No wonder that General PE tain is reported to have
said to two Deputies of the French Chamber : " The load is now off my mind, and I am certain of final success." Unless, then, the Germans are willing to acknowledge defeat, which of course they are not yet willing to do by a long way, they must either try again at Verdun or try somewhere else. In our opinion, the attempt will be made somewhere else, and we still expect it in the north-east corner of France near Belfort, but through an angle of Switzerland. The latest news on Thursday shows that the activity of the Germans at Verdun is, for the time at any rate, dying down. There was a fierce attack delivered by them on Tuesday against Dead Man Hill, but since then the attacks have slackened, though a fierce cannonade is still continued. This is what one would expect, even if the Germans had come to the conclusion that they must try elsewhere. Meanwhile General retain has been pushing a vigorous counter-attack with the bayonet and hand grenades, which has enabled our gallant Allies to recover some parts of the trench lost on Tuesday in the neighbourhood of Dead Man Hill.
