hearing accounts of 

 religious indifference, even of intoler- 

 ance, in France ; but observation in the 

 south, in Provence, Savoy, Dauphine, did 

 not prove it. I never deliberately counted, 

 but certainly the balance between men 

 and women in the churches, at mass or 

 in private devotion, seemed better than at 

 home and the congregations larger. One 

 can fancy how many candles burn today 

 before Jeanne d'Arc, there in the dim 

 churches, where many a gay young sol- 

 dier has reverently bent the knee. 



Now mother or sister, sweetheart or 

 wife, implore the soldier-maid's protec- 

 tion with bitter tears ; then Jean or Louis, 

 Andre or Martin asked it blithely and 

 strode out gaily into the sunshine. 



IvOVE OF COUNTRY IN VARYING DEGREES 



If the Kaiserjager love Tyrol because 

 it is "their own land," the Chasseurs- 

 Alpins love Dauphine because they have 



chosen it. The old provincial divisions 

 do not divide as once they did, although 

 one proud batelier on the Tarn did insist, 

 arrogantly, "I — I am a Frenchman" that 

 we might not think him of Cevennes or 

 Auvergne. 



When asked his native place he said, 

 proudly, "Havre !" puffing out his already 

 well-inflated chest ; but on the suggestion 

 that he was then a Norman, he turned 

 his back upon me and spoke no other 

 word. I learned from that not to dispute 

 a provincial's claim on France. 



Apparently the Chasseurs enjoy their 

 term of service in the mountains. If oc- 

 casionally it is hard, it has compensations 

 to those appreciative of natural beauties, 

 and many of these lads seemed very 

 keenly alive to them. Many an enthusi- 

 astic comment we heard on the splendor 

 of a great glacier glistening in the moon- 

 light, of a tall rock-needle glowing in the 

 setting sun : a high, sunny meadow spread 

 with a million blossoms, all swaying in 

 the breezes ; a great ravine, dusky, grim, 

 where noisy waters ran. 



AETER WORK — PLAY 



There was much hard work, but there 

 was some play. Often after a hard day's 

 climb a good whistler could set a dozen 

 couples dancing on the soft, springy turf, 

 while wrestling matches came off at most 

 unexpected moments and without for- 

 malities. 



WHERE PHYSICAL STRENGTH COUNTS 



The soft, dark blue tam-o'-shanter, 

 even when worn at a rakish tilt over one 

 snappy eye, is not as picturesque as the 

 Tyrolean feathers ; nor are the men, as 

 a whole, so well uniformed. The best- 

 dressed officers, the worst-clad privates 

 in Europe — that has always been France's 

 reproach. The Chasseurs- Alpins, how- 

 CA'er, are trimmer in appearance and less 

 conspicuous in color than other French 

 troops. They are selected for physical 

 strength apparently and love to test it by 

 lifting and carrying cannon or incredible 

 rounds of ammunition. They figure 

 proudly upon post-cards as veritable 

 Samsons in strength, posing not only with 

 cannon, but two or three comrades non- 

 chalantly grouped on their shoulders. 



