The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1918-11-08
CHAPTER xIx-continued.

IL
I noticed that all the time he was
writing the word and giving us the
stationery, the sentry was laughing
and having a great time with his OWE
little self, but / figured he was just
acting German, and that nothing was
important about it.
SVe were all tickled to death to get
chance to let our people know where
we were, and each man thought a
long time about what he would say,
ever started to write. Each man want
ed to say all he could in the small
space he had, and we wanted to let
our friends know how badly they were
treating us without saying it, in so
many words, because we knew the
Huns would censor the letters, and 1t
would go hard with anyone who COM
planned much. So most of the men
said they were having a great time
and were treated very well. and spread
it on so thick that their friends would
figure they were lying because they
| had to.
One fellow hir an idea that was
better than that, though. He had been
in Jail in Portsmouth, England, for
three months, for beating up a con-
stable. and he Ind had pretty rough
time. So he wrote Il pal of his that
he had been captured by the Ger
mans. but that everything was going
along pretty well. In fact, he said,
the only other trip he had ever been
on, where he had a better time, was
the three months vacation he had
spent in Portsmouth two years before,
which he thought the friend would re-
member. He said that trip was bet
ter than this one. so the friend could
figure out for himself how pleasant
this one was. Everybody thought this
was a great idea, but unfortunately
not all of us had been in Jail, SO we
could not all use it. Which was Just
as well, we thought, because the Ger
mans would be suspicious if all of us
compared this vacation with others.
A few of the clen did not have any
body they could write to, and some did
not know their friends addresses, so
they would write letters to friends of
the other men, and sign it with the
friends nickname
As soon as q man had finished his
letter, he had to go out to the center
of the camp, where they had built a
raised platform. There the sentries
took the letters, and the men formed
around the square. There were Off
GERS on the platform reading the let
tiers. We thought they read them |
there in the open, before us, so that |
we would know they were not tamper- |
the heaven would fall if they were
getting so unkultured as that.
Finally, all the men had finished
their letters and turned them over to
the officers. who read them. And then
we saw why the sentry laughed.
The officers tore up every one of the
etters. They We're anxious that we
would See them 90 it, &c. none of us
would have any hope thar our friends
would ger word.
But we said to ourselves that, If it
VAS information they wanted, they had
Is much as was good for them, which
vas none at all. because l do not think
me letter in the bunch had a single
word of truth in it. But we were all
'ery angry and pretty low after that,
BECAUSE it showed the Huns still had
,lenty of kultI'F left, after all, gid we
new there Das rough shedding ahead
# us. Also, sor1e of the men were
ore because they had wasted their
line thinking up different ways of tip
ling their friends off to the real state ,
f affairs, anG ali for nothing. Why
hey should worry about time, 1 could
ot see. Time was the only thing we
ad plenty of, and l for one, thought
'e were going to have still more of it.
Going back TO the barracks we tried |
D sing "Pack Up Your Troubles" but
here was not much pep in it. We
ere not downhearted, though; at
east, we said we were not.