So that"s all that was said between us and I come away and come back to quarters and Alc.o.c.k and 2 or 3 of the other boys was there and Alc.o.c.k knew where I had been and I suppose he had told the other birds and they was all set to give me the Mary ha ha but I beat them to it.

"Well Alc.o.c.k" I says when I come in "you are some joke Smith but you wouldn"t think you was so funny if I punched your jaw." So he turned kind of pail but he forced a smile and says "Well I guess the Vin Blank is on you this time." So I said "You won"t get no Vin Blank off me but what you are libel to get is a wallop in the jaw." So he says "You crabbed at me a wile ago for not takeing a joke but it looks like you was the one that couldn"t take them now." So I said "What I would like to take is a poke at your nose." So that shut him up and they didn"t none of them get their laugh because I had them scared and if they had of laughed I would of made them swallow it.

So after all Al the laugh is on them because their gag fell dead and I guess the next time they try and pull some gag they will pick out some hick from some X roads to pull it on and not a bird that has traveled all over the big leagues and seen all they is to see.

Well Al I am tickled to death I won"t half to give up my uniform and snoop around Paris like a white wings double crossing women and spying and etc.

and even if the whole thing hadn"t of been just a joke I was going to ask Capt. Seeley to not reccomend me to no int. dept. but jest leave me be where I am at so as when the time comes I can fight fair like man to man and not behind no woman"s skirts like a cur.

So you see Al everything is O. K. after all and the laugh is on Alc.o.c.k and his friends because they was the ones that expected to do all the laughing but instead of that I made a monkey out of them.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, April 23._

FRIEND AL: Well Al if you would see my face you would think I had been attending a barrage or something or else I had been in a bar room fight only of course if it was a fair fight I wouldn"t be so kind of marred up like I am. But I had a accident Al and fell over a bunk and lit on the old bean and the result is Al that I have got a black eye and a bad nose and my jaw is swole a little and my ears feels kind of dull like so I guess the ladys wouldn"t call me Handsome Jack if they seen me but it will be all O.

K. in a few days and I will be the same old Jack.

But I will tell you how it come off. I was setting reading a letter from Florrie that all as she said in it was that she had boughten herself a new suit that everybody says was the cutest she ever had on her back just like I give a dam because by the time I see her in it she will of gave it to little Al"s Swede. But any way I was reading this letter when in come Shaffer the bird that was mixed up in that little gag about the fake spy and he come up to me and says "Well you big snake who"s male are you reading now?" Well Al him calling me big is like I would say h.e.l.lo Jumbo to a flee. But any way I says "My own male and who and the he--ll male would I be reading?" So he said "Well its hard to tell because you stole some of mine and read it and not only that but you showed it to the whole A. E. F.

so now stand up and take what"s comeing to you."

Well Al I thought he was just kidding so I says "I come over here to fight Germans and not 1 of my own pals." So he says "Don"t call me no pal, but if you come to fight Germans now is your chance because you say I"m 1 of them."

Well he kind of made a funny motion like he wanted to spar or wrestle or something and I thought he meant it in a friendly way like we sometimes pull off a rough house once in a wile so I stood up but before I had a chance to take holds with him he cut loose at me with his fists doubled up and I kind of triped or something and fell over a bench and I must have hit something sharp on the way down and I kind of got scratched up but they are only scratchs and don"t amt. to nothing. Only I wished I knew he had of been serious and I would of made a punching bag out of him and you can bet that the next time he wants to start something I won"t wait to see if he is jokeing but I will tear into him and he will think he run into a Minnie Weffers.

Well I suppose Alc.o.c.k was sore at me for getting the best of him and not falling for his gag and he was afraid to tackle me himself and he told big Shaffer a peck of lies about some dam letter or something and said I stole it and it made Shaffer sore and no wonder because who wouldn"t be sore if they thought somebody was reading their male. But a man like Shaffer that if he stopped a sh.e.l.l the Dutchmens would half to move back a ways so as they would be room enough in France to bury him hasn"t got no right to pick on a smaller man especially when I wasn"t feeling good on acct. of something I eat but at that Al size don"t make no difference and its the bird that"s got the nerve and knows how that can knock them dead and if Shaffer had of gave me any warning he would of been the 1 that is scratched up instead of I though I guess he is to lucky to trip over a kit bag and fall down and cut himself.

But my scratchs don"t really amt. to nothing Al and in a few days I will be like new.

Your pal, JACK.

_Somewheres in France, April 25._

FRIEND AL: Well old pal I have got some big news for you now. We been ordered up to the front and its good by to this Cla.s.s D burg and now for some real actions and I am tickled to death and I only hope the Dutchmens will loose their minds and try and start something up on the section where we are going to and I can"t tell you where its at Al but you keep watching the papers and even if the boshs don"t start nothing maybe we will start something on our own acct. and the next thing you know you will read where we have got them on the Lincoln highway towards Russia and believe me Al we won"t half to stop every little wile to bring up no Van Hindenburg but we will run them ragged and they say the Germans is the best singers and when they all bust out with Comrades they will make the Great Lakes band sound like the Russia artillery.

Well Al I am so excited I can"t write much and I have got a 100 things to tend to so I will half to cut this letter short.

Well some of the other birds like Alc.o.c.k and them is pertending like they was tickled to death to but believe me Al if the orders was changed all of a sudden and they told us we was going to stay here till the duration of the war we wouldn"t half to call on the Engrs. to dam their tear ducks. But they pertend like they are pleased and keep whistleing so as they won"t blubber and today they all laughed their heads off at something that come out in the Co. paper that some of the boys gets out but they laughed like they was nervous instead of enjoying it.

Well what come out in the paper was supposed to be a joke on me and if they think its funny they are welcome and I would send the paper to you that its in only I haven"t got only the 1 copy so I will copy it down and you can see for yourself what a screen it is. Well they"s 1 peace that"s got up to look like it was the casuality list in some regular newspaper and it says:

WOUNDED IN ACTION Privates Jack Keefe, Chicago, Ill. (Very)

And then they"s another peace that reads like this:

DECORATED

"The Company has won its first war honors and Private Jack Keefe is the lucky dog. Private Keefe has been decorated by Gen. George Shaffer of the 4th. Dachshunds for extreme courage and cleverness in showing up a dangerous nest of spies. Keefe was. .h.i.t four times by large caliber sh.e.l.ls before he could say surrender. He was decorated with the Order of the Schwarz Auge, the Order of the Rot Nase and the Order of the Blumenkohl Ohren, besides which a Right Cross was hung on his jaw. Private Keefe takes his honors very modestly, no one having even heard him mention them except in stifled tones during the night."

Well Al all right if they can find something to amuse themself and they need it I guess. But they better remember that they"s plenty of time for the laugh to be on the other foot before this war is over.

Your pal, JACK.

CHAPTER V

SAMMY BOY

_In the Trenchs, May 6._

FRIEND AL: Well Al I haven"t wrote you no letter for a long wile and I suppose maybe you think something might of happened to me or something.

Well old pal they hasn"t nothing happened and I only wished they would because anything would be better than laying around here and I would rather stop a sh.e.l.l and get spread all over Europe then lay around here and die a day at a time you might say.

Well I would of wrote you before only we was on the march and by the time night come around my dogs fret me so bad I couldn"t think of nothing else and when they told us we was comeing up here I thought of course they would send us up in motor Lauras or something and not wear us all out before we got here but no it was drill every ft. of the way and I said to Johnny Alc.o.c.k the night we got here that when they was sending us up here to die they might at lease give us a ride and he says no because when they send a man to the electric chair they don"t push him up there in a go cart but they make him get there on his own dogs. So I said "Yes but he travels light and he don"t half to go far and when he gets there they"s a chair waiting for him to set down in it but they load us up like a troop ship and walk us 1/2 way to Sweden and when we finely get here we can either remain standing or lay down in a mud puddle and tuck ourself in."

And another thing Al I thought they meant we was going right in the front line trenchs where a man has got a chance to see some fun but where we are at is what they call the reserve trenchs and we been here 3 days all ready and have got to stay here 7 days more that is unless they should something happen to the regt. that"s up ahead of us in the front line and if they get smashed up or something and half to be sent back to the factory then we will jump right in and take their place and I don"t wish them no bad luck but I wished they would get messed up tonight at lease enough so as they would half to come out for repairs but it don"t look like they was much chance of that as we are on a quite section where they hasn"t been nothing doing since the war begin you might say but of course Jerry is raising he--ll all over the front now and here is where he will probably pick on next and believe me Al we will give him a welcome.

But the way things is mapped out now we will be here another wk. yet and then up in the front row for 10 days and then back to the rest billets for a rest but they say the only thing that gets a rest back there is your stomach but believe me your stomach gets a holiday right here without going to no rest billets.

Well I thought they would be some excitement up here but its like church but everybody says just wait till we get up in front and then we will have plenty of excitement well I hope they are telling the truth because its sure motonus here and about all as we do is have inspections and scratch.

As Johnny Alc.o.c.k says France may of lose a whole lot of men in this war but they don"t seem to of been no casualitys amist the cuties.

Well Al they"s plenty of other bugs here as well as the kinds that itchs and I mean some of the boys themselfs and here is where it comes out on them is where they haven"t nothing to do only lay around and they"s 1 bird that his name is Harry Friend but the boys calls him the chicken hawk and its not only on acct. of him loveing the ladys but he is all the wile writeing letters to them and he is 1 of these fancy writers that has to wind up before he comes down on the paper with a word and between every word he sores up and swoops down again like he was over a barn yard and sometimes the boys set around and bets on how many wirls he will take before he will get within writeing distants of the paper.

Well any way he must get a whole lot of letters wrote if he answers all the ones that comes for him because every time you b.u.mp into him he pulls one on you that he just got from some gal that"s nuts about him somewheres in the U. S. and its always a different 1 and I bet the stores that sells service stars kept open evenings the wk. this bird enlisted in the draft.

But today it was a French gal that he had a letter from her some dame in Chalons and he showed me her picture and she"s some queen Al and he is pulling for us to be sent there on our leave after we serve our turn up here and I don"t blame him for wanting to be where she"s at and I wished they was some baby doll that I could pal around with in what ever burg they ship us to. But I don"t know n.o.body Al and besides I"m a married man so no flirting with the parley vous for me and I suppose I will spend most of my time with the 2 Vin sisters and a headache.

Your pal, JACK.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Every time you b.u.mp into him he pulls a letter on you.]

_In the Trenchs, May 9._

FRIEND AL: Well Al I was talking to 1 of the boys Jack Brady today and we was talking about Harry Friend and I told Jack about him getting a letter from this French girlie at Chalons and how he was pulling for us to go there on our leave so as he could see her so Jack said he didn"t think we would go there but they would probably send us to 1 of the places where we could get a bath as G.o.d knows we will need one and they will probably send us to Aix les Bains or Nice or O. D. Cologne. So I said I didn"t care where we was sent as they wouldn"t be no gal waiting for me in none of them towns so Jack says it was my own fault if they wasn"t as all these places was full of girlies that was there for us to dance with them and etc. and the officers had all their names and addresses and the way to do was write to 1 of them and tell her when you was comeing and would she like to show you around and he said he would see 1 of the lieuts. that he stands pretty good with him and see what he could do for me. Well Al I told him to go ahead as I thought it was just a joke but sure enough he showed up after a wile and he said the lieut. didn"t only have 1 name left but she was a queen and he give me her name and address and its Miss Marie Antoinette 14 rue de Nez Rouge, O. D. Cologne.

Well Al I didn"t have nothing else to do so I set down and wrote her a note and I will coppy down what I wrote:

"_Dear Miss Antoinette_: I suppose you will be supprised to hear from me and I hope you won"t think I am some fresh bird writeing you this letter for a joke or something but I am just 1 of Uncle Sam"s soldiers from the U. S. A. and am now in the trenchs fighting for your country. Well Miss Antoinette we expect to be here about 2 wks. more and then we will have a leave off for a few days and some of the boys thinks we may spend it in your city and I thought maybe you might be good enough to show me around when we get there. I was a baseball pitcher back in the U. S. A. tall and athletic build and I don"t suppose you know what baseball is but thought maybe you would wonder what I look like. Well if you aren"t busy when we get there I will hope to see you and if you are agreeable drop me a line here and I will sure look you up when I get there."