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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 1918)
THE SEMI-WCEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. Horses for fcv France By Sergeant Arthur Guy Empey Author of "Over the Top," "First Call." Etc O-O-O Mr. Empey's Experi ences During I Us Seven teen Months in theFirst Line Trenches of the British Army in France (0oP7r1(!ht,llT,brTh MfClnre Mtntpapcr 2 It was 1014, and the Brent world war was on, and hero "was I In tho United States and neutral. For thir teen years I had been soldiering hut had never been under Are. In my Imagination I could hear the guns booming on tho western front. 1 nd mlt I was n trlflo afraid; nevertheless I had a great desire to get Into the mix up. How could I get over7 I planned out many ways, but none of them were practical. Ono day whllo walking down Green wlch street, New York, I pnsscd an employment agency. Staring me In the face was n great daring sign, "Horses for France." Under this "Men Wanted." Hero was my chnnce. Upon returning to my offico I Imme diately got in touch over tho telephone with two prominent men In Now York whom I knew to be distinctly pro-ally. After outlining my desire, an appoint ment was mado for mo to meet a cer tain gentleman nt tho Hotel Astor nt four o'clock that afternoon. I met him. lie Introduced me to n French man. At that tlmo In my eyes a Frenchman was a hero, a man to be looked up to, u man fighting In the Great Cause. But now a Frenchman to ma Is moro than a hero. After being Introduced I went up Into the Frenchman's room nnd talked over tho matter o horses for Franco for about twenty minutes. Upon leaving tho Frenchman I was told to report to him three days later, ! at the sumo tlmo and place. I left, bubbling over with enthusiasm nnd anticipation. During this Interval of three days I mapped out n story of my llfo to pre sent to him upon our second Interview. Tho eventful day nt last enmo, and onco moro I wns closeted with htm. I started to tell him my story. Ho Interrupted mo by waving his right band to tho right and left. It re minded mo of tho butts on a target range during rifle practice, when the man marking tho target wigwags n miss to tho firing line. My heart sank. Chen ho spoke, and I was carried from despondency to tho greatest height of expectation. His words: "Pardon me, monsieur, I already know your llfo," nnd in nn amazingly short tlmo ho told me moro than I knew about myself. I had been care fully Investigated. My Instructions received from him aro confidential, so I will not go Into them. Anyway, ho handed mo nn en velope nnd toliHuo to follow out care fully all details as contnlncd therein. I Immediately went bnck to my of fice, opened tho envelope nnd on a typewritten sheet I rend: "Report at Goldsmith's Employment agency. No. Greenwich street. Ship ns an ordlnnry horseman and during voyage carefully follow tho verbal Instruc tions received by you during our In terview, making careful note of all de tails immediately after happening. Bo cautious in doing this. Upon landing In Franco report to tho prefecture of polio, Bordeaux, and to tho letter obey his Instructions. Good luck." I went homo nnd put on my oldest clothes an old black suit, ollvo drab shirt, n pair of heavy array shoes and a woolen cai. I had lot my beard grow and certainly looked rough. Going down Greenwich street, slouching along, looking at tho ground, I rnn plump Into a young lndy of my acquaintance. I had n feeling of af fection for this particular young lady, but it soon died out upon hearing her remark ns I collided with her, "If you cannot look whero you uro going, I will hnvo you arrested." Of course, si) o did not recognize mo ami I took no pnlns to nrguo tho matter with her. I was glad enough to slink by, Whon I camo to tho agency there was n long lino of bums, two nnd threo deep, trying to ship ns horsemen for France. It would bo Impossible, to get n rougher and more unkempt gathering of men. It looked as if some huge giant had taken a lino comb and care fully combed tho gutters of New York. I fell Into this lino and waited my turn. Upon arriving at tho desk, In front of mo sat a little fut, greasy Jew. To describe his manner of han dling the men as being lmpollto would be a great exaggeration. Tho way lie handled that line of human cattlo would do the kaiser's heart good. It came my turn, and this converse rlon ensued: "What do you know about horses?' u.I answered: "Six years In tho United States cavalry. The Agent: "What regiments?" ' "Eleventh and Twelfth." "You're a liar. You nover Bat? tho cavalry." I felt liko punching him on tho nose but did not do so. I wanted to ship o a horseman. I showed him my discharges. He said. "They're faked. What did you do, desert or were you kicked out?" I wnB getting sore and nnswered: "Doscrted tho Twelfth ; kicked out of the Eleventh." "What's your name?" "Arthur Guy Empoy." "You're a German." This was too much even for me, and I answered: "You'ro a damned liar." I saw my chances of shipping finishing in smoke. Tho .lew grinned nnd rubbed his hands nnd said: "You'ro all right. Go Into thnt room and get n card mado out, nnd come hack at two o'clock." I received a card and went to a hennery across the street und had n wonderful meal of corned beef hnsh, muddy coffee und huge slices of bread, minus butter. This cost me fifteen cents. At two o'clock I reported back, nnd with seventy-two others was herded like cattle, and In a long, straggling line, flanked by three of tho employees of tho ngency, wo marched to the ferry and lauded "somewhere In New Jersey." The ship, n huge three-stacker, wns lying alongside. Wo were shoved Into single flic, ready to go up tho gang plank. Then our real examination took place. At tho foot of the gang plank were a group of men uround a long tnble. They ccrtnlnly put us through n third degree to ilnd out if there wns any German blood in us. Several men were turned down. Luck ily, I got through and signed for the voyage, and went on bonrd. At tho head of the gangplank stood tho toughest specimen of humanity I have ever seen. He looked like n hugo gorilla, and hud a big, crescent-shaped, livid scar running from his left car under his rhln up to his right eye. Every time ho spoke tho edges of tho scar seemed to grow white. Ills nose was broken and ho had huge, shaggy eyebrows. His hand was resting on tho rail of the ship. It looked like n hnm, nnd Inwardly I figured out what would happen to me If that ham-llko fist over camo In contact with tho point of my Jaw. As wo passed him ho showered us with a few compli mentary remarks, such ns "Of nil tho lousy scum I hnvo seen, this bunch of lubbers Is the worst, nnd this Is what they give mo to tuko thirteen hundred horses over to Bordeaux." Later on I found this individual wns foreman of the horse gang. Wo were ordered aft and snt on tho after hatch. Th fellow on my right was a huge, blue-gummed negro. lie wns contlnunlly scratching himself. I unconsciously ensed away from him and bumped Into the fellow sitting on my left. After n good look nt 1dm I eased 'bnck ngaln In tho direction of tho negro. I don't think that he had taken a bath since escaping from tho cradle. HIght then my uppermost thought wns how I could duck this trip to Frnnce. Tho general conversa tion among tho horse gang was: ...IV. .... J Wo must have sat there about twenty minutes, when tho second foreman came aft. I took fifteen guesses at Ills nationality, and nt Inst came to the conclusion that ho was a cross between a Chinaman and n Mexican. Ho was thin, nhout six feet tall, and woro a hugo sombrero. Ills skin was tanned the color of leather. Every time he smiled I had the impression that tho next minute ho would plant a stiletto In my back. Ills name was Plnoro. His Introduction to us was very brief: "Oct up off of that hlankety blank hatch and line up ngnlnst the rail." Wo did as ordered. Then he com manded: t "All the niggers line up nlongslde o'f the port rail." I guess a lot of them did not know what ho meant by tho "port rail" because they looked very much bewildered. With an outhjio snapped out. "You hlank ety blank Idiots. Tho port rnll Is thnt rnll over there. Come on. Move or I'll soon move you." Ho looked well able to do this and tho niggers prompt ly shuffled over to tho place designat ed. IIo quickly dlv'ded us" Into squads of twelve men, then ordered; "All of you who aro deserters from tho nrmy or whiT have seen service in tho eav nlry step out In front." Four others besides myself stepped out. Tho first man he came to ho Informed: "You'ro a straw boss. Do you know what n straw boss Is?" This man meekly answered. "No, sir." With nnother oath, tho second foreman sold: "All right, you'ro not n straw boss; fall back." I got tho cuo Immediately. My turn came next. "Do you know what n etrnw boss Is?" I said : "Sure." IIo said: "All right, you'ro a Btruw boss." I had not the least Idea of what he was talking about, but mado up my mind thnt It would not tnko me long to find out. Then ho passed down the line, picking out struw bosses, I asked one of the men In my gang whnt were tho duties of a straw boss. Ho had been over with horses before, nnd told mo thnt n straw boss meant to bo In chnrge of tho gang to feed the horses and to draw and keep careful check on the straw, hay, oats and brnn. Having served In tho cuv airy, this Job, ns I figured, would bo regular plo for me. t In about nn hour nnd n halt's tlmo Plnero had selected his straw bosses nnd divided tho men Into gangs, nnd assigned us to our quarters on tho ship. These quarters wero between decks und very milch crowded; the stench was awful. Ono old fellow In my gang wns n trouble maker. He must have been about forty years old nnd looked as hard ns nails. He wns having an argu ment with u pusty-faoed looking speci men of humanity, nbout twenty-six years old. To mo this man appeared to be In the last stages of consumption. I told tho old fellow to cut out his nrgument ntid leave the other fellow alone. Upon hearing this ho squirted n well-directed stream of tobacco Juice through his front teeth, which landed on my shoe. I Inwardly admired nnd respected his nccurncy.- I saw my au thority wnnlng and knew that I would hnvo to unswer this insult quickly. I took two or three quick steps forward and swung on liLs Jaw with my flat. Ills head went tip against the Iron bunk with n sickening sound nnd ho crumpled up und fell on the deck, the blood pouring from tho cut In his head. I felt sick nnd faint thinking that he had been killed, but it would not do to show these signs of weakness on my part, so without even' moving to ward him I ordered ono of the men to look him over nnd sec If he wus nil right. IIo soon came around. From that time on ho wuh tho most faithful man in tho section nnd grently respect ed me. The rest of tho men growled and mumbled nnd I thought I was In for u terrible beating. Lying close at hand was an Iron spike about eighteen Inches long. Grasping this, I turned to the rest, trying to bo us tough as 1 possibly could : "If any of the rest of you bums think they are boss around hero, start something, and I will sink this Into his head." Although I was quailing underneath, still I got nway with it, and from that time on I was boss of my section. Now every man wus smoking or chewing tobacco. Pretty soon tho hold became thick with smoke, and I was gasping for breath, when the voice of the foreman came down the compun lonway : "Turn out on deck and give n hand londlng the horses. Look alive or I'll come down there nnd rouse you out pretty quick." I hnvo been In n cavalry regiment when hurry-up orders were received to entrain for tho Mexican border and helped to load eleven hundred horses on trnlns. The confusion on that dock was Indescribable. Tho horses wero loaded by three runways. My gang and I were detailed on tho after run way. The foreman was leaning over the rail, glaring down upon us nnd now nnd Uien giving Instructions mixed with horrible oaths. Ho had a huge marllnsplke In his hand. On the dock wns tho second foreman, In his lnrgo sombrero, u red neckerchief uround his neck, wearing u blue shirt with tho sleeves rolled up to the elbows, nnd In his right hand n coiled lariat. It did one's henrt good to sec him ropo the horses which broke loose. Upon watching his first, performance I knew I was correct when I figured him as having Mexican blood In his veins. A bleury-eycd drunk wns trying to ltnd a horse by the' halter up our run. He was looking back nt tho horse, nt the same tlfne tugging und Jerking on tho halter. You could see the white , In tho horse's eyes, nnd I knew right away, from my experience with horses, that thlstwus a bad one, or, ns we would term him in the cnvnlry, nn "outlnw." Tho drunk wns cursing nnd swcnrlng nnd kicking up nt the horse's bend. Tho foreman snw this and di rected his barrage at tho offender. "How in h l do you expect to lend n horse while looking nt. him? Turn your back to him, you lousy bum. You nro blocking tho whole run. Turn your hack to him, I say. You can't lead him that way. If I come down thero to you, I'll soon show you how to get him nbonrd." The bleary-eyed one became bewil dered and In his excitement lost his footing on tho slippery runway and fell underneath the horse, at the name time loosening his hold on tho hnltcr chain. Tho horse Jerked his head loose, reared up, turned around and made a break for tho deck. The man on tho gangway tried to scramble out of tho way. The horse. In wheeling, let Uy with both heels and caught him below the right ear with his near hind foot. With a piercing shriek the drunk clusped both Swung on His Jaw With My Fist. hnnds to his head, fell over backward and rolled down to the foot of the gang plank, und lay thero In a crumpled heap, tho blood pouring from his nose, mouth und tho wound below his ear. Upon hearing this shriek several of tho men lending their horses, In their fright turned them loose, nnd thero wns a mud stampede on tho deck. The pasty-faced horseman, whom I had helped out a little while before in tho nrgument nbout his Dunk was standing near tho runway, noldlng on to a horse. He turned his horso loose and rushed to tho bloody mass, which was twitching with convulsive shud ders. The foreman, on seeing this ac cident, snapped out n long string of curses, which almost frozo ray heart. "What did I tell you 7 Didn't I tell you not to look nt him? I knew you would get it, nnd n dnmncd good Job, too; blocking thnt run with your fool tricks." Then ho noticed the pasty-faced horseman stooping over tho bleeding man. "Get 'lm by tho heels, you cross be tween u corpse und mummy, nnd drag him out of tho wny. Wo've bloody well got to get tills ship loaded to catch the tide." Tho pale-faced man kept on with his examination without paying any atten tion to the foreman's Instructions. Tho foreman got blue In tiro fucc and bub bled over with rage. "Do, you hear what I tell you? Get Mm out of the wny. This ship bus got to be londed or I'll go down there nnd pound some obcdlenca Into you." The mnn still pnld no nttentlon. The foremnn wns speechless. In n few sec onds the stooping mnn strnlghtencd up, nnd looking tho foremnn strnlght in the eye, calmly replied: "He's dead." This did not seem to feose the fore man In the lenst and he bellowed out: "How do you know he Is dead?" The man answered simply: "I'm a doctor." Then the foreman once again explod ed: "A doctor I Blnwst my deadlights, a doctor 1 Well, If you're a doctor, what In h 1 are you doing on a horse ship? You ought to be rolling pills for the highbrows." The doctor never took his piercing look from the eye of the foreman. The foreman was now like nn enrnged bull. Spitting nil over himself, he blustered out: "Well, If he's dead, there Is no doctor that can do him any good. A eouple b you blnck skunks over there (addressing two negroes who were al most blanched to n bluish white nnd who were trembling nenr by), get ahold of him and drng Mm out of the wny." Ono of the negroes, with n leeerlng grin, replied: "I shipped on this here ship to handle bosses, und I don't allow nohow thnt It's my work to tote corpses uround." Just then the second foremnn rushed over, gave tho negro a push out of the way, nnd, grabbing the heels of the dead man, pulled him away from the run. I turned away, sickened with disgust. The foremun then took nn empty oat sack nnd spread it over the bloody head. Just then the clanging bell of an am bulance wns heard and a white-clothed doctor, followed by two men with n stretcher, pushed their wny through the crowd of horses nnd horsemen. They were nccompnnled by n police man. The body was put Into the am hulnnce nnd taken away, whllo the police-officer went on bonrd the ship. The pasty-faced doctor wns holding onto the rail of tho runwny and cough ing. I thought ench gasp would be his Inst. The second foreman was talking to him. Tho doctor paid no attention. Going up behind the doctor, the fore mun coolly mensured his dlstnnce nnd swung on tho point of his Jnw. Tho doctor crumpled up nnd fell on tho dock. At this cownrdly nnd dnstnrd ly act, I saw red and mnde n leap at tho foreman. An onrushlng light flashed In front of me and a huge lo comotive, going CO miles an hour, hit me between the eyes; then blackness. When I came to, I was lying In my bunk In the hold. I had an awful headache. Then everything camo back to me with a flash. I could hear tho gurgling of water on the ship's side nnd knew we were under wny. Bight then nnd there I decided never again, cspeclnlly while aboard ship, to Intorfcro with the foremnn. Among that gang of human wrecks and cut throats it was every man for himself, nnd tho survlvnl of tho fittest. I hnd two beautiful blnck eyes, nnd my nose felt like n football. I went up on deck. Tho moon nnd stars wero out nnd tho twinkling lights of New York hnrbor were grnduully fnding Into tho dlstnnce. Lennlng over the rnll were the foremun nnd tho veterinarian, "Doc" Casey, by name. The foreman was talking. Snutchcs of his conversation reached ny curs: "Load horses? Why, that bunch of scum they wished on mo couldn't load lump sugar, one lump nt n time. How Brown expects mo to deliver 1,300 horses Into Bordeaux with this scurvy outfit, I don't know. We're lucky, I'm thlnkln'. if fivo hundred o' them don't ! die. Why, there's not one o' tho blighters knows which end of a horso eats hoy. I tell you. Doc, your work Is cut out for you. If, In a few days, - . , ,t ... . . i yuu mm i imvu u coique oi nunureu euses of colic on your bonds, then I'm Til litnntttln' lint." "Doe," Cnsey answered: "Well. I'll tell you. Mr. Goorty, this is mj third trip over nnd I hnve seen some tough bunches, but this ono Is the limit, and I suro hnvo a Job on my hands. It's too bud that Plnero let out on that young fellow, because, In my mind, that wus a pretty cowardly blow. IIo seemed to know how to handle horses. What do you say If I give him the Job of assistant veterinarian? He's had six years' cavalry experience." Tho foreman answered: "Throw him over tho side, if you want I don't care. But I guess ypu'll need someone to help you out, so go to It." I wns overjoyed. Just then Plnero enmo nft. Tho horse doctor turned to him and said: "Look hero, Plnero, I've seen lots of dirty work In my life, but thnt exhibition of yours on tho dock is nbout tho filthiest I've seen in a long time. Now, Just take a tip from me. That young fellow from now on Is working for me, and you lay your handf- off of him. If I find you med dling with him, I'll push that silly grin of yours down your throat until It chokes you. Now, that's all I got to sny, lay off of him. Do you under stand?" Plnero started to raumblo excuses. but tho doctor shut him up with, "I don't want to hear any mrtre. I'm off, o' you for life, but remembel what I tell you. Steer clear from the two o' us, snbe?" I guess tho second foreman "snblcd" nil right, because ho vouchsafed no unswer. My heart warmed to "Doc" CuFcy and I slipped awny unobserved. The next morning tho doctor fixed mo up with court plaster and I was Installed ns nsslstnnt veterinarian nt $30 for the trip. Five days out we ran into a squall nnd our work was cut out for us. We oven had horses on tho decks In wooden stalls. The ship was lurching nnd pitching, nnd hugo seus would burst over tho gunwnles. Scvcrnl of the wooden stnlls gnve wny und the horses were loose on the deck. With every lurch of the ship n couple of horses wmild fall, and, kicking nnd snorting, would slide down tho inclined deck, hitting against winches nnd the hatchway, scrnplng their hides off. It wns worth n mnn's llfo to get into thnt mess. Then I hnd more or less respect for the foremnn nnd second foreman. Into tho midst of that struggling nnd Staggered to the Upper Deck With His Face Blanched Almost White. kicking hunch of horses they went, as sisted by Doc Cnsey. Four of the horses received broken legs, nnd Pln ero, instead of shooting them, cut their throats with a sharp dagger he carried. One of the negroes from the lower hold stnggered to the upper deck with his fuce blanched nlmost white, nnd his eyes pppplng out of his head. Be tween gasps he informed us thnt a whole section of stnlls, 24 In nil, hnd been' carried nwny between decks, nnd thnt the horses were loose. He said three negroes In his gang were caught In this stampede. The foremnn mustered most of the men, and dividing them into three groups. In chnrge of himself, the sec ond foremnn nnd Doc Cnsey, they went below. I followed. An awful sight met my eyes. The ship was lurching in a horrible manner. All I could see was, one minute n pile of kicking horses, smnshed-up planks nnd the three ne groes piled up In one corner of the compartment, nnd then, with n lurch of the ship, they would slide Into the other. Nothing could be done by us. It was madness to attempt anything. The three negroes were dead. That night nnd the following dny wns a perfect hell on the ship for men nnd horses. The ship rode through the squall, and when it became calm we all got busy. Out of the 24 horses between decks we hnd to shoot 17 on account of Injuries. Besides the 17 3 had died from broken necks. The 4 remaining horses were still alive but hardly had n square foot of hide left. They wero a pitiful sight. The next dny the three negroes were burled nt sen without a word of prayer. I was heartily sick nnd disgusted with the rest of tho trip, because the stench wns awful, there being nbout twelve dend horses that we could not get out. Just outside of the entrance of tho river leading to Bordeaux, a small, rakish boat, flying the trl-color of Frnnce, enmo nlongslde. Wo hove to nnd up the gnngplank enmo three French officers. They were closeted with tho captain of tho ship nnd our foremnn, nnd after about twenty min utes, left nnd we continued on our course. Going up tho river in some plnces tho banks wero only nbout twenty feet away. We could seo the French women tilling their fields. As we went by these workers stopped nnd waved their hnnds in the air to us, nnd we wnved back. It was my first sight of France, and I was not in any wny dlsnppointcd. It lived up to my expec- tntlons. A little farther up the river wo enme to n lnrgo dock where ships wero load ing nnd unlondlng cargoes, and a thrill passed through me ns I snw my first batch of German prisoners at work. These were Immense fellows, nenrly every ono being six feet or over. They were guarded by little French soldiers, averaging nbout live feet five Inches, with a long rifle, bnyonet fixed. This rifle, in comparison with the French man, looked like a telegraph pole. Tho soldiers hod on the old blue overcoats, tho talis buttoned back, pattern of 1871. As wo passed tho Germnn prisoners they scowled at us, nnd we, feeling qulto safe on tire deck, yelled back In sults at them. One big Irishman,' right near me, took grent gleo in Jump ing up nnd down on tho hatchway nnd running his finger across his throat. This seemed to enrage the prlBoners and they yelled something in German. The Irishman must hnvo u.. It, because he let ..t n oil y of 1.4. - In return. The French tentries seeir ed to enjoy this barrage of Insults and did not In any way attempt to curtail the prisoners' remarks. This, at the time, struck me as depicting u remark nble sense of fnlrness, arid inter on, during my service on tho western front, I found out thnt the French mnn in all his dealings is fair and Jast. Pretty soon the prisoners faded out of sight nnd wo came nlongslde the dock nt Bordenux. I was all eagerness nnd strnlned my eyes so an not to miss the least thing. The dock wns full of French cavalrymen, hurrying to nnd fro. Huge Turcos, black as tho nee of spndes, with white turbans on their bends, were majestically strid ing about. After we warped Into the dock nnd made fast, our work was over. We had nothing to do with the unloading of the horses. The French cavalrymen came aboard with a bunch of cavalry halters hanging over their arms. It was a marvel to see with what caso and efficiency that ship was unload ed. The condition of the horses wns pitiful. They could hardly bend their legs from stiffness. They would hob ble down the gnngplank and stand trembling on the dock. In nbout a minute or so they would stretch their necks wny up into the nlr and seem to be tnklng long breaths of the pure air. Then they started to whinny. They were calling backward and for ward to ench other. Even though I did not understnnd horse language, I knew exactly what they were saying. They were thanking the good Lord for their deliverance from that hell ship, and were looking forward to green pastures and n good roll In the dirt. Pretty soon you could see them bend their forelegs and He down on the dock; then try to roll over. It wns pitiful; some of them did not have the strength to turn over and they feebly kicked. Pretty soon the whole dock wns a ntnss of rolling horses, the Frenchmen Jumping around, gestlculntlng nnd Jabbering. After getting tho horses up, they were divided Into classes according to their height nnd weight. Then ench horse wns led Into a ring chalked out on the dock nnd the nrmy Inspectors cxnmlncd it. Very few were reject ed. From this ring of chalk they were led into a portnble stall and branded. You could hear tho sing song voice of the brander shouting out what sounded like "Battry Loo." As he yelled this, a French private would come over, get the horso which had been branded, and lead it away. I got in conversation with an, Inter preter and he Informed me that the average life of these horses In the French army was three days, so these poor horses had only left that hell ship to go Into a worse hell of bursting shells nnd cracking bullets. I, after passing a rigid examination as to my nationality, and being issued a cattlemnn's passport, inquired my wny to the prefecture of police. I dellverd to him a scaled envelope which I had received in New York. Upon opening it. ho wns very gracious to me nnd I went Into n rear room, where the interpreter put me through a grilling examination. From there I was taken to a hotel, and the next morning In the company of a sergeant and a private, got into a little match box compartment on the funniest look ing train I ever saw. The track seem ed to be about three feet wide; the wheels of the cars looked like huge cogwheels on nn engine minus the cogs. After bumping, stopping, and sometimes sliding backwards, in 20 hours we reached a little town. Sup plies wore piled up as high ns houses. Officers nnd enlisted men were hurrying to nnd fro, nnd I could see long trnlns of supply wngons nnd nrtlllery limbers always moving In the same direction. I was ushered into the presence of a French officer, who, I later found out, wns n brigadier general of the quar termaster corps. I could hear n dis tant booming, nnd upon inquiring found out that it was tho guns of Frnnce, striving to hold back tho Ger mnn lnvnders. I trembled nil over with excitement, nnd n feeling thnt 1 ennnot describe rushed over me. I was listening to my first sound of the guns on the western front Two days nftcrwnrd I ngaln reached Bordenux, nnd shipped to Now York on tho French liner Itochnmbenux. Upon arriving In New York I reported to the Frcnchmnn who hnd sent mo over, no wns very courteous, nnd ns I reached out to shake hands with him, he placed both hands on my shoulders and kissed me on the right nnd left cheek. I wns dumfounded, blushed nil over, nnd nfter receiving the pay that was duo me, I left. I think I could hnve borne nnother trip across with horses, but that being kissed upon my return completely got my gont. I went bnck to the routine of my office, but everything had lost color and appeared monotonous. I believe I had left my henrt in France, and I felt mc-nn nnd small, entlng three squnro meals n day and sleeping on a soft bed, when the armies on the other side wero making the world's history. Sometimes when sleeping I would hnvo a horrible nightmare ; I could see those horses being boiled alive in steam. Several times later I passed that sign on Greenwich street, "norses for France, Men Wanted," nnd tho picture of the second foremnn dropping the pasty-faced doctor would loom beforo my eyes. I do not know to this dny whnt became of that nervy wreck of humanity, who had tho temerity to tell our foreman where he got off at I know lie did not make the passage with us.