The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-10-26
Of. lunch counters ali bis life.

81: lunch counters ali bis life.
For the most part those were dreary
days for me. as I saw my husband
only for a short time when he did get
up to my prison. Outside l could hear
all the noises Of the troops-noises that
had sounded so sweet In my ears be-
fore. There were the calls of the crap
players, the plaintive music Of tho
ukelele, no longer soothing to me now.
and the harmonizing Of the old, sad
tunes. Previously the accomplished
player Of the luke" had been the most
popular man on board, and he was yet
for all l know. but not with me. I
would have liked to kill him when he
tuned up.
Much time was on my hands for
thinking. 1 was proud of the respect
these soldiers Of Uncle Sam had shown
me-a gdrl-when they had every OPP
~portunity to take advantage Of me with
me living among them as one Of the
gang. i'm speaking of those who
were war of my presence on board.
They ought to make a fine record In
France, both In and out of the trench
es. I was, also proud I hadn't been
seasick, although ! had never been on
the ocean before. had shown up
some of the rockies In this respect any
way. for they had been a seasick crowd.
Neither had l had any fear Of sub
marines, even though I cannot swim a
stroke. This was more than some Of
fhe recruits could say. Several Of them
I'D: been very open pored as they broke
Into sweats of pure fear with each
alarm for drill purposes. /
felt, perhaps. I would ft better in the
trenches than they would.
About OOH one Gay I heard a great
connection on board. Men were rum
ming backward and forward, shouting
and calling to one another. Things
were being moved in a hurry. The
whole ship throbbed with new life. ]
tried to discover the cause Of the ex-
element by peeping through my single
porthole, but could see nothing. A
guard came to my door and knocked.
Land Is Sighted.
Land TO starboard!' he shouted, He
was a nice fellow and couldn't hold
out such startling information from me.
There was a lump In my throat the
size Of an apple. Would l 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 ont after the chances / had
taken.
Some Of them l know openly urged ]
be permitted to land. 1t was the ships
captain. technically in charge OF me.
VITO 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 sneaHng
ashore. Once he passed my cabin.
Watch that portfolio" 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? l did
not know. The thought that he might
be ordered of without so much as. a
goodby drove me nearly crazy. / guess
I was quite mad for a time. i was no
longer a soldier facing fate with a
smile. l was a woman deprived OF one
of the sacred rights Of love.
After a long while the hustle on board
ceased. The boys were going. lcould
hear the shouts 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.
IdS. ] SldIteu w ave oSoia" 1870
myself on my berth. Some n picked
me up In a pair Of strong arms and
stood me on the floor. l let out n
war whoop of happiness. 1t was the
''old man."
i've got permission to stay on board
here with you until Monday, kiddie,"
he told me. in 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 q 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 1t on,
and we can go back home together
nv 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 dying
everywhere and people were in their
holiday clothes. All the children cur