at 5 o'clock in the morning. Dawn was just breaking and the
place where we found the break was in the woods. The Germans had
during the night thrown a lot of chlorine gas shells into this woods,
so we donned our masks. The break in the line was a difficult one to
repair. We soon found that we could not do it with our gas masks
on--one or the other must take his mask off. We could not return
without making the repair. To a soldier there is no such word as fail.
It is either do or die. The buddy who was with me was a married man
with a baby at home. I, being unmarried, could certainly not ask him
to take off his mask, while I kept mine on. So I stripped mine off,
made the repair, and while doing so was gassed severely. With the aid
of the buddy, I was able to reach our billet. There I was put on a
stretcher and taken to a field dressing station. As the old saying
goes, it never rains but it pours; gassing was not the only trouble I
was destined to experience on that day. As I was being carried to
headquarters a shell exploded nearby and I was struck in the leg by a
piece of shrapnel. It was a small but painful wound just below the
left knee. I tried to accept it with a smile, and I was really glad
that I was struck instead of one of the other men, as I was already
out of the fight, while if one of them had been wounded, it would have
been two out of commission instead of one.

CHAPTER VIII.

Hospital Experiences.

After being gassed and wounded, I was taken immediately to a dressing
station, where the wound in my leg was carefully, but hurriedly
dressed and my throat was swabbed with a preparation used in all
hospitals to relieve the severe burning in the throat caused by gas.
Of all the unpleasant experiences that I had at war, this throat
swabbing was the worst. It seemed to me like the surgeon who performed
this act had found in my throat a bottomless pit, and as the swab went
up and down my burning esophagus, I suffered great agony. Although I
knew this treatment was necessary, if I was to recover speedily from
the gas burns, I could scarcely endure it.

As soon as the wound in my leg was dressed and my throat doctored, I
was examined as to my physical condition by a Major, who labeled me
with a tag upon which was written, "tuberculosis." This, of course,
was very annoying and caused me considerable worry. It was certainly
not a pleasant word for one to receive when lying in the condition
that I then was