Love Letters of Bill to Mable Comprising Dere
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Copyright, 19 18, 19 19 , by FREDERI CK A STO K E S COMPAN . Y All right" reserved SANTA BAR BARA DEDICATION To a million Private Bills wh o have n b sudde ly learnt to call a coat a lo use . n thin s Taki g g as they find them . Vaguely understanding . Caring less . f Grumbling by custom . Cheer ul by na ture . Ever anxious to be where they e are not . Ever anxious to be somewher else when they get there . Without th e thought o f sacrifice . Who have left " h o flag waving to those at home . W a serve as matter o f cours e . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Mable Frontirpiece 3 ACINO PAGE Th e only place there flat is on the m ap 2 ” Yo u can read em to your gran c hildre n 5 Y o u walk a post but there aint no post 6 ” I just found it in my bakin can 9 ” I dont like any sargeant 12 fo f l t he I dont care much r horses, they ee s sam e w ay about me Max Gluco s what lives o n the next cot ” Smith are yo u lafli n at . me " ” One day it s our teeth Remember me to your mother ” No t the kind your father has I wear th em every night ov er my un1form I been made an officer ” So m e b o die d se t a trunk o n the t urky Built like the leg o f a sailurs trow sers You p aint a horse black and white stripes ” I spent mine doin Kitchen police I wi sh that hired girl could come down A croq uette is a French society woman ” I sat n ext to a Colonels w ife Me n hate to be w atched While they are fre e zm I h ad a re put ashun fo r a devil with the wim e n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS It seemed to dep res them awful If I catch one o f those ailin enemies windin up . your v 1c t ro la Stuck my head out o f the blankets When I looked in the tin mirror I thought I w as ” st arv m They come round an w atch yo u eat it ” Army food alw ays runs He smokes cigarets something aw ful ” I poured some oil out o f h is lam p ” I even got m ud in m y hai r Th e w ater com es through on m e Th e last time I w ill take m y p e n i n hand fo r ” o u y . It wont be no use runin to the door I3ill We can fire all w e w ant Without hittin nothin ” I sit on a hill all day A bunch lyin under the trees ” M w w f y, hat an a ul bore Th e fello w ith the lon g hair He thinks there so s ad that he alm ost cries ” T e t w f fat o f s hey g a ul , cour e They come an d ge t our dirty w ash It aint as dangerous as I tho ught An gus lik es it c ause he can sit dow n in 1t ” If the t o p sargent dont rem em ber Sh e alw ays carries a k id under h e r arm I dont e at nothin outside o f meal hours exc e p t in a few p ies I couldnt se e a thing except t h e side of t h e hill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1X He outran the other fello I sat next to a lady What didnt seem to have ” much on but a lot o f j ew els Th e mini ster has t w o daughters— both girls They gave us coffe e i n e gg cups Th e first sargent wouldnt let m e Th e only thing they do to the rain is to strain it I j ust found your pic t ur at the b ottom o f my barrack bag ” I dont seem to need as much food as I used to ” Jo e Loom is Th e tailor must have been a boiler m aker once Marched till m y p ack gained a hundred an ” fifty pounds E verybody h ad a beard on both sides o fhis face ” B o ff t h e m w it h b i b d eat the buttons , a g oar E veryone tuck s there nap kins under there chins They j ust ish ue d us overseers caps an rapped Will have to lean them up age nst something ” Tyin 1t under your chin lik e a b ib M k Wh o zis C a t in s d i e , the p or erly Iv e found the first real use fo r my tin derby Another boiler blew up right in front o f us L e m Wattles what never h ad his name in the ” p aper . Were livin right up in the trenches no w It doesnt look as if 1t h ad ever ex plo ded There w as the L o o t e n ant b o o st in the Major out ” o f the trench His helmet looked like a tin sunbonnet X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS I stuck my head around the b ush Yo u ought to have seen those tw o L o o t en ant s come down Do yo u happen to have any lemonade " Tried to mak e a blanket roll 1n six inche s o f m ud ” I d All o 18 scratch, scratch, scratch The people here wear wooden shoes an have no shapes A German b e d 1s like a loaf o f bread thats rose to much ” They take o ff there hats to us ' Levels it o ff with a piece o f b re ad i d u ” They l ne us all p . That little snub nosed thing across t h e street B S ” Im goin t o b e j ust plain Mr. ill mith D ere Mable L o v e L e tte rs o f a R o o kie D e re Mab le o n I guess you thought I was dead . Y ull ever kn ow how near yo u was to right . We got th e I e . tents up at last , though , so got a minit to rit I r guess they choose these camps by mail orde . e The only place there flat is on the map . Wher o ur tents is would make a good place for a Rocky i Mo unt n goat if he didnt break his neck . The first day the C ap tin came o ut an says Pitch ” o your tents here . Then he went to look f r some ne o quick before anyone could a sk him h o w . I I C a tin I wish was a p . guess he thought we ' " o w as Al ine C ase rs. E h u o p h , Mable But y pr b ably dont know what those are . th e e Honest , M able , if Id put in work I don last week o n the Panamah C anal it would have been workin long before it was . Of course there was a lot o f fello s there with me but it seemed like all they did was to stand round and hand me shovels when I wore em out . 2 DER E MABLE Ca tin a re sh e at e s m e Th The p pp though . e o ther day he watched me work awhile and then “ ” he says Smith . He calls me Smith now . We o t I I g very friendly since been nice to him . noticed none of the other fe llo s had much to say o f . I to him felt kind sorry for him . Hes a Ca tin human bein even if he is a p , Mable . So eve ry time I saw him I used to stop him and talk D to him . emocratic . Thats me all over, Mable . “ Smith” he says “ If they was all like you round h e h ere war would be hell , no joke . By which r meant that we would make it hot fo the Boshes . i fe e l n . I been awful sorry for you , Mable What with missim me and your fathers liver go n e back on him again things must have been awful o lonesome for y u. It isnt as if you was a girl ll what had a lot o f fe o s hangin round all the time . t Not hat you couldnt have em , Mable , but you dont an theres no use makin no bones about it . If it hadnt been for me I guess things would have been pretty stupid though I dont begrudge you h o . a sent . You know w I am with my money I E h " guess you ought to anyway . , Mable Never talk o f money matters in co nnexun with a w o man . Thats me all over . N o w I got started an found a fo untin pen an the givin away paper like it doe s Im goin to rite you regula r.