e have the great
heart to help us and give us the hand, and we work all the two for the
Patrie." So, dear godfather, we be not mad at ourselves any more, and
I promise I make no more the fib, and you make no more the cranky, is
it not? I must to make many progress in American for when you come
I reckon you come like the dickuns, like yellin thunder, with the
skin'em alive Red-skins and the hot dogs!

Dear benefactor, what is it the hot dogs? My great sister say it is a
species of machine-gun American.

It is very funny your Papa make the wicked dream! You have the very
beautiful family. Me too. Great brother Jules is already the corporal
and he is like the Chevalier Bayard without fear and without reproach.
One day, he tell me, a great _eclat d'obus_ take off his hat,
and he pick it off the ground and say: "Ho Fritz! I wanted not be
so polite and salute you!" And my great brother tell me many things
important on the war. But I write them not, because the censure would
scold me; perhaps put me in prison.

Pending his permission of four days, he teach little Jean the chants
of the regiment. Some are not for the little infants, Maman says, so
he whistle them. But Jean love the military chants much more than the
ones of latin he learn to sing in the church, and I hope he mix them
not. Dear godfather, tomorrow is Easter and I am making an egg for
you. It is a surprise so I tell you not what is in it.

Your affeckshunate godchild,
Andree Leblanc.

[14] Tables black (_tableaux noirs_) black boards.
[15] Empeche myself (_m'empecher_) I cannot help.
[16] Like it must (_comme il faut_) nicely.

May 5, 1917.
Greenville Falls, N.Y.

Deer godchild,

Gee whiz but Kaiser Bill is in fer it! Gee whiz, you ot to see how
Uncle Sam is fixin up fer him! Jo Kelly and Walter Daly and lot of the
felers are going in fer aviashun and Bill Wilson's scout-master and
organizin a crack bunch of boy scouts and we have a home Deefence and
dad has got a uniform and a wooden gun and he sez it is a pretty good
bunch of felers, but he cood do more with them if he was captin insted
of mister Larkin, who is a good feler but a bum eaptin. I aint sayin
much but I got a few idees and I woodnt let it sprize you if I was
to invent something one of these days, but I cant tell you what it is
becaus the censer wood cut it out. I got your egg and I thank you fer
it, but say it got me in dutch al-right, it was this way, the postman
brot the packidg