in assisting Captain Kipling with the
executive details of the organization of the new ambulance trains. In
future every train is to be composed of five ambulances, one repair
car, and one scout car, and is to be manned by an officer and thirteen
men. Each such unit is to be complete in itself and is called a
"squad." As such it will be assigned to duty with the Paris Hospital,
with field hospitals, or with the French, British, or Belgian armies.
The field work is to be controlled from Paris by Captain Kipling and a
board of three staff officers. O. W. Budd is to be Chief of Staff, E.
W. McKey, Adjutant, and during the remainder of my short time of
service with the Corps I am to have charge of equipment and material.

The Corps has recently been recognized by the French army, and from
now on will virtually be a part of that army. It will receive orders
direct from the Minister of War and from the General Staffs.

* * * * *

_Friday, November 27th._ Mr. Herrick leaves for America tomorrow.
Today he was busy at his desk in the Embassy until late in the
afternoon, during which time he dictated a personal letter to me
thanking me for my services under his administration, a document that
will ever be one of my most prized possessions.

* * * * *

Donait's leave of absence has arrived from Washington and I am leaving
with him tomorrow via Switzerland with special dispatches for Berlin.

I received an indefinite "leave of absence" from the American
Ambulance, nominally retaining my position as staff officer in hopes
of rendering indirect service to the Corps after my return to America.

* * * * *

_Saturday, November 28th._ It is impossible for the French people to
understand why the United States should remove Mr. Herrick from his
post just when he has so valiantly proved himself equal to the great
demands which have been made upon him in the present crisis. In the
diplomacy of other countries a plenipotentiary is never replaced in
times of great stress, except as a rebuke to him or as an intimation
that the policies he has expressed are to be reversed by his
government. That a valuable diplomat should at a critical time be
replaced for reasons of mere party politics seems incomprehensible to
European nations.

_Note._--The French Government sent a representative to America on the
same boat with Mr. Herrick. As the ship was