Fighters for Peace

unexplored Dark Continent. It was certain that this could be done only by conquering Timbuktu, the stronghold of the hostile, treacherous tribes. An expedition was put in command of Colonel Bonnier, a brilliant, dashing officer who was in every way the ideal figure of a conquering hero. He chose Commandant Joffre to lead the supporting force of a thousand men who were to furnish reserves and bring along the provisions and ammunition. "Joffre is steady and prudent; we know we can depend on him," said the leader. There came a day when a hunted remnant of Colonel Bonnier's men fled to join Joffre's small band. Their leader had been overwhelmed by a sudden attack that found him unprepared, and he, with eleven of his officers, had been slain. The panic-stricken survivors thought only of retreat and escape, but Joffre quietly took command and led a successful march through desert waste and jungle, bristling with enemies, to Timbuktu. Outof a company of a thousand men, two-thirds of whom were porters and laborers, together with the survivors of the first expedition, Joffre organized a fighting unit who forged ahead with a morale that spelled success, ready at any moment to forestall sudden assaults and to meet the enemy in battle array. "One may surprise, but to be surprised is simply criminal," he said. They tell us that during this time he went for days without sleep. One of his eyes, was, moreover, stung by a poisonous insect and became terribly in...