nd were
working their way back to the food kitchens, the water carts, and the
rest of the camps. One such doughboy, I met near Montfaucon, about
midway between the front line and an artillery ridge where our 75's
were coughing shells in rapid succession upon the entrenched foe. His
water canteen had long been empty and the nourishment of his hard tack
and "corn willie"[2] forgotten. His lips were parched with thirst and
bleeding from cracks, the result of long-continued gun fire. His body
was wearied by the heavy strain, his cheeks were gaunt from hunger
and his eyes circled for want of rest. His whole bearing was of one
who had passed through suffering untold, and yet there was no word of
bitterness or complaint. His gratitude for a sup of water from my
canteen was richer to me than the plaudits of multitudes, and the fine
courage with which he worked his painful way back to rest and
refreshment caused my heart to yearn after him with a tenderness which
he can never know.

Where a division is merely holding the line, there being no aggressive
action on either side, except night-raiding parties, men can stand it
for a longer period. Under such circumstances a company would stay in
the front line for ten days, part being on guard while the others were
sleeping. At the end of the ten days they would be relieved by a fresh
company and return to a rest camp in the rear. The boys hardly
considered it _rest_, as there was constant drilling, besides camp
duties and activities of many kinds.

Out in No Man's Land we had our "listening" and "observation" posts.
These posts are set as near the enemy line as possible. It is very
hazardous work, and requires steady nerves and clear heads. Each squad
in a post remains for forty-eight hours, and each man of the squad is
on actual guard for four hours at a time.

Where men are _on the line in aggressive warfare_, the action is so
intense that they cannot stand up under long-continued fighting. In
the Argonne fight our Ohio division was on the front line for five
days after going "over the top." Then they were relieved by a fresh
division, which took their places under cover of the night.

As our boys came out I stood all night with another "Y" man on a
German narrow-gauge railroad crossing, giving a smoke or a piece of
chocolate to each man as he passed. The enthusiastic expressions of
the great majority bore ample testimony to their keen appreciation.
"You're a life-saver," is t