Viewing page 45 of 46

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Dear Emma and Children, 

Your letter of July 18 was received last week and was mighty glad to hear from you, so you have your hay in and the corn is growing faster than you can run. That's fine. You will have corn to eat if no potatoes and Monica you are getting to be quite a business girl and making a little or lots of money. I am very glad that everything around you is going on well. If you do not get your money regularly from the Y write to them and find out what is the matter. They have been very prompt here , everyone is doing the best they know how, the last few days we have had a great many moving troops again, so we have had hardly time to take a  walk even to change our work. The news is great is it not? I believe we get more direct  of the fighting than you do, but that is only near where we are. We must get the rest along the line other places from the papers. The Fritz are surely on the run. I have some great    much of the ammunition and guns they they had to leave behind in this sector and on the battlefield, and many prisoners by the thousand. It would take up too much time to kill them off I guess. The other day Jim and I went to a town about forty kilometers from here to get our trunks where we had left them with all the things we did not need, we sent them to this place and we will leave them there when we made the next move with our army which will be soon. I think from now on we will be with the tenth army, the line has been moving so little for so long that there was a chance in most cases to erect pwemanent building for foyers. But now that the line is moving forward we will have on wheels or foot. Well, when we got our trunks we got on an auto car to take us back but it only went about ha'f way, we started off to walk and about seven kilometers from Chateau Tierry Jim played out, so we found an old ruined barn for him to sleep in for the night, hoping he could catch an ammunition car the next day, well, I took what we had to eat in my shoulder bag and water canteen and lit out. I had about 17 kilometers to make by one A.M. I was in my bed finally by 2.30 A.M. Was awakened by some noise in my room and I yellow Who this? I heard a voice say God, Solon, it's me! It surely was Jim. Well, he had found a pile of straw and when he was finally asleep he was awakened by rats running across his face and body (I am sure he was more frightened than by the shrapnel) well, he dug out and it was the hardest tramp he ever had said. I am sorry now I did not get up and light the candle and take a good look at his face, I bet it was pale and his eyes must have been sticking out a mle. It was a long walk in  dark and over the road the Bosch were chased not long ago. I knew pretty well but he did not, anyway I do not think he is any more grey. He had a letter from his home and his mother is getting along nicely. Mr. Blanc is going on his Permission next Monday so I will be in charge of the Foyer here sometime on this account Jim will not be moved now because our kitchen man had to join his regiment Monday so we are very much pressed. A flying machine is flying by now, it looks fine. Yesterday a