eat gate of the Chateau. It was followed by a
detachment of soldiers from the Foreign Legion, sent by the Commandant
to erect them. The soldiers were also Americans, and Pierre and
Pierrette were delighted to find that both "Jim" and "Uncle Sam" were
among them. Indeed Uncle Sam was in command of the squad, and when he
presented himself and his men to the Doctor and Mademoiselle, he
explained that the Commandant had detailed Americans to this duty, as
he thought that they would more easily understand what the ladies
wished to have done.
The whole place now swarmed with people working as busily as bees in a
hive. By night one house was fit to be occupied. The following night
two more had been erected, and the soldiers had laid tent floors in all
of them. The day after that six more young women in gray came, bringing
more supplies. Under the generalship of the Doctor, Mother Meraut was
installed in the carriage-house which opened from the stable, and here
she prepared meals for her family and for all the new-comers as well.
The Doctor established a dispensary in one room of the Chateau, and
Mademoiselle opened a store in the basement, keeping there for sale a
large quantity of the supplies which had been brought by the six young
women. Father Meraut and Grandpere worked hard on the gardens, assisted
by Pierre and Pierrette and any other person in the village who was
capable of wielding a hoe. Soon people began to come in from the
neighboring hamlets, bringing their sick babies to the Doctor for
treatment. The great truck was loaded with supplies received through
the Army Service and the Red Cross, and the young women took turns in
driving the "Shop on Wheels" into other, less favored districts, to
start there work similar to that begun at Fontanelle.
Uncle Sam and Jim came so often to the village that they were soon on
friendly terms with every one in it. They acted as emissaries between
the camp and the village, and if anything was needed which was beyond
the power of these determined women to supply, Uncle Sam and Jim seemed
always by some miracle to accomplish it. One day the Doctor said to Jim
"I wish there were some way of getting a good cow here. These little
children cannot get rosy and strong without fresh milk, and they
haven't had any since the Germans drove away their cows."
A week later Jim appeared at the Chateau gate leading a cow! There was
a card tied to one horn. The Doctor removed it and read, "To D
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