as we started to go down in his dug-out we heard a big one
comin and both landed together at the bottom. After a fellos face gets
broken in to goin down stairs that way its the easiest way. The Captin
was awful sore. He wanted to know what the this an that we meant by
comin in without knockin. That fello would want you to salute if you
had both arms shot off. I didnt say nothin. Just gave him the
Lootenants message.

That seemed to make him madder still. He pushed the papers around on
his desk an said didnt that one thing an another Lootenant know he
couldnt get fire without orders from regimental headquarters. An didnt
he know that regimental headquarters couldnt give any order till they
was asked for it by doboy headquarters. An why the this an that didnt
we go to the doboys if we wanted some fire.

Id like to have told him where to go to get some fire. I just saluted
tho, an said "Yes sir." Spirited. Thats me all over, Mable. Then we
went back to pass the buck to the Lootenant. The doboy oficers was all
sittin around tellin him how good the Inglish artilery was. A couple
of hours later when Joe an I was havin breakfast we heard the battery
fire about twenty shots. The doboys said it was lucky we didnt fire
any more cause they was probably all shorts anyway. That dont mean
that they were a different size or anything, Mable. A short is a shell
that hasnt got the ambishun.

I went up to an artilery observashun post with the Lootenant the other
day. Only it isnt a post but a round tin house like a ticket office
set in the trenches on top of a hill. Theres a slit cut in the front
to look thru. The Lootenant showed me where Nobodies land was. I could
see the Fritz trenches runnin in front of a piece of woods about half
a mile away. They must have all been away on a furlo or something
cause there wasnt as much as a fly sittin over there.

This is a great place for soovenirs. I got a lot of buttons, a piece
of shell, a couple of bones I found stickin out of the trench an a
Fritz hand grenade. As soon as I can find a box Im goin to send you
the whole bunch. I wouldnt monkey with the hand grenade much. It
doesnt look as if it had ever exploded. Give it to Archie Wainwright
an tell him its a trench warmer. Maybe hell stick it in the fire.

[Illustration: "IT DOESNT LOOK AS IF IT HAD EVER EXPLODED"]

In the afternoon when things is quiet an everybodies asleep we go out
an throw hand grenades at the rats. Thats good sport c