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Number 13   August 28

Dear Emma and Children,
                       Well, your letter of July 24th came yesterday after a long wait of almost a month. I was delighted to have all the little details about the work of each one and the farm with Monica's livery stable you aught to be making lots of money and when Mrs. B pays up you surely will be in fine shape    that must be a peach of a handle you made  Paul and if you used a good piece of straight grained wood it aught to outlast any of the handles you could buy.  It is too bad the potato crop is a failure, but when we see how things - crops - we have here we should be quite glad with a fall ?  but it would have been quite nice to have a few to sell or give away.  I have walked out in 
 the country here, that is where there has been no fighting going on, and all the farms look fine, harvesting is about done now, and there is no danger of the Germans ever running or taking up new French territory again.  What we miss very much here is fruit. 
 I have wandered around apple orchards and old farm yards not fruit of any kind. You can buy an apple or preserves of any kind cheaper on Fifth Avenue,/ than they give you in the country market here.  The other day Jim was just getting [[crossed out]] sick [[/crossed out]] over a sick spell, he thought a mellon would taste good 
.   I paid four francs for one that you could stick in this envelope and have it well covered. Jim says I rattle off French like a native, ofcourse he does not know all I say.  If I could write I would write many funny things the soldiers say and the different way they pronounce words . Well, Paul, I found a rapid fire gun used by the Americans in this last great drive down through Chateau Thiery.  It is in good condition with the dist. full ofbullets. I gave it a good cleaning and put lots of grease, when we are moved up will take it with me and keep it at the Foyer at hand.  The helmet which I wore sometime has a bullet hole in it.  My gas mask is new and in good order.  Jim will be seperated from me at last.  He is to be sent with one Division and I will be sent with another I hope soon because there are hardly any soldiers here, 
 but if the army keeps advancing it will often be this way.  Sometimes all we can do,  the work is most interesting there