ed man stepped in, shaking the
rain from his hat. He stood at respectful attention, saluted and said:

"Did the Captain wish to see me?"

"Yes, Blank, it is about this letter written in German," the Captain
replied. "Who is it addressed to?"

"My father, in Cincinnati, sir," Blank replied.

"I am unfamiliar with German," the Captain said. "I notice the letter is
brief. Is there anything in it which the company has been ordered to
omit mentioning?"

"No, sir," Blank replied.

"Will you translate it for me?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, sir," said Blank, with just a bare suggestion of a blush. Then he
read as follows:

"Dear Father: I am in good health. Food is good and we are learning
much. I am becoming an expert grenadier. In this village where we
are billeted there is a French girl named Germain. Before the war
she lived in northern France, near the German frontier, and she
speaks German. So it is possible for us to talk together. She fled
before the German troops reached her village. She lives here now
with her aunt.

"I carry water from a well for her and she has given me each day a
roll of fresh made butter for our mess. In the evening we sit on the
front seat of her uncle's small carriage, which is in the front
yard, and we imagine we are taking a drive, but of course there are
no horses. Her uncle's horses were taken by the army a long time
ago. She is very anxious to know all about America, and I have told
her all about you and mother and our home in Cincinnati.

"She asked me what I am going to do after the war, and I told her
that I would return to Cincinnati to help you at the store. She
cried because she said she did not know where she was going after
the war. Her father and two brothers have been killed and her aunt
and uncle are very old.

"I have some more to write to you about Germain later. But must stop
here because the Sergeants are assembling the men for indoor
instruction. Love to all. It is raining very hard. Your son, ----"

Blank's face seemed to redden as he hesitated over a postscript line at
the bottom of the page.

"This is nothing," he said. "I just asked father to ask mother to send
me one of the photographs I had taken on the day I enlisted."

"For Germain?" the Captain enquired, smilingly.

"Yes, sir," replied Blank.

"Why didn't you write this in English?" the Captain asked.

"My father reads only German," Blank replied.

B