7\ THIS 15 A 00 G CART WHAT P6 YoO THI^ok£P uks fAtUNGONTHE PfQ GOBLINS D 1 £9% CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY - ^ — d '<-.'. ^__ Cornell University Library D 522.7.E92 3 1924 027 856 180 DADDY PAT OF THE MARINES Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027856180 DADDY PAT OF THE MARINES BEING HIS LETTERS FROM FRANCE TO HIS SON TOWNIE BY LT. COL. FRANK E. EVANS, U.S.M.C. WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS .*-+■ Copyright, 1919, by Frederick A. Stokes Company Copyright, 19 19, by The Century Co All rights reserved #3 3V/^„y X r* . i- V 1 >7 f X ■ ' *0U f,f IJ-'t t-\ ■. . FOREWORD These Letters, as originally written by Lieuten- ant-Colonel Evans, while on active service in France, to his six-year-old boy in America, were patiently and lovingly printed in large and small capital letters, of Big Primer size, so as to be more easily read by a soldier's patriotic little son, just mastering the art of reading. The typography of the present edition of the Letters was chosen partly in order to preserve, insofar as type and printer's ink would permit, something of the distinctive character of the originals ; but largely also, in or- der that as many as possible other little patriots and future soldiers of the Republic might get at first hand from these simple, vivid pages, wisely softened to the measure of young sensibilities, some conception of the sacrifice and the heroism of many other fathers and uncles and friends of the older generation in helping to save civilization from the grimness and menace of the Great World War. m DADDY PAT OF THE MARINES DADDY PAT OF THE MARINES Somewhere in France, Nov. 15, 1917. Dear Townie : Daddy should have written you a letter about his trip over the big blue ocean to France on the Navy ship be- fore, BECAUSE YOU'LL WONDER WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SAIL ON A BIG SHIP FULL OF MA- RINES GOING OVER TO LICK THE OLD KAISER AND HIS LONG-LEGGED RAT FACE SON. AND you'll WANT TO KNOW WHETHER WE SAW ANY WHALES, OR BIG ICEBERGS WITH POLAR BEARS PLAYING MARBLES OR ROLLING HOOPS [3] OR FISHING FOR CRABS WITH THJfciK iailo, ur if we saw any german subs or tin liz- zies and got blown up. but we must have passed the whales at night and it was too warm for icebergs and we didn't see any subs or perhaps you wouldn't get this letter. and maybe you know some nice kids whose daddies are going to france and then you can tell them all about it. and you saw the big ship sail from the navy yard early that cold day just a month ago and you looked awful cold and small from the tall deck daddy was on and holding on to your pretty mother's hand. and maybe you know how brave she was to stand there like a soldier and see the ship sail away until she couldn't see Daddy any more, just a gray dot mov- ing DOWN THE RIVER TO THE BIGGEST WAR IN THE WORLD. [4] And as soon as we got out to sea we had to have a lot of sea drills and every- body had to learn what boat to run to if the Captain told the Quartermaster on the bridge to blow the siren whis- tle. Then, there would be a fine racket The S»*£n sotHUDED LtKfc fc THOUSAND OV THIS because the old siren would howl and wail and scream and cry and then die down to a tiny whisper like a sick cat and then start all over again, and just like a thousand babies that a thousand bad boys had robbed of a thousand sticks of candy would howl and wail and scream and cry until they could only make a whisper. and then big gongs WOULD RING LIKE MAD ALL OVER THE SHIP AND THE BLUE JACKET BUGLER AND RANKIN, THE MACHINE GUN BUGLER, WOULD GRAB UP THEIR BUGLES AND BLOW UNTIL THEIR CHEEKS LOOKED LIKE BIG RED APPLES. AND NO MATTER WHETHER YOU WERE EATING OR SLEEPING OR READING OR AT SOME OTHER DRILL YOU'D HAVE TO GRAB UP YOUR LIFE PRESERVER AND RUN TO YOUR BOAT. AND TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM GETTING STUCK ON A LADDER WHERE THERE WAS ONLY ROOM FOR ONE, AND ONE WANTED TO GO TO A BOAT AT ONE END OF THE SHIP AND ONE TO THE OTHER END, WE HAD TO PUT MARINE SEN- TRIES AT ALL THE LADDERS. AND WE HAD TO WEAR THE LIFE PRESERVERS OR TIE THEM ON AROUND OUR WAISTS ALL THE TIME AND I GUESS WE LOOKED FUNNY. AND WE WOULD FALL IN RIGHT BY THE BOATS AND THEY'D LOWER THEM ALMOST INTO THE OCEAN AND WE'D SHIN DOWN A NARROW [6] WOBBLY SEA LADDER. DADDY WAS IN A WHALEBOAT AND BESIDES THE BOATS THERE WERE GREAT BIG LIFE RAFTS MADE OF CORK THAT WERE JUST LIKE GREAT BIG CRULLERS THAT WOULD HOLD UP 40 MEN, SOME HANG- ING ON INSIDE AND SOME OUTSIDE THE CRULLER. AND BESIDES DRILLS AND SCHOOLS AND CLASSES TO LEARN FRENCH ALL THE OFFICERS HAD TO CLIMB UP THE TWO BIG MASTS TO LITTLE PLATFORMS JUST LIKE THIS «S HOW it PELT TO CLIMB THE R.OPS UDD6R IN 8AD W6ATHER BIRDS' NESTS TO WATCH FOR THE TIN LIZ- ZIES or the German fleet if it got loose. You'd climb up the big rope ladders [7] that they call rat lines and then when you got right under the plat- form you'd have to twist around and squeeze up through a hole in the bot- tom of the platform. and if the ship was rolling it was no fun going up, but it was nice and cozy up in the top un- less you were seasick, but daddy didn't get seasick. but there were two young lieutenants who were both fat and sea- sick at first, but they were game and up they went. and there were always two bluejackets in the top, too, with spy glasses. and daddy found one of them had been an elevator boy in the Biltmore Hotel in New York and he didn!'t care how high up he was. We had six big ships loaded down with sol- diers and two of them were bigger than ours, but our ship led them because it was a Navy ship and had more guns. [8] And we sailed all day and night in two columns with our ship at the head of one column and a big navy cruiser at the head of the other with a real Admiral on her and his blue flag with the two white stars looked fine. and if any subs showed up, then our two ships would have to fight them and save the other ships. so the gun crews had to be at the guns all day and all night — not the same crews — and they had special uniforms for bad weather made of khaki-colored waterproof called "Weather Proofs" with big hoods over their heads so they looked like big fat monks behind the gun, and i don't think they were happy sailors because a foolish tin lizzie didn't pop up every few hours. but every few days they'd tow a target behind the cruiser that looked like a periscope and our [9] GUNS WOULD FIRE AT IT AND IT WAS AWFUL HARD TO HIT BECAUSE IT WOULD BOB UP AND DOWN LIKE AN OLD DUCK DIVING AND ALL YOU COULD SEE LOOKED LIKE A FEATHER OF WATER. AND ON THE STERN OF OUR SHIP WERE A LOT OF BOMBS THAT LOOKED LIKE OLD ASH CANS AND FULL OF GUN COT- TON, AND IF AN OLD SUB CAME UP BEHIND, AN OLD SAILOR WITH A MUSTACHE LIKE AN OLD SEA LION WOULD PULL A ROPE AND AN OLD ASH CAN WOULD ROLL DOWN A LITTLE TfnS IS A G£RMAN TIN U2.Z.l£ BBIUC BLOWN up trough and go splash ! and go down a little ways and bust wide open bluwie ! And the old tin lizzie would open up [io] like a busted watermelon and old davy Jones would get all the nasty Heinies and fritzies and keep them down at the bottom of the ocean hunting for all the poor dear little babies they had drowned. And sometimes the Admiral would pretend he had seen a tin lizzie and a string of flags would go climbing up the mast and then all the ships would zigzag like big fat waterbugs so that if the sub fired at a ship it would zig off to port or zag off to starboard and fool the torpedo. some days were fine and sunny with the ocean as smooth as a little pond and 20 miles all around there would be a perfect circle to where the sky came down and everybody was out on deck and you could hear the old engines going chug! chug! like a big sewing machine and never feel a thing. and some days there DO would be a fine mist and you couldn't see any of the other ships, and some days it was rough, and clear out where the sky came down you'd see the waves against the sky like little tooths of a saw jumping up and down. and some days the ocean was as blue as mary's eyes and some days it was as gray as Ty Cobb's baseball pants, so you see the ocean is always changing. and when it isn't rough it's fine, but when the old ocean gets mad then you can't sleep because one minute your head is way up and the next your feet are way up. And they have to put strips of wood under the table cloth to keep the dishes from flying off at one end, and drink your soup out of cups, and then you can have a fine race with napkin rings and they go rolling down the table and over the strips like hurdles. [I2]~ They had a very funny mess boy on our SHIP AND HIS NAME WAS SlLAS. He WAS from Philadelphia and black as ink, with big white teeth, and at night all the ship had to be dark because of the MW> THIS iS SICAS IN TWS DARK subs and you'd come into the dark ward- room and want something to drink or eat or smoke. and you couldn't see a thing and you'd yell "sllas !" and you'd hear him say "coming, sah !" and then you'd see two rows of white and you'd know it was Silas' teeth, for he was always smiling. And when he enlisted [13] someone told him he'd never have to go more than a hundred miles out to sea. And the first time he went on board they started for france and were half way over, so sllas thought they must have gone nearly a hundred miles AND HE WENT UP TO Dr. BLAIR SPENCER who knew you when you were a little baby in Washington. And Silas said, "Doctor Spencer, when I done 'listed in dis man's Navy they done tole me I'd never get more dan a hundred miles from South Street, Philadelphia." "Well, we've been going East from Philadelphia five days now, Silas." So Silas scratched his head and looked wise And said, "Then you reckon we's gone more dan a hundred miles?" "Nearly fifteen hundred, Silas." "Lawdy!" said Silas. "Dat's goin' some." And then somebody called him and he [14] showed his big white teeth, "comin', Sah!" One night the sunset was beautiful, a great big red sun like an orange and one of the big ships was right in front of it as though it was in a big round frame and the ship looked just like a big Chinese pagoda in a red frame and that night we were only three days from France and in the DANGER ZONE where the subs sink ships. And the next morning along came the tor- pedo destroyers to take us through the danger zone, and the one that steamed alongside of us was one you saw when we lived at the brooklyn navy yard. But you never would have known her. She was all nice and gray then, but to keep the subs from seeing her the blue- jackets HAD GOT EVERY KIND OF PAINT POT THEY COULD FIND AND YOU KNOW HOW SAIL- [15] ors like to paint things. so they painted her smoke stacks an awful blood red and her bows light blue and her stern the color of a lemon, and between the bow and the stern they had stripes and squares and circles of blue and green and pink and yellow and brown and white and her guns were black and green and yellow. and she looked like a silly sea zebra or an old tramp and she made us laugh. so along we went just like a big boy that a traffic cop was leading by the hand across flfth Avenue, and the next day we saw six- teen MERCHANT SHIPS THAT WERE GOING from England to Gibraltar with Eng- lish STEAM FISHING BOATS CALLED TRAWL- ERS, WITH GUNS ON THEM, AND I HOPE THEY ALL GOT THERE. AND THAT DAY WE HAD A BIG SUB SCARE IN THE AFTERNOON. We WERE STEAMING ALONG WITH THE SMOKE [16] FROM THE STACKS TRAILING BEHIND LIKE BIG BLACK FEATHERS AND THERE WERE BITS OF SEAWEED IN THE WATER ALONGSIDE AND A BIG SCHOOL OF LITTLE BLACK AND WHITE PORPOISES SWIMMING AND DIVING ALONG AT THE BOWS JUST LIKE A SEA GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK. AND THERE WERE NO DRILLS AND IT WAS WARM AND SUNNY AND THE MARINES AND BLUEJACKETS WERE SLEEPING ON DECK OR PLAYING CARDS OR HAVING FUN WITH THE DOGS AND THE LITTLE PINK PIG WITH THE KINKY TAIL AND THE WISE LOOKING OLD GOAT WITH THE WHITE BEARD, AND ONE OF THE DOGS WAS A WHITE ONE THE MARINES HAD BROUGHT UP FROM HAYTI AND HE COULD ONLY UNDERSTAND FRENCH, AND SlLAS WAS CALLING "COMIN', SAH !" WHEN "Wow! whee! woof! woof! brr! buzz! kiyi! whoop! whee! whee! whee! whee! yow! woof!" went the old siren. And we thought it might be a drill when bang! [17] bluwie! went a gun. and when the shell hit the water up shot a green and white fountain and then a lot of littler fountains where the shell went skip- ping along like skimming a stone. so i "TNtS fS HOW TM& SHOT SKIPPED ON THE WAT6fc guess we all felt pretty queer looking over the rail for the periscope or a torpedo and i was glad i didn't have to hang onto a cruller raft and the de- stroyers went flying through the sea until their decks were wet and shiny, and the smoke from their stacks was just like Pittsburgh and some ships zigged and some zagged. and that kept up for half an hour and then the cap- [18] tain ordered the bugler to blow "carry on" for the danger was over. but the Captain had seen something sticking up out of the water that looked like a periscope and that's what the gun had fired at. and it may have been a piece of mast only, but we didn't see it again so maybe it was a sub and anyway it was just as exciting. and our good old ship went right along but it would have been funny if a german tin lizzie had sunk her because she was a ship the Navy took from the Kaiser when she sailed into norfolk one day after sinking or capturing a lot of merchant ships. And she was named after one of the Kaiser's sons, not old rat-face, and the Secretary named her after a Gen- eral AND THE BLUEJACKETS CALLED HER "The Old Bucket" for short. She used to sail out in China waters and if she [19] could talk she could tell lots ujb kilstlilk things. and all the china had ger- man on it and all over the ship were long funny german names. well, one night the captain told us we'd see France the first thing in the morning and we did. Every night the ship offi- cers and the Marine officers would sit in a corner of the wardroom that was blocked off by canvas where we could have a light that wouldn't show, and smoke and play cards and tell stories, some funny and some about every part of the world you'd ever heard of. so we had a farewell party because we were all good friends and they had been fine to us and sllas was very busy. the next morning daddy looked out of his porthole and sure enough there was France ! Out on the end of a long, high ridge was a light house and then a lit- [20] tle town and a lot of fishing smacks with red sails and a french gunboat. And we found out at breakfast that two subs were laying for us at the en- trance to the bay where an airship had THIS IS Sll-AS VERY BViSV SEEN THEM. So WE SAILED A FEW MILES OFF OUR COURSE AND WENT IN ANOTHER EN- TRANCE. And two of the destroyers went to hunt the subs and we heard a lot of firing and they wouldn't tell us what happened because they're not al- lowed to talk about it. pretty soon the bay ran into a river and before we knew it we were off a pretty big French town, and splash! went the anchor and we could see the people [21] WALKING ALONG THE STREET THAT WAS NEXT TO THE RIVER, AND A LOT OF PRETTY COUNTRY AND WE WERE CRAZY TO GET ASHORE. And IN THE AFTERNOON up came THE ANCHOR AND WE HEADED IN FOR THE BIG WHARVES AND WE HAD TO GO THROUGH A BIG LOCK LIKE IN A CANAL. AND IT WAS GETTING DARK, SO WE ALL FORMED UP IN DOUBLE RANKS WITH THE BAND IN THE MID- DLE AND THE STREET ALONGSIDE THE LOCK AND THE WINDOWS THAT LOOKED OUT WERE JUST BLACK. We didn't KNOW IT, BUT November i is French Decoration Day or Memorial Day and after decorating all their soldiers' graves and thinking about them i guess it cheered them up to see a big ship come in loaded with American Marines. So Daddy told the band to play the "marseillaise" first, and you should have seen those poor people. Nearly all the ladies and lit- [22} tle boys and girls were dressed in black, and the little boys took off their funny caps and the french soldiers pre- sented arms or snapped their hands up to their helmets the way daddy taught you they did and the marines and bluejackets stood stiff as ramrods and some of the french ladies dabbed their little handkerchiefs to their eyes and that beautiful music just made you tingle clear down to your toes. Then the people cheered and cried "Bravo!" and then the band played a lot of lively tunes and rag- time and that made them laugh. and one little boy with a blue tam'shanter cap and wooden shoes and a blue cape and a little round nose and eyes as black and bright as new shoe buttons kept time with both arms. and every time the band would stop he'd hop up [23] AND DOWN ON HIS WOODEN SHOES AND CRY "Bis! bis! encore!" which means "Do it AGAIN, PLEASE." So BY THE TIME WE GOT this is how the UTTL£ 'PReNCHER. LOOKEEfX£ePfNG TIME WITH BOTH ARMS out of the lock they were cheered up a lot and Daddy knows that sad as they were they could see that uncle sam meant business and that everything would come out right and that the Americans loved France too much to let the wicked old kaiser take it. and then the band played "the star-span- gled Banner," and how they cheered, and the little boy got so excited he [24] WOULD HAVE HOPPED RIGHT INTO THE LOCK IF HIS MOTHER HADN'T HELD ONTO HIS COAT tails. And we were still playing it WHEN we passed one of our big ships that had a whole regiment aboard. and you never heard such a racket. lots of them whistled with two fingers in their mouths and with all their noise and our band playing there was noise enough to satisfy any little boy. and that night some of us went ashore and the next morning we marched down the gangway and formed on the dock. But the regimental colors went ashore first and think how beautiful they looked in the bright sun of france, and what brave and fine things the marines will do for them before we come home again. so we marched up past the docks and the ships and out the big street along the river until we came to the [25] country and then past little stone houses with moss roofs to a big camp. And there was Major Hughes' Battal- ion, THE BIG TALL FUNNY MAJOR WHO'S AL- ways playing jokes and likes little boys like you. And here we are. And there's lots of German prisoners working on the docks and roads and farms with greeny-gray uniforms and funny short boots and little pill box caps with col- ored bands. and lots of them wear specks and look like professors and we won't do a thing to them. and the town is full of french and american soldiers and some french wear their fighting sky blue uniforms and hel- mets and lots wear red breeches and caps and any old thing. and now good-by, and you must take dad- dy's place and be a fine little man. And first and last of all, love your [26] pretty little mother so much that she'll write Daddy and say "You never knew how kind and fine townie is and not a bit of a tessie because last tues- day i saw him take a big boy by the ear t : ^ ^ JUST UKE THIS AND THROW HIM CLEAR OVER A TELEPHONE POLE BECAUSE THE BIG BOY KICKED A LITTLE DOGGIE." AND WHEN MOTHER LOOKS SAD YOU JUST PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND HER AND TELL HER NOT TO WORRY BECAUSE YOU'LL PROTECT HER. GOOD-BY, SONNY, WITH LOVE AND A HUG. Your Daddy, Pat. [27] II Somewhere in France, Dec. 15, 1917. Dear Sonny: Hello, Townie! How is your old STRAW HAT? We LOVE OUR FRANCE, BUT oh, you Chevy Chase! You would like the French boys and girls, they are very polite and pretty, and wear wooden shoes in the country, as they are cheap and easy to clean and keep the mud out of the houses. the country is beautiful, with big trees all along the roads and lots of roses. there are hundreds of little farms where the boys, wom- en, and old men work so that the French soldiers can go to war and kill the Bad Germans. In camp and [29] on the roads there are lots of German and Austrian prisoners in their uniforms with big letters printed on them like this, p. g., which is the French for prisoner of war. French sol- diers IN LIGHT BLUE, WITH GREAT BIG BAYO- nets on their guns, guard them. lots of French, Canadian, and Serbian soldiers come to town on leave and wear gay uni- forms. Some have caps like yours, and some red caps and red breeches. Lots have medals for bravery, and all, except the poor soldiers who have crutches and bandages, look happy and fine. the French love their soldiers and the French soldiers all have girls, but the French ladies love the Marines, too, and are very kind to them, and flirt. the other day a french lady saw daddy and wanted to be kind, so she said "good night." She meant to say "Good eve- [30] NING," BUT THAT WAS ALL THE AMERICAN WORDS SHE KNEW. So DADDY WAS POLITE, TOO, AND SAID "GOOD NIGHT." AND THAT THIS IS THE FRENCH THIS IS DADDY LADY SAYlMS " GOOD SAYlNCi"GOOD MIGHT - ; HlGHV TO DADDY TO THE FRENCH LADY WAS ALL. IN THE TOWN ARE BIG STONE BUILD- INGS, WITH NO GRASS IN FRONT, AND EVERY THING LOOKS VERY OLD. LADIES DRIVE THE this 15 a dog cart street-cars and take up the tickets. There are lots of carts pulled by dogs, and bigger ones pulled by little horses. [31] They only sell candy and cakes three days each week, but they are awful good. Out in the country the houses are little stone ones, with straw roofs. They are very clean and neat, but cold, because wood and coal are hard to get. Thanksgiving Day lots of French peo- ple CAME OUT TO SEE US PLAY FOOTBALL AND laughed a lot. the marines had a tug- of-war. When they finished, all the boys and girls got the rope, and all the Marines got around and the children THIS IS THE MARINE FAU.INQ otf THE Pl CK Ano all the little ducks QOACKINQ | N TRENCH and if the old general could have got his little red cap with the gold oak leaves off, i think he would have waved it, because the marines were very kind to him; but it was tied on tight behind his ears, so he couldn't. Then we marched away with the rifles and packs, all keeping step down a beautiful road with french trees, and over a stone bridge, and through the village with red roofs, to the station. [37] And they had a train with 64 cars — the longest train in france. then we loaded on, and each company put a stove in a baggage-car, with the smoke pipe sticking out the side door, and it looked funny. but while the men were working, the cooks got busy, and we all drank hot coffee out of the tin cups, and ate french stew out of the mess-tins and hardtack. then the MEN GOT IN THE FUNNY CARS. We THOUGHT THEY'D PUT US IN BOX-CARS THAT CARRY 40 MEN AND EIGHT HORSES, BUT NO, boy; THEY HAD NICE CARS ALL DIVIDED INTO THREE OR FOUR PARTS, WITH SEATS, AND CURTAINS FOR THE WINDOWS, AND IT WAS «#*' O BB THIS IS PADDY LOOKING FOR THE BIRO [38] very nice. Then the little whistle went "Tweet! Tweet! Tweetle!" and at first Daddy thought it was a little red bird up on the engine, so he looked, and there was a french soldier sitting in the cab window pulling the bell-rope. And the bugler sergeant sounded "Fall in!" And off we went, but we didn't sing "Oh, Boy !" because we were off to the war and very serious. and when we woke up the next day, the ground was covered with snow. and there were seven other officers in daddy's part of the car and an oil-stove. one JHE BtCfAT OFFICER SNORltfQ OF THE OFFICERS WAS BIG AS UNCLE BUCK, AND TOOK UP AN AWFUL LOT OF ROOM AND SNORED, BUT WE ALL CURLED UP SOME WAY [39] and didn't care. every once in a while the train stopped and the marines got off to exercise ; and twice every day we stopped for an hour, and french sol- diers brought hot coffee in canvas buckets. and it was fine weather, and we stopped at a little french town called Argent, which means "silver," and on one side was a brown river with willow-trees all silver with the snow. THE BIO FRENCH GIRLS THROWlMG SHOVJ BALLS Atit> K»55£5 And on the other side, right above the train, was a big high bluff like a little hill, and a lot of big french girls up there threw snow-balls down at the [40] Marines, and they threw back; and when the little whistle went "tweet! Tweet! Tweetle!" and the bugle went "Tarum-Tarum-Tarum !" some of the Marines threw kisses up the bluff, and the big French girls threw them down. And we went by little towns with no front yards and all clean as new pins, and people waved and cheered, and we waved back and sailed hardtack out of the windows to the kids. and we passed a train full of french soldiers with tin hats, all happy coming back from the trenches to see their pretty wives. And a Marine traded his old campaign [41] HAT FOR A TIN HAT TO A FRENCH SOLDIER, WHO HAD BIG YELLOW WHISKERS AND A BIG YELLOW MUSTACHE AND LOOKED LIKE A STARFISH, LIKE THIS. AND THEN WHAT DO YOU THINK WENT BY? A BIG LOCOMOTIVE WITH AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN THE CAB RUNNING IT! AND EVERYBODY CHEERED. THEN WE PUT A CAN OF RED TOMATOES ON THE OIL-STOVE AND COOKED IT, AND BOUGHT A COLD CHICKEN AND A LOAF OF WAR BREAD, ALMOST AS TALL AS YOU, AND HAD A FINE TIME, AND A BOT- TLE OF RED INK THAT COST 50 CENTS. AND ALL THE TIME THE LITTLE OLD CHOO-CHOO TRAIN AND THE 64 CARS WERE GETTING CLOSER TO THE WAR; BUT IT WAS GOING UP HILL, AND THE LITTLE "TWEET !-TwEET !- TWEETLE !" WHISTLE ALMOST DIED, BECAUSE IT HAD NO STEAM TO BLOW IT AND IT SOUNDED LIKE A LITTLE SICK PUSSYCAT. So WE GOT ANOTHER ENGINE AND HAD TWO [42] WHISTLES, THEN, AND SO AWAY WE WENT AND EVERYBODY CHEERED. AND THEN WE SAW TWO AIRPLANES FLYING, AND CARS WITH BIG GUNS ALL PAINTED GRAY AND GREEN AND YELLOW GOING UP TOO TO KILL THE NASTY THE BIG GUN On THE CAR Germans. And it got so steep that the Marines could hop off and run and keep up and get good exercise. and we saw a lot of stone barracks that were there before the war, and a lot more of wooden barracks that were new. and we had coffee in a town called jamais, which means "never," in france; and there were lots of american soldiers, and Daddy saw an awful pretty French [43] girl who had school-books under her arms and an army device on her hat. And what do you think of that? Maybe the soldier will marry her after the war, and they will go to flatbush and live near the navy yard. And the next time we stopped, Daddy made the men heat water on the stoves in the car to shave, and sweep out all the cars, so everybody would look nice when we got out, and people would ' v \ I ? SHINEY ..CLCAN OH THEr ARE THE 6Trt MARINES! say, "oh, they are the 6th marines !" And then there were not so many towns, only little villages, half as big as Chevy Chase, and old gray houses, and some castles almost as big as the [44] villages. And late one night we got to where Brigadier General Doyen lives, and stayed on board all night; and that made 2 days and 3 nights, and the big officer kept right on snoring all 3 NIGHTS. And THE NEXT MORNING WAS beautiful and no snow, and we made our own hot coffee and ate up all the canned Willie, which the Marines all say is canned Billy-goat, and the beans and hardtack. and got unloaded. and what do you think was one thing we unloaded? the little old ford ambu- WHAT DO YOO THlMKT lance that a nice rich lady gave to Daddy in New York, and Daddy gave to your pretty lady-peach mother, and Mother sold to the Marine Corps for [45] a dollar if they'd cross their heart to send it over to france with the Regiment. And the color sergeants got the two beautiful flags, and away we WENT WITH THE BAND PLAYING "Oh, Boy"; AND WHEN WE WENT PAST THE GENERAL THEY PLAYED "SEMPER FlDELIS." AND THE GENERAL HAD A SILVER STAR ON EACH SHOUL- DER AND A REAL GOLD HAT-CORD, AND EVERY- BODY SALUTED, AND HE SALUTED, AND I GUESS HE THOUGHT THE OLD REGIMENT LOOKED FINE. AND THEN WE LEFT THE TOWN, AND I CAN'T WRITE THE NAME BE- 6 OT WAIT Tiui- .„ TOMORROW! HAOTHe* MEVER LETS VoU 5WEA.R OM 5UM0AY CAUSE MOST OF IT SOUNDS LIKE A SWEAR- WORD, AND YOU MIGHT GET THIS ON SUN- [46] day, and Mother never lets you swear on Sunday, but it's like the word in Kipling that starts, "As I was a-spitting into the ditch alongside of the croco- dile, I SEED A MAN ON A MAN-O'-WAR dressed up in the reg'lars style"; and then it tells all about the bullet, and it's a d tough bullet to chew- And now you know the first part of The name. And we marched about two miles, and here we are; and i'll tell you all about it in a few days, and it's very nice, but not as nice as chevy Chase, and there's not much snow, and the kids have no sleds. and your pretty mother says you're a fine brave boy, and kind to doggies and birdies, and know how to play football," and daddy is very happy about it. and she says some- times she just can't help it and cries, because she misses daddy so, and then [47] YOU PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND HER AND KISS HER AND COMFORT HER, AND DADDY LOVES YOU FOR THAT AND THINKS YOU'RE JUST AS • -. o mother says You're; ATIUe BRA.VB BOY fine as little wee wlllie wlnkie, who chased the bad mans away from the Lady Peach. So good night, Townie Boy, and a big kiss and a love to give to your Pretty Mother. Daddy Pat. And I bet that's nearly 2,000 words, because my hand is awful tired, but it's fun. [48] IV A Little Town in France, February 26, 1918. Dear Townie: i told you i would write you so you could know about the kids in this funny little town, but daddy has been terribly busy and could not write sooner. There are only 350 people here and more cows and horses than people, great big fat cows, that look like ferry- boats, and the horses have long hair like camels. every night when daddy comes down the hill at five o'clock, just when you and pretty mother and old Fat Joe and Aunt Estelle and Cap- tain Buck are having lunch at home, the street is full of cows going to water in a big stone trough just across [49] from the doctor's office. and the girls drive them down. with sticks, and the old cows run away, and then the town is full of noise. the girls wear wooden shoes, so they have a time catching the cows ; and they yell at them in french, because the cows only know french. Some of the girls are not much bigger than you, and there is one who is built just like bluey, who played center at Princeton with Hobey Baker; she gets awful mad and whacks the cows with a big stick ; and then the marines cheer, and she goes flying through the mud, and whacks the poor old cows all the HARDER. But THE FUNNIEST ARE OUR MULES. WE HAVE 230 TO HAUL THE WAG- ONS AND THE MACHINE-GUNS, AND MOST OF THEM ARE IN THIS TOWN. SOME OF THEM ARE PRETTY SMALL, AND THE OTHER DAY A LITTLE ONE SAW A BROOM IN A DOORWAY. [50] He was hungry, so he started for it, and the French lady picked it up to scare him away and waved it at him; but the little mule came right along be- cause he thought it was straw; and he chased her through the door, and got MW€ GH A fM*T*G TRBHm IA%1 WirnTttfi W*o«a*. into the dining-room and chased her around the table, and she dropped the broom and ran out in the street yell- ing a lot of things in french. so the Marines had to take the broom away from the little mule and take him back to his stable. and the other day, Daddy saw two little mules coming down the street dragging a big door be- [51] HIND THEM. THEY HAD BEEN TIED TO THE DOOR OF A STABLE; AND WHEN THE DRIVER WENT AWAY AND LEFT THEM THEY GOT THIRSTY, SO THEY PULLED AWAY UNTIL THEY PULLED THE OLD DOOR OFF ITS HINGES, AND AWAY THEY WENT FOR THE WATER- TROUGH. And there's one mule that is blue, and he's the best. and you never saw so many ducks and geese waddling about. There's one little kid dressed in gray like a sergeant, and he always gets mad because i call him "corporal." He loves to get two or three kids and try to catch a big fat old goose, but they can't; so i told him to get some salt, and he said he would. but the salt over here is very coarse, and perhaps it won't stay on the old goose's tail long enough for the boy to catch him. Nearly all the kids wear soldier- clothes, BECAUSE THEIR DADDIES ARE AT THE [52] war, and they all wear wooden shoes; and the little girls are fat and cute, and have the rosiest cheeks you ever saw. They are very polite, but the THIS IS A little frencher WITH WOODEN SHOE.S NICEST ONE IS NAMED MARIE. She's AL- MOST SIX AND A HALF, AND LIVES IN A LIT- TLE STONE HOUSE ONLY ONE STORY HIGH WITH HER GRANDMOTHER. DADDY GOES IN THERE SOMETIMES TO SEE COLFORD AND PERIN, WHO ARE OUR INTERPRETERS. AND THE DOOR IS LIKE A GATE, AND INSIDE IS A BIG ROOM WITH A STONE FLOOR AND LOW CEIL- [53] ing and a great big fireplace. and i say, "Bon jour, Grandmere," and they say "Bon jour, M'sieu;" and I say, "Hello, petite!" and Marie looks up out of the corner of her eye and smiles. And she has a big dimple and black eyes and black curls and a very soft voice, and she is always sitting by the fire with her hands folded in her lap. And when Grandma was a big girl the old Germans came here; and she heard they were coming, so she got all her Daddy's horses and jumped on one and rode them out into the woods and hid them there till the germans went away. i don't think the kids have as much fun as you do, but they like to get little carts and haul stones and play in the gutters after the rain. They all have fine barns to play in, because a house here is half house and [54] HALF BARN — RIGHT ALONGSIDE OF EACH OTHER. But OVER IN 1 A LITTLE TOWN NEAR here, where the machine-gun company is, — and it's the best company in France, — they have two funny pets. They are fat pink little pigs, and the biggest is "La La" and the littlest is "Oui Oui," because that means "Yes, Yes" in English and sounds like "wee wee." And don't you remember the white dog the machine-gun company had at quantico, that came from haiti and only knows french talk? hls name is ouanaminthe, from a town in Haiti where Mase Gulick used to live, and he ran away the other day; and when he came back they tried him by a court martial and took his meat away for a whole day. each town has lots of dogs, but the nicest here is a fat, woolly little fellow that belongs [55] TO THE SUPPLY COMPANY. He HAS A LIT- tle harness with bells on, and plays all day, and comes up to the office to see me ; though i don't see how he ever gets up, because the stairs are awful steep and his legs are so short. and Billy Moore, who played half-back at Princeton and can beat Johnny Over- ton IN A SHORT RACE, HAS THE BEST DOG of all. He's a BIG police-dog, and cost $1,000, AND HIS NAME IS GRAF. He ONLY likes one person at a time, and he was lost for a whole week when his bat- talion landed. but i think the little mules are the most comical; they have such long ears and look so good, and all the time they are thinking of some- thing funny to do. and they can kick right through a big board. Pretty soon I'll write and tell you how we go marching, even if it's rain- [56] ing little puppy-dogs, so that when the old Germans start to run back to Ber- lin WE CAN CATCH THEM AND PUT THEM all in jail where they belong. and Mother says you're kind and gentle to her and love her and talk to her about Daddy and all the good times we had, and say funny things to make her laugh. That's fine, Sonny ! and keep it up, and you'll be a man before fat Aunt Louise is. Good night, dear lit- tle Son. It's just half past nine here, and only half past four at chevy Chase, so I know you're getting hun- gry. Give pretty Mother a big love and a kiss from Daddy and another for yourself. Daddy Pat. )N Hw ~Cm &*T. [57] France, March 12, 1918. Dear Townie : We're nearly all packed up, and the next letter daddy writes will tell you all about aeroplane flights, and the big guns, and French soldiers, and French towns that the bad germans had early in the war before the frenchers and the Foreign Legion drove them out; so they won't be pretty little towns like this, but like the pictures mother can show you in the Sunday papers. But I prom- ised TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE MARINES on long hikes and how we learn to lick the old Germans with their square heads. Nearly every day we'd start out about six or seven o'clock and not get [59] back till almost dark. and it didn't make any difference if it was raining all day or snow on the ground or sunny. And most of the time there wasn't enough sun to warm a pussy-cat's tail, but the wind was cold and blowing, and snow on the hills, and the roads full of mud. so poor old daddy would get up when it was still dark, and shave by the light of a little lamp, and have a fire and then some war bread and a pot of chocolate or coffee, and put on two sweaters and heavy socks and things on his wrists and big shoes, with nails all over the bottom, and then a web belt, with straps over the shoulders, and hang on a canteen and a pistol and glasses, and then a pretty light-blue French gas-mask over the right shoul- der, AND A BIG BROWN BRITISH ONE OVER THE left shoulder. And then he'd put on [60] one of Mother's wool helmets over his head and ears, and take his funny tin hat off the hook and put the strap un- DER his chin. And if you don't wear SOMETHING UNDER THE TIN HAT, IT TICKLES AWFUL AND YOU WANT TO TAKE IT OFF ALL THIS 15 HOW OADftY FELT WitM AD- «l£ THINGS OKI the time and scratch. then he'd put on his slicker, or poncho, to keep the rain and wind out, and his spurs ; and the or- derly would bring his horse up, and Daddy had so much clothes on and so many things hung on him that he felt like a Christmas-tree, and could hardly get on his horse. you ought to see the pretty French horse Daddy has, just [61] THE COLOR OF A LIGHT HORSE-CHESTNUT. First I had an old buckskin called Buck, but he was too fat and made as much noise, when he galloped, as 20 horses, so i got the new horse and called him Legion ; but he likes to dance and cut up, AND I GOT TO SAYING, "Oh, Boy!" ALL THE TIME; SO NOW I CALL HIM "Oh BOY." Sometimes we'd start from this town, and sometimes from another town. and all the Marines would march from the other little towns and halt on the roads just at the edge of the town. Then the majors would gallop up to the colonel and salute; and he'd give orders, and away we would start. there'd be one big battalion and then the machine- guns and then the other two and the doctor's ambulances and then the funny rolling kitchens, one for each company, to make hot coffee and hot [62] stew; but the Marines would always call it "hot slum." and you ought to see the funny little mules dragging the machine-guns, with the drivers walking alongside. the mules are fine, and the men are very kind to them, because they're comical and always doing funny THINGS. And they're ten times as plucky as horses. They'd only have two little mules on the rolling kitchens that weighed a ton ; and sometimes they'd get stuck going up hill, but keep right on pulling as if they were going straight ON TO EAT UP THE OLD KAISER. So THE MA- rines would grab the wheels and yell, "Let's go, mules !" and up they'd go. And then the scouts would come back through the woods where they'd seen the "enemy," and the colonel would send the mounted orderlies galloping off with orders, and then the marines [63] WOULD SPREAD OUT IN LINES, AND THE BAT- TLE WOULD BEGIN. BUT THE ENEMY WAS ALWAYS THE 5TH MARINES, SO THERE WAS NO ^'S" \$ A SCOOT CONUlJO THROUGH THS WOODS REAL SHOOTING; AND DADDY WOULD GALLOP UP TO THE MACHINE-GUNS WITH ORDERS, AND THE LITTLE MULES WOULD GALLOP WITH THE GUNS, AND THE MEN WOULD WHIP AND HELP AND THEN TRAIN THE GUNS ON THE ENEMY SO THE BATTALIONS COULD RUSH AHEAD AND DRIVE THEM BACK. AFTER IT WAS OVER, THE MEN WOULD GET THEIR MEAT-CANS AND CAN- TEEN CUPS OUT AND LINE UP, AND DADDY WOULD GET TWO SANDWICHES AND A HARD- BOILED EGG, OUT OF HIS SADDLE-BAGS, AND A CUP OF HOT COFFEE. AND THEN THE COLO- NEL WOULD TELL THE MAJORS HOW ALL THE [64] battle went, and if they didn't do quite right; and then he'd say, "march your outfits home!" And they'd salute and say, "Aye, Aye, sir!" just the way the Marines do aboard ship, and away they'd go. One company had all the Marines who could play mouth-organs marching at the head, and all the other compan- ies would whistle the tune. and they'd get home with their shoes all wet and muddy; and awful tired because some- times they'd march 20 miles. so the officers would make them get their shoes and socks off and put on dry ones, and then how they would eat! and they'd make fun of any Marine who dropped out and couldn't keep up. and one terrible nasty day all the marines in France, and all the mules and ma- chine-guns AND WAGONS AND ROLLING KITCHENS AND THE GENERAL AT THE HEAD [653 went out, because we pretended the Germans were near and trying to blow UP THE RAILROAD. So WE HAD ABOUT 8,000 Marines and about 500 mules, and it was better than any parade you ever saw. you could see it for miles. and all the time it was so cold and rainy that dad- dy's feet got like ice, and he had to get off Oh Boy and walk. Then, after the 5th scouts found the en- emy sneaking up a hill just past a big woods, we had to wait, and the men ran up and down and some played tag in the fields to keep warm. and they played a funny game where a lot of them would stand in a circle and all face in to each other. Then one Marine would stand outside with a leather belt and yell, "Stand by!" Then they'd stoop over, as you do in leap-frog, but have one hand stuck out back. and the marine out- [66] SIDE WOULD RUN AROUND AND TAP ONE; AND THEN THAT MARINE WOULD FALL OUT, AND THE ONE WITH THE BELT WOULD CHASE HIM ALL AROUND THE RING; AND IF HE COULDN'T This \s the marines claying the belt 6am£ run fast enough, the one with the belt would beat him until he got back to his place. Then he'd take the belt, and run around and tap some one else and chase him; and the other men would yell and laugh, because they never knew who would be next. then away we went and up a road through the woods and chased the enemy, and then had chow. then the general said we had won and started us home, and we [67] marched right past the 5th. and daddy saw Wagner and Boller and lots of men and officers he hadn't seen for a long time; and we kidded the 5th, and the 5th kidded us, and everybody was jolly and laughing; and one marine was sing- ING, "Oh, for the life of a fireman !" So NOBODY MADE ANY FUSS ABOUT THE COLD AND THE RAIN. Then sometimes WE MARCHED about ten miles to some trenches the French soldiers in a French town had dug. We'd come along a beautiful road up a hill, about a mile in back of the trenches, and everybody was quiet as a mouse, with gas-masks all ready to put on. and there were pretty little paths running through the woods, and, in back of the road, little fields and or- chards and more woods. so we'd hide the mules and kitchens and our horses back by the woods, where an airship couldn't [68] see them, and put one battalion back in the woods. Then one battalion would file in the little paths, indian file, without a word. and when they were all in, the other would follow. and the first would walk through the woods under pine-trees, and you'd never dream there were any trenches in a thousand miles. and the woods were pretty with dead leaves all over the paths and birds singing. and then you'd pass a dugout that was half cave and half cabin, with the floor and sides lined with branches and sand-bags on top. And Then all the little paths had signs on them, like street crossings, so you couldn't get lost. then you'd come out downhill by a little brook to a big field that looked just like a pasture; and there the trenches began, and ran OVER A hill; AND THE TRENCHES RAN UP AND [69] DOWN AND ZIGZAG AND ACROSS, AND YOU COULD JUST SEE THE TIN HATS WINDING AROUND THE TRENCHES UNTIL THEY ALL GOT IN ; AND AS FAST AS THEY GOT IN, THE FRENCH SOLDIERS CAME OUT BACK TO THE WOODS J AND THEN THE OTHER BATTALION CAME UP AND HID AWAY IN THE WOODS. THEN DADDY AND THE COLONEL WOULD STAND BY A TELEPHONE STRAPPED AROUND A BIG TREE, BACK ON THE ROAD, AND SEND ORDERS. We'd TELL THEM TO SEND UP A ROCKET WITH STARS, AND IT WOULD GO BANG! AND BURST UP IN THE SKY; AND EVERYBODY WOULD GRAB HIS MASK AND SLIP EVERYBODY LOOK.60 LIKS GOBLINS IT ON; AND EVERYBODY LOOKED LIKE GOB- LINS. Then we'd pass the word, "Gas over." Then we'd pretend it was time [70] to go to Berlin, and we'd make another SIGNAL, AND AWAY We'd GO. AND THE Marines in all the woods would come out into the trenches and finish off hundreds of the old Germans. And some days we'd go out ahead to another place with a lot of white tape, and mark out make-believe trenches, and put up little paper signs like, "kaiser Trench," and "Fort Sausage," and all German names. And then everybody would learn all the names, and we'd march out and say, "now we'll take those trenches away from the ger- mans at just 2 minutes after 10 o'clock." And everybody would start, and pretend the big guns were firing thousands of shells over our heads at the trenches. so we'd just walk along behind the shells in long lines and col- umns until we came to the trenches; [71] AND THEN EVERYBODY THREW BOMBS OR FIRED THEIR GUNS OR USED THEIR BAYONETS, AND IT LOOKED LIKE HUNDREDS OF ANTS RUN- NING HERE AND THERE, BECAUSE YOU COULD SEE EVERY ONE. AND NOW IT'S ALL OVER, AND we're glad; BECAUSE IT WAS AWFUL HARD work every day and no movies or any- thing to see at night. and everybody was cold and wet and tired, but the ma- rines can stand an awful lot and have fun, too. so nobody got cross or cried or said he wanted to go home, because they all wanted to learn a lot of ways to get at the Kaiser. And now it's just like spring again, and the hills are blue and the fields are green and the sky is a soft light blue, like the uniforms the Frenchers wear; and there are lots of big bumblebees flying round, and little buds are coming out on the bushes and trees. i bet those wild ducks back in the [72] pond, where daddy was christmas-time, are happy now. and it must be like spring back in chevy chase, and daddy loves to think of you and pretty Mother and Aunt Tella and Joe out un- der THE TREES AT THE CLUB OR ON THE porch at home. and pretty soon he'll be back, because the kaiser will say to all the square-head soldiers : "let's beat it. Here come the Marines and the For- eign Legion!" Good-night, Sonny, and keep on being a little man ; and don't let pretty Mother worry, because Daddy's fat now and strong; and just put your arms around mother and love her, and then you'll both be happy, and daddy will be happy when he knows you are. so you give my love to mother and a big kiss and a hug, but don't hurt her, and lots of love to aunt tella and joe. Your Fat Daddy, [73] Pat - 'HV3A V H03 S31V&V NI CISAO 3H (110 SW3A xis SVA\ AaaVQ N3HAY Xfig 'M1H1 NI S3301D -oosono avH sxnoona 3hx xhohohx ackivq xna AaoaAH3A3 aNV 'ni asAOM soo:sono 3HX 'X331 3AY 33V7J XSVT 3HX W0H3 3H3H 03A0M 3AY AVa XSHI3 3HX A7W3JSJ *XVH AWHXS (110 3HX 30 XJIO XS3M V SSVJM ONV 3N0 hoxvo ainoo AaavQ onv 'soosono 30 nn3 3HV SaOOM 3HX 3SnV33g 'S^OIHJ 310Nfl XV 3N0 3HX 3311 'SDOIO-OOSOriD 31XXI1 3DIN V 3AVH ONV 'XI X30 XON dinOD SXVH 3HX 3H3HM 'xnoona sih ni 9] you pickaback, and away wed go up the hill to your aeroplane ; and all the offi- cers would come out and fill a bag full of German buttons and bullets and belt- buckles. And you'd salute Colonel Catlin, and put your little arms awful tight around daddy's neck, and kiss him good-by and sail away. With lots and heaps of love to you and pretty Mother, and be just as good to her as Uncle Sam is to all the Marines who are far away fighting in france. Your Daddy, Pat. [uo]i VIII France, June i, 1918. Dear Townie : This is all about the trip we made in big trucks across a lot of france to stop the wicked old Germans from coming to Paris. You never could have dreamed there were so many trucks in the world, and there must have been easy more than a thousand. they came to our four pretty little towns at four o'clock in the morning. it was a beau- tiful day, and yet it sounded like thun- der when they rolled in ; so we lined up all the Marines along the road, and, as soon as the first truck rolled in , it turned right around and started back till it came to the end of the line ; and [III] then the first twenty-two marines hopped in, and then the next, till a whole battalion of a thousand had hopped in, and away they went. they were great, big, heavy trucks with a long wooden seat on each side, but most of the Marines sat backward, with their feet hanging outside, so they could see things, and the old trucks looked like big, gray spiders with forty- four brown legs. and they all had funny marks and pictures painted out- side in gay colors, about as big as a big watermelon, near where the driver sat. The ONE WE HAD first HAD big GRASSHOP- PERS, BLUE AND RED, AND THERE WERE CAM- ELS, SOLDIER HEADS, A BIG CANNON ON A snail's BACK, AND A donkey's HEAD, A CLOCK FACE, FLOWERS, A FUNNY OLD DARKY WITH GREAT, BIG, WHITE TEETH, AND A ROOSTER, AND ALL SORTS OF FUNNY THINGS. AND [112] Daddy rode in a little automobile with a French officer who had been wounded in Belgium and couldn't fight, but who could boss the trucks | and he was just like a man running a big circus, because THIS iS THE ^SENfCH OFFICER Y6LUNT4 sometimes a truck would break down, and then we'd fly down the line and bring up a little truck with tools ,' and when it was all fixed he'd blow his horn, and we'd fly back and he'd yell "En route ! En route !" — and that's just THE WAY THE OLD HORN WOULD SOUND, "En [113] ROUTE !" — AND AWAY WE'D GO ! AND PRETTY SOON WE CAME TO THE PRETTIEST TOWNS, WITH GARDENS FULL OF ROSES AND ALL SORTS OF PRETTY FLOWERS; AND THE FRENCH LADIES AND GIRLS WOULD RUN OUT AND THROW THE FLOWERS INTO THE TRUCKS AND BRING MILK AND RED WINE AND CHEESE, AND LOAVES OF BREAD AS LONG AND ROUND AS THE BIGGEST BAT THAT Ty COBB HAS; AND THE DEAR LITTLE OLD LADIES WOULD SMILE AND WAVE THEIR HANDKERCHIEFS, AND THE LIT- TLE BARE-LEGGED BOYS WOULD COME FLYING This 15 A little. =FREMCH£R CHEERIWq the amej?(cawj OUT TO THE ROAD AND HOP UP AND DOWN AND yell, "Les Americains! Voila LES BONS SOLDATS!" SO EVERYBODY WAS HAPPY AND [114] smiling, because they knew the marines were going to kill and capture all the Germans they could and stop them from coming to Paris. And as far back as you could see on all the roads were trucks and such dust that pretty soon all the Marines and the infantry and signal corps and artillery were just gray, like MUMMIES. But THEY WERE ALL HAPPY and having a fine time. and we came to some big towns with rivers, and pretty soon to the nicest little towns we'd seen in all France ; and we were only 15 miles from Paris, and you could almost see the Eiffel Tower. And the nearer we got to Paris, the gayer the people were; and of course the Marines were smiling at the pretty french girls and having a time, and the old trucks rolled along, and pretty soon we saw some bad sights. The Germans were driving back the [115] French soldiers, and all the French people had to leave their homes, where they'd lived all their lives, or the Ger- mans WOULD HAVE WHIPPED ALL THE LITTLE children, and made their mothers work for them, and burned their little towns; so they were coming into paris. Some of them were walking, and they had little donkeys hitched up to little carts, and great big horses with wooden collars painted in red and blue, and big white oxen — all pulling big loads, with beds and chairs and mattresses and things piled away up. and the dogs were walking along, and under the wagons were chickens and ducks and geese in crates covered with chicken-yard wire, and nearly all of them had goats, be- cause it's easy to feed goats on old tin cans and paper and get good goats' milk. And there were little tow-headed boys [116] and fat little girls with curls and blue eyes and such short little legs that every time their mothers took a step they had to take four. and they, were going away to find a new home, and at night their wagons would stop and they'd camp alongside the road. And Daddy never saw one of them cry, although they were very un- HAPPY. And it made the Marines ter- ribly mad to see them so sad, and they just wished they could find those Germans and drive them away. And there was one big wagon piled up so high that it looked like the big ladder that Jack the Giant-killer climbed (or maybe it was a bean-stalk), and right on top was a beautiful old lady all dressed in her nicest black dress with a little white lace cap on ; and her hair was white as snow and just like silver, [117] and she must have been just one of the kindest and prettiest grandmothers in the world. and then we came to a big city that had a big river just full of dams and bridges. and there was one bridge with a lot of dams running under it, and on top of the bridge were a lot of the funniest houses that were more than 400 years old. and the city had the queerest name, meaux — like a pussy-cat. And the river was the most famous river in the world, because it was the river where papa joffre beat the Germans so bad that he is called the Hero of the Marne. And I guess the day you had on your navy suit and were with Grandma and saluted Papa Joffre in New York that you didn't Think Daddy would be seeing his river so soon. And the city was full of the poor French refugees. We kept right on [n8] going and turned to the left, up the val- ley of the marne j and we were only 20 miles away from the germans. and the road was just as busy as flfth avenue the time Daddy tried to drive a Ford up it the night he didn't know how to run it; only instead of busses and automo- biles and nice-looking people, there were trucks full of marines and soldiers and big guns and ambulances and wagons full of food for the french and amer- ican armies and generals flying by in cars. And every road that we crossed was full of soldiers and horses, all hurrying up to stop the germans, and SO MUCH DUST THAT YOU COULD EAT IT. It WAS GETTING LATE, BUT IT DOESN'T GET DARK OVER HERE UNTIL NEARLY TEN O'CLOCK. So EVERYBODY WAS TIRED AND SLEEPY, FOR THE OLD TRUCKS BUMPED AND BOUNCED BECAUSE NEARLY ALL THE RUBBER WAS WORN OFF THE [119] wheels. And all the truck drivers were French soldiers who were too old to fight, and they had been driving nearly all the night before and all day long; and sometimes, when the trucks would stop somewhere down the line, we'd go back to see if one of them was broken down ; and there would be a truck with a red grasshopper painted on it, and the poor old Frenchman would be fast asleep; and you could hardly see his face for the gray dust on it. So the French officer would have to hop out and jump up on the truck and shake him, and then hop down and blow his horn. Only he didn't blow it, but turned a handle on it, like the one on a coffee-mill and just like the way they give the gas alarm in the trenches. and the horn would yell in french, "En route! En route! En route!" which [120] meant: "Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up! The Germans are coming and the Marines are here to stop them!" So we'd fly back, and the horn would go LIKE MAD, AND HE'D HOLLER, "En ROUTE ! En route! En route!" And the old drivers would wake up and rub their eyes, and the old truck wheels would GROAN AND CRY, "En ROUTE ! En ROUTE ! En route!" And the Marines would turn over and wake up, all packed like sardines in a tin can, some with their legs lying on another marine's tummy and a drummer-boy all curled up with his head on the tummy of a nice old sergeant; and they'd GROWL A LITTLE, BE- CAUSE THEY'D BEEN UP MOST ALL THE NIGHT BEFORE AND WERE SLEEPY. AND ALL THE TIME THE POOR REFUGEES WERE GOING BY; AND WHEN WE HEARD THAT OUR BIG TRUCKS WOULD GIVE THEM A RIDE AFTER THEY LEFT [121] us at the front we were glad, because they must have been so tired ! and yet not one of them would cry, not even the little girls; so you know, sonny, the bad Germans can never lick the Frenchers. And pretty soon a whole THIS i$ A fREMCH CAV/ALRY- MAM Jl/MPING A OJTCH FINE REGIMENT OF FRENCH CAVALRY GAL- LOPED BY, AND THEN ANOTHER; AND THE ROAD WAS SO CROWDED WITH TRUCKS AND GUNS AND WAGONS AND AMBULANCES AND REFUGEES THAT THE CAVALRY HAD TO JUMP THEIR HORSES ACROSS THE DITCHES BY THE ROAD AND RIDE THROUGH THE FIELDS, BE- [122] cause now we were only 7 or 8 miles from the fighting. and they wanted the cavalry right away. they all had little short rifles and long blue sticks, about twelve feet long, and on the end was about a foot of nice sharp steel. And then the little automobile Daddy WAS in went flying ahead to see the place where the marines were to get off; and we just flew, and went right past a big field where there were about 200 of the biggest and gayest butter- flies you ever saw- and most of them were still as could be, with their great blue and orange and green and red and gold wings spread so that the field looked like a fairy garden. and some were flying back to rest for the night; and they had the biggest eyes, and they just circled and dipped and stood on one wing and then on the other; and then [123] Daddy could see that they all had big red-white-and-blue circles under the tip of each wing ; and they flew so fast that he just knew they were not but- TERFLIES, but French aeroplanes! And after we'd gone about 2 or 3 miles daddy saw the general and a lot of officers and orderlies sitting on the side of a little hill, looking at a map ; and daddy got out and saluted and told the gen- eral where the marines were, and that the colonel was back of them, but com- ing up in a fast car. and the general saluted back, and said! "major, our or- ders are changed. you go back just as fast as your little old car can run, be- cause you must get back to the cross- roads ahead of the trucks, and send the marines down the road to the right." And back we went, and saw lots of sol- diers GETTING OUT OF THEIR TRUCKS TO [124] MARCH AGAINST THE GERMANS ; AND IT WAS GETTING DARK, BUT WE GOT BACK TO THE CROSS-ROADS IN TIME TO CATCH THE 1ST BAT- TALION. And the 6th Regiment kept its trucks and rode in them, while all the other regiments walked; and it was about 10 o'clock when we saw some ; German prisoners on the road, and we could hear the big guns and see a few rockets ; and we could look and see the sky light up where the big guns were firing. and then we saw a french town that we had passed burning like a big bonfire, and the germans must have dropped a bomb on it. and it was exactly midnight when the trucks stopped just at the edge of a big town, so we all got out and the 1st battalion marched into a big field and went right smack to sleep ; and the colonel and all the rest of us laid down alongside the [125] road, and we all went to sleep and never heard any guns, because we were too tired. and in the morning all the ma- rines were in, and we were on the side of a beautiful valley; and there was no one in the big town but french sol- diers, because all the people who lived there had left. and then came our orders to go in the line just behind the frenchers, and we took the trucks again and jumped out of them just about a mile from the battle-field; and Tommy Holcomb, who had the 2nd Bat- talion, GAVE THE ORDERS TO HIS CAPTAINS while they were hopping out of their truck, so you see we were right on our toes. And the Frenchers are out in front of us, but falling back because they have been fighting night and day TO KEEP THE HUNS OUT OF MeAUX; BE- CAUSE IF THEY GOT THAT FAR, THEY'D BE [126] only 20 miles from paris. and they had about 3 germans to i frencher, but as soon as they fall back and the wicked old Germans bump into the Marines, they'll think it is the Fourth of July, because you know one Ma- rine can easy lick 3 Germans. So the next letter daddy writes he'll tell you all about how the marines got the best of the old kaiser and his silly son. so keep right on being a good little Marine and praying every night with pretty little mother that the marines will win and that daddy's tin hat will just bump off all the german bullets. And you'll be having such a fine time, playing marbles and playing war, and Mother will be happy to see you nice and brown ; and then when you see the general out at the club and give him a snappy salute he'll take you up on his [127] knee again, and you can tell him all about the war. but when you salute him, you must look him straight in the eye, as the marines do. and daddy hopes the French soldier-book has come and that you think it's fine, and that we'll lick the old germans so bad that you won't have to come over to fight with the Foreign Legion and the French and Britishers and the Scotch- ers and the canadians and the aus- tralians, but that you can marry an awful pretty girl like mother and just be happy and be a marine officer in the tropics. so good-by, sonny, with 1,000 truck-loads of hugs and kisses for you and pretty mother. Your Daddy, Pat. [128] IX France. Dear Little Townie: Daddy promised to write you all about the first real battle the marines got into with the wicked old boche, for that's what they all call the ger- mans, except lots of times the marines JUST CALL THEM "FRITZ" OR "HeINIE" — NOT BECAUSE THEY LIKE THEM, BUT THEY ALWAYS LIKE TO MAKE UP THEIR OWN NICK- NAMES. And the Boche call the Ma- rines "Devil Dogs," because they fight so hard. Well, after we got out of the trucks and stretched our legs and got into the line behind the Frenchers, Daddy went out to the edge of a pretty woods with the colonel to look at the [129] BATTLE-FIELD. It DIDN'T LOOK LIKE ONE then, but when we left there, fwe weeks later, it was a famous battle- field, full of dead heinies and frit- zies. And there were lots of little wooden crosses where we buried the brave Marines who were killed. It was a beautiful june day, just a wonderful day for a wedding, and such nice thick woods that seemed made for picnics, as far as you could see, and all between the woods were green fields of oats with big patches of red poppies, bright and red as blood, like the poppies daddy sent you in the letter to mother. and don't you hope that most of the brave Marines who were killed in those pretty woods died a little happier think- ing, just for a teeny second, of the green fields and red poppies before the Angels took them to Heaven? I think [130] they must have been french angels, for the brave marines died for france, and soldiers always go straight to Heaven when they die in battle. And we could see for miles away back where the germans were ; but all the Frenchers WERE HIDDEN IN THE WOODS, AND YOU COULD ONLY SEE WHITE PUFFS OVER THE WOODS WHERE THE SHELLS WERE BURST- ING. And in the woods back of us was Major Sibley's battalion, digging little trenches. Pretty soon we saw some Germans moving toward us away off, and afterward we found out they marched nine miles that day, driving the Frenchers back toward us. You see, they were making a big drive, and taking pretty little french towns, and they were coming straight at us to march to Paris. But old square-headed Fritz only knew that the poor French [i3i] soldiers were all worn out, fighting night and day, for beautiful france, and he didn't know that the marines helped to block the road to paris be- hind the poor, tired frenchers. and he didn't know that the general had sent an order to the marines to hold the line at all costs, and not to let the Germans make a dent even as tiny as an inch in that long line that was over six miles long. pretty soon we could see the frenchers crawling back through the wheat-fields, and the ger- man shells getting nearer; and then the big German balloons going up, so we left the edge of the woods and went back on a path half a mile to the little village behind. and just half an hour later — Bang! Crash! Bluie! went some German shells in the edge of the woods, because they were moving their BIG [132] guns nearer. so we made our head- quarters in a two-story stone house in an orchard at the edge of the little town, which was called chatel. and all day and all night the marines were digging in and saying, "come on, old Fritz, and we'll pump you full of lead!" And the Frenchers were fall- ing BACK, FIGHTING ALL THE TIME. AND THEY HAD ORDERS FROM GENERAL FOCH TO FALL BACK THROUGH THE MARINES, AND WE HAD ORDERS FROM HIM TO HOLD THE LINE, NO MATTER HOW MANY BOCHE CAME. AND THAT NIGHT A FRENCH BATTALION CAME BY OUR HOUSE, AND THEN THEY GOT NEW OR- DERS TO GO RIGHT BACK AND DRIVE THE GER- MANS OUT OF THE WOODS. AND YOU WOULD HAVE FELT SO SORRY IF YOU COULD HAVE SEEN THEM. THEY SAT DOWN ALONG THE ROAD AND JUST FELL ASLEEP WHILE THEIR MAJOR GAVE THEM THOSE TERRIBLE ORDERS. [133] And then he sang out, "Forward, my children, for france i" and they got up and went back into those dark woods. But all the next day they came back, carrying their wounded. and the guns were roaring, and we knew it was up to the Marines. And it was just five o'clock in the evening when old Fritz tried to drive us back, too. and then he got his good — right in his old fat neck! Daddy heard an awful racket UP ON the left of our LONG line where Fritz wanted to take a hill. So he got up in the attic where a window was, and he saw the battle. and he thought it was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen ; but he knew a few days later that it was only a side-show to the big circus. The Marines were firing their rifles and machine-guns so fast that you couldn't count the bullets; and [I34l PRETTY SOON, RIGHT ACROSS A WHEAT-FIELD THAT WAS GREEN AS A PARK, CAME THE GER- MANS. They were in long, thin col- umns, AND ON THEY CAME, JUST AS though they were parading, and it looked as though nothing in the world could stop those gray devils. But all the Marines were aiming right at them, and you know they're some shooters. And then the artillery be- gan FIRING, AND YOU COULD SEE PRETTY white balls of smoke and the flashes of fire. First they were too high' or too low, and on came those columns like giant snakes. and daddy would clinch his fists, and then — here came the beautiful picture — a french aeroplane sailed right over them and signaled back to the 75's; and in just a minute those gray columns were just covered with the white puffs where [135] THE SHRAPNEL WAS BURSTING, AND YOU couldn't SEE THE COLUMNS FOR THE NICE white puffs. and the pretty green field was dotted white, just as though some fairy princess had waved a golden wand and white daisies as big as your hat had grown there like magic. and under each daisy was a dead fritz. but still the gray lines tried to move ahead, and up would shoot the long row of daisies. And when the fairy princess waved her golden wand the third time and the daisies blew away in the wind, Daddy could see the dirty gray columns stop, and then break, and the ripples in the green wheat where the Germans were running like big gray field-mice into the woods on the side, or anywhere to get away from that terrible fire of shrapnel and rifle and machine-gun bullets. And the French aeroplane cir- ri36] cled overhead like a happy bird) and Daddy thought the French pilot would loop the loop to celebrate, but he didn't; but he signaled down to THE Marines, "Bravo!" and then away he flew to General Foch. And the very next day General Pershing sent the Marines a message that they had been the first troops to stop the germans dead in their big drive, and the first that had not given an inch. and that day Daddy's regiment had every com- pany BUT ONE IN THE LINE, AND ONLY ONE single company in back to fill up a hole in the line; and yet the old kaiser couldn't make an inch; and you know that's going some! And then some Americans came, and WE made a shorter line and we kept Deado Hughes' battalion out. And then came the biggest day in all the [137] hundred and forty-two years that the Marines have been fighting for old Uncle Sam — the sixth of June. And next year on the sixth of june we'll have a big picnic, no matter whether we're in Chevy Chase or China or the Tropics, and you can have a whole quart of chocolate ice-cream to your- self, and you and pretty mother and Joe and Aunt Estelle will have a big celebration, because that day the French said we saved Paris, because we chased old fritz all over the woods and drove him back after we'd held him for five days and nights. It was just five o'clock again when old Sibley's battalion went over the top, with Tommy Holcomb's right after him. The colonel got the orders first, but it was only ten minutes of five when the orders got to the marines in [138] THEIR TRENCHES. "Let's GO, FELLOWS I" WAS ALL THEY SAID, JUST AS THOUGH they'd BEEN DOING IT EVERY EVENING AT five o'clock. so away they went across the green fields with their red poppies. And away they went in thin waves, just as though it was a drill. and they'd been dreaming about going over the top for a year, so they knew just how it was done. rlght ahead of them were some woods called bois de belleau, just packed full- of the best soldiers the Kaiser had, and just packed with machine-guns; and off to the right in a little valley two miles away, across open wheat-fields, was a town called bouresches that the boche had taken from the french. so away went old slb across the fields, and then the boche opened up a terrible fire on his battalion. the big shells were [139] bursting with a noise that sounded as though they were made of steel thun- der, and the shrapnel was just hailing bullets over the wheat, and out of the woods the machine-gun bullets were flying like mad hornets. but the ma- rines just grinned and called to each other, "Get 'em, boys!" And old Sib would sing out, just as though it was a drill, "Steady on the left there! Steady on the left!" And pretty soon, although some of them got hit and fell, and died there among the red pop- PIES of France, three thousand miles from their daddies, the rest made the woods. And then two companies that belonged to tommy holcomb went over the top too, and across the green fields to take the little town in the valley away from fritz. and all that night and for four long days and nights old [140] Sib's Marines fought until nearly all the best troops the kaiser had were killed or captured. and it was the hardest fighting the marines had ever had, because they were terrible, evil woods. i know no fairies ever lived in them, only bears and snakes and old witches. oh, they were terrible ! and old Fritz is brave enough, and he wasn't going to give up those evil woods if he could help it. and right in back of the Marines were the sailor-hospital ap- prentices TO TAKE CARE OF THE WOUNDED, AND THE BAND TO CARRY THEM BACK, AND THE SIGNAL PLATOON TO STRETCH TELE- PHONE-WIRES. And the colonel went out to see that everything went right; and . , Daddy wanted to go, but he had to stay back at headquarters in a farm-house to send news back to the general. and PRETTY SOON BACK CAME A GREAT BIG Ma- [141] rine with 17 prisoners that a second lieutenant had captured, with two ma- chine-guns j and he was grinning like an old cat, and said, "major, the boys are going right through to berlin !" and we lined up the prisoners, and they put up their hands as though we were go- ing to shoot them. and then so many kept coming in we didn't pay any atten- tion to them, but just sent them back to the general. and the telephone be- gan working, and it was just getting dark when the message came that the colonel had been shot. and then all the fun stopped, because we all loved him and wondered how we could ever get along without him. and all this time the Marines out in the woods were moving ahead, and the boche had MACHINE-GUNS ALL THROUGH IT. It WAS FULL OF RAVINES AND LITTLE CLIFFS AND [142] ROCKS, AND THE MARINES COULDN'T SEE THEM, AND they'd HAVE TO CHARGE WITH THE BAYONET AND FIGHT HAND-TO-HAND, JUST AS THE OLD PIRATES DID, AND THE AR- TILLERY couldn't help them. But a lit- tle AFTER NINE O'CLOCK, OLD SlB GOT DADDY a message by a brave runner that he had got to the far end of the woods, where the general had ordered him, and he had surrounded all the machine-guns that the marines had not captured. And off on the right, one of Tommy Holcomb's companies had gone to cap- ture the little town in the valley. And the captain of the company was Captain Duncan, and everybody, all the officers and men, called him "Old Dunk," because he wore glasses and was quiet and a sort of daddy to them all. And, of course, the Boche in the town and back of the railroad tracks could [143] see him coming, and they were firing at him with lots of machine-guns and ar- tillery, until there were just thou- sands of bullets between him and the town. But Old Dunk went right ahead, smoking an old pipe and swinging a lit- tle cane. and one of his young lieu- tenants got a bullet in the shoulder, and his face was white as this paper j and another young lieutenant had both arms broken by bullets; but they kept right on going. and nearly all the men got hit, and then old dunk. and they tried to carry him, two of them, into a little woods, and a big shell killed all three. so it looked as though the lit- tle town couldn't be taken; but a big lieutenant named robertson jumped up ahead and yelled, "come on, boys ! let's go!" And they just jumped through those bullets and captured the town [H4] and killed all the boche in it. when Daddy turned in at two in the morning the regiment had done everything the general had ordered. and before he went to bed we got a big truck loaded with rations and bullets. and daddy told Billy Moore to take it out to the little town; and he wasn't a bit sure he'd ever see him again or that the truck would ever get out. but away he went, and they fired bullets and shells all the way at it; but it got there and back, and general pershing sent a medal to bllly moore for do- ING IT. And just after Daddy got to bed, with all his clothes on, the boche made a big attack on the little town and got within thirty feet of it; but the ma- rines licked them good. and the next day and the next day and the next day [H5] old Sib's Marines charged the machine- guns THEY HAD SURROUNDED, AND STUCK BAYONETS IN THEM, AND THREW GRENADES AT THEM. And AT NIGHT THE Boche would sneak more machine-guns in. and the last day every officer in one of his brave companies was wounded, and old Sib and his Adjutant took the poor old company themselves and started a charge. and when the marines saw what he was doing, they forgot all about their officers and chums who had been killed and wounded, and all about the cold nights out in those witch woods without blankets, and all about how tired and hungry and thirsty they were. they just gripped their guns, and when old slb yelled, "Charge !" they just went up the hill in those evil woods; and the boche threw bombs at them and fired their [146] machine-guns until they were so hot you could have cooked eggs on them. But the brave Marines kept going, and they got right up to the machine-guns and just settled every fritz. but they were so tired they could hardly stand, so that night they got a good sleep and forgot all their troubles, and before it got light they all crept back to the edge of the woods. and then 200 can- nons just fired every shell they had into the evil woods for an hour. and the boche crept into their little trenches and into caves and behind rocks and trees. and the shells got nearly all of them, and when the last CANNON WENT "Bang!" AWAY WENT Deado Hughes' fine battalion of Ma- rines, 1,000 OF THEM, OVER THE TOP AND INTO THE WOODS, AND THEY KILLED ALL THE REST, EXCEPT A LOT ON TOP OF A CLIFF [147] where they had a dozen machine-guns. And Deado sent a Marine back to Daddy with a message for the general, and it said, "the artillery has blown the bois de belleau into mince-meat." and it had, because it had cut down big trees and split rocks and knocked machine- guns higher than the birds' nests. and then Deado called a captain, and the captain took his company, and away he went up the cliff and captured all the machine-guns. and when daddy went out there, it was a queer sight, because the woods looked just as though they were naked, where the shells had ripped them. and there were lots of dead fritzes all curled up, and their old tin hats full of holes. and what do you think the marines looked like? Lots of them had torn pants and coats, but they all had had a shave and were [148] grinning and just taking life easy, and were not paying much attention to the German shells that would every once in a while come rushing over with a big long swish, just like cloth when it tears, and then go "bang!" and you'd hear the pieces rattle down through the trees. but, of course, when it got real bad, they'd lie flat in their little holes that were just long enough to lie in, and over the top they'd lay big branches and rocks. and every day the boche would try to get back the little village, and tom- MY Holcomb's Marines would say, "No, you don't, old Fritz !" And they didn't. And they found a nice cow out there; and every time the cow came around, they'd grab her and milk her; and some chickens laid eggs for them; and every night the little old ford [H9] car that Daddy got for the 6th and that Mother sold to the general for A DOLLAR would go bumping and rat- tling OUT OVER THE ROAD TO THEM WITH HOT FOOD AND BULLETS. AND THEY HAD A FINE TIME. AND AT NIGHT THE OLD Fritzes WOULD FIRE HUNDREDS OF CAN- nons at the woods and charge into them, and the marines would lick the life out of them every time. and they took so many prisoners that you couldn't count them. And one day they saw a boche machine-gun sticking up in the air and they charged at it ; and a big Marine got there first, and there WAS ONLY ONE FRITZ LEFT. He WAS GOING to stick his bayonet right through him, but Fritz threw up his hands and yelled: "Say, don't get so rough, old top ! Cut it out ! All I want is to get back to Chicago. Can't you see the way [150] my gun's pointing up in the air?" so they made him a prisoner. Old Deado got gassed, and they sent him to the hospital, and now he's all right. And don't YOU REMEMBER the FIRST TIME YOU WENT SWIMMING AT QuAN- TICO, AND YOU HAD TO GO SWIMMING IN HIS BATHING-SUIT? He's A FUNNY MAN AND keeps the Marines laughing at the com- ical THINGS HE SAYS; BUT IF HE TOLD HIS Marines to take the Brooklyn Bridge down and make all-day suckers out of it or rice pudding, they'd do it, and all the cops in New York and Brooklyn couldn't stop them. This is an awful long letter for a little boy, but pretty mother will help spell it out, if you're a good boy and climb in her lap and once in a while wrinkle up your funny little nose and laugh and say, "muwer, isn't daddy a funny man?" and if you get scared about the woods, or feel just terrible about the brave marines that got killed, just cuddle up close and re- member that now the woods are nice and quiet again, and the farmers are cutting the wheat, and the pretty red poppies are all over the places where brave Marines are. And the Frenchers even changed the name, and now it's called "The American Marines Woods." you know it was funny, but the big lieutenant who captured the little village didn't like the french name, so he called it "double o," instead of bois de Belleau. And he got gassed, too; and after he got back, he got hit in the neck by a bullet. but he's just as hard as nails, and he's all right now. But the Kaiser was awful mad about losing those woods and the little vil- LI52] lage, and he'd send his best soldiers to take them and shoot big cannon at it and send aeroplanes over; and they'd fire machine-guns down into the woods. And after a while he found it was the Marines who had licked him, and then he told his generals, "Well, there's no use being mad, because it's the Marines, and we never could lick those old leath- ernecks." But when the other Amer- ican soldiers heard the Marines had licked the Kaiser's old goosesteppers, they said to their colonels, "well, if the Marines can do it, we can too, colonel." and that's the reason they're all licking them now- so you can see it was a great battle. so good- NIGHT, Sonny, and be a fine, brave little Marine, and Mother will be very proud of you and love you a great big lot, and so will your old Daddy, [i 53 ] Pat.