The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1919-11-06
sleep with one for fear his color would
come of"

sleep with one for fear his color would
come of"
That afternoon. wc nearly rested,
but just a. we had settled ourselves
with that unheayd Of thing in view,
the band started playing In the square
near our rooms. Up we got, and ran
with all the little children, old people
rnd wounded soldiers, TO hear IL,
standing in the hot sua and talking to
American soldiers during each inter-
mission. Our boys confessed that
they were very apt TO stand around
the corner Of the hotel when we were
sitting outside on our bench, not that
they wanted TO eaves-drop, but just to
hear us speaking in English. And
still women say 10 us: "Yes, but is
there anything could do if ! should
e. over there"
We were late in arriving at Bayel,
but IL was because we had badly
punctured tire. Madame Marquot, the
mother Of the mayor, had given the
garden of her chateau for the per-
formanec, and our stage was sum
mer house, the door way in which we
stood framed in luxuriant rose vines.
Madame and her French friends sat
behind us, and towards the end of the
program we gave some Of their own
old songs, in which they all Joined,
almost in tears Of joy. Madame told
us she remembered well the Franco
Prussian war, when the Germans were
but few kilometres away from the
place where we stood, and that now
her whole nation was glad to give
not only their chateaux and their
grounds to our brave boys but any
thing which could possibly add to their
comfort, for they were to be the "say-
iours of France" She said this, and
some kind things about us, TO the
crowds of soldiers seated on the
ground, or in the garden paths, and
closed her little speech by kissing both
Of us on each cheek.
We were glad when the officers took
US into the stable to give us hot coffee,
for by that time we were well stiff
with the cold but we wouldn't have put
on our overcoats for the world, be-
cause the boys liked to see our bright
dresses. On this evening, as on many
Others during our trip, it was so cold
that we could see our breath, but we
never caught cold" from it once: in
fact, it was much pleasanter singing
out of doors and freezing, than it was
to entertain in building where hun
dreds of men have been sitting and
smoking for hours. There were some
of the entertainers" who, we heard,
would not give out of door perform
ances, but our audiences were too
large to crowd into most of the only
available buildings, so as we wouldn't
have disappointed them if we possibly
could have helped it, we got ourselves
used TO it, enjoyed every performance
thoroughly and never missed one dur
ing our whole tour.
One afternoon we were sitting on
our bench at the side of the hotel, our
Vermont cousin with us, and all with
our heads tipped back against the
wall, so that we could watch the air
planes whirring above. The sidewalk
was so narrow that our feet were in
the gutter, but as it was after
"dejeuner," no one was killing geese
in our immediate neighborhoor. The
French would look at us commiserat-
ingly as they passed, for they thought
we were mildly insane to be sitting in
such broiling sun, and the officers
would stop on their way to head
quarters across the road, to tell US
stories and to be in the general hilar-
ity for moment. Suddenly we
heard the band, and we all forgot our
proper New England training to run
10" it, our party growing in numbers
surprisingly, until the sound led US to
the courtyard Of the French hospital.
II was filled with the wounded and
sick, who sat in the shade of the linz
dens, the townspeople behind them
and we in the extreme background.
Someone discovered us, however, and
the chief surgeon, charming man
who was one Of the French officers
taking his meals at our hotel, asked if
we would 'be willing to sing some
thing for his patients. We were only
too glad, but as there WAS no piano, we
had to DO some of the French songs
without accompaniment: we finished
in blaze Of glory, however, by CIV
ing "over There" Ia French, with the
band playing lne and enthusiastic
one.
We were taken all through the
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