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THE WAR ROMANCE OF THE SALVATION ARMY

BY

EVANGELINE BOOTH

AND

GRACE LIVINGSTON HELL

William Bramwell Booth general of the salvation army

THE WAR ROMANCE OF THE SALVATION ARMY

BY EVANGELINE BOOTH

COKXAHDSa-ar-CBIEI', THE

8ALVATIOM ABMT IS AMSBICi

AND

GRACE LIVINGSTON HILL

AVTBOn OV "THE ENCHAHTED BABM"; "TM BEST ICAJ "to MICHAEL"; THE BED SIQSAL," ETC.

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

OOPTBIOHT, 1919, BT J. B. LIPPINOOTT COUPAXt

JUN'k'6 |yi9

BUT UP AKD PaiMTBD IN UNITBD BTATIB

©CI.A529008

Evangeline Booth commander-in-chief of the salvation army in america

FOREWORD

In presenting the narrative of some of the doings of the Salvation Army during the world's great conflict for liberty, I am but aiuswering the insistent call of a most generous and appreciative public.

When moved to activity by the apparent need, there was never a thought that our humble services would awaken the widespread admiration that has developed. In fact, we did not expect anything further than appreciative recog- nition from those immediately benefited, and the knowledge that our people have proved so useful is an abundant compensation for all toil and sacrifice, for service is our watchword, and there is no reward equal to that of doing the most good to the most people in the most need. When our National Armies were being gathered for overseas work, the likelihood of a great need was self-evident, and the most logical and most natural thing for the Salvation Army to do was to hold itself in readiness for action. That we were straitened in our circumstances is well understood, more so by us than by anybody else. The story as told in these pages is necessarily incomplete, for the obvious rea- son that the work is yet in progress. We entered France ahead of our Expeditionary Forces, ajid it is my purpose to continue my people's ministries until the last of our troops return. At the present moment the number of our workers overseas equals that of any day yet experienced. Because of the pressure that this service brings, to-

5

6 FOREWORD

gether with the unmentioned executive aires incident to the vast work of the Salvation Army in these United States, I felt compelled to requisition some competent person to aid me in the literary work associated with the production of a concrete story. In this I was mo6«t fortunate, for a writer of established worth and national fame in the per- son of Mrs. Grace Livingston Hill came to my assistance ; and having for many days had the privilege of working with her in the sifting process, gathering from the mass of matter that had accumulated and which was being daily added to, with every confidence I am able to commend her patience and toil. How well she has done her work the book wiU bear its own testimony.

This foreword would be incomplete were I to fail in acknowledging in a very definite way the lavish expressions of gratitude that have abounded on the part of "The Boys'^ themselves. This is our reward, and is a very great encouragement to us to continue a growing and more permanent effort for their welfare, which is com- prehended in our plans for the future.

The official support given has been of the highest and most generous character. Marshal Foch himself most kindly cabled me, and General Pershing has upon several occasions inspired us with commendatory words of the greatest worth.

Our beloved President has been pleased to reflect the people's pleasure and his own personal gratification upon what the Salvation Army has accomplished with the troops, which good-will we shall ever regard as one of our greatest honors.

The lavish eulogy and sincere affection bestowed by the

FOREWORD 7

nation upon the organization I can only account for by the simple fact that our ministering members have been in spirit and reality with the men.

True to our first light, first teaching, and first prac- tices, we have always put ourselves close beside the man irrespective of whether his condition is fair or foul; whether his surroundings are peaceful or perilous ; whether his prospects are promising or threatening. As a people we have felt that to be of true service to others we must be close enough to them to lift part of their load and thus carry out that grand injunction of the Apostle Paul, " Bear ye one another^s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.''

The Salvation Army upon the battlefields of France has but worked along the same lines as in the great cities of the nations. We are, with our every gift to serve, close up to those in need; and so, as Lieut.-Colonel Eoosevelt put it, " Whatever the lot of the men, the Salvation Army is found with them."

We never permit any superiority of position, or breed- ing, or even grace to make a gap between us and any who may be less fortunate. To help another, you must be near enough to catch the heart-beat. And so a large measure of our success in the war is accounted for by the fact that we have been with them. With a hundred thousand Sal- vationists on all fronts, and tens and tens of thousands of •Salvationists at their ministering posts in the homelands as well as overseas, from the time that each of the Allied countries entered the war the Salvation Army has been with the fighting-men.

With them in the thatched cottage on the hillside, and in the humble dwelling in the great towns of the home-^

8 FOREWORD

lands, when they faced the great ordeal of wishing good-bye to mothers and fathers and wives and children.

With them in the blood-soaked furrows of old fields; with them in the desolation of No Man's Land; and with them amid the indescribable miseiies and gory horrors of the battlefield. With them with the sweetest ministry, trained in the art of service, white-souled, brave, tender- hearted men and women conld render.

&3

Nationax Headquaeters Salvation- Army, New York City.

April, 1919.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

The war is over. The world's greatest tragedy is arrested. The awful pull at men's heart-strings relaxed. The inhuman monster that leapt out of the darkness and laid blood-hands upon every home of a peace-blest earth has boin overthrown. Autocracy and diabolical tyrajiny lie defeated and crushed behind the long rows of white crosses that stand like sign-posts pointing heavenward, all the way from the English Channel to the Adriatic, linking the two by an inseverable chain.

While the na/tions were in the throes of the conflict, I was constrained to speak and write of the Salvation Army's activities in the frightful struggle. Now that all is over and I reflect upon the price the nations have paid I realize much hesitancy in so doing.

When I think of England — ^where almost every man you meet is but a piece of a man ! France — one great grave^ 3^ard ! Its towns and cities a wilderness of waste ! The allied countries — Italy, and deathless little Belgium, and Serbia — well-nigh exterminated in the desperate, gory struggle ! When I think upon it — ^the price America has paid! The price her heroic sons have paid! They that come down the gangways of the returning boats on crutches ! They that arc carried down on stretchers ! They that sail into New York Harbor, young and fair, but never again to see the Statue of Liberty ! The price that dear mothers and fathers have paid ! The price that the tens of thou-

9

10 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

sands of little children bave paid ! The price they that sleep in the lands they made free have paid ! When I think upon all this, it is with no little reluctance that I now write of the small part taken by the Salvation Army in the world's titanic sacrifice for liberty, but which part we shall ever regard as our life's crowning honor.

Expressions of surprise from officers of all ranks as well as the private soldier have vied with those of gratitude concerning the efficiency of this service, but no thought of having accomplished any achievement higher than their simplest duty is entertained by the Salvationists them- selves; for uniformly they feel that they have but striven to measure up to the high standards of service maintained by the Salvation Army, which standards ask of its officers all over the world that no effort shall be left unprosecuted, no sacrifice unrendered, which will help to meet the need at their door.

And it is such high standards of devoted service to our fellow, linked with the practical nature of the movement's operations, the deeply religious character of its members, its intelligent system of government, uniting, and thus augmenting, all its activities ; with the immense advantage of the military training provided by the organiziation, that give to its officers a potency and adaptability that have for the greater period of our brief lifetime made us an influ- ential factor in seasons of civic and national disaster.

When that beautiful city of the Golden Gate, San Fran- cisco, was laid low by earthquake and fire, the Salvationists were the first upon the ground with blankets, and clothes, and food, gathering frightened little children, looking after old age, and rescuing many from the burning and falling buildings.

At the time of the wild rush to the Klondike, the Sal-

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 11

vation Army was, with its sweet, pure women — the only women amidst tens of thousands of men — ^upon the moun- tain-side of the Chilcoot Pass saving the lives of the gold- seekers, and telling those shattered by disappointment of treasure that ^^ doth not perish .''

At the time of the Jamestown, the Gralveston, and the Dayton floods the Salvation Army officer, with his boat laden with sandwiches and warm wraps, was the first upon the rising waters, ministering to maxooned and starving f aimilies gathered upon the housetops.

In the direful disaster that swept over the beautiful city of Halifax, the Mayor of that city stated : " I do not know what I should have done the first two or three days fol- lowing the explosion, when everyone was panic-stricken, without the ready, intelligent, and unbroken day-and-night effonts of the Salvation Anny.'^

On numerous other similar occasions we have relieved distress and sorrow by our almost instantaneous service. Hence when our honored President decided that our Na- tional Emblem, heralder of the inalienable rights of man, should cross the seas and wave for the freedom of the peoples of the earth, automatically the Salvation Army moved with it, and our officers passed to the varying posts of helpfulness which the emergency demanded.

Now on all sides I am confronted with the question: What is the secret of the Salvation Army's success in the war?

Permit me to suggest three reasons which, in my judg- ment, account for it:

First, when the war-bolt fell, when the clarion call sounded, it found the Salvation Army ready!

Eeady not only with our material machinery, but with that precious piece of human mechanism which is indis-

12 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

pensable to all great and high achieyemenit — ^the right calibre of man, and the right calibre of woman. Men and womeai equipped by a careful training for the work they would have to do.

We were not many in number, I admit. In France our numbers have been regrettably few. But this is because I have felt it was better to fall short in quantity than to run the risk in falling shori; in quality. Quality is its own multiplication table. Quality without quantity will spread, whereas quantity without quality will shrink. Therefore, I would not send any officers to France except such as had been fuUy equipped in our training schools.

Few have even a remote idea of the extensive training given to all Salvation Army officers by our military sys- tem of education, covering all the tactics of that pari:icu- lar warfare to which they have consecrated their lives — the service of humanity.

We have in the Salvation Army thiriy-nine Training Schools in which our own men and women, both for our mis- sionary and home fields, receive an intelligent tuition and practical training in the minutest details of their service. They are trained in the finest and most intricate of all the ariss, the art of dealing ably with human life.

It is a wonderful art which transfigures a sheet of cold grey canvas into a throbbing vitality, and on its inan- imate spread visualizes a living picture froan which one feels they can never turn their eyes away.

It is a wonderful art which takes a rugged, knotted block of marble, standing upon a coarse wooden bench, and cuts out of its uncomely crudeness — as I saw it done — the face of my father, with its every feature illumined with prophetic light, so true to life that I felt that to my touch it surely must respond.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 13

But even such arte as these cruimble; they are as dust imder our feet compared with that much greater art, the art of dealing ably with human life in all its varying cotv- ditions and phases.

It is in this art that we seek by a most careful culture and training to perfect our officers.

They are trained in those expert measures which enable them to handle satisfactorily those that cannot handle themselves, those that have lost their grip on things, and that if unaided go down under the high, rough tides.

Trained to meet emergencies of every character — to leap into the breach, to span the gulf, and to do it without waiting to be told how.

Trained to press at every cost for the desired and decided-upon end.

Trained to obey orders willingly, and gladly, and wholly — ^not in part.

Trained to give no quarter to the enemy, no jnaiter what the character, nor in what form he may present himself, and to never consider what personal advantage may be derived.

Trained in the art of the winsome, attractive coquetries of the round, brown doughnut and all its kindred.

Trained, if needs be, to seal their services with their life's blood.

One of our women officers, on being told by the colonel of the regiment she would be killed if she persisted in serving her doughnuts and cocoa to the men while under heavy fire, and that she must get back to safety, replied : " Colonel, we can die with the men, but we cannot leave them.''

When, therefore, I gathered the little companies to- gether for their last charge before they sailed for France,

14 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

I would tell them that while I was unable to arm them with many of the advantages of the more wealthy denomi- nations; that while I could give them only a very few assistants owing to the great demand upon our forces; and that while I could promise them nothing beyond their bare expenses, yet I knew that without fear I could rely upon them for an unsurpassed devotion to the God-inspired standards of the emblem of this, the world's greatest Re- public, the Stars and Stripes, now in the van for the free- dom of the peoples of the earth. That I could rely upon them for unsurpassed devotion to the brave men who laid their lives upon the altar of their country's protection, and that I could rely upon them for an imsurpassed devotion to that other banner, the Banner of Calvary, the signifi- cance of which has not changed in nineteen centuries, and by the standards of which, alone, all the world's wrongs can be redressed, and by the standards of which alone men can be liberated from all their bondage. And they have not failed.

A further reason for the success of the Salvation Army in the war is, it found us accustomed to hardship.

We are a people who have thrived on adversity. Oppo- sition, persecution, privation, abuse, hunger, cold and wanit were with us at the starting-post, and have journeyed with us all along the course.

We went to the battlefields no strangers to suffering. The biting cold winds that swept the fields of Flanders werfe not the first to lash our faces. The sunless cellars, with their mouldy walls and water-seeped floors, where our women sought refuge from shell-fire through the hours of the night, contributed no new or untried experience. In such cellars as these, in their home cities, under the flicker of a tallow candle, they have ministered to the sick and comforted the dying.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 16

Wet feet, lack of sleep, being often without food, find- ing things different from what we had plajmed, hoped and expected, were frequent experiences with us. All such things we Salvationists encounter in our daily toils for others amid the indescribable miseries and inestimable sor- rows, the sins and the tragedies of the underworlds of our great cities — ^the underneath of those great cities which upon the surface thunder with enterprise and glitter with brilliance.

We are not easily affrighted by frowns of fortune. We do not change our course because of contrary currents, nor put into harbor because of head-winds. Almost all our progress has been made in the teeth of the storm. We have always had to "tack,'^ but as it is *^the set of the sails, and not the gales ^' that decides the ports we reach, the competency of our seamanship is determined by the fact that we " get there.^'

Our service in France was not, therefore, an experiment, but an organized, tested, and proved system. We were enacting no new role. We were all through the Boer Wat. Our officers were with the besieged troops in Mafeking and Ijadysmith. They were with Lord Kitchener in his vic- torious march through Africa. It was this grand soldier who afterwards wrote to my father. General Williatoi Booth, the Founder of our movement, saying: "Your men have given us an example both of how to live as good soldiers and how to die as heroes/' And so it was quite natural that our men and women, with that fearlessness which charac- terizes our members, should take up positions under fire in Fraaice.

In fact, our officers would have considered themselves unfaithful to Salvation Army traditions and history, and imtrue to those who had gone before, if they had deserted

16 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

any post, or shirked any duty, because cloaked with the shadows of death.

This explains why their dear forms loomed up in the fog and the rain, in the hours of the night, on the roads, under shell fire, serving coffee and doughnuts.

This is how it was they were with tliem on the long dreary marches, with a smile and a song and a word of cheer.

This is how it is the Salvation Army has no " closing hours." " Taps " sound for us when the need is relieved.

Three of our women officers in the Toul Sector had slept for three weeks in a hay-stack, in an open field, to be near the men of an ammunition train taking supplies to the front under cover of darkness. The boys had watched their continued, devoted service for them. — ^the many nights without sleep — and noticing the shabby uniform of the little officer in charge, collected among themselves 1600 francs, and ofl^ered it to her for a new one, and some other comforts, the spokesman saying : " This is just to show you how grateful we are to you." The officer was deeply touched, but told them she could not think of accepting it for herself. " I am quite accustomed to hard toils," she eaid. " I have only done what ail my comrades are doing — my duty," and oifered to compromise by putting the money into a general fund for the benefit of all — ^to buy more doughnuts and more coffee for the boys.

Salvation Army teaching and practice is: Choose your purpose, then set your face as flint toward that purpose, permitting no enemy that can oppose, and no sacrifice that can be asked, to turn you from it.

Again, a reason for our success in the war is, our prac- tical religion.

That is, our religion is practicable. Or, I would rather

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 17

say, OUT Christianity is practicable. Few realize this as the secret of our success, and some who do realize it will not admit it, but this is what it really is.

We do worship; both in spirit and form, in public amd in private. We rely upon prayer as the only line of com- munication between the creature and his Creator, the only wing upon which the soul's requirements and hungerings can be wafted to the Fount of all spiritual supply. Through our street, as well as our indoor meetings, perhaps oftener than any other people, we come to the masses with the divine benediction of prayer; and it would be difficult to find the Salvationist's home that does not regard the fam- ily altar as its most precious and priceless treasure.

We do preach. We prea^ch God the Creator of earth and heaven, unerring in His wisdom, infinite in His love and omnipotent in His power. We preach Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, dying on Calvary for a world's transgressions, able to save to the uttermost " all those who come unto God by Him." We preach God the Holy Ghost, sanotifier and comforter of the souls of men, making white the life, and kindling lights in every dark landing-place. We preach the Bible, authentic in its statements, immacu- late in its teaching, and glorious in its promises. We preach grace, limitless grace, grace enough for all men, and grace enough for each. We preach Hell, the irrevocable doom of the soul that rejects the Saviour. We preach Heaven, the home of the righteous, the reward of the good, the crowning of them that endure to the end.

Even as we preach, so we practice Christianity. We re- duce theory to action. We apply faith to deeds. We con- fess and present Jesus Christ in things that can be done.

It i« this that has carried our flag into sixty^hree countries and colonies, and despite the bitterest opposition 2

18 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

has given us the financial support of twenty-one national governments. It is tliis that has brought us up from a little handful of humble workers to aji organization with 21,000 officers and workers, preaching the gospel in thirty- nine tongues. It is this that has multiplied the one bands- man and a despised big drum to an army of 27,000 musi- ciains, and it is this — our practice of religion — ^that has placed Christ in deeds.

Arthur E. Copping gives as the reason for the move- ment's success — ^''the simple, thorough-going, uncompro- mising, seven-days-a-week character of its Christianity.''

It is this every-day-use religion which has made us of infinite service in the places of toil, breakage, and suffering ; this every-day-use religion which has made us the only resource for thousands in misery and vice; this every- day-use religion which has insured our success to an extent that has induced civic authorities. Judges, Mayors, Governors, and even I^ational Governments — such as India with its Criminal Tribes — to turn to us with the problems of the poor and the wicked.

While the Salvationist is not of the generally under- stood ascetic or monastic type, yet his spirit and deeds are of the very essence of saintliness.

As man has arrested the lazy cloud sleeping on the brow of the hill, and has brought it down to enlighten our darkness, to carry our mail-bags, to haul our luggage, and to flash our messages, so, I would say with all reverence, that the Salvation Army in a very particular way has again brought down Jesus Christ from the high, high thrones, golden pathways, and wing-spread angels of Glory, to the common mud walks of earth, and has presented Him again in the flesh to a storm-torn world, touching and healing the wounds, the bruises, and the bleeding sores of hulmianity.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 19

That was a wonderful sermon Christ preached on the Mount, but was it more wonderful than the ministry of the wounded man fallen by the roadside, or the drying of the tears from the pale, worn face of the widow of Nain? Or more wonderful than when He said, Let them come — ^let them come — mothers and the little children — and blessed them?

It has only been this same Christ, this Christ in deeds, when our women have washed the blood from the faces of the wounded, and taken the caked mud from their feet; when under fire, through the hours of the night, they have made the doughnuts; when instead of sleeping they have written the letters home to soldiers' loved ones, when they have lifted the heavy pails of water and struggled with them over the shell-wrecked roads that the dying soldiers might drink; when they have sevm the torn uniforms; when they have strewn wdth the first spring flowers the graves of those who died for liberty. Only Christ in deeds when our men went unarmed into the horrors of the Ar- gonne Forest to gather the dying boys in their arms and to comfort them with love, human and divine.

That valiant champion of justice and truth ; that faith- ful, able and brilliant defender of American standards, the late Honorable Theodore Roosevelt, told me personally a few days before he went into the hospital that his son wrote him of how our officer, fifty-three years of age, despite his orders, went unarmed over the top, in the whirl- wind of the charge, amidst the shriek of shell and tear of shrapnel, and picked up the American boy left for dead in No Man's Land, carrying him on his back over the shell-torn fields to safety.

It is this Christ in deeds that has made the doug-hnut to take the place of the *^ ciap of cold water " given in His

«0 FROM THE COMIilANDER'S OWN PEN

name. It is this Christ in deeds that has brought from our humble ranks the modem Florence Nightingales and taken to the gory horrors of the battlefields the white, uplifting influences of pure womanhood. It is this Christ in deeds that made Sir Arthur Stanley say, when thanking our Gen- ral for $10,000 donated for more ambulances: "I thank you for the money, but much more for the men; they are quite the best in our service.'^

It is this Christ who has given to our humblest service a sheen — something of a glory — ^which the troops have caught, and which will make these simple deeds to hold tenaciously to history, and to outlive the effacing fingers of time — even to defy the very dissolution of death.

As Premier Clemenceau said: ^^We must love. We must believe. This is the secret of life. If we fail to learn this lesson, we exist without living: we die in ignorance of the reality of life."

A senator, after several months spent in France, stated : "It is my opinion that the secret of the success of this organization is their complete abandonment to their cause, ihe service of the man/'

Of the many beautiful tributes paid to us by a most gracious public, and by the noblest-hearted and most kindly and gallant army that ever stood up in uniform, perhaps the most correct is this: Complete abandonment to the service of the man.

This, in large measure, is the cause of our sucscess all over the world.

When you come to think of it, the Salvation Army is a remarkable arrangement. It is remarkable in its con- struction. It is a great empire. An empire geographically

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 21

•unlike any other. It is an empire without a frontier. It is an empire made up of geographical fragments, parted from each other by vast stretches of railroad and immense sweeps of sea. It is an empire composed of a tangle of races, tongues, and colors, of types of civilization and en- lightened barbarism such as never before in all human his- tory gathered together under one flag.

It is an army, with its titles rambling into all lan- guages, a soldiery spreading over all lands, a banner upon which the sun never goes down — with its head in the heart of a cluster of islands set in the grey, wind-blown Northern seas, while its territories are scattered over every sea and under every sky.

The world has wondered what has been the controlling force holding this strange empire together. What is the electro-magnetism governing its furthest atom as though it were at your elbow ? What is the magic sceptre that com- pels this diversity of peoples to act as one man ? What is the master passion uniting these multifarious pulsations into one heart-beat?

Has it been a swom-to signature attached to bond or paper? No; these can all too readily be designated " scraps ^' and be rent in twain. Has it been self -interest and worldly fame? No, for all selfish gain has had to be sacrificed upon the threshold of the contract. Has it been the bond of kinship, or blood, or speech? No, for under this banner the British master has become the servant of the Hindoo, and the American has gone to lay down his life upon the veldts of Africa. Has it been the bond of that almost supernatural force, glorious patriotism? No, not even this, for while we " know no man after the flesh,"

22 FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN

we recognize our brother in all the families of the earth, and our General infused into the breasts of his followers the sacred conviction that the Salvationist's country is the world.

What was it? What is it? Those ties created by a spiritual ideal. Our love for God demonstrated by our sacrifice for man.

My father, in a private audience with the late King Edward, said : " Your Majesty, some men's passion is gold; some men's passion is art; some men's passion is fame ; my passion is man ! "

This was in our Founder's breast the white flame which ignited like sparks in the hearts of all his followers.

Man is our life's passion.

It isi for man we have laid our lives upon the altar. It is for man we have entered into a contract with our 6rod which signs away our claim to any and all selfish ends. It is for man we have sworn to our own hurt, and — ^my God thou knowest — when the hurt came, hard and hot and fast, it was for man we held tenaciously to the bargain.

After the torpedoing of the Abouhir two sailors found themselves clinging to a spar which was not sufficiently buoyant to keep them both afloat. Harry, a Salvationist, grasped the situation and said to his mate : " Tom, for me to die will mean to go home to mother. I don't think it's quite the same for you, so you hold to the spar and I will go down; but promise me if you are picked up you will make my God your God and my people your people." To5m was rescued and told to a weeping audience in a Salvation Army hall the act of self-sacrifice which had saved his life.

FROM THE COMMANDER'S OWN PEN 23

and testified to keeping his promise to the boy who had died for him.

When the Empress of Ireland went down with a hun- dred and thirty Salvation Army officers on board, one hun- dred and nine officers were drowned, and not one body that was picked up had on a life-belt. The few survivors told how the Salvationists, finding there were not enough life-preservers for all, took off their own belts and strapped them upon even strong men, saying, ^' I can die better than you can ; " and from the deck of that sinking boat they flung their battle-cry around the world — Others!

Man! Sometimes I think God has given us special eyesight with which to look upon him. We look through the exterior, look through the shell, look through the coat, and find the man. We look through the ofttimes repulsive wrappings, through the dark, objectionable coating col- leK?ted upon the downward travel of misspent years, through the artificial veneer of empty seeming — through to the man.

He that was made after God's image.

He that is greater than firmaments, greater than suns, greater than worlds.

Man, for whom worlds were created, for whom Heavens were canopied, for whom suns were set ablaze. He in whose being there gleams that immortal spark we call the soul.

And when this war came, it was natural for us to look to the man — the man under the shabby clothes, enlisting in the great armies of freedom; the man going down the street under the spick anl span uniform; the man behind the gun, standing in the jaws of death hurling back world autocracy; the man, the son of liberty, discharging his

U FROM THE COMlViANDER'S OWN PEN

obligations to them that are hound; the man, each one of them, although so young, who when the fates of the world swung in the balances proved to be the man of the hour; the man, each one of them, fighting not only for to- day but for to-morrow, and deciding the world's future; the man who gladly died that freedom might not be dead ; the man dear to a hundred million throbbing hearts; the man God loved so much that to save him He gave His only (Son to the unparalleled sacrifice of Calvary, with its mea^ ureless ocean of torment heaving up against His Heart in one foaming, wrathful, onmipotent surge.

Wherein is price? What constitutes coet, when the question is THE MAN?

PREFACE BY THE WRITER

I WISH I could give you a picture of Commander Evan- geline Booth as I saw her first, who has been the Source, the Inspiration, the Guide of this story.

I went to the first conference about this book in curi- osity and some doubt, not knowing whether it was my work ; not altogether sure whether I cared to attempt it. She took my hand and spoke to me. I looked in her face and saw the shining glory of her great spirit through those wonder- ful, beautiful, wise, keen eyes, and all doubts vanished. I studied the sincerity and beauty of her vivid face as we talked together, and heard the thrilling tale she was giving me to tell because she could not take the time from living it to write it, and I trembled lest she would not find me worthy for so great a task. I knew that I was being honored be- yond women to have been selected as an instrument through whom the great story of the Salvation Army in the War might go forth to the world. That I wanted to do it more than any work that had ever come to my hand, I was cer- tain at once; and that my whole soul was enmeshed in the wonder of it. It gripped me from the start. I was over- joyed to find that we were in absolute sympathy from the first.

One sentence from that earliest talk we had together stands clear in my memory, and it has perhaps uncon- sciously shaped the theme which I hope will be found running through all the book:

"Our people,'^ said she, flinging out her hands in a lovely embracing movement, as if she saw before her at that

25

26 PREFACE BY THE WRITER

moment those devoted workers of hers who follow where she leads unquestioningly, and stay not for fire or foe, or weariness, or peril of any sort :

"Our people know that Christ is a living presence, that they can reach out and feel He is near : that is why they can live so splendidly and die so heroically ! ''

As she spoke a light shone in her face that reminded me of the light that we read was on Moses' face after he had spent those days in the mountain with God ; and some- where back in my soul something was repeating the words : "And they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus."

That seems to me to be the whole secret of the wonder- ful lives and wonderful work of the Salvation Army. They have become acquainted with Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal ; they feel His presence constantly with them and they live their lives " as seeing Him who is invisible." They are a living miracle for the confounding of all who doubt that there is a God whom mortals may know face to face while they are yet upon the earth.

The one thing that these people seem to feel is really worth while is bringing other people to know their Christ. All other things in life are merely subservient to this, or tributary to it. All their education, culture and refinement, their amazing organization, their rare business ability, are just so many tools that they use for the uplift of others. In fact, the word " OTHERS " appears here and there, printed on small white cards and tacked up over a desk, or in a hallway near the elevator, anywhere, every- where all over the great building of the New York Head- quarters, a quiet, unobtrusive, yet startling reminder of a world of real things in the midst of the busy rush of life.

Yet they do not obtrude their religion. Eather it is a

PREFACE BY THE WRITER 27

secret joy that shines imaware through their eyes, and seems! to flood their whole being with happiness so that others can but see. It is there, ready, when the time comes to give comfort, or advice, or to tell the message of the gospel in clear ringing sentences in one of their meetings ; but it speaks as well through a smile, or a ripple of song, or a bright funny story, or something good to eat when one is hungry, as it does through actual preaching. It is the liv- ing Christ, as if He were on earth again living in them. And when one comes to know them well one knows that He is!

'^ Go straight for the salvation of souls : never rest satisfied unless this end is achieved ! '^ is part of the com- mission that the Commander gives to her envoys. It is worth while stopping to think what would be the effect on the world if every one who has named the name of Christ should accept that commission and go forth to fulfill it.

And you who have been accustomed to drop your pen- nies in the tambourine of the Salvation Army lassies at the street corners, and look upon her as a representative of a lower class who are doing good " in their way,'' prepare to realize that you have made a mistake. The Salvation Army is not an organization composed of a lot of ignorant, illiterate, reformed criminals picked out of the slums. There may be among them many of that class who by the army's efforts have been saved from a life of sin and shame, and lifted up to be useful citizens ; but great numbers of them, the leaders and officers, are refined, educated men and women who have put Christ and His Kingdom first in their hearts and lives. Their young people will compare in every way with the best of the young people of any of our religious denominations.

After the privilege of close association with them for

28 PREFACE BY THE WRITER

some time I have come to feel that the most noticeable and lovely thing about the girls is the way they wear their womanhood, as if it were a flower, or a rare jewel. One of these girls, who, by the way, had been nine months in France, all of it under shell fire, said to me :

" I used to wish I had been born a boy, they are not hampered so much as women are; but after I went to France and saw what a good woman meant to those boys in the trenches I changed my mind, and I'm glad I was born a woman. It means a great deal to be a woman."

And so there is no coquetry about these girls, no little personal vanity such as girls who are thinking of them- selves often have. They take great care to be neat and sweet and serviceable, but as they are not thinking of them- selves, but only how they may serve, they are blest with that loveliest of all adorning, a meek and quiet spirit and a joy of living and content that only forge tfulness of self and communion with Jesus Christ can bring.

I feel as if I would like to thank every one of them, men and women and young girls, who have so kindly and gen- erously and wholeheartedly given me of their time and experiences and put at my disposal their correspondence to enrich this story, and have helped me to go over the ground of the great American drives in the war and see what they saw, hear what they heard, and feel as they felt. It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life.

And she, their God-given leader, that wonderful woman whose wise hand guides every detail of this marvellous organization in America, and whose well furnished mind is ever thinking out new ways to serve her Master, Christ; what shall I say of her whom I have come to know and love 80 well?

Her exceptional ability as a public speaker is of the

PREFACE BY THE WRITER 29

widest fame, while comparatively few, beyond those of her most trusted Officers, are brought into admiring touch with her brilliant executive powers. All these, however, unite in most unstinted praise and declare that functioning in this sphere, the Commander even excels her platform triumphs. But one must know her well and watch her every day to understand her depth of insight into charac- ter, her wideness of vision, her skill of making adverse circumstances serve her ends. Born with an innate genius for leadership, swallowed up in her work, wholly consecrated to God and His service, she looks upon men, as it were, with the eyes of the God she loves, and sees the best in everybody. She sees their faults also, but she sees the good, and is able to take that good and put it to account, while helping them out of their faults. Those whom she has so helped would kiss the hem of her garment as she passes. It is easy to see why she is a leader of men. It is easy to see who has made the Army here in America. It is easy to see who has inspired the brave men and wonderful women who went to France and labored.

' She would not have me say these things of her, for she is humble, as such a great leader should be, knowing all her gifts and attainments to be but the glory of her Lord; and this is her book. Only in this chapter can I ^eak and say what I will, for it is not my book. But here, too, I waive my privilege and bow to my Commander.

t^^^^i^Cnu

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Story 35

II. The Gondrecourt Area 48

m. The Toul Sector 129

TV- The MoNTomiER Sector 147

V. The Toul Sector Again 178

VI. The Baccarat Sector 186

VII. The Chateau-Thierry-Soissons Drive 199

VIII. The Saint Mihiel Drive 217

EX. The Argonne Drive 242

X. The Armistice 260

XI. Homecoming 264

Xn. Letters op Appreciation 287

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGK General Bramwell Booth Frontispiece

Commander Evangeline Booth 4

Lieutenant Colonel William S. Barker. 48

Introduced to French Rain and French Mud 49

She Called the Little Company of Workers Together and Gave Them a Charge 54

The Lasae Who Fried the First Doughnut in France 55

'Tin Hat for a Halo! Ah! She Wears It Well !'^ 80

The Patient Officers Who Were Seeing to All These Details

Worked Almost Day and Night 81

Here During the Day They Worked in Dugouts Far Below the

Shell-tortured Earth 112

They Came To Get Their Coats Mended and Their Buttons

Sewed On 113

The Entrance to the Old Wine Cellar in Mandres 142

The Salvation Army Was Told that Ansauville Was Too Far

Front for Any Women To Be Allowed To Go 143

L'Hermitage, Nestled in the Heart of a Deep Woods 146

L'Hermitage, Inside the Tent 147

"Ma" 168

They Had a Pie-baking Contest in Gondrecourt One Day 169

A Letter of Inspiration from the Conmiander 174

The Salvation Army Boy Truck Driver 175

The Centuries-old Gray Cemetery in Treveray 180

Colonel Barker Placing the Commander's Flowers on Lieutenant

Quentin Roosevelt's Grave ^. 181

3 " 33 "

34 ILLUSTRATIONS

The Salvation Army Boy Who Drove the Famous Doughnut

Truck 228

BuUionville, Promptly Dubbed by the American Boy "Soup- town" 229

Here They Found a Whole Little Village of German Dugouts. . 242

The Girls Who Came Down to Help in the St. Mihiel Drive. . 243

The Wrecked House in Neuvilly Where the Lassies Went to

Sleep in the Cellar 246

The Wrecked Church in Neuvilly Where the Memorable Meet- ing Was Held 247

Right in the Midst of the Busy Hurrying Throng of Union

Square 270

"Smiling Billy" 271

Thomas Estill 284

The Hut at Camp Lewis 285

THE WAR ROMANCE OF THE SALVATION ARMY

I.

THE STOET.

Into the heavy shadows that swathe the feet of the tall buildings in West Fourteenth Street, New York, late in the evening there slipped a dark form. It was so carefully wrapped in a black cloak that it was difficult to tell among the other shadows whether it was man or woman, and imme- diately it became a part of the darkness that hovered close to the entrances along the way. It slid almost imper- ceptibly from shadow to shadow until it crouched flatly against the wall by the steps of an open door out of which streamed a wide band of light that flung itself across the pavement.

Down the street came two girls in poke bonnets and hurried in at the open door. The figure drew back and was motionless as they passed, then with a swift furtive glance in either direction a head came cautiously out from the shadow and darted a look after the two lassies, watched till they were out of sight, and a form slid into the door- way, winding about the turning like a serpent, as if the way were well planned, and slipped out of sight in a dark corner under the stairway.

Half an hour or perhaps an hour passed, and one or two hurrying forms came in at the door and sped up the stairs from some errand of mercy ; then the night watchman came and fastened the door and went away again, out somewhere tiirough a back room.

35

36 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The interloper was instantly on the alert, darting out of its hiding place, and slipping noiselessly up the stairs as quietly as the shadow it imitated ; pausing to listen with anxious mien, stepping as a cloud might have stepped with no creak of stairway or sound of going at all.

Up, up, up and up again, it darted, till it came to the very top, pausing to look sharply at a gleam of light under a door of some student not yet asleep.

From under the dark cloak slid a hand with something in it. Silently it worked, swiftly, pouring a few drops here, a few drops there, of some colorless, odorless matter, smear- ing a spot on the stair railing, another across from it on the wall, a little on the floor beyond, a touch on the window seat at the end of the hall, some more on down the stairs.

On rubbered feet the fiend crept down; halting, listen- ing, ever working rapidly, from floor to floor and back to the entrance way again. At last with a cautious glance around, a pause to rub a match skilfully over the woolen cloak, and to light a fuse in a hidden corner, he vanished out upon the street like the passing of a wraith, and was gone in the darkness.

Down in the dark corner the little spark brooded and smouldered. The watchman passed that way but it gave no sign. All was still in the great building, as the smoulder- ing spark crept on and on over its little thread of existence to the climax.

But suddenly, it sprang to life ! A flame leaped up like a great tongue licking its lips before the feast it was about to devour; and then it sprang as if it were human, to an- other spot not far away ; and then to another, and on, and on up the stair rail, across to the wall, leaping, roaring, almost shouting as if in fiendish glee. It flew to the top of the house and down again in a leap and the whole build- ing was enveloped ia a sheet of flame !

THE SALVATION ARMY 37

Some one gave the cry of FIRE ! The night watchman darted to his box and sent in the alarm. Frightened girls in night attire crowded to their doors and gasping feU back for an instant in horror; then bravely obedient to their training dashed forth into the flame. Young men on other floors without a thought for themselves dropped into order automatically and worked like madmen to save every- one. The fire engines throbbed up almost immediately, but the building was doomed from the start and went like tinder. Only the fire drill in which they had constant almost daily practice saved those brave girls and boys from an awful death. Out upon the fire escapes in the bitter winter wind the girls crept down to safety, and one by one the young men followed. The young man who was fire sergeant counted his men and found them all present but one cadet. He darted back to find him, and that moment with a last roar of triumph the flames gave a final leap and the building collapsed, burying in a fiery grave two fine young heroes.

Afterward they said the building had been " smeared " or it never could have gone in a breath as it did. The miracle was that no more lives were lost.

So that was how the burning of the Salvation Army Training School occurred.

The significant fact in the affair was that there had been sleeping in that building directly over the place where the fire started several of the lassies who were to sail for France in a day or two with the largest party of war workers that had yet been sent out. Their trunks were packed, and they were all ready to go. The object was all too evident.

There was also proof that the intention had been to destroy as well the great fireproof Salvation Army National Headquarters building adjoining the Training School.

38 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

A few days later a detective taking lunch in a small German restaurant on a side street overheard a conversation :

"Well, if we can't burn them out we'll blow up the building, and get that damn Commander, anyhow ! ''

Yet when this was told her the Commander declined the bodyguard offered her by the Civic Authorities, to go with her even to her country home and protect her while the war lasted I She is naturally a soldier.

The Commander had stayed late at the Headquarters one evening to finish some important bit of work, and had given orders that she should not be interrupted. The great building was almost empty save for the night watchman, the elevator man, and one or two others.

She was hard at work when her secretary appeared with an air of reluctance to tell her that the elevator man said there were three ladies waiting downstairs to see her on some very important business. He had told them that she could not be disturbed but they insisted that they must see her, that she would wish it if she knew their business. He had come up to find out what he should answer them.

The Commander said she knew nothing about them and could not be interrupted now. They must be told to come again the next day.

The elevator man returned in a few minutes to say that the ladies insisted, and said they had a great gift for the Salvation Army, but must see the Commander at once and alone or the gift would be lost.

Quickly interested the Commander gave orders that they should be brought up to her oflBce, but just as they were about to enter, the secretary came in again with great excitement, begging that she would not see the visitors, as one of the men from downstairs had 'phoned up to her that he did not like the appearance of the strangers; they

THE SALVATION AKMY 39

seemed to be trying to talk in high strained voices, and they had very large feet. Maybe they were not women at all.

The Commander laughed at the idea, but finally yielded when another of her staff entered and begged her not to see strangers alone so late at night; and the callers were informed that they would have to return in the morning if they wished an interview.

Immediately they became anything but ladylike in their manner, declaring that the Salvation Army did not deserve a gift and should have nothing from them. The elevator man^s suspicions were aroused. The ladies were attired in long automobile cloaks, and close caps with large veils, and he studied them carefully as he carried them down to the street floor once more, following them to the outer door. He was surprised to find that no automobile awaited them outside. As they turned to walk down the street, he was sure he caught a glimpse of a trouser leg from beneath one of the long cloaks, and with a stride he covered the space between the door and his elevator where was a telephone, and called up the police station. In a few moments more the three "ladies^' found themselves in custody, and proved to be three men well armed.

But when the Commander was told the truth about them she surprisingly said : ^^ I'm sorry I didn't see them. I'm sure they would have done me no harm and I might have done them some good."

But if she is courageous, she is also wise as a serpent, and knows when to keep her own counsel.

During the early days of the war when there were many important matters to be decided and the Commander was needed everjrwhere, she came straight from a confer- ence in Washington to a large hotel in one of the great western cities where she had an appointment to speak that

40 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

night. At the revolving door of the hotel stood a portly servitor in house uniform who was most kind and notice- ably attentive to her whenever she entered or went out, and was constantly giving her some pointed little attention to draw her notice. Finally, she stopped for a moiment to thank him, and he immediately became most flattering, telling her he knew all about the Salvation Army, that he had a brother in its ranks, was deeply interested in their work in France, and most proud of what they were doing. He told her he had lived in Washington and said he sup- posed she often went there. She replied pleasantly that 'she had but just come from there, but some keen intuition besran to warn this wise-hearted woman and when the next question, though spoken most casually, was: "Where are the Salvation Army workers now in France ? '' she replied evasively :

" Oh, wherever they are most needed,'* and passed on with a friend.

'^ I believe that man is a spy ! " she said to her friend with conviction in her voice.

" Nonsense ! '' the friend replied ; " you are growing nervous. That man has been in this hotel for several years.^'

But that very night the man, with five others, was arrested, and proved to be a spy hunting information about the location of the American troops in France.

Now these incidents do not belong in just this spot in the book, but they are placed here of intention that the reader may have a certain viewpoint from which to take the story. For well does the world of evil realize what a strong force of opponents to their dark deeds is found in this

THE SALVATION ARMY 41

great Christian organization. Sometimes one is able the better to judge a man, his character and strength, when one knows who are his enemies.

It was the beginning of the dark days of 1917.

The Commander sat in her quiet office, that office through which, except on occasions like this when she locked the doors for a few minutes' special work, there marched an unbroken procession of men and affairs, affect- ing both souls and nations.

Before her on the broad desk lay the notes of a new address which she was preparing to deliver that evening, but her eyes were looking out of the wide window, across the clustering roofs of the great city to the white horizon line, and afar over the great water to the terrible scene of the Strife of Nations.

For a long time her thoughts had been turning that way, for she had many beloved comrades in that fight, both warring and ministering to the fighters, and she had often longed to go herself, had not her work held her here. But now at last the call had come ! America had entered the great war, and in a few days her sons would be march- ing from all over the land and embarking for over the seas to fling their young lives into the inferno; and behind them would stalk, as always in the wake of War, Pain and Sorrow and Sin! Especially Sin. She shuddered as she thought of it all. The many subtle temptations to one who is lonely and in a foreign land.

Her eyes left the far horizon and hovered over the huddling roofs that represented so many hundreds of thou- sands of homes. So many mothers to give up their sons ; so many wives to be bereft; so many men and boys to be

42 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

sent forth to suffer and be tried; so many hearts already overburdened to be bowed beneath a heavier load ! Oh, her people! Her beloved people, whose sorrows and burdens and sins she bore in her heart and carried to the feet of the Master every day ! And now this war !

And those young men, hardly more than children, some of them I With her quick insight and deep knowledge of the world, she visualized the way of fire down which they must walk, and her soul was stricken with the thought of it ! It was her work and the work of her chosen Army to help and save, but what could she do in such a momentous crisis as this ? She had no money for new work. Oppor- tunities had opened up so fast. The Treasury was already overtaxed with the needs on this side of the water. There were enterprises started that could not be given up with- out losing precious souls who were on the way toward be- coming redeemed men and women, fit citizens of this world and the next. There was no surplus, ever! The multi- farious efforts to meet the needs of the poorest of the cities' poor, alone, kept everyone on the strain. There seemed no possibility of doing more. Besides, how could they spare the workers to meet the new demand without taking them from places where they were greatly needed at home?

And other perplexities darkened the way. There were those sitting in high places of authority who had strongly advised the Salvation Army to remain at home and go on with their street meetings, telling them that the battlefield was no place for them, they would only be in the way. They were not adapted to a thing like war. But well she knew the capacity of the Salvation Army to adapt itself to whatever need or circumstance presented. The same standard they had borne into the most wretched places of earth in times of peace would do in times of war.

THE SALVATION ARMY' 43

Out there across the waters the Salvation Brothers and Sisters were ministering to the British armies at the front, and now that the American army was going, too, duty seemed very clear; the call was most imperative !

The written pages on her desk loudly demanded atten- tion and the Commander tried to bring her thoughts back to them once more, but again and again the call sounded in her heart.

She lifted her eyes to the wall across the room from her desk where hung the life-like portrait of her Christian- Warrior father, the grand old keen-eyed, wise-hearted General, founder of the movement. Like her father she knew they must go. There was no question about it. No hindrance should stop them. They MUST GO! The warrior blood ran in her veins. In this the world's greatest calamity they must fulfiU the mission for which he lived and died.

" Go ! '' Those pictured eyes seemed to speak to her, just as they used to command her when he was here: " You must go and bear the standard of the Cross to the front. Those boys are going over there, many of them to die, and some are telling them that if they make the supreme sacrifice in this their country's hour of need it will be all right with them when they go into the world beyond. But when they get over there under shell fire they wiU know that it is not so, and they will need Christ, the only atonement for sin. You must go and take the Christ to them."

Then the Commander bowed her head, accepting the comimission; and there in the quiet room perhaps the Master Himself stood beside her and gave her his charge —

44 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

just as she would later charge those whom she would send across the water — telling her that He was depending upon the Salvation Army to bear His standard to the war.

Perhaps it was at this same high conference with her Lord that she settled it in her heart that Lieutenant- Colonel William S. Barker was to be the pioneer to blaze the way for the work in France.

However that may be he wias an out-and-out Salvation- ist, of long and varied experience. He was chosen equally for his proved consecration to service, for his unselfishness, for his exceptional and remarkable natural courage by which he was afraid of nothing, and for his unwavering persistence in plans once made in spite of all difficulties. The Commander once said of him : *' If you want to see him at his best you must put him face to face with a stone wall and tell him he must get on the other side of it. No matter what the cost or toil, whether hated or loved, he would get there !"

Thus carefully, prayerfully, were each one of the other workers selected ; each new selection born from the struggle of her soul in prayer to God that there might be no mis- takes, no unwise choices, no messengers sent forth who went for their own ends and not for the glory of God. Here lies the secret which makes the world wonder to-day why the Salvation Army workers are called "the real thing " by the soldiers. They were hand-picked by their leader on the mount, face to face with God.

She took no casual comer, even with offers of money to back them, and there were some of immense wealth who pleaded to be of the little band. She sent only those whom she knew and had tried. Many of them had been bom and reared in the Salvation Army, with Christlike fathers and

THE SALVATION ARMY 45

mothers who had made their homes a little piece of heaven below. All of them were consecrated, and none went with- out the urgent answering call in their own hearts.

It was early in June, 1917, when Colonel Barker sailed to France with his commission to look the field over and report upon any and every opportunity for the Salvation Army to serve the American troops.

In order to pave his way before reaching France, Colonel Barker secured a letter of introduction from Secretary-to- the-President Tumulty, to the American Ambassador in France, Honorable William G. Sharp.

In connection with this letter a curious and interesting incident occurred. When Colonel Barker entered the Sec- retary's office, he noticed him sitting at the other end of the room talking with a gentleman. He was about to take a seat near the door when Mr. Timiulty beckoned to him to come to the desk. When he was seated, without looking directly at the other gentleman, the Colonel began to state his mission to Mr. Tumulty. Before he had finished the stranger spoke up to Mr. Tumulty : " Give the Colonel what he wants and make it a good one ! " And lo ! he was not a stranger, but a man whose reform had made no small sen- sation in New York circles several years before, a former attorney who through his wicked life had been despaired of and forsaken by his wealthy relatives, who had sunk to the lowest depths of sin and poverty and been rescued by the Salvation Army.

Continuing to Mr. Tumulty, he said : " You know what the Salvation Army has done for me ; now do what you can for the Salvation Army.'^

Mr. Tumulty gave him a most kind letter of introduc- tion to the American Ambassador.

On his arrival in Liverpool Colonel Barker availed him-

46 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

self of the opportunity to see the very splendid work being done by the Salvation Army with the British troops, both in France and in England, visiting many Salvation Army huts and hostels. He also put the Commander's plans for France before General Bramwell Booth in London.

As early as possible Colonel Barker presented his letter of introduction to the American Ambassador, who in turn provided him with a letter of introduction to General Per- shing which insured a cordial reception by him. Mr. Sharp informed Colonel Barker that he understood the policy of the American army was to grant a monopoly of all welfare work to the Y. M. C. A. He feared the Salva- tion Army would not be welcome, but assured him that anything he could properly do to assist the Salvation Army would be most gladly done. In this connection he stated that he had known of and been interested in the work of the Salvation Army for many years, that several men of his acquaintance had been converted through their activi- ties and been reformed from dissolute, worthless characters to kind husbands and fathers and good business men; and that he believed in the Salvation Army work as a consequence.

On many occasions during the subsequent months, Mr. Sharp was never too busy to see the Salvation Army rep- resentatives, and has rendered valuable assistance in facili- tating the forwarding of additional workers by his influence with the State Department.

It appeared that among military officers a kind feeling existed toward the Salvation Army, though it was generally thought that there was no opening for their service. Their conception of the Salvation Army was that of street corner meetings and public charity. The officers at that time could not see that the soldiers needed charity or that they

THE SALVATION ARMY 47

would be interested in religion. They could see how a reading-room, gaine-room and entertainments might be helpful, but anything further than that they did not con- sider necessary.

Colonel Barker presented his letter of introduction to General Pershing, and on behalf of Commander Booth offered the services of the Salvation Army in any form which might be desired.

General Pershing, who received the Colonel with excep- tional cordiality, suggested that he go out to the camps, look the field over, and report to him. Calling in his chief of staff he gave instructions that a side car should be placed at Colonel Barker's disposal to go out to the camps; and also that a letter of introduction to the General command- ing the First Division should be given to him, asking that everything should be done to help him.

The first destination was Gondrecourt, where the First Division Headquarters was established.

II.

THE GONDEECOURT AKEA.

The advance guard of the American Expeditionary Forces had landed in France, and other detachments were arriving almost daily. They were received by the French with open arms and a big parade as soon as they landed. Flowers were tossed in their path and garlands were flung about them. They were lauded and praised on every hand. On the crest of this wave of enthusiasm they could have swept joyously into battle and never lost their smiles.

But instead of going to the front at once they were billeted in little French villages and introduced to French rain and French mud.

When one discovers that the houses are built of stone, stuck together mainly by this mud of the country, and remembers how many years they have stood, one gets a passing idea of the nature of this mud about which the soldiers have written home so often. It is more like Port- land cement than anything else, and it is most penetrative and hard to get rid of ; it gets in the hair, down the neck, into the shoes and it sticks. If the soldier wears hip-boots in the trenches he must take them off every little while aad empty the mud out of them which somehow manages to get into even hip-boots. It is said that one reason the soldiers were obliged to wear the wrapped leggings was, not that they would keep the water out, but that they would strain the mud and at least keep the feet comparatively clean. 48

THE SALVATION ARMY 49

There were sixteen of these camps at this time and probably twelve or thirteen thousand soldiers were already established in them.

There was no great cantonment as at the camps on this side of the water, nor yet a city of tents, as one might have expected. The forming of a camp meant the taking over of all available buildings in the little French peasant villages. The space was measured up by the town mayor and the battalion leader and the proper number of men assigned to each building. In this way a single division covered a territory of about thirty kilometers. This sys- tem made a camp of any size available in very short order and also fooled the Huns, who were on the lookout for American camps.

These villages were the usual farming villages, typical of eastern France. They are not like American villages, but a collection of farm yards, the houses huddled together years ago for protection against roving bands of marauders. The farmer, instead of living upon his land, lives in the village, and there he has his bam for his cattle, his manure pile is at his front door, the drainage from it seeps back under the house at will, his chickens and pigs running around the streets.

These houses were built some five or eight hundred years ago, some a thousand or twelve hundred years. One house in the town aroused much curiosity because it was called the *^ new " house. It looked just like all the others. One who was curious asked why it should have receired this appellative and was told because it was the last one that was built — only two hundred and fifty years ago.

There is a narrow hall or court running through these houses which is all that separates the family from the horses and pigs and cows which abide under the same roof. 4

50 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The whole place smells alike. There is no heat any- where, save from a fireplace in the kitchen. There is a community bakehouse.

The soldiers were quartered in the bams and out- houses, the officers were quartered in the homes of these French peasants. There were no comforts for either sol- dier or officer. It rained almost continuously and at night it was cold. No dining-rooms could be provided where the men could eat and they lined up on the street, got their chow and ate it standing in the rain or under whatever cover they could find. Few of them could understand any French, and all the conditions surrounding their presence in France were most trying to them. They were drilled from morning to night. They were covered with mud. The great fight in which they had come to participate was still afar off. No wonder their hearts grew heavy with a great longing for home. Gloom sat upon their faces and depression grew with every passing hour.

Into these villages one after another came the little military side-car with its pioneer Salvationists, investigat- ing conditions and inquiring the greatest immediate need of the men.

All the soldiers were homesick, and wherever the little car stopped the Salvation Army uniform attracted imme- diate and friendly attention. The boys expressed the liveliest interest in the possibility of the Salvation Army being with them in France. These troops composed the regular army and were old-timers. They showed at once their respect for and their belief in the Salvation Army. One poor fellow, when he saw the uniform, exclaimed: "The Salvation Army! I believe they'll be waiting for us when we get to hell to try and save us ! "

It appeared that the pay of the American soldier was

THE SALVATION ARMY 51

so much greater than that of the French soldier that he had too much money at his disposal; and this money was a menace both to him and to the French population. If some means could be provided for transferring the soldier's money home, it would help out in the one direction which was most important at that time.

It will be remembered that the French habit of drink- ing wine was ever before the American soldier, and with 165 francs a month in his pocket, he became an object of interest to the French tradespeople, who encouraged him to spend his money in drink, and who also raised the price on other commodities to a point where the French popu- lation found it made living for them most difficult.

The Salvation Army authorities in New York were all prepared to meet this need. The Organization has one thousand posts throughout the United States commanded by officers who would become responsible to get the sol- dier's money to his family or relatives in the United States. A simple money-order blank issued in France could be sent to the National Headquarters of the Salvation Army in New York and from there to the officer commanding the corps in any part of the United States, who would deliver the money in person.

In this way the friends and relatives of the soldier in France would be comforted in the knowledge that the Sal- vation Anny was in touch with their boy; and if need existed in the family at home it would be discovered through the visit of the Salvation Army officer in the home- land and immediate steps taken to alleviate it.

Perhaps this has done more than anything else to bring the blessing of parents and relatives upon the organization, for tens of thousands of dollars that would have been spent in gambling and drink have been sent home to widowed mothers and young wives.

5« THE WAK ROMANCE OF

This suggestion appealed very strongly to the military general, who said that if the Salvation Army got into opera- tion it could count upon any assistance which he could give it, and if they conducted meetings he would see that his regimental band was instructed to attend these meetings and furnish the music.

Several chaplains, both Protestant and Catholic, ex- pressed themselves as being glad to welcome the Salvation Axmy among them.

Among the Eegular Army officers there was rather a pessimistic attitude. It was in nowise hostile, but rather doubtful.

One general said that he did not see that the Sal- ^^tion Army could do any good. His idea of the Salvation Army being associated altogether with the slums and men who were down and out. But on the other hand, he said that he did not see that the Salvation Army could do any harm, even if they did not do any good, and as far as he was concerned he was agreeable to their coming in to work in the First Division; and he would so report to General Pershing.

St. Nazaire, the base, was being used for the reception of the troops as they reached the shores of France. Here was a new situation. The men had been cooped up on trans- ports for several days and on their landing at St. Nazaire they were placed in a rest camp with the opportunity to visit the city. Here they were a prey to immoral women amd the officer commanding the base was greatly con- cerned about the matter and eagerly welcomed the idea of having the Salvation Army establish good women in St. N'azaire who would cope with the problem.

The report given to General Pershing resulted in an official authorization permitting the Salvation Army to

THE SALVATION ARMY 53

open their work with the American Expeditionary Forces, and a suggestion that they go at once to the American Training Area and see what they could do to alleviate the terrible epidemic of homesickness that h^ broken out among the soldiers.

In the meantime, back in New York, the Commander had not been idle. Daily before the throne she had laid the great concerns of her Army, and daily she had been preparing her first little company of workers to go when the need should call.

There was no money as yet, but the Commander was not to be daunted, and so when the report came from over the water, she borrowed from the banks twenty-five thou- sand dollars.

She caUed the little company of pioneer workers to- gether in a quiet place before they left and gave them such a charge as would make an angel search his heart. Before the Most High God she called upon them to tell her if any of them had in his or her heart any motive or ambition in going other than to serve the Lord Christ. She looked down into the eyes of the young maidens and bade them put utterly away from them the arts and coquetries of youth, and remember that they were sent forth to help and save and love the souls of men as God loved them; and that self must be forgotten, or their work would be in vain. She commanded them if even at this last hour any faltered or felt himself unfit for the God-given task, that he would tell her even then before it was too late. She begged them to remember that they held in their hands the honor of the Salvation Army, and the glory of Jesus Christ their Saviour as they went out to serve the troops. They were to be living exalmples of Christ's love, and they were to be willing to lay down their lives if need be for His sake.

54 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

There were tears in the eyes of some of those strong men that day as they listened, and the look of exaltation on the faces of the women was like a reflection from above. So must have looked the disciples of old when Jesus gave them the commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel. They were filled with His Spirit, and there was a look of utter joy and self-forgetfulness as they knelt with their leader to pray, in words which carried them all to the very feet of God and laid their lives a willing sacri- fice to Him who had done so much for them. Still kneel- ing, with bowed heads, they sang, and their words were but a prayer. It is a way these wonderful people have of burst- ing into song upon their knees with their eyes closed and faces illumined by a light of another world, their whole souls in the words they are singing — ^^ singing as unto the Lord ! '' It reminds one of the days of old when the children of Israel did everything with songs and prayers and rejoicing, and the whole of life was carried on as if in the visible presence of G-od, instead of utterly ignoring Him as most of us do now.

The song this time was just a few lines of consecration :

" Oh, for a heart whiter than snow ! Saviour Divine, to whom else can I go? Tliou who hast died, loving m© so. Give me a heart that is whiter than snow!"

The dramatic beauty of the scene, the sweet, holy abandonment of that prayer-song with its tender, appeal- ing melody, would have held a throng of thousands in awed wonder. But there was no audience, unless, perchance, the angels gathered around the little company, rejoicing that in this world of sin and war there were these who bad so given themselves to God; but from that glory-touched

THE LASSIE WHO FRIED THE FIRST DOUGHNUT IN FRANCE

THE SALVATION ARMY 55

room there presently went forth men and women with the spirit in their hearts that was to thrill like an electric wire every life with which it came in contact, and show the whole world what God can do with lives that are wholly surrendered to Him.

It was a bright, sunny afternoon, Angnst 12th, when this first party of American Salvation Army workers set sail for France.

No doubt there was many a smile of contempt from the bystanders as they saw the little group of blue uni- forms with the gold-lettered scarlet hatbands, and noticed the four poke bonnets among the number. What did the tambourine lassies know of REAL warfare ? To those who reckoned the Salvation Army in terms of bands on the street corner, and shivering forms guarding Christmas kettles, it must have seemed the utmost audacity for this '^ play army '' to go to the front.

When they arrived at Bordeaux on August 21st they went at once to Paris to be fitted out with French uniforms, as Greneral Pershing had given them all the rank of mili- tary privates, and ordered that they should wear the regula- tion khaki uniforms with the addition of the red Salva- tion Army shield on the hats, red epaulets, and with skirts for the women.

A cabled message had reached France from the Com- mander saying that funds to the extent of twenty-five thousand dollars had been arranged for, and would be sup- plied as needed, and that a party of eleven officers were being dispatched at once. After that matters began to move rapidly.

A portable tent, 25 feet by 100 feet, was purchased and shipped to Demange ; and a toujing car was bought with part of the money advanced.

56 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Purchasing an automobile in France is not a matter merely of money. It is a matter for Governmental sanc- tion, long delay, red tape — amazing good luck.

At the start the whole Salvation Army transportation system consisted of this one first huge limousine, heart- lessly overdriven and overworked. For many weeks it was Colonel Barker's office and bedroom. It carried all of the Salvation Army workers to and from their stations, hauled aU of the supplies on its roof, inside, on its fenders, and later also on a trailer. It ran day and night almost with- out end, two drivers alternating. It was a sort of super- ear, still in the service, to which Salvationists still refer with an affectionate amazement when they consider its ter- rific accomplishments. It hauled all of the lumber for the first huts and a not uncommon sight was to see it tearing along the road at forty miles an hour, loaded inside and on top with supplies, several passengers clinging to its fen- ders, and a load of lumber or trunks trailing behind. For a long time Colonel Barker had no home aside from this car. He slept wherever it happened to be for the night — often in it, while sitill driven. One night he and a Sal- vation Army officer were lost in a strange woods in the car until four in the morning. They were without lights and there were no real roads.

Later, of course, after long waiting, other trucks were bought and to-day there are about fifty automobiles in this service. Chauffeurs had to be developed out of men who had never driven before. They were even taken from huts and detailed to this work.

In this first touring car Colonel Barker with one of the newly arrived adjutants for driver, started to Demange.

Twenty kilometers outside of Paris the car had a breakdown. The two clambered out and reconnoitered for

THE SALVATION ARMY 67

help. There was nothing for it but to take the car back to Paris. A man was found on the road who was willing to take it in tow, but they had no rope for a tow line. Oyer in the field by the roadside the sharp eyes of the adjutant discovered some old rusty wire. He pulled it out from the tangle of long grass, and behold it was a part of old barbed-wire entanglements !

In great surprise they followed it up behind the camou- flage and found themselves in the old trenches of 1914. They walked in the trenches and entered some of the dug- outs where the soldiers had lived in the memorable days of the Marne fight. As they looked a little farther up the hillside they were startled to see great pieces of heavy field artillery, their long barrels sticking out from pits and pointing at them. They went closer to examine, and found the guns were made of wood painted black. The barrels were perfectly made, even to the breech blocks mounted on wheels, the tires of which were made of tin. They were a perfect imitation of a heavy ordnance piece in every detail. Curious, wondering what it could mean, the two explorers looked about them and saw an old French- man coming toward them. He proved to be the keeper of the place, and he told them the story. These were the guns that saved Paris in 1914.

Thf Boche had been coming on twenty kilometers one day, nineteen the next, fooirteen the next, and were daily drawing nearer to the great city. They were so confident that they had even announced the day they would sweep through the gates of Paris. The French had no guns heavy enough to stop that mad rush, and so they mounted these guns of wood, cut away the woods all about them and for three hundred meters in front, and waited with their pitifully thin, ill-equipped line to defend the trenches.

58 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

Then the German airplanes came and took pictures of them, and returned to their lines to make plans for the next day; but when the pictures were developed and en- larged they saw to their horror that the French had brought heavy guns to their front and were preparing to blow them out of France. They decided to delay their advance and wait until they could bring up artillery heavier than the French had, and while they waited the Germans broke into the French wine cellars and stole the " vin blanche " and " vin rouge/' The French call this " light '' wine and say it takes the place of water, which is only fit for washing; but it proved to be too hea\7' for the Germans that day. They drank freely, not even waiting to unseal the bottles of rare old vintage, but knocked the necks o2 the bottles against the stone walls and drank. They were all drunk and in no condition to conquer France when their artillery came up, and so the wooden French guns and the French wine saved Paris.

When the two men finally arrived in Demange the Military General greeted them gladly and invited them to dine with him.

He had for a cook a fa^nous French chef who provided delicious meals, but for dessert the chef had attempted to make an American aipple pie, which was a dismal failure. The colonel said to the general : " Just wait till our Sal- vation Army women get here and I will see that they make you a pie that is a pie."

The General and the members of his staff said they would remember that promise and hold him to it.

The pleasoire which the thought of that pie aroused furnished a suggestion for work later on.

Within two or three days the hut had arrived. The question of a lot upon which to place it was most important.

THE SALVATION ARMY 59

The billeting officers stated that none could be had within the town and insisted that the hut would have to be placed in an inaccessible spot on the outskirts of the town, but Colonel Barker asked the General if he would mind his looking about himself and he readily assented. The in- domitable Barker, true to the " never-say-die " slogan of the Salvation Army, went out and found a splendid lot on the main etreet in the heart of the town, which was being partly used by its owner as a vegetable garden. He quickly secured the services of a French interpreter and struck a bargain with the owner to rent the lot for the sum. of sixteen dollars a year, and on his return with the information that this lot had been secured the General was greatly impressed.

A wire had been sent to Paris instructing the men of the party to come down immediately. A couple of tents were secured to provide temporary sleeping accommoda- tion and the men lined up in the chow line with the dough- boys at meal-time.

The six Salvationists pulled off their coats at once and went to work, much to the amusement of a few curious soldiers who stood idly watching them.

They discovered right at the start that the building materials which had been sent ahead of them had been dumped on the wrong lot, and the first thing they had to do was to move them all to the proper site. This was no easy task for men who had but recently left office chairs and clerical work. Unaccustomed muscles cried out in pro- test and weary backs ached and complained, but the men stubbornly marched back and forth carrying big timbers, and attracting not a little attention from soldiers who wondered what in the world the Salvation Army could be up to over in France. Some of them were suspicious. Had

60 THE WAR ROIVIANCE OF

they come to try and stuff religion down their throats? If so, they would soon find out their mistake. So, half in belligerence, half in amusement, the soldiers watched their progress. It was a big joke to them, who had come here for serious business and longed to be at it.

Steadily, quietly, the work went on. They laid the timbers and erected the framework of their hut, keeping at it when the rain fell and soaked them to the skin. They were a bit awkward at it at first, perhaps, for it was new work to them, and they had but few tools. The hut was twenty-five feet wide and a hundred feet long. The walls went up presently, and the roof went on. One or two sol- diers were getting interested and offered to help a bit ; but for the most part th-ey stood apart suspiciously, while the Salvation Army worked cheerily on and finished the build- ing with their own hands.

Colonel Barker meanwhile had gone back to Paris for supplies and to bring the women overland in the automo- bile, because he was somewhat fearful lest they might be held up if they attempted to go out by train. The idea of women in the camps was so new to our American sol- diers, and so distasteful to the French, that they presented quite a problem until their work fully Justified their presence.

It got about that some real American girls were com- ing. The boys began to grow curious. When the big Erench limousine carrying thom arrived in the camp it was greeted by some of the soldiers with the greatest enthusiasm while others looked on in critical silence. But very soon their influence was felt, for a commanding officer stated that his men were more contented and more easily handled since the unprecedented innovation of women in the camp than they had been wdthin the experience of the

THE SALVATION ARMY 61

old Kegular Army officers. Profanity practically ceased in the vicinity of the hut and was never indulged in in the presence of the Salvationists.

While the hut was being erected meetings were con- ducted in the open air which were attended by great throngs, and after every meeting froim one to four or five boys asked for the privilege of going into the tent at the back and being prayed with, and many conversions resulted from these first open-air meetings. Boys walked in from other camps from a distance as far away as five miles to attend these meetings and many were converted.

The hut was finally completed and equipped and was to be formally opened on Sunday evening.

In the meantime the Y. M. C. A. was getting busy also establishing its work in the camps; therefore, the Salva- tion Army tried to place their huts in towns where the Y. was not operating, so that they might be able to reach those who had the greatest need of them.

Officers had been appointed to take charge of the De- mange hut and immediately further operations in other towns were being arranged.

A Y. M. C. A. hut, however, followed quickly on the heels of the Salvation Army at Demange and the night of the opening of the Salvation Army hut someone came to ask if they would come over to the Y. and help in a meeting. Sure, they would help! So the Staff-Captain took a cornetist and two of the lassies and went over to the Y. M. C. A. hut.

It was early dusk and a crowd was gathered about where a rope ring fenced off the place in which a boxing match had been held the day before, across the road from the hut. The band had been stationed there giving a concert which was just finished, and the men were sitting in a circle on the ground about the ring.

62 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The Salvationists stood at the door of the hut and looked across to the crowd.

" How about holding our meeting over there ? " asked the Staff- Captain of the man in charge.

"All right. Hold it wherever you like."

So a few willing hands brought out the piano, and the four Salvationists made their way across to the ring. The soldiers raised a loud cheer and hurrah to see the women stoop and slip under the rope, and a spirit of sym- pathy seemed to be established at once.

There were a thousand men gathered about and the comet began where the band had left off, thrilling out between the roar of guns.

Up above were the airplanes throbbing back and forth, and signal lights were flashing. It was a strange place for a meeting. The men gathered closer to see what was going on.

The sound of an old familiar hymn floated out on the evening, bringing a sudden memory of home and days when one was a little boy and went to Sunday-school; when there was no war, and no one dreamed that the sons would have to go forth from their own land to %ht. A sudden hush stole over the men and they sat enthralled watching the little band of singers in the changing flicker of light and darkness. Women's voices! Young and fresh, too, not old ones. How they thrilled with the sweetness of it :

" Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee, E'en though it be a cross That raiseth me."

A cross! Was it possible that God was leading them to Him through all this awf ulness ? But the thought only

THE SALVATION ARMY 6S

hovered above them and hushed their hearts into attention as they gruffly joined their young voices in the melody. Another song followed, and a prayer that seemed to bring the great God right down in their midst and make Him a beloved comrade. They had not got over the wonder of it when a new note sounded on piano and comet and every voice broke forth in the words:

" When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound And time shall be no more ^"

How soon would that trumpet sound for many of them ! Time should be no more ! What a startling thought !

Following close upon the song came the sweet voice of a young girl speaking. They looked up in wonder, listen- ing with all their souls. It was like having an angel drop down among them to see her there, and hear her clear, unafraid voice. The first thing that struck them was her intense earnestness, as if she had a message of great moment to bring to them.

Her words searched their hearts and found out the weak places; those fears and misgivings that they had known were there from the beginning, and had been tTjing hard to hide from themselves because they saw no cure for them. With one clear-cut sentence she tore away all camouflage and set them face to face with the facts. They were in a desperate strait and they knew it. Back there in the States they had known it. Down in the calmps they had felt it, and had made various attempts to find something strong and true to help them, but no one had seemed to imder- sitand. Even when they went to church there had been so much talk: about the *^ supreme sacrifice " and the glory of dying for one's country, that they had a rague feeling

64 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

that even the minister did not believe in his religion any more. And so they had whistled and tried to be jolly and forget. They were all in the same boat, and this was a job that had to be done, they couldn't get out of it; best not think about the future! So they had lulled their con- sciences to sleep. But it was there, back in their minds all the time, a looming big awful question about the here- after; and when the great guns boomed afar as a few were doing to-night and they thought how soon they might be called to go over the top, they would have been fools not to have recognized it.

But here at last was someone else who understood !

She was telling the old, old story of Jesus and His love, and every man of them as he listened felt it was true. It had been like a vague tale of childhood before; something that one outgrows and smiles at; but now it suddenly seemed so simple, so perfect, so fitted to their desperate need. Just the old story that everybody has sinned, and broken God's law : that God in His love pro- vided a way of escape in the death of His Son Jesus on the Cross, froim penalty for sin for all who would accept it; that He gave every one of us free wills; and it was up to us whether we would accept it or not.

There were men in that company who had come froto college classes where they had been taught the foolishness of blood atonement, and who had often smiled disdain- fully at the Bible ; there were boys from cultured, refined homes where Jesus Christ had always been ignored; there were boys who had repudiated the God their mothers trusted in; and there were boys of lower degree whose lips were foul with blasphemy and whose hearts were scarred with sin ; but all listened, now, in a new way. It was somehow different over here, with the thunder of artillery in the

THE SALVATION AEMY 65

near distance, the hovering presence of death not far away, the flashing of signal lights, the hum of the airplanes, the whole background of war. The message of the gospel took on a reality it had never worn before. When this simple girl asked if they would not take Jesus to-night as their Saviour, there were many who raised their hands in the darkness and many more hearts were bowed whose owners could not quite bring themselves to raise their hands. Then a lassie's voice began to sing, all alone:

" I grieved my Lord from day to day, I scorned His love, so full and free, And though I wandered far away.

My Mother's prayers have followed me. I'm coming home, I'm coming home,

To live my wasted life anew. For Mother's prayers have followed me.

Have followed me, the whole world through..

" O'er desert wild, o'er mountain high, A wanderer I chose to be — A wretched soul condemned to die;

Still Mother's prayers have followed me.

" He turned my darkness into light, This blessed Christ of Calvary; I'll prai&e His name both day and night. That Mother's prayers have followed me! I'm coming home, I'm coming home — "

Only the last great day will reveal how many hearts echoed those words; but the voices were all husky with emotion as they tried to join in the closing hymn that followed.

There were those who lingered about the speakers and wanted to inquire the way of salvation, and some knelt 5

66 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

in a quiet comer and gave themselves to Christ. Over all of theon there was a hushed thoughtfulness. When the workers started hack to their own hut the crowd went with them, talking eagerly as they went, hovering about wistfully as if here were the first real thing they had found since coming away from home.

Over at the Salvation Army hut another service had been going forward with equal interest, the dedication of the new building. The place was crowded to its utmost capacity, and crowds were standing outside and peering in at the windows. Some of the French people of the neighborhood, women and children and old men, had drifted over, and were listening to the singing in open- eyed wonderment. Among them one of the Salvation Army workers had distributed copies of the French " War Cry " with stories of Christ in their own language, and it began to dawn upon them that these people believed in the same Jesus that was worshipped in their French churches ; yet they never had seen services like these. The joyous music thrilled them.

Before they slept that night the majority of the sol- diers in that vicinity had lost most of their prejudice against the little band of unselfish workers that had dropped so quietly down into their midst. Word was beginning to filter out from camp to camp that they were a good sort, that they sold their goods at cost and a fellow could even *^ jawbone " when he was ^' broke."

Salvation Army huts gave the soldiers " jawbone,^' this being the soldier's name for credit. No accounts were kept of the amount allowed to each soldier. When a soldier came to the canteen and asked for " jawbone/' he was asked how much he had already been allowed. If the amount owed by him already was large, he was cautioned

THE SALVATION ARMY 67

not to go too deeply into his next pay check; but never was a man refused anything within reason. Frequently one hut would have many thousands of francs outstanding by the end of a month. But, although there was no check against them, soldiers always squared their accounts at pay-day and very little indeed was lost.

One man came in and threw 300 francs on the counter, sayinig: *^I owe you 285 francs. Put the change in the coffee fund."

One Salvation Army Ensign frequently loaned sums ol money out of his own pocket to soldiers, asking that, when they were in a position to return it, they hand it in to any Salvation Army hut, saying that it was for him. He says that he has never lost by doing this.

One day as he was driving from Havre to Paris he met six American soldiers whose big truck had broken down. They asked him where there was a Salvation Army hut; but there was none in that particular section. They had no food, no money, and no place to sleep. He handed them seventy francs and told them to leave it at any Sal- vation Army hut for him when they were able. Five months passed and then the money was turned in to a Salvation Aiimy hut and forwarded to him. With it was a note stating that the men had been with the French, troops and had not been able to reach a Salvation Army establishment. They were very grateful for the trust re- posed in them by the Salvationist. Undoubtedly there are many such instances.

The Salvation Army officer who with his wife was put in charge of the hut at Demange, soon bedame one of the most popula,r men in camp. His generous spirit, no less than his rough-and-ready good nature, manful, soldier-like disposition, coupled with a sturdy self-respect and a ready

68 THE WAK ROMANCE OF

huanor, made him Wood brother to those hard-bitten old regulars and National Guardsmen of the first American Expeditionary Force.

The Salvation Army quickly became popular. Meet- ings were held almost every night at that time with an average attendance of not less than five hundred. Meetings as a rule were confined to wonderful song services and brief, snappy talks. At first there were very few conversions, but there have been more since the great drives in which the Americans have taken so large a share. The Masons, the Moose and a Jewish fraternity used the hut for fraternal gatherings. Catholic priests held mass in it upon various occasions. The school for officers and the school for " non- coms " met in it. The band practiced in it every morning. Because of its popularity among the men it was known among the officers as " the soldiers' hut." General Duncan once addressed his staff officers in it upon some important matters.

It rained every day for three months. The hut was on rather low ground and in back of it ran the river, consid- erably swollen by the rains. One night the river rose sud- denly, carried away one tent and flooded the other two and the hut. The Salvation Army men spent a wild, wet, sleepless night trying to salvage their scanty personal be- longings and their stock of supplies. When the river retreated it left the hut floor covered with slimy black mud which the two men had to shovel out. This was a back- breaking task occupying the better part of two days.

The first snow fell on the bitterest night of the year. It was preceded by the rain and was damp and heavy. The soldiers suffered terribly, especially the men on guard duty who had perforce to endure the full blast of the storm. During the earlier hours of the night the girls served all

THE SALVATION ARMY 69

comers with steaming coffee and filled the canteens of the men on guard (free) . When they saw how severe the night would be they remained up to keep a supply of coffee ready for the Salvation Army men who went the rounds through the storm every half hour, serving the sentries with the warming fluid.

That first Expeditionary Force wanted for many things, and endured hardships unthought of by troops arriving later, after the war industries at home had swung into full production. It was almost impossible to secure stoves, and firewood was scarce. For every load that went to the Salva- tion Army Hut, men of the American Expeditionary Force had to do without, and yet wood was always supplied to the Salvationists (it could not be bought).

At St. Joire, the wood pile had entirely given out and it looked as if there was to be no heat at the Salvation Army hut that night. The sergeant promised them half a load, but the wood wagon lost a wheel about a hundred yards out of town.

" Never mind,'' said the sergeant to the girls, " the boys wiU see that you get some to-night."

So he requested every man going up to the Salvation Army hut that evening to carry a stick of wood with him ("a stick'' may weigh anywhere from 10 to 100 pounds). By eight o'clock there was over a wagon load and a half stacked in back of the hut.

Two small stoves cast circles of heat in the big hut at Demange. Around them the men crowded with their wet garments steaming so profusely that the hut often took on the appearance of a steam-room in a Turkish bath. The rest of the hut was cold ; but compared to the weather outside, it was heaven-like. For all of its size, the hut was frail, and the winter wind blew coldly through its

70 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

many cracks; but compared with the soldier's billets, it was a cozy palace. The Salvationists spent hours each week sitting on the roof in the driving rain patching leaks with tar-paper and tacks.

The life was a hard one for the girls. They nearly froze during the days, and at nights they usually shivered themselves to sleep, only sleeping when sheer exhaustion overcame them. There were no baths at all. The experi- ence was most trying for women and only the spirit of the great enterprise in which they were engaged carried them through the winter. Even soldiers were at times seen weeping with cold and misery.

One night the gasoline tank which supplied light to the hut exploded and set the place on fire. A whole regi- ment turned out of their blankets to put out the blaze. This meant more hours for those in charge repairing the roof in the snow. They also had to cut all of the wood for the hut. Later details were supplied to every hut by the military authorities to cut wood, sweep and clean up, carry water, etc. Soldiers used the hut for a mess hall. There was no other place where they could eat with any degree of comfort.

By this time the fact that the Salvation Army was established at Demange was becoming known throughout the division.

One of the towns where there had been no arrangements made for welfare workers at all was Montiers-sur-Saulx, where the First Ammunition Train was established, and here the officer temporarily commanding the ammunition train gave a most hearty welcome to the Salvation Army.

Two large circus tents had been sent on from New York and one of these was to be erected until a wooden building could be secured.

THE SALVATION ARMY 71

The touring car went back to Demange, picked up a Staff-Captain, a Captain, five white tents, the largest one thirty by sixty feet, the others smaller, carried them across the country and dropped them down at the roadside of the public square in Montiers.

There stood the Salvationists in the road wondering what to do next.

Then a hearty voice called out : '' Are you locating with us ? " and the military officer of the day advanced to meet them with a hand-shake and many expressions of his appreciation of the Salvation Army.

" We are going to stay here if you will have us," said the Staff-Captain.

" Have you ! Well, I should say we would have you ! Wait a minute and 111 have a detail put your baggage under cover for the night. Then we'll see about dinner and a biUet.''

Thus auspiciously did the work open in Montiers.

In a few minutes they were taken to a French cafe and a comfortable place found for them to spend the night.

Soon after the rising of the sun the next morning they were up and about hunting a place for the tents which were to serve for a recreation centre for the boys. The American Major in charge of the town personally assisted them to find a good location, and offered his aid in any way needed.

Before nightfall the five white tents were up, standing straight and true with military precision, and the two offi- cers with just pride in their hard day's work, and a secret assurance that it would stand the hearty approval of the commanding officer whom they had not as yet met, went off to their suppers, for which they had a more than usually hearty appetite.

Suddenly the door of the dining-rooim swung open and a

72 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

gruff voice demanded : " Who put up those tents ? " The Salvation Army Staff-Captain stood forth saluting respect- fully and responded : " I, sir." " Well," said the Colonel, "they look mighty fine up on that hill — mighty fine! Splendid location for them — splendid ! But the enemy can spot them for a hundred miles, so I expect you had better get them down or camouflage them with green boughs and paint by to-morrow night at the latest. Good evening to you, sir !"

The Staff-Captain and his helper suddenly lost their fine appetites and felt very tired. Camouflage ! How did they do that at a moment's notice ? They left their unfinished dinner and hurried out in search of help.

The first soldier the Staff-Captain questioned reassured him.

" Aw, that's dead easy ! Go over the hill into the woods and cut some branches, enough to cover your tents; or easier yet, get some green and yellow paint and splash over them. The worse they look the better they are ! "

So the weary workers hunted the town over for paint, and found only enough for the big tent, upon which they worked hard all the next morning. Then they had to go to the woods for branches for the rest. Scratched and bleed- ing and streaked with perspiration and dirt, they finished their work at last, and the white tents had disappeared into the green and the yellow and the brown of the hillside. Their beautiful military whiteness was gone, but they were hidden safe from the enemy and the work might now go forward.

Then the girls arrived and things began to look a bit more cheerful.

THE SALVATION ARMY 73

" But where is the cook stove ? ^' asked one of the lassies after they had set up their two folding cots in one of the smaller tents and made themselves at home.

Dismay descended upon the face of the weary Staff- Captain.

" Why/^ he answered apologetically, " we forgot all about that ! " and he hurried out to find a stove.

A thorough search of the surrounding country, how- ever, disclosed the fact that there was not a stove nor a field range to be had — no, not even from the commissary. There was nothing for it but to set to work and contrive a fireplace out of field stone and clay, with a bit of sheet iron for a roof, and two or three lengths of old sewer pipe carefully wired together for a stovepipe. It took days of hard work, and it smoked woefully except when the wind was exactly west, but the girls made fudge enough on it for the entire personnel of the ammunition train tot cele- brate when it was finished.

When the girls first arrived in Montiers the Salvation Army Staff- Captain was rather at a loss to know what to do with them until the hut was built. They were invited to chow with the soldiers, and to eat in an old French bam used as a kitchen, in front of which the men lined up at the open doorways for mess. It was a very dirty barn indeed, with heavy cobwebs hanging in weird festoons from the ceiling and straw and manure all over the floor ; quite too barnlike for a dining-hall for delicately reared women. The Staff-Captain hesitated about bringing them there, but the Mess- Sergeant offered to clean up a corner for them and give them a comfortable table.

^'1 don't know about bringing my girls in here with the men," said the Staff-Captain still hesitating. ^'You

74 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

know the men are pretty rough in their talk, and they're always cussing ! "

" Leave that to me ! " said the Mess-Sergeant. " It'll be all right!"

There was an old dirty French wagon in the barnyard where they kept the bread. It was not an inviting pros- pect and the Staff- Captain looked about him dubiously and went away with many misgivings, but there seemed to be nothing else to be done.

The boys did their best to fix things up nicely. When meal time arrived and the girls appeared they found their table neatly spread with a dish towel for a tablecloth. It purported to be clean, but there are degrees of cleanliness in the army and there might have been a difference of opinion. However, the girls realized that there had been a strenuous attempt to do honor to them and they sat down on the coffee kegs that had been provided en lieu of chairs with smiling appreciation.

The Staff-Captain's anxiety began to relax as he noticed the quiet respectful attitude of the men when they passed by the doorway and looked eagerly orver at the comer where the girls were sitting. It was great to have American women sitting down to dinner with them, as it were. Not a *^cuss word" broke the harmony of the occasion. The best cuts of meat, the largest pieces of pie, were given to the girls, and everybody united to make them feel how welcome they were.

Then into the midst of the pleasant scene there entered one who had been away for a few hours and had not yet been made acquainted with the new order of things at chow ; and he entered with an oath upon his lips.

He was a great big fellow, but the strong arm of the Mess-Sergeant flashed out from the shoulder instantly.

THE SALVATION ARMY 75

the sturdy fist of the Mess-Sergeant was planted most un- expectedly in the newcomer's face, and he found himself sprawling on the other side of the road with all his com- rades glaring at him in silent wrath. That was the begin- ning of a new order of things at the mess.

The Colonel in charge of the regiment had gone away, and the commanding Major, wishing to make things pleas- ant for the Salvationists, sent for the Staff-Captain and invited them all to his mess at the chateau; telling him that if he needed anything at any time, horses or supplies, or anything in his power to give, to let him know at once and it should be supplied.

The Staff- Captain thanked him, but told him that he thought they would stay with the boys.

The boys, of course, heard of this and the Salvation Army people had another bond between them and the sol- diers. The boys felt that the Salvationists were their very own. Nothing could have more endeared them to the boys than to share their life and hardships.

The Salvation Army had not been with the soldiers many hours before they discovered that the disease of home- sickness which they had been sent to succor was growing more and more malignant and spreading fast.

The training under French officers was very severe. Trench feet with all its attendant suffering was added to the other discomforts. Was it any wonder that home- sickness seized hold of every soldier there?

It had been raining steadily for thirty-six days, mak- ing swamps and pools everywhere. Depression like a great heavy blanket hung over the whole area.

The Salvation Army lassies at Montiers were in con- sultation. Their supplies were all gone, and the state of the roads on account of the rain was such that all trans-

76 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

portation was held up. They had been waiting, hoping against hope, that a new load of supplies would arrive, but there seemed no immediate promise of that.

"We ought to have something more than just choco- late to sell to the soldiers, anyway,'^ declared one lassie, who was a wonderful cook, looking across the big tent to the drooping shoulders and discouraged faces of the boys who were hovering about the Yictrola, trying to extract a little comfort from the records. " We ought to be able to give them some real home cooking ! "

They all agreed to this, but the difficulties in the way were great. Flour was obtainable only in small quantities. Now and then they could get a sack of flour or a bag of sugar, but not often. Lard also was a scarce article. Be- sides, there were no stoves, 'and? no equipment had as yet been issued for ovens. All about them were apple orchards and they might have baked some pies if there had been ovens, but at present that was out of the question. After a long discussion one of the girls suggested doughnuts, and even that had its difficulties, although it really was the only thing possible at the time. For one thing they had no rolling-pin and no cake-cutter in the outfit. Never- theless, they bravely went to work. The little tent intended for such things had blown down, so the lassie had to stand out in the rain to prepare the dough.

The first doughnuts were patted out, until someone found an eimpty grape-Juice bottle and used that for a rolling-pin. As they had no cutter they used a knife, and twisted them, making them in shape like a cruller. They were cooked over a wood fire that had to be continually stuffed with fuel to keep the fat hot enough to fry. The pan they used was only large enough to cook seven at onoe, but that first day they made one hundred and fifty big

THE SALVATION ARMY 77

fat sugary doughnuts, and when the luscious fragrance began to float out on the air and word went forth that they had real '^ honest-to^goodness '' home douglinuts at the Sal- vation Army hut, the line formed away out into the road and stood patiently for hours in the rain waiting for a taste of the dainties. As there were eight hundred men in the outfit anl only a hundred and fifty doughnuts that first day, naturally a good many were disappointed, but those who got them were appreciative. One boy as he took the first sugary bite exclaimed : " Gee ! If this is war, let it continue ! "

The next day the girls managed to make three hun- dred, but one of them was not satisfied with a doughnut that had no hole in it, and while she worked she thought, until a bright idea came to her. The top of the baking- powder can ! Of course ! Why hadn't they thought of that before? But how could they get the hole? There seemed nothing just right to cut it. Then, the very next morning the inside tube to the coffee percolator that somebody had brought along came loose, and the lassie stood in triumph with it in her hand, calling to them all to see what a wonderful hole it would make in the doughnut. And so the doughnut came into its own, hole and all.

That was at Montiers, the home of the doughnut.

One of the older Salvation Army workers remarked jocularly that the Salvation Army had to go to France and get linked up with the doughnut before America recog- nized it ; but it was the same old Salvation Army and the same old doughnut that it had always been. He averred that it wasn't the doughnut at all that made the Salvation Army faanous, but the wonderful girls that the Salvation Army brought over there ; the girls that lay awake at night after a long hard day's work scheming to make the way of

78 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

the dougliboy easier ; scheming how to take the cold out of the snow and the wet out of the rain and the stickiness out of the mud. The girls that prayed over the doughnuts, and then got the maximum of grace out of the minimum of grease.

The young Adjutant lassie who fried the first doughnut in France says that invariably the boys would begin to talk about home and mother while they were eating the dough- nuts. Through the hole in the doughnut they seemed to see their mother's face, and as the doughnut disappeared it grew bigger and clearer.

The young Ensign lassie who had originated and made the first doughnut in France contrived to make many pies on a very tiny French stove with an oven only large enough to hold two pies at a time. Meanwhile, frying doughnuts on the top of the stove.

It wasn't long before the record for the doughnut makers had been brought up to five thousand a day, and some of the unresting workers developed "doughnut wrist " from sticking to the job too long at a time.

It was the original thought that pie would be the great- est attraction, but it was difiicult to secure stoves with. ovens adequate for baking pies, and after the ensign's ex- periment with douglinuts it was found that they could more easily be m-ade and were quite as acceptable to the American boy.

Meantime, the pie was coming into its own, back in Demange also.

It was only a little stove, and only room to bake one pie at a time, but it was a savory smell that floated out on the air, and it was a long line of hungry soldiers that hur- ried for their mess kits and stood hours waiting for more pies to bake; and the fame of the Salvation Army began

THE SALVATION ARMY 79

to spread far and wide. Then one day the '^^ Stars and Stripes," the organ of the American Army, printed the following poem about the lassie who labored so far for- ward that she had to wear a tin hat :

" Home is where the heart is " —

Thus the poet sang; But '" home is where the pie is "

For the doughboy gang! ;

Crullers in the craters, \

Pastry in abris — l

This Salvation Army lass (

Sure knows how to please!

Tin hat for a halo!

Ah! She wears it well! Making pies for homesick lads

Sure is "beating hell!'' In a region blasted

By fire and flame and sword, This Salvation Army lasa

Battles for the Lord!

Call me sacrilegious

And irreverent, too; Pies? They link us up with homo

As naught else can do! [

" Home is where the heart is " —

True, the poet sang; But " home is where the pie is " —

To the Yankee gang!

It was no easy task to open up a chain of huts, for there was an amazing variety of details to be attended to, any one of which might delay the work. A hundred and one unexpected situations would develop during the course of a single day which must be dealt with quickly and in-

80 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

telligently. The fact that the Salvation Army section of the American Expeditionary Force is militarized and strictly accountable for all of its action to the United States mili- tary authorities is complicated in many places by the further f ?^ct that the French civil and military authorities must also be taken into consideration and consulted at every step. Nevertheless, in spite of all difficulties the work went steadily forward. The patient officers who were seeing to all these details worked almost night and day to place the huts and workers where they would do the most good to the greatest number; and steadily the Salvation Army grew in favor with the soldiers.

It was extremely difficult to obtain materials for the erection of huts — in many cases almost impossible. Once when Colonel Barker found troops moving, he discovered the village for which they "vvere bound, rushed ahead in his automobile, and commandeered an old French barracks which would otherwise have been occupied by the American soldiers. When the soldiers arrived they were overjoyed to find the Salvation Army awaiting them with hot food. They were soaked through by the rain, and never was hot coffee more welcome. There was a little argument about the commandeered barracks. It was to have been used as headquarters, but when the commanding officer went out into the rain and saw for himself what service it was per- forming for his men, and how overjoyed they were by the entertainment he said : " We'll leave it to the men, whether they wiU be billeted here or let the Salvation Army have the place. The men with one accord voted to give it to the Salvation Army.

In one town, after an animated discussion with a crowd of enlisted men, a sergeant came to the Salvation Army

''tin hat for a halo! ah! she wears it well!'

J^SIS'

THE PATIENT OFFICERS WHO WERE SEEING TO ALL THESE DETAILS WORKED ALMOST DAY AND NIGHT

THE SALVATION ARMY 81

Major as he worked away with his hammer putting up a hut and said : " Captain, would it make you mad if we offered our services to help ? ^'

After that the work went on in record time. In less than a week the hut was finished and ready for business. Two self-appointed details of soldiers from the regulars employed all their spare time in a friendly rivalry to see which could accomplish the most work. When it was dedicated the popularity of the hut was well assured. Later, in another location, a hut 125 feet by 27 feet was put up with the assistance of soldiers in six hours and twenty minutes.

More men and women had arrived froto America, and the work began to assume business-like proportions. There were huts scattered all through the American training area.

As other huts were established the making of pies and doughnuts became a regular part of the daily routine of the hut. It was found that a canteen where candy and articles needed by the soldiers could be obtained at moderate prices would fill a very pressing need and this was made a part of their regular operation.

The purchase of an adequate quantity of supplies was a great problem. It was necessary to make frequent trips to Paris, to establish connections with supply houses there, and to attend to the shipping of the supplies out to the camps. At first it was impossible to purchase any quantity of supplies from any house. The demand for everything was so great that wholesale dealers were most independent. Three hundred dollars' worth of supplies was the most that could be purchased from any one house, but in course of time, confidence and friendly relations being established, it became possible to purchase as much as ten thousand dol- lars' worth at one time from one dealer.

82 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The first twenty-five thousand dollars, of course, was soon gone, but another fifty thousand dollars arrived from Headquarters in New York, and after a little while another fifty thousand ; which hundred thousand dollars was loaned by General Bramwell Booth from the International Treas- ury. The money was not only borrowed, but the Com- mander had promised to pay it back in twelve months (which guarantee it is pleasant to state was made good long before the promised time), for the Commander had said: "It is only a question of our getting to work in France, and the American public will see that we have all the money we want/'

So it has proved.

In the meantime another hut was established at Houde- lainecourt.

The American boys were drilling from early morning until dark; the weather was wet and cold; the roads were seas of mud and the German planes came over the valleys almost nightly to seek out the position of the American troops and occasionally to drop bombs. It was necessary that all tents should be camouflaged, windows darkened so that lights would not show at night, and every means used to keep the fact of the Americans' presence from the Ger- man observers and spies.

Another party of Salvation Army officers, men and women, arrived from New York on September 23rd, and these were quickly sent out to Demange which for the time being was used as the general base of supplies, but later a house was secured at Ligny-en-Barrios, and this was for many months the Headquarters.

One interesting incident occurred here in connection with this house. One of its greatest attractions had been that it was one of the few houses containing a bathroom,

THE SALVATION ARMY 83

but when the new tenants arrived they found that the antici- pated bathtub had been taken out with all its fittings and carefully stowed away in the cellar. It was too precious for the common use of tenants.

All Salvation Army graduates from the training school have a Eed Cross diploma, and many are experienced nurses.

A Salvation Army woman Envoy sailed for France with a party of Salvationists about the time that the epi- demic of influenza broke out all over the world. Even before the steamer reached the quarantine station in New York harbor a number of cases of Spanish influenza had developed among the several companies of soldiers who were aboard, a number of whom were removed from the ship. So anxious were others of these American fighting men to reach France that they hid away until the steamer had left port.

Land was hardly out of sight before more cases of the disease were reported — so many, in fact, that special hospital accommodations had to be immediately arranged. The ship's captain after consulting with the American military officers, requested the Salvation Army Envoy to take entire responsibility for the hospital, which responsi- bility, after some hesitation, she accepted. Under her were two nurses, three dieticians (Y. M. C. A. "and Eed Cross), a medical corps sergeant (U. S. A.), and twenty- four orderlies. She took charge on the fourth day of a thirteen day voyage, working in the sick bay from 12 noon to 8 P.M., and from 12 midnight to 8 a.m. every day. She had with her a mandolin and a guitar with which, in addi- tion to her sixteen hours of duty in the sick bay, she every day spent some time (usually an hour or two) on deck

84 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

singing and playing for the soldiers who were much de- pressed by the epidemic. To them she was a very angel of good cheer and comfort.

Many amusing incidents occurred on the voyage.

Stormy weather had added to the discomforts of the trip and most of the passengers suffered from seasickness during the greater part of the voyage.

On board there was also a woman of middle age who could not be persuaded to keep her cabin porthole closed at night. Again and again a ray of light was projected through it upon the surface of the water and the quarter- master, whose duty it was to see that no lights were shown, was at his wit's end. His difficulty was the greater because he could speak no English, and she no French. Finally, a passenger took pity on the man, and, as the light was really a grave danger to the ship's safety, promised to speak to the woman, who insisted that she was not afraid of submarines and that it was foolish to think they could see her light.

" Madam," he said, " the quartermaster here tells me that the sea in this locality is infested with flying fish, who, like moths, fly straight for any light, and he is afraid that if you leave your porthole open they will dive in upon you during the night."

If he had said that the sea was infested with flying mice, his statement could not have been more effective. Thereafter the porthole stayed closed.

When the first man died on board, the Captain com- manding the soldiers and the ship's Captain requested a Salvation Army Adjutant to conduct the funeral service.

At 4.30 P.M. the ship's propeller ceased to turn and the steamer came up into the wind. The United States destroyer acting as convoy also came to a halt. The French flag on the steamer and the American flag on the destroyer

THE SALVATION ARMY 85

were at half-mast. Thirty-two men from the dead man's company lined np on the after-deck. The coffin (a rough pine box), heavily weighted at one end, lay across the rail over the stern. Here a chute had been rigged so that the cofiin might not foul the ship's screws. The flags remained at half-mast for half an hour. The Salvation Army Adju- tant read the burial service and prayed. Passengers on the promenade deck looked on. Then a bugler played taps. Every soldier stood facing the stern with hat off and held across the breast. As the coffin slipped down the chute and splashed into the sea a firing squad fired a single rattling volley. The ship came about and, with a shudder of start- ing engines, continued her voyage, the destroyer doing likewise.

During the passage the Adjutant conducted six such funerals, two more being conducted by a Catholic priest. Four more bodies of men who died as they neared port were landed and buried ashore.

In the hospital the Envoy was undoubtedly the means of saving several lives by her endless toil and by the en- couragement of her cheerful face in that depressing place. The sick men called her " Mother '' and no mother could have been more tender than she.

'^You look so much like mother," said one boy just before he died. " Won't you please kiss me ? "

Another lad, with a great, convulsive effort, drew her hand to his lips and kissed her just as he passed away.

All of the American officers and two French officers attended the funerals in full dress uniform and ten sailors of the French navy were also present.

The night before the ship docked at Bordeaux a letter signed by the Captain of the ship and the American officers was handed to the Envoy lady. It contained a warm state-

86 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

ment of their appreciation of her service. Officers of the Aviation Corps who were aboard the ship arranged a ban- quet to be held in her honor when they should reach port ; but she told them that she was undir orders even as they were and that she must report to Paris Headquarters at once. And so the banquet did not take place.

As she left the ship, the soldiers were lined up on the wharf ready to march. When she came down the gang- plank and walked past them to the street, they cheered her and shouted : ^' Good-bye, mother ! Good luck ! ''

As the fame of the doughnuts and pies spread through the camps a new distress loomed ahead for the Salvation 'Army. Where were the flour and the sugar and the lard and the other ingredients to come from wherewith to concoct these delicacies for the homesick soldiers?

It was of no use to go to the French for white flour, for they did not have it. They had been using war bread, dark mixtures with barley flour and other things, for a long time. Besides, the French had a fixed idea that every- one who came from America was made of money. Wood w^as thirty-five dollars a load (about a cord) and had to be cut and hauled by the purchaser at that. There was a story current throughout the camps that some French- men were talking together among themselves, and one asked the rest where in the world they were going to get the money to rebuild their towns. ^^ Oh," replied another; *^ haven't we the only battlefields in the world? All the Americans will want to come over after the war to see them and we will charge them enough for the sight to rebuild our villages ! "

But even at any price the French did not have the materials to sell. There was only one place where things of that sort could be had and that was from the Americans,

THE^SALVATION ARMY 87

and the question was, would the commissary allow them to buy in large enough quantities to be of any use? The Salvation Army officers as they went about their work, were puzzling their brains how to get around the American commissary and get what they wanted.

Meantime, the American Army had slipped quietly into Montiers in the night and been billeted around in bams and houses and outhouses, and anywhere they could be stowed, and were keeping out of sight. For the German High Council had declared: "As soon as the American Army goes into camp we will blow thean off the map.*'

Day after day the Germans lay low and watched. Their airplanes flew oTer and kept close guard, but they could find no sign of a camp anywhere. N"o tents were in sight, though they searched the landscape carefully; and day after day, for want of something better to do they bom- barded Bar-1&-Duc. Eyery day some new rarishment of the beautiful city was wrought, new victims buried under ruins, new terror and destruction, until the whole region was in panic and dismay.

Now Bar-le-Duc, as everyone knows, is the home of the famous Bar-le-Duc jam that brings such high prices the world over, and there were great quantities stored up and waiting to be sold at a high price to Americans after the war. B'at when the bombardment continued, and it became evident that the whole would either be destroyed or fall into the hands of the Germans, the owners were fright- ened. Houses were blown up, burying whole families. Victims were being taken hourly from the ruins, injured or dying.

A Salvation Army Adjutant ran up there one day with his truck and found an awful state of things. The whole place was full of refugees, families bereft of their homes.

88 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

everybody' that could trying to get out of the city. Just by accident he found out that the merchants were willing to sell their jam at a very reasonable price, and so he bought tons and tons of Bar-le-Duc jam. That would help out a lot and go well on bread, for of course there was no butter. Also it would make wonderful pies and tarts if one only had the flour and other ingredients.

As he drove into Montiers he was still thinking about it, and there on the table in the Salvation Army hut stood as pretty a chocolate cake as one would care to see. A bright idea came to the Adjutant :

" Let me have that cake/' said he to the lassie who had baked it, " and I'll take it to the General and see what I can do."

It turned out that the cake was promised, but the lassie said she would bake another and have it ready for him on his return trip ; so in a few days when he ca;me back there was the cake.

Ah ! That was a wonderful cake !

The lasisie had baked it in the covers of lard tins, four- teen inches across anid five layers high ! There was a layer of cake, thickly spread with rich chocolate frosting, another layer of cake, overlaid with the translucent Bar-le-Duc jam, a third layer of cake with chocolate, another layer spread with Bar-le-Duc jam, then cake again, the whole covered smoothly over with thick dark chocolate, top and sides, down to the very base, without a ripple in it. It was a wonder of a cake !

With shining eyes and eager look the Adjutant took that beautiful eake, took also twelve hundred great brown sugary doughnuts, and a dozen fragrant apple pies just out of the oven, stowed them carefully away in his truck, and rustled off to the Officers' Headquarters. Arrived there he took his cake in hand and asked to see the General. An

THE SALVATION ARMY 89

officer "with his eye on the caJ^e said the General was busy just now but he would carry the cake to him. But the Adjutant declined this offer firmly, saying : " The ladies of Montiers-sur-Saulx sent this cake to the General, and I must put it into his hands/'

He was finally led to the General's room and, uncov- ering the great cake, he said :

"The Salvation Army ladies of Montiers-sur-Saulx have sent this cake to you as a sample of what they will do for the soldiers if we can get flour and sugar and lard.'^

The General, greatly pleased, took the cake and sent for a knife, while his officers stood about looking on with much interest. It appeared as if every one were to have a taste of the cake. But when the General had cut a generous slice, held it up, observing its cunning workmanship, its translucent, delectable interior, he turned with a gleam in his eye, looked about the room and said : " Gentlemen, this cake will not be served till the evening's mess, and I pity the gentlemen who do not eat with the officer's mess, but they will have to go elsewhere for their cake."

The Adjutant went out with his pies and doughnuts and distributed them here and there where they would do the most good, getting on the right side of the Top Sergeant, for he had discovered some time ago that even with the General as an ally one must be on the right side of the ^' old Sarge " if one wanted anything. While he was still talking with the officers he was handed an order from the General that he should be supplied with all that he needed, and when he finally came out of Headquarters he found that seven tons of material were being loaded on his car. After that the Salvation Army never had any trouble in getting all the material they needed.

After the tents in Montiers were all settled and tlie

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woxk fully started, the Staff- Captain and his helpers set- tled down to a pleasant little schedule of sixteen hours a day work and called it ease; but that was not to be en- joyed for long. At the end of a week the Salvation Army Colonel swooped down upon them again with orders to erect a hut at once as the tents were only a makeshift and winter was coming on. He brought materials and selected a site on a desirable comer.

Now the corner was literally coYered with fallen walls of a former building and wTeckage from the last year's raid, and the patient workers looked aghast at the task before them. But the Colonel would listen to no arguments.

" Don^t talk about difficulties," he said, brushing aside a plea for another lot, not quite so desirable perhaps, but much easier to clear. " Don't talk about difficulties ; get busy and have the job over with ! "

One big reason why the Salvation Army is able to carry on the great machinery of its vast organization is that its people are trained to obey without murmuring.

Cheerfully and laboriously the men set to work. Winter rains were setting in, with a chill and intensity never to be forgotten by an American soldier. But wet to the skin day after day all day long the Salvationists worked against time, trying to finish the hut before the snow should arrive. And at last the hut was finished and ready for occupancy.

Such tireless devotion, such patient, cheerful toil for their sake was not to be passed by nor forgotten by the soldiers who watched and helped when they could. Day after day the bonds between them and the Salvation Army •grew stronger. Here were men who did not have to, and yet who for the sake of helping them, came and lived under

THE SALVATION ARMY 91

the same conditions that they did, working even longer hours than they, eating the same food, enduring the same privations, and whose only pay was their expenses.

At the first the Salvationists took their places in the chow line with the rest, then little by little men near the head of the line would give up their places to them, quietly stepping to the rear of the line themselves. Finally, no matter how long the line was the men with one consent insisted that their unselfish friends should take the very head of the line whenever they came and always be served first.

One day one of the Salvation Army men swathed in a big raincoat was sitting in a Ford by the roadside in front of a Salvation Army hut, waiting for his Colonel, when two soldiers stopped behind him to light their cigarettes. It was just after sundown, an'd the man in the car must have seemed like any soldier to the two as they chatted.

^^ Bunch of grafters, these Y. M. C. A. and Salvation Army outfits ! ^' grumbled one as he struck a match. " What good are the ^ Sallies ^ in a soldier camp ? "

"Well, Buddy,^' said the other somewhat excitedly, " there's a whole lot of U5 think the Salvation Army is about it in this man's outfit. For a rookie you sure are picking one good way to make yourself unpopular tout de suite! Better lay off that kind of talk until you kind of find out what's what. I didn't have much use for them myseK back in the States, but here in France they're real folks, believe me ! "

So the feeling had grown everywhere as the huts multi- plied. And the huts proved altogether too small for the religious taeetings, so that as long as the weather permit- ted the services had to be held in the open air. It was no unusual thing to see a thousand men gathered in the twi-

92 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

light aroimd two or three Salvation Army lassies, sing- ing in sweet wonderful volume the old, old hymns. The soldiers were no longer amused spectators, bent on mis- chief ; they were enthusiastic allies of the organization that was theirs. The meeting was theirs.

^^ We never forced a meeting on them,^' said one of the girls. " We jusit let it grow. Sometimes it would begin with popular songs, but before long the boys would ask for hymns, the old favorites, first one, then another, al- ways remembering to call for '' Tell Mother I'll Be There."

Almost without exception the boys entered heartily into everything that went on in the organization. The songs were perhaps at first only a reminder of home, but soon they came to' have a personal significance to many. The Salvation Army did not have movies and theatrical singers as did the other organizations, but they did not seem to need them. The men liked the Gospel meetings and came to them better than to anything else. Often they would come to the hut and start the singing themselves, which would presently grow into a meeting of evident intention.

The Staff-Captain did not long have opportunity to enjoy the new hut which he had labored so hard to finish at Montiers, for soon orders arrived for him to move on to Houdelainecourt to help put up the hut there, and leave Montiers in charge of a Salvation Army Major.

The Salvation Army was with the Eighteenth Infantry at Houdelainecourt.

It was an old tent that sheltered the canteen, and it had the reputation of having gone up and down five times. When first they put it up it blew down. It was located where iwo roads met and the winds swept down in every direction. Then they put it up and took it down to camou- flage it. They got it up again and had to take it down

THE SALVATION ARMY 93

to camouflage it some more. The regular division helped with this, and it was some camouflage when it was done, for the boys had put their initials all over it, and then, had painted Christmas trees everywhere, and on the trees they had put the presents they knew tliey never would get, and so in all the richness of its record of homesickness the old tent went up again. They kept warm here by means of a candle under an upturned tin pail. The tent blew down again in a big storm soon after that and had to be put up once more, and then there came a big rain and flooded everything in the neighborhood. It blew down and dro\\Tied out the Y. M. C. A. and everything else, and only the old tent stood for awhile. But at last the storm was too much for it, too, and it succumbed again.

After that the Salvation Army put up a hut for their work. A number of soldiers assisted. They put up a stove, brought their piano and phonograph, and made the place look cheerful. Then they got the regimental band and had an opening, the first big thing that was recognized by the military authorities. The Salvation Army Staff-Cap- tain in charge of that zone took a long board and set candles on it and put it above the platform like a big chandelier. The Brigade Commander was there, and a Captain came to represent the Colonel. A chaplain spoke. The lassies who took part in the entertainment were the first girls the soldiers had seen for many months.

Long before the hour announced for the service the sol- dier boys had crowded the hutment to its greatest capacity. Game and reading tables had been moved to the rear and extra benches brought in. The men stood three deep upon the tables and filled every seat and every inch of stand- ing room. When there was no more room on the floor, they climbed to the roof and lined the rafters. There was no

94 THE WAR RO^IANCE OF

air and tlie Adjutant came to say there was too much light, but none of these things damped the enthusiasm.

With the aid of the regimental chaplain, the Staff- Captain had arranged a suitable program for the occasion, the regimental band furnishing the music.

When the General entered the hutment all of the men stood and uncovered and the band stopped abruptly in the middle of a strain. " That's the worst thing I ever did — stopping the music/' he exclaimed ruefully. He refused to occupy the chair which had been prepared for him, say- ing : " Ko, I want to stand so that I can look at these men."

The records of the work in that hut would be precious reading for the fathers and mothers of those boys, for the Fighting Eighteenth Infantry are mostly gone, having laid their young lives on the altar with so many others.

Here is a bit from one lassie's letter, giving a picture of one of her days in the hut :

" Well, I must tell you how the days are spent. We opven the hut at 7; it is cleaned by some of the boys; then at 8 we com- mence to serve cocoa and coffee and make pies and doughnuts, cup cakes and fry egga and make all kinds of eats until it is all you see. Well, can you think of two women cooking in one day 2500 doughnuts, 8 dozen cup cakes, 50 pies, 800 pancakes and 225 gallons of cocoa, and one other girl serving it ? That is a day's work in my last hut. Then meeting at night, and it lasts two hours."

A lieutenant came into the canteen to buy something and said to one of the girls : " Will you please tell me some- thing ? Don't you ever rest ? " That is how both the men and officers appreciated the work of these tireless girls.

Men often walked miles to look at an American woman. Once acquainted with the Salvation Army lassies they came

THE SALVATION ARMY 95

to them with many and strange requests. Having picked a quart or so of wild berries and purchased from a farmer a pint of creajn they would come to ask a girl to make a strawberry shortcake for them. They would buy a whole dozen of eggs apiece, and having begged a Salvation Army girl to fry them would eat the whole dozen at a sitting. They would ask the girls to write their love letters, or to write assuring some mother or sweetheart that they were behaving themselves.

Soldiers going into action have left thousands of dol- lars in cash and in valuables in the care of Salvation Army officers to be forwarded to persons designated in case they are killed in action or taken prisoner. In such cases it is very seldom that a receipt is given for either money or valuables, so deeply do the soldiers trust the Salvation Army.

One of the girl Captains wears a plain silver ring, whose intrinsic value is about thirty cents, but whose moral value is beyond estimate. The ring is not the Captain's. It be- longs to a soldier, who, before the war, had been a hard drinker ajid had continued his habits after enlisting. He came under the influence of the Salvation Army and swore that he would drink no more. But time after time he fell, each time becoming more desperate and more discouraged. Each time the young lassie-Captain dealt with him. After the lafit of his failures, while she was encouraging him to make another try, he detached the ring from the cord from which it had dangled around his neck and thrust it at her.

" It was my mother's," he explained. " If you will wear it for me, I shall always think of it when the temptation comes to drink, and the fact that someone really cares enough about my worthless hide to take all of the trouble you have taken on my behalf, will help me to resist it.''

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^^ No one will misunderstand/' he cried, seeing tbat the lassie was about to decline, " not even me. I shall tell no one. And it would help."

"Very well/' agreed the girl, looking steadily at him for a moment, " but the first time that you take a drink, off will come the ring ! And you must promise that you will tell me if you do take that drink."

The soldier promised. The lassie still wears the ring. The soldier is still sober. Also he has written to his wife for the first time in five years and she has expressed her delight at the good news.

On more than one occasion American aviators have flown from their camps many miles to villages where there were Salvation lassies and have returned with a load of doughnuts. On one occasion a bird-man dropped a note down in front of the hut where two sisters were stationed, circling around at a low elevation until certain that the girls had picked up the note, which stated that he would return the following afternoon for a mess of doughnuts for his comrades. When he returned, the doughnuts were ready for him.

The Adjutant of the aerial forces attached to the Ameri- can Fifth Army around Montfaucon on the edge of the Argonne Forest, before that forest was finally captured at the point of American bayonets, drove almost seventy miles to the Salvation Army Headquarters at Ligny for supplies for his men. He was given an automobile load of chocolate, candies, cakes, cookies, soap, toilet articles, and other com- forts, without charge. He said that he knew that the Sal- vation Army would have what he wanted.

The two lassies who were in Bure had a desperate time of it. Things were most primitive. They had no stove, just an old travelling field range, and for a canteen one

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end of Battery F 's kitchen. They were then attached to the Sixth Field Artillery. This was the regiment that fired the first shot into Germany.

The smoke in that kitchen was awful and continuous from the old field range. The girls often made douglmuts out-of-doors, and they got chilblains from standing in the snow. All the company had chilblains, too, and it was a sorry crowd. Then the girls got the mumps. It was so cold here, especially at night, they often had to sleep with their clothes on. There was only one way they could have meetings in that place and that was while the men were lined up for chow near to the canteen. They would start to sing in the gloomy, cold room, the men and girls all with their overcoats on, and fingers so cold that they could hardly play the concertina, for there was no fire in the big room save from the range at one end where they cooked. Then the girls would talk to them while they were eating. Per- haps they did not call these meetings, but they were a mighty happy time to the men, and they liked it.

A minister who had taken six months' leave of absence from his church to do Y. M. C. A. work in France asked one of the boys why he liked the Salvation Army girls and he said : " Because they always take time to cheer' us up. It's true they do knock us mighty hard about our sins, but while it hurts they always show us a way out." The minister told some one that if he had his work to do over again he would plan it along the lines of the Salvation Army work.

You may hear it urged that one reason the boys liked

the Salvation Army people so much was because they did

not preach, but it is not so. They preached early and

often, but the boys liked it because it was done so simply,

7

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«o consistently and so unselfishly, tliat they did not recog- nize it as preaching.

In lienaucourt as Christmas was coming on some United States officers raised money to give the little refugee children a Christmas treat. There was to be a tree with presents, and good things to eat, and an entertainment with recitations from the children. The school-teacher was teaching the children their pieces, and there was a general air of delightful excitement everywhere. It was expected that the affair was to be held in the Catholic church at first, but the priest protested that this was unseemly, so they were at a loss what to do. The school-house was not large enough.

The Salvation Army Staff- Captain found this out and suggested to the officers tliat the Salvation Army hut was the very place for such a gathering. So the tree was set up, and the officers went to town and bought presents and decorations. They covered the old hut with boughs and flags and transformed it into a wonderland for the chil- dren. The officers were struggling helplessly with the decorations of the tree when the Salvation Army man hap- pened in and they asked him to help.

" Why, sure ! " he said heartily. " That's my regular work ! '' So they eagerly put it into his hands and de- parted. The Staff-Captain worked so hard at it and grew so interested in it that he forgot to go for his chow at lunch- time, and when supper-time came the hall was so crowded and there was so much stiU to be done that he could not get away to get his supper. But it was a grand and glorious time. The place was packed. There were two American Colonels, a French Colonel, and several French officers.

The soldiers crowded in and they had to send them out again, poor fellows, to make room for the children, but

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they hung aroimd the doors and windows eager to see it all.

The regimental band played, there were recitations in French and a good time generally.

The seats were facing the canteen where the supplies were all stocked neatly, boxes of candy and cakes and good things. The Colonel in charge of the regiment looked over to them wistfully and said to the Staff-Captain : " Are you going to sell all those things?^' The Staff-Captain, with quick appreciation, said : " No, Colonel, Christmas comes but once a year and there's a present up there for you." And the Colonel seemed as pleased as the children when the Staff- Captain handed him a big box of candy all tied up in Christmas ribbons.

In the huts, phonographs are never silent as long as there is a single soldier in the place. One night two of the Salvation Army girls, who slept in the back room of a cer- tain hut, had closed up for the night and retired. They were awakened by the sound of the phonograph, and won- dered how anyone got into the hut and who it might hap- pen to be. They were a little bit nervous, but went to in- vestigate. They found that a soldier on guard had raised a window, and although this did not allow him room to enter the hut, he was able to reach the table where the phono- graph stood. He had turned the talking machine around so that it faced the window, and, placing a record in position, had started it going. He was leaning up against the outer wall of the hut, smoking a, cigarette in the moonlight, and enjoying his concert. The girls returned to bed without disturbing the audience.

One of the most popular French confections sold in the huts was a variety of biscuits known under the trade name of '^ Boudoir Biscuits." One day a soldier entered a hut and said : *^ Say, miss, I want some of them there — them

100 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

there — Dang me if I can remember them French na-mes ! — them there (suddenly a great light dawned) — ^some of them there bedroom cookies/' And the lassie got what he wanted.

The Salvation Army men who worked among the sol- diers in advanced positions from which all women are barred are among the heroes of the war. Here during the day they labored in dugouts far below the shell-tortured earth, often going out at night to help bring in the ^wounded ; always in danger from shells and gas ; some with the ammunition trains ; others driving supply trucks ; still others attached to units and accompanying the fighting men wherever they went, even to the active combat of the firing trench and the attack. These are unofficial chap- lains. Such a one was ^' La Petit Major/' as the soldiers called him, because of his smallness of stature.

The Little Major commenced his service in the field with the Twenty-sixth Infantry, First Division, at Menau- court. Soon he was transferred to command the hut at Boviolles. At this place was the battalion of the Twenty- sixth Infantry, commanded by Major Theodore Eoosevelt. His brother, Captain Archie Roosevelt, commanded a com- pany in this battalion. He was for the greater part of the time alone in the work at Boviolles.

By his consistent life and character and his willingness to serve both men and officers, he won their esteem.

When they left the training area for the trenches the Major was requested to go with them. He turned the key in the canteen door and went off with them across France and never came back, establishing himself in the front-line trenches with the men and acting as unofiiciai chaplain to the battalion.

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There is an interesting incident in connection with his introduction to Major Koosevelt's notice.

For some reason the Salvation Army had been made to feel that they were not welcome with that division. But the Little Major did not give up like that, and he lingered about feeling that somehow there was yet to be a work for him there.

A young private from a far Western state, a fellow who, according to all reports, had never been of any account at home, was convicted of a most horrible murder and con- demned to die by hanging because the commanding officer said that shooting was too good for him.

He accepted his fate with sullen ugliness. He would not speak to anyone and he was so violent that they had to put him in chains. No one could do anything with him. He had to be watched day and night ; and it was awful to see him die this way with his sin unconfessed. Many at- tempts were made to break through his silence, but all to no effect. Several chaplains visited him, but he would have nothing to do with them.

On the morning of his execution, to the surprise of everybody he said that he had heard that there was a S^al- vation Army man around and he would like to see him. The authorities sent and searched everywhere for the Little Major, and some thought he must have left, but they found him at last and he came at once to the desperate man.

The criminal sat crouched on his hard bench, chained hand and foot. He did not look up. He was a dreadful sight, his brutal face haggard, unshaven, his eyes bloodshot, his whole appearance almost like some low animal. Through the shadowy prison darkness the Little Major crept to those chains, those symbols of the man's degrada- tion ; and still the man did not look up.

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"You must be in great trouble, brother. Can I help you any ? " asked the Little Major with a wonderful Christ- like compassion in his voice.

The man lifted his bleared eyes under the shock of im- kempt hair, and spoke, startled :

** You call me brother ! You know what I'm here for and you call me brother ! Why ? '^

The little Major's voice was steady and sweet as he leplied without hesitation :

*^ Because I know a great deal about the suffering of Christ on the Cross, all because He loved you so ! Because I know He said He was wounded for your transgressions. He was bruised for your iniquities! Because I know He «aid, ' Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as enow, though they be red like crimson they shall be as wool ! ' So why shouldn't I call you brother ? "

" Oh," said the man with a groan of agony and big tears rolKng down his face. '* Could I be made a better man?"

Then they went down on their knees together beside the hard bench, the man in chains and the man of God, and the Little Major prayed such a wonderful prayer, taking the poor soul right to the foot of the Throne ; and in a few minutes the man was confessing his sin to God. Then he suddenly looked up and exclaimed :

" It's true, what you said ! Christ has pardoned me ! Ifow I can die like a man ! "

With that great pardon written across his heart he actually went to his death with a smile upon his face. When the Chaplain asked him if he had anything to 6ay he publicly thanked the military authorities and the Salvation Army for what they had done for him.

The Colonel, greatly surprised at the change in the

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man, sent to find out how it came about and later sent to thank the Little Major. Two days later Major Rooseyelt came in person to thank him :

*^ I knew that someone who knew how to deal with men had got hold of him/^ he said, " but I almost doubted the evidence of my own eyes when I saw how cheerfully he went to his death, it all seemed too wonderful ! ''

The little Major was with this battalion in all of iti engagements, and on several occasions went orer the top with the men and devoted himself to first aid to the wounded and to bringing the men back to the dressing station on stretchers. Between the times of active engage- ments, the Major gave himself to supplying the needs of the men and made daily trips out of the trenches to obtain newspapers, writing material, and to perform errands wliick they could not do for themselves.

One of the lieutenants said of him : ^' He is worth more than all the chaplains that were ever made in the United States Army. He will walk miles to get the most trivial article for either man or officer. The men know that he loves them or he would not go into the trenches with them, for he does not have to go. You can tell the world for me that he is a real man ! "

One of the fellows said of him he had seen him take off his shoes and bring away pieces of flesh from the awful blisters got from much tramping.

The men soon learned to love their gray haired Salva- tion Army comrade. When an enemy attack was to be met with cold steel he was the first to follow the company offi- cers " over the top,'^ to cheer and encourage the onrushing Americans in the anxious semi-calm which follows the lifting of a barrage. A non-combatant, unarmed and fifty- three years of age, he was always in the van of the fierce

104 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

onslaught with which our men repulsed the enemy, ready to pray with the dying or help bring in the wounded, and always fearless no matter what the conditions. By his un- f earing heroism as well as his willingness to share the hard- ships and dangers of the men, he so won their confidence that it was frequently said that they would not go into battle except the Major was with them. The men would crouch around him with an almost fantastic confidence that where he was no harm could come. Knowing that many earnest Christian people were praying for his safety and having seen how safely he and those with him had come through dangers, they thought his very presence was a pro- tection. Who shall say that God did not stay on the battle- field living and speaking through the Little Major ?

When the first division was moved from the Montdidier Sector he travelled with the men as far as they went by train. When they detrained and marched he marched with them, carrying his seventy pound pack as any soldier did. He was by the side of Captain Archie Roosevelt when he received a very dangerous wound from an exploding shell, and was in the battle of Cantigny in the Montdidier Sector, where his company lost only two men killed and four wounded, while other companies' losses were much more severe.

Protestant, Catholic and Jew were all his friends. One Catholic boy came crawling along in the waist-deep trench one day to tell the Major about his spiritual worries. After a brief talk the Major asked him if be had his prayer book. The boy said yes. "Then take it out and read it," said the Major. " God is here ! " And there in the narrow trench with lowered heads so that the snipers could not see them, they knelt together and read from the Catholic prayer book.

THE SALVATION ARMY 105

In one American attack the Little Major followed the Lieutenant over the top just as the barrage was lifted. The Lieutenant looking back saw him struggling over the crest of the parapet, laughed and shouted : " Go back, Major, you haven't even a pistol ! '^ But the Major did not go back. He went with the boys. " I have no hesitancy in laying down my life," he once said, " if it will help or encourage anyone else to live in a better or cleaner way.^^

He was always striving for the salvation of his boys, and in his meetings men would push their way to the front and openly kneel before their comrades registering their determination to live in accordance with the teachings of Jesus. One tells of seeing him kneel beside an empty crate with three soldiers praying for their souls.

It was because of all these things that the men believed in him and in his God. He used to say to the men in the meetings, " We are not afraid because we have a sense of the presence of God right here with us ! '^

One night the battalion was " in '^ after a heavy day's work strengthening the defenses and trying to drain the trenches, and the men were asleep in the dugouts. The Major lay in his little chicken-wire bunk, just drowsing off, while the water seeped and dripped from the earthen roof, and the rats splashed about on the water covered floor.

Across from him in a bunk on the other side of the dugout tossed a boy in his damp blankets who had just come to the front. He was only eighteen and it was his first night in the line. It had been a hard day for him. The shells screamed overhead and finally one landed close some- where and rocked the dugout with its explosion.

The old-timers slept undisturbed, but the boy started up with a scream and a groan, his nerves a-quiver, and cried out : " Oh, Daddy ! Daddy ! Daddy ! ''

106 THE WAR ROMANCE OF

The Little Major was out and over to him in a flash, and gathered the boy into his arms, soothing him as a mother might have done, until he was calmed and strengthened; and there amid the roaring of guns, the screaming of shells, the dripping of water and splashing of rats, the youngest of the battalion found Christ.

An old soldier came down from the front and a Salva- tionist asked him if he knew the Little Major.

^^ Well, you just bet I know the Major — sure thing ! '' And the Major is always on hand with a laugh and his fun-making. In the trenches or in the towns, where the shells are flying, the Little Major is with his boys. No words of mine could express the admiration the boys have for him. The boys love him. He calls them "Buddie." They salute and are ready to do or die. The last time I saw him he had hiked in from the trenches with the boys. He carried a heavy " war baby " on his back and a tin hat on his head. He was tired and footsore, but there was that laugh, and before he got his pack off he jabbed me in the ribs. " No, sir, we can't get along without our Major ! " So says " Buddie.''

A request came from a chaplain to open Salvation Army work near his division. The Brigade Commander was most favorable to the suggestion until he learned that the Sal- vation Army would have women there and that religious meetings would be conducted. As this was explained the General's manner changed and he declared he did not know that the work was to be carried on in this way ; that he did not favor the women in camps, or any religion, but thought it would make the soldier soft, and the business of the soldier was to kill, to kill in as brutal a manner as possible ;

THE SALVATION ARMY 107

and to kill as many of the enemy as possible ; and he did not propose to have any work conducted in the camps or any influence on his soldiers that would tend to soften them.

He ordered them, therefore, not to extend the work of the Salvation Army within his brigade. It was explained to him that Demange was now within the territory named. He appeared to be put out that the Salvation Army was already established in his district, but said that if they be- haved themselves they could go on, but that they must not extend.

He reported the matter to the Divisional Headquarters and an investigation of the Salvation Army activities was ordered. A major who was a Jew was appointed to look into the matter. During the next two weeks he talked with the men and officers and attended Salvation Army meet- ings. The leaders, of course, knew nothing about this, but they could not have planned their meetings better if they had known. It seemed as though God was in it all. At the end of two weeks there came a written communication from the General stating that after a thorough examination of the Salvation Army work he withdrew his objections and the Salvation Army was free to extend operations anywhere within his brigade.

The Salvation Army hut was a scene of constant activity.

At one place in a single day there was early mass, said by the Catholic chaplain, later preaching by a Protestant chaplain, then a Jewish service, followed by a company meeting where the use of gas masks was explained. All this, besides the regular uses of the hut, which included a library, piano, phonograph, games, magazines, pies, dough- nuts and coffee; the pie line being followed by a regular Salvation Army meeting where men raised their hands to be prayed for, and many found Christ as their Saviour.

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It was in an old French barracks that they located the Salvation Army canteen in Treveray. One corner was boarded off for a bedroom for the girls. There were windows but not of glass, for they would have soon been shattered, and, too, they would have let too much light through. They were canvas well camouflaged with paint so that the enemy shells would not be attracted at night, and, of course, one could not see through them.

Inside the improvised bedroom were three little folding army cots, a board table, a barrack bag and some boxes. This was the only place where the girls could be by them- selves. On rainy days the furniture was supplemented by a dishpan on one cot, a frying-pan on another, and a lard tin on the third, to catch the drops from the holes in the roof. The opposite corner of the barracks was boarded off for a living-room. In this was a field range and one or two tables and benches.

The rest of the hut was laid out with square bare board tables. The canteen was at one end. The piano was at one side and the graphophone at the other. Sometimes in places like this, the hut would be too near the front for it to be thought advisable to have a piano. It was too liable to be shattered by a chance shell and the management thought it unwise to put so much money into what might in a moment be reduced to worthless splinters. Then the boys would come into the hut, look around disappointedly and say : " No piano ? '^

The cheerful woman behind the counter would say sym- pathetically : " No, boys, no piano. Too many shells around here for a piano.^'

The boys would droop around silently for a minute or two and then go off. In a little while back they would come with grim satisfaction on their faces bearing a piano.

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** Don't ask us where we got it/' they would answer with a twinkle in reply to the pleased inquiry. " This is war ! We salvaged it ! ''

Around the room on the tables were plenty of magazines, books and games. Checkers was a favorite game. No card playing, no shooting crap. The canteen contained choco- late, candy, writing materials, postage stamps, towels, shaving materials, talcum powder, soap, shoestrings, hand- kerchiefs in little sealed packets, buttons, cootie medicine and other like articles. The Salvation Army did not sell nor give away either tobacco or cigarettes. In a few cases where such were sent to them for distribution they were handed over to the doctors for the badly wounded in the hospitals or the very sick men accustomed to their use, who were almost insane with their nerves. They also procured them from the Red Cross for wounded men, some- times, who were fretting for them, but they never were a part of their supplies and far from the policy of the Salvation Army. Furthermore, the Salvation Army sent no men to France to work for them who smoked or used tobacco in any form, or drank intoxicating liquors. No man can hold a commission in the Salvation Army and use tobacco ! It is a remarkable fact that the boys them- selves did not want the Salvation Army lassies to deal in cigarettes because they knew it would be going against their principles to do so.

Occasionally a stranger would come into the canteen and ask for a package of cigarettes. Then some soldier would remark witheringly : " Say, where do you come from ? (Don't you know the Salvation Army don't handle tobacco ? "

The men were always deeply grateful to get talcum powder for use after shaving. It seemed somehow to help

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to keep up the morale of the army, that talcum powder, a little bit of the soothing refinement of the home that seemed 80 far away.

To this hut whenever they were at liberty came Jew and Gentile, Protestant and Catholic, rich and poor. War is a great leveler and had swept away aU differences. They were a great brotherhood of Americans now, ready, if neces- sary, to die for the right.

To one of the huts came a request from the chaplain of a regiment which was about to move from its temporary bil- let in the next village. The men had not been so fortunate as to be stationed at a town where there was a Salvation Army hut and it had been over four months since they had tasted anything like cake or pie. Would the Salvation Army lassies be so good as to let them have a few dough- nuts before they moved that night? If so the chaplain would call for them at five o'clock.

The lassies worked with all their might and fried thirty-five hundred doughnuts. But something happened to the ambulance that was to take them to the boys, and over an hour was lost in repairs. Back at the camp the boys had given up all hope. They were to march at eight o'clock and nothing had been heard of the doughnuts. Suddenly the truck dashed into view, but the boys eyed it glumly, thinking it was likely empty after all this time. However, the chaplain held up both hands full of golden brown beauties, and with a wild shout of joy the men sprang to " attention " as the ambulance drew up, and more soldiers crowded around. The villagers rushed to their doors to see what couid be happening now to those crazy American soldiers.

When the chaplain stood up in the car flinging dough- nuts to them and shouting that there were thousands.

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enough for everybody, the enthusiasm of the soldiers knew no bounds. The girls had come along and now they began to hand out the doughnuts, and the crowd cheered and shouted as they filed up to receive them. And when it came time for the girls to return to their own village the soldiers crowded up once more to say good-bye, and give them three cheers and a " tiger."

These same girls a few days before had fed seven hun- dred weary doughboys on their march to the front with coffee, hot biscuits and jam.

In one of the Salvation Army huts one night the usual noisy cheerfulness was in the air, but apart from the rest sat a boy with a letter open on the table before him and a dreamy smile of tender memories upon his face. Nobody noticed that far-away look in his eyes until the lassie in charge of the hut, standing in the doorway surveying her noisy family, searched him out with her discerning eyes, and presently happened dovm his way and inquired if he had a letter. The boy looked up with a wonderful smile such as she had never seen on his face before, and answered :

" Yes, it's from mother ! '' Then impulsively, " She's the nearest throg to God I know ! "

Mother seemed to be the nearest thought to the heart of the boys over there. They loved the songs best that spoke about mother. One boy bought a can of beans at the canteen, and when remonstrated with by the lassie who sold them, on the ground that he was always complaining of having to eat so miany beans, he replied : '' Aw, well, this is different. These beans are the kiad that mother used to buy."

In the dark hours of the early morning a boy who be- longed to the ammunition train sat by one of the little

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wooden tables in the hut, just after he had returned from his first barrage, and pencilled on its top the following words:

Mother o' mine, what the words mean to me

Is more than tongue can say; For one view to-night of your loving face,

What a price I would gladly pay! The wonderful face . . . . . . smiling still despite loads of care,

'Tis crowned by a silvering sheen. Your picture I carry next to my heart;

With it no harm can befall. It has helped me to smile through many a care,

Since I heeded my country's call. O mother who nursed me as a babe

And prayed for me as a boy, Can I not show, now at man's estate,

That you are my pride and joy? Good night ! God guard you, way over the ocean blue, Your boy loves you and his dreams are bright.

For he's dreaming of home and you.

One of the letters that was written home for " Mother's Day " in response to a suggestion on the walls of the Salva- tion Army hut was as follows :

Dearest Little Mother of Mine:

They started a campaign to write to mother on this day, and, believe me, I didn't have to be urged very hard. If I wrote you every time I think of you this war would go hang as far as I am concerned, for I think of you always and there are hundreds of things that serve as an eternal reminder.

Near our billet is one lone, scrubby little lilac bush that has a dozen blossoms, and it doesn't take much mental work to con- nect lilacs with mother. Then, too, the distant whistle of a train Vay down the valley reminds me of how you would listen for

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the whistle of the Montreal train on Saturday morning and then fix up a big feed for your boy to offset a week of boarding-house grub. Those and many other things remind me many times a day of the one who bid me good-by with a smile and saved her tears 'till she was home alone; who knit helmets, wristlets and sweaters to keep out the cold when she should have been sleeping; who (I'll bet a hat) didn't sleep one of the thirteen nights I was on the ocean, and who writes me cheerful, newsy letters when all others fail.

And I appreciate all those things too, although I'm not much on showing affection. I haven't always been as good to you as I ought, but I'm going to make up by being the soldier and the man " me mudder " thinks I am.

And when I come back home, all full of prunes and glory, we're going to have the grandest time you ever dreamed of. We'll go joy riding, eat strawberry shortcake and pumpkin pie, and have all the lilacs in the U. S. A. Wait till I walk down Main Street with you on my arm all fixed up in a swell dress and a new bonnet and me with a span new uniform, with sergeant-major's chevrons, about steen service stripes, a Mex. campaign badge and a Croix de Guerre (maybe), then you'll be glad your boy went to be a soldier.

I was on the road all of night before last and on guard last night and I'm a wee bit tired so I'm making this kinder short; but it's a little reminder that the boy who is 5,000 miles away is thinking, '' I love you my ma," same as I always did.

And, by gosh, don't forget about that pumpkin pie!

Good-night, mother of mine; your soldier boy loves you a whole dollar's worth.

The Salvation Army hut was home to the boys over there. They came to it in sorrow or joy. They came to ask to scrape out the bowl where the cake batter had been stirred because mother used to let them do it; they came to get their coats mended and have their buttons sewed on. Some- times it seemed to the long-suffering, smiling woman who sewed them on, as if they just ripped them off so she could 8

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sew them on again ; if so, she did not mind. They came to mourn when they received no word from home ; and when the mail came in and they were fortunate they came first to the hut waving their letter to tell of their good luck before they even opened it to read it. It is remarkable how they pinned their whole life on what these consecrated American women said to them over there. It is wonderful how they opened their hearts to them on religious subjects, and how they flocked to the religious meetings, seeming to really be hungry for them.

Word about these wonderful meetings that the soldiers were attending in such numbers got to the ears of another commanding officer, and one day there came a summons for the Salvation Army Major in charge at Gondrecourt to appear before him. An officer on a motor cycle with a side car brought the summons, and the Major felt that it prac- tically amounted to an arrest. There was nothing to do but obey, so he climbed into the side car and was whirled away to Headquarters.

The Major-General received him at once and in brusque tones informed him most emphatically:

"We want you to get out! We don't want you nor your meetings ! We are here to teach men to fight and your religion says you must not kill. Look out there ! '^ point- ing through the doorway, " we have set up dummies and teach our men to run their bayonets through them. You teach them the opposite of that. You will unfit my men for warfare ! "

The Salvationist looked through the door at the line of straw dummies hanging in a row, and then he looked back and faced the Major-General for a full minute before he said anything.

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Tall and strong, with soldierly bearing, with ruddy health in the glow of his cheeks, and fire in his keen blue eyes, the Salvationist looked steadily at the Major-General and his indignation grew. Then the good old Scotch burr on his tongue rolled broadly out in protest :

" On my way up here in your automobile ^' — every word was slow and calm and deliberate, tinged with a fine righteous sarcasm — " I saw three men entering your Guard House who were not capable of directing their own steps. They had been off on leave down to the town and had come home drunk. They were going into the Guard House to sleep it off. When they come out to-morrow or the next day with their limbs trembling, and their eyes bloodshot and their heads aching, do you think they will be fit for warfare ?

" You have men down there in your Guard House who are loathsome with vile diseases, who are shaken with self- indulgence, and weakened with all kinds of excesses. Are they fit for warfare ?

" Now, look at me ! '^

He drew himself up in all the strength of his six feet, broad shoulders, expanded chest, complexion like a baby, muscles like iron, and compelled the gaze of the officer.

" Can you find any man — ^' The Salvationist said " mon " and the soft Scotch sound of it sent a thrill down the Major-GeneraFs back in spite of his opposition. " Can you find any mon at fifty-five years who can follow these in your regiment, who can beat me at any game whatever ? ''

The officer looked, and listened, and was ashamed.

The Major rose in his righteous wrath and spoke mighty truths clothed in simple words, and as he talked the tears unbidden rolled down the Major-GeneraPs face and dropped upon his table.

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"And do you know," said the Salvationist, afterward telling a friend in earnest confidence, " do you know, before I left we had prayer together! And he became one of the best friends we have ! "

Before he left, also, the Major-General signed the authority which gave him charge of the Guard Houses, so that he might talk to the men or hold meetings with them whenever he liked. This was the means of opening up a new avenue of work among the men.

The Scotch Major had a string of hospitals that he visited in addition to his other regular duties. He knew that the men who are gassed lose all their possessions when their clothes are ripped off from them. So this Salvationist made a delightful all-the-year-round Santa Claus out of himself : dressing up in old clothes, because of the mud and dirt through which he must pass, he would sling a pack on his back that would put to shame the one Old Santa used to carry. Shaving things and soap and toothbrushes, hand- kerchiefs and chocolate and writing materials. How they welcomed him wherever he came ! Sick men, Protestants, Jews, Catholics. He talked and prayed with them all, and no one turned away from his kindly messages.

Six miles from Neuf chauteul is Bazoilles, a mighty city of hospital tents and buildings, acres and acres of them, lying in the valley. Whenever this man heard the rumbling of guns and knew that something was doing, he took his pack and started down to go the rounds, for there were always men there needing him.

Then he would hold meetings in the wards, blessed meetings that the wounded men enjoyed and begged for.

They all joined in the singing, even those who could not

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sing very well. And once it was a blind boy who asked them to sing " Lead Kindly Light Amid the Encircling Gloom, Lead Thou Me On/'

One Sunday afternoon two Salvation Army lassies had come with their Major to hold their usual service in the hospital, but there were so many wounded coming in and the place was so busy that it seemed as if perhaps they ought to give up the service. The nurses were heavy-eyed with fatigue and the doctors were almost worked to death. But when this was suggested with one accord both doctors and nurses were against it. " The boys would miss it so," they said, " and we would miss it, too. It rests us to hear you sing.''

After the Bible reading and prayer a lassie sang : " There Is Sunshine in My Heart To-day," and then came a talk that spoke of a spiritual sunshine that would last all the year.

The song and talk drifted out to another little ward where a doctor sat beside a boy, and both listened. As the physician rose to go the wounded boy asked if he might write a letter.

The next day the doctor happened to meet the lassie who sang and told her he had a letter that had been handed to him for censorship that he thought she would like to see. He said the writer had asked him to show it to her. This was the letter :

Dear; Mother: You will be surprised to hear that I am in the hospital, but I am getting well quickly and am having a good time. But best of all, some Salvation Army people came and sang and talked about sunshine, and while they were talking the sun- shine came in through my window — not into my room alone, but into my heart and life as well, where it is going to stay. I know how happy this will make you.

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The hospital work was a large feature of the service performed by the Salvation Army. In every area this testimony comes from both doctors, nurses and wounded men. Yet it was nothing less than a pleasure for the workers to serve those patient, cheerful sufferers.

A lassie entered a ward one day and found the men with combs and tissue paper performing an orchestra selection. They apologized for the noise, declaring that they were all cra^y about music and that was the only way they could get it.

" How would you like a phonograph ? " she asked.

^^Oh, Boy! If we only had one! I'll tell the world we'd like it,'' one declared wistfully.

The phonograph was soon forthcoming and brought much pleasure.

A lassie offered to write a letter for a boy whose foot had just been amputated and whose right arm was bound in splints. He accepted her offer eagerly, but said :

" But when you write promise me you won't tell mother about my foot. She worries! She wouldn^t understand how well off I really am. Maybe you had better let me try to write a bit myself for you to enclose. I guess I could manage that. So, with his left hand, he wrote the following :

Dearest Mother: — I am laid up in the hospital here with a very badly sprained ankle and some bruises, and will be here two or three weeks. Do not worry, I am getting along fine. Your loving Son.

Two automobiles, an open car and a limousine, were maintained in Paris for the sole purpose of providing out- ings for wounded men who were able to take a little drive. It was said by the doctors and nurses that nothing helped a rapid recovery like these little excursions out into an every-day beautiful world.

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A boy on ond of the hospital cots called to a passing lassie :

'^ I am going to die, I know I am, and I'm a Catholic. Can yon pray for me, Salvation Army girl, like you prayed for that fellow over there ? "

The young lassie assured him that he was not going to die yet, but she knelt by his cot and prayed for him, and soothed him into a sleep from which he awoke refreshed to find that she was right, he was not going to die yet, but live, perhaps, to be a different lad.

A sixteen-year-old boy who at the first declaration of war had run away from home and enlisted was wounded so badly that he was ordered to go back to the evacuation hospital. He was determined that he could yet fight, and was almost crying because he had to leave his comrades, but on the way back he discovered the entrance to a G-er- man dugout and thought he heard someone down in there moving.

" Come out,^' he shouted, ^^ or I'll throw in a hand grenade ! "

A few minutes later he reached the evacuation hospital with thirty prisoners of war, his useless arm hanging by his side. That is the kind of stuff our American boys are made of, and those are the boys who are praising the Salvation Army!

It was sunset at the Gondrecourt Officers' Training Camp. On the big parade ground in back of the Salvation Army huts three companies were lined up for " Colors." The sun was sinking into a black mass of storm clouds, painting the Western sky a dull blood red with here and there a thread of gleaming gold etched on the rim of a cloud. Three French children trudged sturdily, wearily, back from the distant fields where they had toiled all day. The

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elder girl pushed a wheelbarrow heavily laden with plunder from the fields. All bore farming implements, the size of which dwarfed them by comparison. They had almost reached the end of the drill ground when the military band blared out the opening notes of the " Star Sp-angled Ban- ner/' and the flag slipped slowly from its high staff. In- stantly the farming tools were dropped and the three child- ish figures swung swiftly to *^' attention/' hands raised rigidly to the stiff French salute. So they stood until the last note had died. Then on they tramped, their backs all bent and weary, over the hill and down into the grey, evening-shadowed village of the valley.

In a shell-marred little village at the American front, the Salvation Army once brought the United States Army to a standstill. Several hundred artillerymen had gath- ered for the regular Wednesday night religious service, held in the hutment, conducted by that organization at this point, and, in closing, sang vigorously three verses of " The Star Spangled Banner." A Major who was passing came immediately to attention, liis example being followed by all of the men and officers within hearing, and also by a scat- tering of French soldiers who were just emerging from the Catholic church. By the time the second verse was well under way three companies of infantry, marching from a rest camp toward the front, had also come to a rigid salute, blocking the road to a quartermaster's supply train, who had, perforce, to follow suit. The ^^ Star Spangled Banner '^ has a deeper meaning to the man who has done a few turns in the trenches.

They had a pie-baking contest in Gondrecourt one day, where the renowned ^' Aunt Mary " was located, with her sweet face and sweeter heart.

One of the other huts had baked two hundred and

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thirty-five pies in a day. The people in Gondreconrt be- lieved they conld do better than that, so they made their preparations and set to work.

The soldiers were all interested, of course. Who was to eat those pies ? The more pies the merrier ! The engi- neers had constmcted a rack to hold them, so that they might be easily counted without confusion. The soldiers had appointed a committee to do the counting with a representative from the cooks to be sure that everything went right. Even the officers and chaplain took an interest in it.

This hut was in one of the largest American sectors. It was so well patronized that they used on an average fifty gallons of coffee every evening and seventy-five or more gallons of lemonade every afternoon. You can imagine the pies 'and doughnuts that would find a welcome here. One day they made twenty-seven hundred sugar cookies, and another day they fried eighteen hundred and thinty- gix doughnuts, at the sajme time baking cake and pies; but this time they were going to try to bake three hundred pies between the rising and setting of the sun.

An army field oven only holds nine pies at a time, so every minute of the day had to be utilized. The fires were started very early in the morning and everything was ready for the girls to begin when the sun peeped over the edge of the great battlefield. They sprang at their task as though it were a delightful game of tennis, and not as though they had worked hard and late on the day before, and the many days before that.

It was very hot in the little kitchen as the sun waxed high. An army range never tries to conserve its heat

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for the benefit of the cooks. In fact that kitchen was often used for a Turkish bath by some poor wet soldiers who were chilled to the bone.

But the heat did not delay the workers. They flew at their task with fingers that seemed to have somehow bor- rowed an extra nimbleness. All day long they worked, and the pies were marshalled out of the oven by nines, flaky and fragrant and baked just right. The rack grew fuller and fuller, and the soldiers watched with eager eyes and watering mouths. Now and then one of the soldiers' cooks would put his head in at the door, ask how the score stood, and shake his head in wonder. On and on they worked, mixing, rolling, filling, putting the little twists and cuts on the upper crust, and slipping in the oven and out again ! Mixing, rolling, filling and baking without any let-up, until the sun with a twinkle of glowing appreciation slipped re- gretfully down behind the hills of France again as if he were sorry to leave the fun, and the time was up. The com- mittee gave a last careful glance over the filled racks and announced the final score, three hundred and sixteen pies, in shining, delectable rows !

By seven o'clock that evening the pie line was several hundred yurds long. It was eleven o'clock when the last quarter of a pie went over the counter, with its accompany- ing mug of coffee. Think what it was just to have to cut and serve that pie, and make that coffee, after a long day's work of baking!

One of the officers receiving his change after having paid for his pie looked at it surprisedly :

'' And you mean to tell me that you girls work so hard for such a small return ? I don't see where you make any profit at all."

"We don't work for profit. Captain," answered the

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lassie. ^'^ I don't