The Cordova daily times., 1917-10-11
THE C0RDoyA TIMES 1917

| lote. Inere were the calls Of the CraI
 players, the plaintive music of tn,
 ukelele, no longer soothing to me now
 and the harmonizing of the old. sac
 tunes. Previously tEe accomplished
 player of the luke" had been the mos
 popular man on board. and he was ye
 for all I know. but not with me.
 would have liked to kill him when he
 tuned up.
 1 Much time was on my hands Foi
 thinking. 1 was proud of the respect these soldiers of Uncle Sam had shown
 me-a girl-when they had every op. Dortunity to take advantage of me with me living among them as one of the gang. l am speaking of those who were aware of my presence on board. They ought to make a fine record in France. both in and out of the trepch- es. l was also proud l hadn't been seasick, although l had never been on the ocean before. I had shown uo some of the rockies in this respect any way, for they had been a sensick crowd
 Neither had l had any fear of sub. marines. even though cannot swim a stroke. This was more than some of the recruits could say. Several of them had been very open bored as they broke Into sweats of pure fear with each submarine alarm for drill purposes. felt, perhaps, l would fit better in the trenches than they would
 About noon one day l heard a great commotion on board. Men were run ming backward and forward. shouting and calling to one another Things were being moved in hurry. The whole ship throbbed With new life. I tried to discover the cause of the ex- citement by peeping through my single porthole, but could see nothing. A guard came to my door and knocked.
 Land Is Sighted.
 Land to starboardr' lie shouted. He was nice fellow and couldn't hold out such startling information from me.
 There was lump in my throat the size of an apple. Would ever set foot in France? The officers had promised they would do all they could to get the authorities to let me stay. The army officers were especially nice to me. believe they sincerely wanted to see me win out after the chances I had taken.
 Some of them know openly urged be permitted to land. It was tine ships captain, technically in charge of me, who killed all my prospects. as found out later.
 It was on Saturday we came into port. We were not sure of the name of the place. although we had a pretty fair idea what 1t was.
 Extra guards were stationed to watch me. The quartermaster captain was taking no chances on my sneaking ashore. Once he passed my cabin.
 Watch that porthole." he ordered. She's as slippery as an eel We don't want any more of this foolishness." / By and by the ship came to anchor. I could hear the men going ashore. Was my husband with them? I did not know. The thought that be might be ordered off without so much as a goodby drove me nearly crazy. I guess l was quite mad for a time. was no longer a soldier facing fate with smile. l was woman deprived of one of the sacred rights of love.
 After a long while the hustle on board ceasPd. Tn" hors wcre rOin~. couIl hcal the .-Outs of welcome on the shore and the music Of the brass bands. Brass bands reminded me of home and the good old days at the camp in Doug las. 1 started to rave again. I threw myself on my berth. Some one picked me up in a pair of strong arms and stood me on the floor. l let out one war whoop of happiness. It was the "old man"
 I've got permission to stay on board here with you until Monday, kiddie," he told me. Tn the meantime the boys are going to get busy and do their darndest to grab you a job over here"
 Then and there we did song and dance. Monday. This was only Sat urday. Anything could happen in that time. Even peace might be declared
 Maybe Bill Kaiser will call it of. and we can go back home together" my husband consoled me. We went up on deck. The transports were all around us. Some of them had already unloaded, while others were waiting to pour their streams of Sammies out on the shore of France. Crowds lined the shores and piers. Flags were flying everywhere and people were in their holiday clothes. All the children car ried flowers. which they gave to the Sammies. The welcome mat was spread all over the place.
 '"They seem to be sort O glad to see us," remarked the guard, who was nev- CT far away. We're as welcome as a pint bottle at picnic for two"
 All day Sunday and Monday we wait ed for news about my landing, but none came. We had not seen the boys since they went ashore. They had gone immediately to their quarters in or beyond the town. My husband had orders to report for duty Monday after noon. As the time when he must go drew near grew panicky.
 want to say right here that on sev- eral occasions while we were in port could have ducked ashore l did not do 1t because I knew if I was caught